“Oh!” He clasped her shoulder and eased her back from the dash. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Except her keys seemed to have disappeared…and where the hell was the door handle? Maybe they’d gone someplace together. Fumbling around in the dim lighting, she shoved the door open and stepped out, pushed it closed behind her, and—
A jarring jolt rammed her body.
Shit!
She closed one eye and the ground teetered dangerously underneath her. Her legs were sprawled in the driveway and she sat eye level with the side of Dibs’s car.
The slam of a car door punched the front of her building, and a minute later Dibs’s legs appeared in the headlights, coming toward her.
“Okay.” He squatted and lifted her under the arms. “Let’s get you inside.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She didn’t need his help. “I jus’ slipped.”
“All right, why don’t you give me your keys?”
Offering them up, she stumbled with him toward the revolving door of the building. But, geesh, why did he have to walk so fast? She pushed through the door, accidentally overstepped the entrance, and giggled as the world spun back around to the lobby.
Dibs snaked an arm around her waist and hauled her to his side.
“Oomph!” She leaned heavily against him, and then narrowed her eyes when her finger kept jabbing the wall instead of the elevator call button. “I think I dran’ too mush.”
“I think you’re right.” He smiled down at her and hit the call button himself.
She sighed. He was so cute. He was so cute and she was a drunk, bumbling idiot. That’s exactly what she was. But it didn’t matter. He was holding her in his arms, his hand pressed to her lower back, and she drank in every moment during the short ride to her floor.
The elevator binged and the doors slid open. She exited and the hallway reeled when a set of warm hands grabbed her hips and twirled her around, steering her toward her condo.
He unlocked the door and walked her inside. The wall met her back, but the floor wasn’t so kind, and she slowly descended the slippery slope on legs the consistency of cooked noodles.
“Whoa.” Her condo door slammed and Dibs lifted her back to her feet.
He guided her to the couch, knelt in front of her, and pried her shoe from her foot…and his tender concern was simply too much…how this gorgeous hunk of man had found it in his heart to take care of her.
She placed her hand on his cheek. “You’re sho nice.”
“I know, Rex.” Long fingers wrapped around her ankle, her second shoe slipped from her heel.
“Why are you bein’ sho nice to me?”
“Because I like you.” He held her hand to his cheek, pressed fleeting a kiss to the inside of her palm. Gentle hands clasped her shoulders and brought her forward. His breath brushed her cheek as he urged her coat from her arms.
Her hand fell from his face, resting lifeless at her side. The room blurred and a visual of Tiffany and Kevin spiraled into focus—smiling at each other, kissing, holding hands, while she and Dibs sat like a captive audience on the other side of the table. What a disaster. She snorted.
“What?” Dibs smiled, tugging the cuff at her wrist.
Her hand tunneled down the inside of her coat sleeve. “I’m sho sorry.” She shook her head. That wasn’t right. “I mean, I’m so shorry.”
“That’s okay. Everyone drinks too much at some point or another.”
“No, tha’s not wha’ I meant.” Although, she should probably apologize for that, too. But her words refused to come out right. And the couch had decided to set sail on some perilously rough sea.
“Then what are you talking about?”
“Tiffany and Kevin.” She peeked up at him, her other arm channeling down her sleeve. “That dinner was awful.” And she would never do it again. Not ever. She seized his hand, contorting her face into a deep scowl. “No mo’ double dates, ’kay?”
“Okay.” He chuckled.
“Promise me, no mo’, ’kay, Dibs?” She wagged her finger at him.
He dodged the flailing digit and stood. “No more double dates, Rex, I promise.”
The next instant, she was aloft in his arms—one an unyielding brace under her knees, the other an immovable pillar anchoring her to his chest, his long strides steady and sure down the hallway to her bedroom. She nested her head on his broad shoulder, snuggling close, his cologne mingling with the heady musk of his skin. Not even Michael had ever tended her with such care.
The bed materialized under her legs and the strength of Dibs’s arms disappeared.
She gazed up at him. He hadn’t even left yet and already she missed him—that unique someone, a special person she could share her time with…the one on whom she had come to rely.
He brushed her hair over her shoulder and she shivered when the tips of his fingers skimmed the length of her back.
