Venus rising boxset, p.54
Venus Rising Boxset, page 54
Her mind seemed like it was splintered apart as she tried to figure out exactly what had happened. They had been watching Gilmore Girls, eating food, drinking wine... the wine. Blinking again, she surveyed the space in front of them. The coffee table was littered with Chinese food cartons, plates with dried ketchup and shriveled smiley fries, bags of chips, a container of hummus that had been completely scraped clean, and two of the double bottles of wine.
Oh my god, we drank both of those?
No wonder she felt like a zombie. She’d had the equivalent of two bottles of wine to herself. Nausea rose in the back of her throat, and she forced it down as she focused on the people who were standing in front of the television. There seemed to be more of them than planned. Dimly she remembered Jessica saying Justin and Chris were coming over to watch the game—how late had they slept?!—but there were definitely four people standing there. Justin, Chris, Olivia—easily identifiable by her flaming red hair and the highly amused expression on her face, and...
No. No, no, no, no, no. It wasn’t fair.
Grabbing the cushion, a tactic much easier with her eyes open, Hilary threw herself back down on the couch and buried her head under it. Laughter exploded around her, far too loud for her pounding head, and she moaned again, but they couldn’t hear her.
“What’s going on?” she could hear Jessica asking, irritably. “You’re too loud.”
“Come on, sweetheart,” said Justin. Movement on the couch indicated either he or Chris was probably helping Jessica up. Hilary just curled into a small ball and prayed she would go unnoticed for as long as possible. “After the call I got at two in the morning from you, I had a feeling you might need some hangover cures.”
“Mmmm,” said Jessica, sounding sleepy. “I think I’m still drunk.”
Hilary wished she was. Someone stroked her arm, and she jumped, peeking out from underneath the pillow to meet amused grey eyes. Of course. She wished the couch cushions could just swallow her up until the shame went away. Who invited him anyway?!
“Good morning, honey-girl.”
She just stared at him, unwilling to open her mouth and blast him with her hideous post-drinking and junk food binge morning breath to reply. It might be rude, but he’d thank her if he knew. The obnoxious man’s grin widened.
What right did he have to look so darn good this early in the morning? He was wearing a steely grey light sweater that matched his eyes exactly, his auburn hair looking pleasingly ruffled, and a pair of dark blue jeans hugging his sculpted thighs. As his hand stroked down to her thigh, Hilary remembered she and Jessica had drunkenly decided they would be more comfortable without their pants. Staring into Liam’s eyes as he traced a finger down her bare leg seemed like a really bad time to remember that, but she couldn’t tell him to stop without subjecting him to her morning breath, and Oh God... please let this be an awful dream.
“I don’t think this one’s quite awake yet,” he said teasingly, speaking to the others but not taking his eyes from her. Hilary stifled a groan as she pulled her cushion back over her head—it didn’t care if she had morning breath.
“Go away....” she pleaded into the cushion.
“Absolutely not,” Justin said firmly. “The two of you are a mess.”
“And Justin can’t stand seeing a mess without cleaning it up,” Olivia said with amusement. The couch next to Hilary bounced as Olivia sat down, giving Hilary’s ass a sharp slap. “Cute panties.” Sitting up with a gasp of outrage, Hilary found herself swaying as dizziness overtook her.
“Hey, careful now,” Liam said, frowning at Olivia as he sat down on the other side of Hilary, wrapping one arm around her to help steady her.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she muttered, trying to stand. Part of her wanted to lean into Liam and accept his support, but that was so not an option right now. “Excuse me.”
“Do you need help?” he asked. Hilary shook her head, trying to hide her face from him until she could see the damage.
“I’ve got it,” said Olivia, hopping up. Hilary shot her a look of gratitude. As annoying as her friend might be on occasion, at the moment, she preferred Olivia’s help to Liam’s. It was a lot less embarrassing. Jessica was being fussed over by Chris and Justin and not taking it very well, going by the fact she was still on the couch, and Justin’s face was getting darker and stormier. Chris just looked amused, but then he would. She choked on a laugh as Jessica’s hand snaked out and smacked Justin’s away.
