Mazey wasn’t an expert on getting drunk, she could count on the fingers of one hand how many times she’d indulged past her limit. If she could count right now, that is. She squinted. The hand she had curled around her water bottle seemed to have grown a few extra fingers. She held it up.
“Why do I have so many extra fingers? Did I get them when you got your extra mouth?” she asked.
Laughing, Rylan pulled her out of the booth. “Let’s get you outside.”
She followed as he led her out of the bar and to his truck, where he had to lift her up and put her in the seat. The fresh air hadn’t helped to steady her at all. He had to strap her in because she kept fumbling the belt, making it snap back into the side of the truck. Once she was locked in to his satisfaction, he closed the door.
“Wait. Don’t leave me. Where are you going?” she asked the empty cab.
By the time he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the truck, Mazey had forgotten her question and rested her head on the side window, eyes half-closed.
Rylan must have some sort ofStar Trekbeam-me-up-Scotty machine because before she blinked, he was back at her door, his hand sneaking in to hold her head to keep it from falling off when he opened the door. He had to use his whole body to stop her tumbling out of the truck when he unlatched her seatbelt. “C’mon, inside with you.”
“Don’t think I can walk,” she mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her forehead to his shoulder. Her head was starting to throb, and it was so damn heavy.
When he put her feet on the ground, her knees didn’t hold, and he had to pull her tighter against his chest. “I’ve got you.”
Yes, he did. And it felt amazing in his arms. Well, it would if she could feel her arms and legs and the rock band in her head would quit playing. Maybe if she laid down for a bit.
“Take me to bed.”
One of them groaned. It might have been him, but it was probably her because the throb in her head picked up tempo and decibel level as Rylan swung her up and cradled her like a child.
“You’re going to test every limit I have, aren’t you, Maz?”
She didn’t know how to answer that.
What limits was he talking about? Drinking limits? Because she was pretty sure she’d tested and broken hers hours ago.
Fuck. She was going to feel this in the morning.
12
Rylan managed to get inside Mazey’s house in spite of having the deadweight of the woman herself in his arms.
She’d passed out. Which could be good or bad. He really wanted her to have more water and a couple of pain pills before she went to bed.
Speaking of, he headed down the hallway in search of hers. He’d lay her down, then get a glass of water and some pain meds.
Her room was like he’d expected—like the rest of her house—neat and organized, with basic furniture and simple decorations. The quilt, a dark blue, matched the sheets beneath when he pulled it back. He gently laid her down and slipped off her shoes. She’d probably be more comfortable out of that tight dress, but he wasn’t going there.
Bad enough he could see a glimpse of what she had on under it.
Something black and see-through.
Needing to put some space between him and temptation, Rylan left her bedroom and ducked across the hall into the bathroom.
None of the drawers held what he was looking for, and the cupboard under the basin only had cleaning supplies and spare rolls of toilet paper.
He needed to think like Mazey.
Where would she keep her medication if not in the bathroom?
The kitchen seemed the next logical place, and he’d checked every cupboard and drawer before he finally found a first-aid box—clearly labeled—in the cupboard above her fridge.
When he popped the lid, he found everything in precise sections, and he had to smile. He wasn’t surprised. He’d gotten acquainted with her medical equipment filing system during their spring clean of the base. He grabbed a bottle of pain reliever and closed the lid.
For a second, he wondered if he should leave the box down so she could put the medication away easily in the morning before the thought of her somewhat OCD tendencies prompted him to put it away properly.