A melancholy longing swelled within her, the ache deepening with each beat of her heart. But this was her doing. She was the one who insisted they only be friends. It was her past that denied them a chance at a future.
Because Dibs deserved much more than she could ever give him.
He knelt beside the bed. “Do you want to put your pajamas on?”
“I need to lie dow’.” She fell to the side, her head tamping the downy pillow.
He tugged the comforter over her body and tucked it around her waist. “Can I get you a glass of water?”
If only she could share everything her heart. How happy she was they had become friends; how she hated being so distant and cold. All the stupid mistakes she had made and the devastating heartbreak when Michael left.
She placed a palm on her forehead. “I’m really sorry, Dibs.”
“That’s okay.”
He smoothed the covers over her shoulders, and she captured his hand, pressing the backs of his fingers to her cheek. But she wasn’t strong enough. And all the right words remained just out of reach. A bitter tear welled in her eye. “I mean it, Dibs. I’m very, very sorry.”
He returned to one knee, cupped her face in his hands, and his thumb swept the tear from the hollow beneath her eye. “Shhh,” he whispered, “it’s okay, Rex.”
She didn’t want him to leave. The thought of being alone was too wretched, too bleak. “Will you stay with me?” she asked.
“I really think you’ve had too much to drink.” He brushed the hair back from her temple.
Another tear tumbled past her lashes. “Then could you hold me for a while? Just until I fall asleep?”
He floated a kiss along her brow, so quick and light she wasn’t sure if she’d merely imagined it. “Okay, Rex.”
She rolled over to be next to him, lifting his arm when he lay down, tucking herself in under the protection of his shoulder. Placing her head on his chest, she closed her eyes, one arm wrapped snugly around his waist.
His hand met the small of her back, keeping her close.
She plunged down a deep, dark tunnel, relaxing more and more, safe inside the comfort of his embrace and rhythm of his heart in her ear.
****
Tessa blinked. The slow, even tempo of Dibs’s chest rose and fell beneath her cheek. She cautiously searched her bedroom…and then closed her eyes. Moving them hurt too much.
Just wait one second…
A miserable groan escaped as she rolled over, her arms and legs tangled in the rumpled remains of her suit. She sat up and peered over her shoulder. Dibs still occupied the other side of her bed, asleep on his back. A throaty snore spilled from his lips. The blanket from her couch lay draped over him, and except for his coat, shoes, and tie, he was fully dressed.
She frowned. Why was Dibs in her bed and what the hell was up with her ass?
She ran through the previous evening in her mind, but the last clear image she could summon were her feet leaving the restaurant.
The digital clock on her nightstand read seven thirty. She touched her fingertips to her forehead and gently massaged. Twenty cotton balls had been stuffed in her mouth, and some sadist had strapped a tight metal band around her head. She stuck out her tongue, and then smacked her lips. The echo rebounded loudly in her cranium.
She gingerly eased to her feet and headed for the kitchen. There must be coffee, lots and lots of strong coffee, if she planned to face the day.
While the dark stream drizzled into the pot, she pulled a baggie from the drawer and filled it with ice. She pressed the makeshift ice pack first to her forehead, then to her tailbone.
Three aspirin went down with her first sip of coffee. She filled a second cup and padded back into her bedroom.
Lowering to the edge of the bed, she set the coffees on the nightstand, and sat silent a moment, hands clasped, resting on her knees. Thick stubble shadowed Dibs’s chin, his hair playfully mussed and the fringe of his dark eyelashes two small fans above his cheeks. Tiffany was right. Even dead asleep the man was gorgeous.
She smiled and dotted a fingertip down the bridge of his nose. “Hey.”
His eyes fluttered opened, and a slight frown creased his brow as they shifted back and forth across her ceiling.
A quiet laugh was her response.
Matching her smile, he rolled onto his side, and slipped a hand under the pillow. “How are you feeling?”
“Ouch.” She squeezed one eye closed, pointing at her forehead. “Okay, give it to me straight. How bad was it?”
“Not too bad in the grand scheme of things, but I’m assuming sorta bad for you.” He levered up on his elbow and accepted the coffee she offered, leaning forward for a sip.
