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I held a hand out. “Come on. Time for you to go home, sleep it off.”
Ignoring my offer, she grabbed her heels and hopped out of the truck on her own. Only, she must’ve misjudged the height—or misjudged how drunk she was. She’d started flailing, as graceless as I’d ever seen her, and would have gone down if I hadn’t caught her and scooped her up bridal style.
I expected to get kicked and clawed again, but she barely protested. With a groan, she went limp, her head falling back, her long hair swinging freely, as I carried her dead weight to her house next door.
Right. Next. Door.
I climbed up her porch steps, stopping at her door. “Gonna put you down now.”
She gave my arm a slap. “No, horsey. I don’t want to walk. My feet are broken. Carry me to my bed.”
“Nope.” I tipped her body so she was perpendicular to the ground and set her on her feet. She stumbled into me, catching herself in my arms. “You have your keys?”
She slowly lifted her head, blowing her hair off her face. Attempting to, at least. The silvery-blonde strands only lifted the slightest then fell back down.
“Probably. But I think I’ll just sleep out here.”
She started for the Adirondack chair next to the door, but I caught her around the shoulders, steering her back to the door.
“I don’t care if you sleep in your bed, but you’re going inside. Curl up on the kitchen floor if that sounds comfortable. All I promised was to get you home in one piece.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m home. You can go now.”
“Where are your keys?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I blew out a heavy breath. I was way too fuckin’ sober to be dealing with drunk-girl logic.
“Yeah, Elsa, I want to know, that’s why I asked.”
She stomped her foot on the porch floor and dug her hand into the bodice of her dress. Her hand emerged, clutching a single key.
“See? I told you you’d want to know.” She waved it in my face. “This is a tit key, Lachlan. It’s warm from being snuggled up to my boob all night.”
My patience was pretty much endless, but I didn’t know if I had it in me to deal with this. I needed to get her inside before I lost my head.
Plucking the hot key from her hand, I unlocked the door and swung it open. “In.”
She took the key back from me, dropping it into her dress again, then stumbled into the house. “You should stop calling me Elsa. It’s rude.”
Nothing to say to that, I lifted a shoulder. “Go to bed.”
A soft sigh fell from her parted lips, and she leaned against the doorjamb. The house behind her was dark. The light above me flickered, not doing a very good job of illuminating the porch. It’d been bothering me for a while now. I’d have to come back over and switch out the bulb, see if that fixed it.
“Why do you hate me?” she asked.
My brow dropped. It was late, and this was the last thing I’d expected to come from her. I crossed my arms over my chest, moving my jaw back and forth.
“Never said I did.”
“Pffft. It’s pretty obvious.” She flicked her fingers carelessly. “I’m used to people hating me—but for valid reasons. I’ve never done anything to you, so your disdain confuses me.”
I waited for another question. It never came. So I tipped my chin. “Go inside. Lock up. Drink some water. You’ll be thankful you did in the morning.”
Even in the dark, I could see her eyes darting between mine. Finally, her head fell against the jamb and she sighed.
“It’s a good thing I don’t give a damn if you like me, Lachlan. If I did, I’d be really annoyed right now.Reallyannoyed.”
