So I do.
I kiss her back, because talk is cheap and there are no words that fix what I’m feeling right now.
My mouth teases hers, long, languid strokes.
It’s not beer but a hint of citrus vodka on her tongue.
Fingers dig into my arms. Her quiet moan is the sexiest invitation.
What if she wanted this as much as I did the entire time? If she’s been aching every second like I have?
I dive into her mouth, my fingers threading in her hair as I kiss her deeper.
My hips wedge between her legs. I yank up the tight skirt digging into her thighs so I can press deeper. Her skin is soft, the muscles beneath squeezing me.
Her hips shift on the counter, and I pin her to the edge, help her wrap her ankles around my waist so I can grind into her softness.
Something falls off the vanity to the tile with a crash.
The strawberry soap.
Her nails rake up my arms, hard enough I hiss. Her breasts heave under the tight top, the tantalizing flesh pressed to my chest through my T-shirt.
“Daniel.” She sighs it into my mouth, her voice foreign and familiar at once.
Fuck.
I’m kissing the last woman I should be kissing.
At a frat party.
Where she’s been drinking.
A pounding on the door makes us both jump.
“Kat! Are you in there?”
I rip my mouth from hers, her legs still locked around my hips. Her lips are full and her cheeks flushed.
She tugs her skirt down and runs a hand through her hair.
I avoid Kat’s gaze, adjusting myself in my jeans before I jerk the door open.
Jules blinks at me from the other side.
She’s going to know.
Except when I turn back to Kat, she’s bent over the toilet emptying the contents of her stomach.
“Shit.”
I turn and grab her hair back from her face, holding it gently out of the way.
“I’ve got her,” Jules murmurs at my shoulder.
I look at Kat once more, regret creeping in.
I want to take her home.
But there’s a line of students who would be watching if I carried her down the stairs and set her in my truck like I want to.
“Take care of her.”
I’m out the door in record time, pulling out onto the street.
The RAM is in the driveway, the engine silent before I realize I forgot to get screws.
13
KAT
The pillow is soft against my face. I rub my cheek against it and ignore that my stomach feels like a truck drove through it.
Despite the hangover, warmth tickles my senses. Subtle at first, then stronger.
A determined male body pressing against me.
A demanding mouth that took zero prisoners.
Heat gathers between my thighs in a delicious ache. But when I open my eyes, I’m alone.
I had some epic action in my dreams.
I dreamed that I kissed Daniel.
And then Daniel kissed me.
Everything about him turned me on. The way he took control, the way he was focused entirely on me, the way he seemed intent on learning each inch of my mouth.
Okay, so I was definitely drunk last night.
Between some blackouts, I remember Jules getting me home.
So why do I feel as if something is wrong?
The clock on the side table says it’s eight twenty-three.
Which means Andy needs to be in school in twenty-two minutes.
Shit.
World, 1000. Nanny, 0.
I lunge out of bed and trip across the floor, not bothering to change out of my shorts and tank top.
I pad across the hall to his room. “Andy?” My voice is a croak.
His bed is made, and he’s not in it.
What the…
I trot downstairs. The strap on my tank top slips and I yank it up right as I stop in my tracks in the doorway to the kitchen and living room.
He’s eating his breakfast at the island.
Daniel’s cooking over the stove, his back bare above low-riding blue plaid pajama bottoms.
My throat dries.
The dream comes back, even more vividly than before.
I imagine I can smell him. Feel his lips move over mine.
I clear my throat. “Sorry, guys. I got a late start. Andy, do you need help picking out clothes for school?”
“I’m not going,” Andy says through a mouthful of pancakes. “Me and Dad are going to the arcade.”
“I don’t have any meetings. Figured I’d take Andy out of school to do some parent kid activities since I missed the field trip.” Daniel’s shoulders bunch as he flips pancakes off the griddle and onto a plate.
“Late night?” he asks.
His voice is rougher than usual. Or maybe I’m still fantasizing about him groaning in my ear.
“I don’t remember much.”
Now I’m picturing me sitting on the stove, him between my spread thighs.
He turns to face me.
He’s all dark eyes, an unshaven jaw and hair damp from the shower.
My gaze drags down his torso. In the morning light, the ridges of his abs are more subtle than the outline of his pecs.
My fingers itch to touch him.
He has a barbell in the garage but I’ve never seen him use it. If pushing papers and lecturing students has him looking this incredible, amen for higher education.
“I’ll put on a shirt. I didn’t expect you to be up yet.”
He starts down the hall and I grab his arm. “Wait…”
He stops abruptly and my eyes go to the spot we’re touching.
There are faint pinks scratches on his arms.
I flex my fingers, taking in the pointy ends of the manicure I finished before setting out for the party.
His expression betrays nothing, but dammit, I know.
It wasn’t a dream.
I kissed him for real but I can’t remember how it started because I was so drunk.
“I’m fine,” I manage, dropping his arm as quickly as I’d grabbed him. “Have a great time at the arcade.”
Marie Kondo’s got nothing on me.
I’m not a naturally tidy person, subscribing to the “if I remember where I put it, it’s in the right place” theory of organization.
After my exchange with Daniel, I bolted for the bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. Then dressed and went straight to Andy’s room to fold clean laundry until I heard the front door close.
When I return to the kitchen, there are beautiful pancakes with my name on them wrapped on the counter. The container of maple syrup is next to them.
My stomach growls like a temperamental monster.
Everything is weird, and it’s my fault.
There’s one other person who might know what happened.
I pull out my phone and send off a text.
Kat: We need to talk.
“You look good for a girl who was tits-deep in the toilet ten hours ago,” Jules comments from behind me in the University Center as I line up for coffee.
“Shampoo will do that.”
Jules orders a tea and she insists on paying for both.
“Jules, did you see Daniel at the party last night?”
“He was looking everywhere for you. He was worried. Like, he was going to find you no matter what.”
Sounds like he found me.
My heart accelerates.