Page 22 of Falling for the Billionaire Best Man

I tried to remember what I did with it. I needed to call Kaisen and ask him to please bring my car. I didn’t care that I had to see him. There was only one priority right now. The last place I had my phone was in bed.

I searched through the tangled mess of blankets, finally finding my phone buried deep in the covers. The screen lit up with a notification. To my surprise, it was a text from Kaisen. He’d asked for my address an hour ago. Of course he was an early riser too. I groaned again, typing out my address and hitting send before flopping back onto the bed.

I lay there for a minute, telling myself I should at least brush my teeth before he showed up. Maybe brush my hair. Get dressed. I closed my eyes just for a second. Next thing I knew, there was a knock at the door.

“Oh shit.”

I looked at the clock. I had fallen back asleep. It’d been twenty minutes. I jumped out of bed and tried to make myself look somewhat human, but I was still makeup free and wearing pajama shorts and an old tank top. Not exactly my best look.

“Just a second!”

I ran into the bathroom and squeezed some toothpaste on my tongue, wincing and gagging. I scooped water in my mouth, swished and spit.

That was the best I could do.

I opened the door to find Kaisen standing there, looking annoyingly put together in a fitted sweater and dark jeans. His gaze swept over me, lingering for a moment longer than necessary. I felt a flush creep up my neck. Was he judging me? Or was that something else?

“You okay?” he asked, his tone teasing. “I’ve never seen anyone get that tipsy on two glasses of wine.”

I opened my mouth to fire back a retort, but before I could say anything, Rick darted out from his perch on top of the table and wound himself around Kaisen’s legs. Kaisen jumped, startled, which only made Rick hiss and puff up like a little white and silver cloud.

“Rick, be nice,” I warned.

“Rick?” Kaisen asked.

“The cat.”

“You named your cat Rick?”

“I didn’t. He came with the name. I got him from a shelter two years ago. He doesn’t like men. He has made it his mission to stalk and harass any men who come within fifty feet of me.”

“Nice. Your version of a guard dog. Maybe you should get him a spiked collar.”

I sighed, too caffeine-deprived to deal with this. “Thanks for dropping off my car,” I said, turning toward my room to get dressed. “The same morning my coffeemaker dies I don’t have my car. The morning I need coffee, and I can’t get it.”

“Broken coffeemaker, huh?” Kaisen called after me.

I paused, glancing over my shoulder. “Yeah. It’s been a morning.”

He walked into the living room, still eyeing Rick warily. “I was just heading into town to pick up some groceries for the mansion. I can take you to get coffee.”

It wasn’t a question. More like a command. I raised an eyebrow. “Are you used to getting your way all the time?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation, his lips curving into a smirk. “Now go get dressed. As much as I love what those shorts are doing, it’s cold. Put some pants on. I would hate for you to get sick before the wedding.”

I scowled at him, but my cheeks burned. No one had ever commented on my body like that before. It left me flustered. I retreated to my room, wiggling into a pair of jeans and pulling on a sweater. Then I brushed my teeth for real, washed my face, and rubbed on some of my tinted moisturizer. As usual, my hair was pulled up into a bun. It was my default hairstyle.

When I emerged, Kaisen was still standing in the kitchen, squaring off with Rick, who looked like he was ready to launch himself at any moment.

“Stop messing with my cat, please,” I said. “I don’t want you to sue me because my cat kicks your ass.”

“He started it,” Kaisen shot back, glaring at Rick.

“I told you he doesn’t like men.”

“Because you named him Rick,” Kaisen retorted. “That’s not a cat name.”

“Does it matter?” I asked and snatched my keys from where he’d left them on the counter. “I’m not sure he actually knows his name. He meows. He might think his name is Cat for all I know.”