“Uh huh, and why, exactly, is my ass throbbing like a bass drum?”
He choked, sputtering into his cup. “You fell.”
Grimacing, she covered her face with one hand. “God, I’m such a dork.”
“A very sweet dork.”
She peeked at him through her fingers. Figures Dibs would be considerate enough to turn her embarrassment into a compliment. “Was I upset? I think I remember being upset for some reason.”
He dipped his head. “You got a little upset.”
“About?”
He brought the cup to his lips, as if using the moment to consider his reply. “You didn’t say,” he finally answered.
But his evasion didn’t hide the knowledge in his eyes. He knew…he knew why she’d been upset, but wasn’t telling her
.
“What
did
I say?”
One corner of his lips quirked in a half smile. “‘I’m sorry, Dibs,’ was the preferred phrase.”
Yes, she remembered apologizing…and sorrow. “Well, there’s that, at least.” She stood and entered the bathroom, eying her disheveled reflection in the mirror. Dark mascara smudges ghosted down both her cheeks. Alice Cooper had nothing on her. “I need to get my very sore ass to work. I’ve got a lot to do today.”
“Okay.” The covers rustled. “I’ll get out of your hair, then.”
As Dibs collected his coat from the end of the bed, picked up his tie and stuffed it in his pocket, she waded through the muck in her brain, trying to work out why he was there. Based on her condition, he had probably been worried, so he stayed to watch over her.
Her eyes welled with tears all over again. God, what was wrong with her?
She blinked them away when he paused in the bedroom doorway. “I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Sure, okay.” She trailed him down the hall to the front door. “Hey, Dibs?”
He lifted his brows.
“Thanks for watching out for me last night.”
He smiled and twisted the knob. “I’ll call you later.” He pulled the door open and left.
****
At the resonating gong of the office doorbell, Tessa pried her aching head off her desk.
“Uh oh.” Tiffany stopped inside the office doorway. “This doesn’t look good. How do you feel?”
“My head’s killing me, but it doesn’t hurt half as bad as my ass.”
A chortle burst from her lips. “Good grief. What happened?”
“Evidently, I fell.”
“Oh, no.” She tossed her head back, blonde hair swinging as her laughter pinged around the room.
But her amusement settled sourly in the middle of Tessa’s stomach. “Ha, ha, laugh it up. It’s your fault, anyway.”
“How is that my fault?”
Tessa winced, pinching the bridge of her nose. God, did she have to talk so loud? “If you and Kevin hadn’t been all lovey-dovey last night, I wouldn’t have gotten drunk.”
“Or you could finally admit you’re crazy about the whack job and get over this stupid hang-up of yours.”
“His name’s Dibs,” she snapped. “And we’re just friends.”
“Okay, geesh. Take my head off.”
“You made me completely uncomfortable last night, Tiff. The whole thing was embarrassing.”
“Listen, missy.” Tiffany aimed a sharp finger across the room. “The only one who should be embarrassed is you. You drank too much because you can’t deal with how you’re developing feelings for your so-called
friend
, and now because you’re hung over, you’re taking your misery out on me.”
“You are so way off base.” Tessa crossed her arms. “I was embarrassed because we couldn’t even have a conversation at the table without you and
Ke-vin
groping each other.”
“Well, I’m sorry if I interrupted your fake little world with some genuine emotion, Tessa. Unlike you, I prefer not to waste my time trying to fool myself and everyone else around me.” Tiffany spun on her toe and disappeared.
Tessa lowered her cheek back to the paperwork on her desk. The perfect start to the perfect day. Her head hurt, her body hurt, and she could’ve sworn there were times when her heart hurt. And the worst part? Tiffany was right. Her attachment to Dibs
was
growing. Had been since the moment he sat next to her in the airport. But skipping blindly down the path to heartbreak would only compound the problem. And she wasn’t about to add another mistake to the never-ending list in her possession.
Most of the day, she spent hiding out in her office, avoiding the world. Whenever an issue arose that required Tiff’s expertise, she added it to the ever-growing pile on the side of her desk before finding something else to occupy her time.
Later that afternoon when the phone rang, she quickly answered, hoping the caller might be Dibs so she could hear a friendly voice.