Any urge to laugh died when Olivia got her to the bathroom, and she saw what a fright she looked. Her blonde hair didn’t look like honey, it looked like straw—really messy straw kids had pulled from its bale and jumped around in, possibly had a few birds nesting in it. She groaned. Her hair wasn’t even the worst of it. Her face was a wreck —eye makeup streaked across her temples and under her eyes in dark circles, her lips swollen with sleep and what looked like dried saliva from the corner of her mouth down to her lower cheek. Ew, ew, ew. And Liam had seen her like this.
“Oh, no,” she moaned as Olivia turned on the faucet. Right now, she felt completely useless for doing anything but staring at herself in abject misery. “What is he doing here?”
“Ah ha!” said the other woman, an irrepressible grin on her face. “I knew you liked him.” She grabbed the painkillers from the cabinet and filled up a glass of water.
“Then why didn’t you stop him from seeing me?” Hilary muttered as she took the small pills Olivia was proffering. Hopefully, they would start to work on her wretched headache sooner rather than later.
Olivia just ignored her and grabbed a washcloth, dampening it in the warm water and bringing it up to Hilary’s face. With a small sigh, Hilary reached up and pulled the cloth from Olivia’s grip, taking over the task of cleaning herself up. As she began to repair the damage to her face, Olivia got the brush and went to work on Hilary’s hair.
“Men like to see what a woman looks like in the morning,” Olivia said authoritatively—not that Hilary had ever heard Olivia speak in any other way. “We’re horrified, but they want to see what’s under all the pretty packaging we present to them. It makes them feel better about themselves. Trust me, considering the way you’re dressed, he wasn’t paying much attention to your makeup or hair, anyway.”
Hilary flushed as Olivia nodded at her current outfit. Not only had Hilary and Jessica taken off their pants when they’d gotten overheated and drunk, but at some point, Hilary had also taken off her bra. Her nipples were clearly showing through the thin material of the light blue baby-doll t-shirt she’d been wearing, which happened to match the blue and pink flowered panties she had on.
“I look like a five-year-old,” she whined.
“Not with that body you don’t,” Olivia said and whacked Hilary’s butt with the hairbrush. Hilary glared at her in the mirror. “He didn’t think so either, judging by the bulge in his pants, which I’m guessing you were too hung over to notice.”
That was encouraging. Maybe seeing her like this wasn’t a total wash. Of course, he’d seen her in a lot less on too. Was there anything to Olivia’s assertion that he’d want to see her without all the usual careful feminine preparations? Hilary had always been the kind of girl to wake up before her boyfriends and make sure she was looking presentable in the morning, not wanting them to think she didn’t care how she looked for them. But there was a certain wisdom to what Olivia said. After all, Jessica often went around after getting up first thing in the morning without doing anything, and it didn’t seem to change the way Chris and Justin acted with her at all. In fact, they’d been known to haul her off to the bedroom first thing after breakfast.
Picking up her toothbrush and beginning to get some of the awful taste out of her mouth, Hilary decided it didn’t really matter whether it was a good or bad thing because it had already happened. If she could have prevented it, she absolutely would have, but now, she had to deal with the aftermath.
Chuckling to himself, Liam got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen. As amusing as watching Justin and Chris try to rouse Jessica was, he had a feeling he would be put to better use making coffee… and breakfast. Although if the girls could eat anything after the pile of junk food heaped on the coffee table, it might actually make him a little sick. How had they managed to consume so much? Especially the wine?
Although from the look of things, they were paying for it. Hilary had looked terrible. It was actually kind of reassuring to see someone as put together and self-possessed as his honey-girl still had her moments of weakness. The hair had been kind of cute in a very messy way. The little girl look was appealing only because it came with a very womanly body, but he’d appreciated seeing her curves in those cute little panties and that tight tank top. Kind of disappointed she hadn’t been wearing a thong, actually.
