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“No, you’re a vampire. The walking date-rape drug. ” I clapped my hand over my mouth, my eyes widening with horror.
Holden looked dumbfounded for a moment before he cracked a smile. “Well, I’ll be damned. I know you told me before how much of a lightweight you are, but I thought you were exaggerating. ”
Refusing to move my hand from my mouth for fear of what might come out next, I shook my head. I was sort of pathetic when it came to alcohol. I could take a beating like nobody’s business, but give me a little booze and that was all it took. My heightened metabolism took me from sober to drunk in record time, as I was currently demonstrating to Holden. I had hoped my week of post-Desmond-break-up wallowing might have given me some heightened resistance to alcohol.
No such luck.
Holden reached across the island and pulled my hand away from my mouth. “Now would be a pretty stupid time to start censoring yourself, Secret. ”
“I might say something horrible. ”
“That never stopped you from saying them when sober. ” He winked.
Damn, he had a point. I had said some wildly cruel things to him while under no influence except my own stubborn bitchiness.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“No you’re not. ” He topped off my drink and slid the refilled glass back towards me. “Now drink that and tell me why you really came. ”
Chapter Three
I came for sex; I stayed for drunk therapy.
Nursing my second glass of scotch, I leaned against the counter and fixed Holden with a serious stare. “What do you think I came for?”
“Honestly?”
“Have you ever been anything but?”
He took a sip straight from the bottle and observed me with casual interest. “I think you did come to get laid. But I also think you would have felt bad about it when you woke up later. ”
I rolled my eyes and took another sip of the drink, my head swimming. “Shows what you know. ”
“Think about it for a second and then deny it. ”
I did as I was told. Was I here to sleep with Holden because I wanted to sleep with him, or was I here because there was an empty space torn out where my heart used to be, and I was willing to fill it with anything if I could just make it stop hurting?
I finished off my drink and made no attempt to tell him he was wrong.
“Wanna do it anyway?” I asked.
“No. ” Holden screwed the top back on the bottle and returned it to its place in the cupboard. “But you are spending the night here. ”
Outside, the night was starting to fade into early dawn, and the yellow of the city lights was turning the color of a fading bruise. It was the purple-gold sign I needed to be far away from sunlight. I’d never make it home in time, and we both knew it.
“Normally I’d think this was an excuse for you to get me into bed. ”
“Secret. ” He took the glass out of my hand and cupped my chin. His gaze bore into mine with an intensity that made me shiver. “When I get you into my bed for real, we’re going to need a lot longer than ten minutes if I’m going to make love to you the way I’ve been planning to all these years. Understand?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. His words had the weight of a threat, but they had me wound tight and panting for him to follow through.
If the sunrise wasn’t a few minutes away from knocking me out completely, I was going to ask for a cold shower before going to his bedroom. As it was, I’d fall asleep next to him with my mind spinning.
I opened my eyes to find Lucas staring at me.
Oh good, I thought. I’m drinking and dreaming.
“This is why you’ve been too busy to answer my calls?”
