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“No, not you,” he agreed, and he wasn’t laughing anymore. “You’re too good for all of that.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
“You forget I’ve seen you wear a glowing dick on your head.”
“That was a bachelorette party,” I quickly defended.
“Just saying. Girls can be filthy, raunchy, and nasty. Worse than guys, sometimes.”
Okay. I couldn’t argue with that. “Anyway…” I sighed, “… there’s nothing wrong with not being into your raunchy talk.”
“It is when you’re… never mind.”
I could barely hold a coherent thought in my head, but he had an effect on me. “Tell me. Come on. What, you lost your nerve? I thought you liked antagonizing me. It’s the least I can let you do now that you’ve gone out of your way and made a big scene at the hospital.”
“I didn’t make a scene. I was only trying to do what I was asked to do as a favor to my friend.” Because obviously, he had to make sure I knew he wasn’t helping me out of the goodness of his heart.
I was starting to wonder if he even had one. I might have asked if he had one if it wasn’t for the lingering effects of anesthesia screwing with my head. That, and the fact he drove fast enough to make my stomach clench and my hands curl into fists. It was safer and easier to close my eyes and shut it all out.
Unfortunately, that meant letting sleep pull me under before I could stop it.
10
MAGNUS
“Well, fuck.” She was out cold by the time I pulled into the underground garage beneath Barrett’s SoHo penthouse. “Hey.” I nudged Evelyn, but she only murmured wordlessly before her head turned to the other side.
Shit.Now what? “We’re here,” I murmured, nudging her again. She only mumbled something incoherent before a loud, almost violent snore made me blurt out a laugh. Even that got no response. If she wasn’t bitching me out for laughing at her, that meant she was sound asleep.
That left me with the issue of getting her upstairs somehow. A cane was sticking out of her bag in the back seat, but that couldn’t have been enough, anyway. I was sure she wasn’t supposed to put any weight on her bandaged leg. I cursed myself again for not getting her number and planning this out in advance.
“I’m going to have to carry you, you know. If you don’t wake up.” Silence. “That means I’ll have to, like, touch you, and it will probably piss you off because you’ll think it means I think you’re weak.”
When another nudge didn’t wake her, I added, “Maybe I’ll cop a feel while I’m at it.” Her breathing didn’t so much as change, and I knew she was hopelessly unconscious. If the mention of me feeling her up didn’t earn me a slap in the face, nothing would.
Well, the only other alternative was sitting in the car until she woke up. I had no way of knowing when that would happen, so I opened the door and started around the car, cursing myself for probably the millionth time that day. How the hell did I manage to get in situations like this?
Then again, I had never met anyone who was so damn determined not to let me in. And when I tried to be a friend, what did she do? Cursed me out and threw me out of her room. A real one-two punch.
Well, she wasn’t in any position to push me out or otherwise throw my decency back in my face now that she was snoring softly. I slung her bag over my shoulder and reached for her, leaning over her to unbuckle her belt before carefully sliding my arms behind her back and beneath her bent knees. She wasn’t weightless, but she wasn’t very heavy, either. She was motionless, her head lolling against my shoulder while I kicked the door closed and started toward the swinging door leading inside the building.
The door closing must have woken her a little because she stirred, mumbling, “What… doing?”
“What do you think? Carrying you upstairs so I can have my way with you. I don’t need to touch your leg. There’s all sorts of other stuff we can do.”
“Jerk.”
“Ass stuff, even.”
“Shut up,” she replied, but it didn’t pack any bite as she buried her face in my neck and sighed softly. Her breath made goose bumps erupt across my skin.
How unfortunate. It was easier when she was full of sass and busting my balls. I didn’t need my dick getting any big ideas about what to do with her. This was not the time. As if she would want me that way anyway.
The staff at the front desk recognized her immediately, calling the elevator for me since I was in no position to do it myself with my arms full. “Would you like me to come upstairs with you to open the door?” the guy asked, and I welcomed his assistance. I didn’t need Barrett blaming me for dropping his sister on the floor.
She was still asleep by the time we reached the penthouse. Then, after telling the front desk guy we wouldn’t need any more help, I carried her to the master bedroom. I assumed that was where she would be staying, and when I found a nightgown draped across the foot of the bed, I knew I was right.
A nice one, too, not what I would expect her to wear. Slinky, black, and lacy didn’t seem like her style. “You have interesting taste, Eve,” I murmured as I set her down with her head on the pillow before stepping back and wondering what to do next. I wasn’t going to undress her. I knew better. Besides, all bullshit aside, that was the last thing a woman in the grips of anesthesia needed—waking up to find some guy pulling her clothes off, no matter who he was. I settled for removing her slip-on shoes, and when she didn’t react, I eased her out of the thin, long cardigan she wore over loose fitting pants and tank top.