On his way to the kitchen, he stepped over what looked like two pairs of jeans piled next to each other on the floor. Apparently, they’d stripped where they stood and just walked off without the rest of their clothes. What he would have given to be a fly on the wall last night!
Fortunately, the kitchen was still in pretty decent order, although there was half a tray of smiley fries on the stove, cooked then forgotten by the looks of them. Shrugging, he scooped them into a pan. He could make some cheesy hash browns out of them so they wouldn’t go to waste. Efficiently, he started the coffee, scrambled eggs, and began to put together a large breakfast for all of them to enjoy. From the sounds in the living room, the guys had finally gotten Jessica up and moving. Damn, that girl had a mouth on her, although every couple of words was punctuated by giggling. She was going to be hurting later—n ot just because of the hangover. Liam was pretty sure Justin and Chris would use this as an excuse for discipline. Not because Jessica actually needed to be punished, but because all three of them liked it.
“Coffee....”
Liam turned to see Hilary standing in the other doorway to the kitchen, the one leading into the hallway, her voice full of reverence and need. Those big, brown doe-eyes looked half-lidded and dreamy, her lips swollen with sleep, her hair was pulled back into a messy knot on the back of her head, a few tendrils trailing around her face. Sadly, she’d put on sweatpants, but he was pleased to see she’d either forgotten or deliberately left off a bra. Probably forgotten, considering her current state of affairs.
“Can you pour a cup for Jessica and me too?” Olivia asked. “I’ll take it out to her. Might help the boys get her ass up.”
Smiling, Liam pulled out three mugs as Hilary leaned on the counter and watched him move around her kitchen as if she still wasn’t quite awake yet.
“How does she take it?”
“Sugar and milk for her, just milk for me, please,” said Hilary.
“Cream if they have it, milk, if not.”
Moving quickly, Liam prepared the coffee and gave two cups to Olivia and one to Hilary. Olivia disappeared from the doorway, going around to the living room, and he turned his attention back to the food. Everything was pretty much ready to plate. He’d made scrambled eggs, cheesy hash browns, and sausage; just enough carbs and grease to help soak up the alcohol. Plus, Justin had brought over Gatorade and bananas to help with the hangover.
“Here, eat this,” he said, handing a banana to Hilary as he began filling plates with food. “Potassium helps with hangovers.”
“Thank you.” Setting the coffee cup down on the counter, she began peeling the banana as she watched him, shifting uncomfortably. Observing her from the corner of his eye, he pretended not to be paying attention to her. She seemed anxious as if she didn’t know what to say to him but didn’t want to walk away from him either.
“Justin and Chris asked Olivia and me if we wanted to come over to watch the game. I hope you don’t mind,” he said, shooting her a sidelong look. Hastily chewing her bite of banana, Hilary shook her head, then winced. He covered a grin behind a small cough. Poor thing was probably going to be hurting for a bit. Abandoning the plates for a moment, he stepped closer to her, cupping her face in his hands and tilting her head back so he could look more carefully at her expression. The crinkling around her eyes told him the light was still bright enough to cause her discomfort. “Do you need something for your headache?”
“No, I took some we keep in the bathroom,” she said, her cheeks flushing as she shifted uncomfortably. Damn, he was making her nervous, and while that was great under the right situations, the whole point of being here today was to make her more comfortable with him.
Tone down the seduction, Casanova.
Hilary was outside her comfort zone already, having him here. With a careful, non-threatening smile, Liam released her face and stepped back.
“Good.”
He turned and began picking up the plates he’d filled with food.
“Here, let me help with those.” Hilary hurried forward, looking at him from underneath hooded lashes. Now that he’d stepped back, she was feeling compelled to chase after him a little. Normally, he liked to do the chasing, but with someone who was unsure about their interest in BDSM—and him—it would be better if she had to chase him a little too. It confirmed she felt more comfortable if he didn’t push too hard—for now.
Grabbing silverware from the drawer, they each brought out two plates to the people in the living room. Jessica was finally sitting up, drinking Gatorade and glaring at Justin as Chris held her coffee just out of reach. Apparently, she wasn’t to have her coffee until Justin satisfied himself, making sure she wasn’t dehydrated. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea for Hilary either. Watching them from an armchair and grinning at the scene in front of her was Olivia, who hopped up to take a plate from Hilary.
Handing his plates off to the two men, Liam went back into the kitchen, Hilary following. She grabbed her plate and coffee and went back into the living room, looking shy. Feeling remarkably good about showing up this morning, Liam tucked a Gatorade for her under his arm as he grabbed his own plate and coffee and followed her.
The room had sorted itself out somewhat. Chris was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, facing everyone seated on the couch. Jessica and Justin were on the couch, plates of food in their laps, and Olivia maintained her position on the armchair. Hilary was on the opposite side of the coffee table from Chris and a little way down, so they weren’t sitting directly across from each other.
Justin flicked a look at Liam, then at the couch, where they’d left a spot open directly behind Hilary. In fact, if he chose to, he could sit with one of his legs on either side of her. He definitely chose to.
Grinning broadly, he moved to his chosen position on the couch, enjoying the way Hilary’s body stiffened in alertness as he positioned himself behind her where she couldn’t see him but his presence couldn’t be ignored. Setting his coffee down on the end table, he leaned forward and placed the Gatorade on the coffee table next to her.
“For you,” he murmured in her ear, watching the heat rise in her cheeks as she shivered. Nice to know, even hung over and embarrassed, he could still have that kind of effect on her—a major stroking of his male ego, which he definitely enjoyed.
“Thank you,” she said, focusing on the plate of food in front of her as if her life depended on it. Cheerfully, Liam sat back on the couch and began eating, keeping his legs just close enough to her body, he wasn’t touching her, but if she moved at all, she would touch him. This was already more fun than it should be.
The food was delicious, but Hilary could barely choke it down. He was sitting right behind her. If she moved even half an inch to either side, if she even shifted her weight, she’d be pressing up against his legs. What would he read into that? Or had he sat this way on purpose, just to torment her? If only she could turn around and look at him, but then more than just her arm would be pressing up against him. Oh... why had she let Olivia talk her into not putting on a bra?!
Oh, right, because she wanted to be a tease. But she wasn’t good at teasing, not this kind of teasing, anyway. Hilary was an accomplished flirt, a sweetheart, the kind of girl who boys wanted to bring home to their mothers; she had no idea what to do with nipples that were achingly hard and increasingly obvious. So, she hunched her shoulders forward, pretending to concentrate on her food, when really, all the hairs on the back of her neck and arms were standing at attention because she couldn’t focus on anything but the sexy man behind her. The all too sexy, all too put together man who had seen her at her very worst, yet didn’t seem to be running away.
So, maybe Olivia was right about some things.
“You two look awful,” said Olivia cheerfully. “That will teach you to have a girls’ night without me.”
Jessica just laughed, although it wasn’t quite her normal, boisterous laugh. “Because you would have been so excited about watching Gilmore Girls.”
Rolling her eyes, Olivia made a face of disgust. “I hate that show.”
“Hence, why we didn’t invite you. Who wants to listen to hours of whining on girls’ night?” teased Hilary. Hesitating as she reached for her coffee, she switched her hand over to grasp the Gatorade Liam had brought her, instead. That was sweet of him. Her body was starting to feel a little parched, she needed to rehydrate.
Even though she’d been horrified when she’d realized who had shown up in the apartment, part of her was thinking she could get used to having someone come in and take care of her through her hangovers. Food appearing like magic, coffee, Gatorade... and all she’d had to do was put on some pants and brush her teeth. It was also nice not to be watching Jessica receive that kind of care from Justin and Chris while Hilary was only included by proxy.
“What’s wrong with Gilmore Girls?” Chris wanted to know.
