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Caroline’s head was inside out. Not only that, but someone had taken sandpaper to her brain. Her eyeballs were dry. Her eyelids didn’t work. The light was too bright. Her mouth was full of fur. And every single muscle in her body ached. It was hell. She was in hell. A place where her brain hurt and someone left all the bloody lights on.
She heard chuckling. It was too damn loud. She pressed her palms to her ears and groaned before burrowing her head under the pillow. She’d come out later. Maybe. If it was silent. And dark. And she could move without a limb falling off.
“Come on, baby.” Josh’s voice was muffled through the pillow. “I’ve got some water and pills for you. It’ll help.”
Caroline thought about telling him to go away, but it took too much effort. There was more chuckling. The man was a sadist. The pillow disappeared. The light was back. She wasn’t sure what to cover first—her eyes or her ears.
Strong hands lifted her, turned her and propped her against the headboard. She’d seen people do this with sheep—pose them for their own amusement. Caroline covered her eyes with her forearm. It kept out the light but did nothing for the thumping—someone was playing bongo drums behind her eyeballs. A cold glass hit her lips.
“Drink,” was the rumbled command.
She drank. It tripped over the fur in her mouth and soothed her throat.
“Pills,” he ordered. “Open up.”
She opened up. Two pills. More water. She kept her hand over her eyes as she heard Josh walk away. She heard curtains being pulled. Suddenly it was much darker.
“Better?”
She groaned in reply.
“Guess we’re not going to be touching this morning.” Josh sounded amused.
If she had any energy she would have thrown something at him. Instead she just toppled to the side and let her face hit the pillow beside her.
“Okay, I can see you’re no use at all. I’ll come back later.”
He gently traced his fingers over her cheek, then her neck, shoulder and hip before she felt them disappear. She heard his footsteps and a door close.
It took her another ten minutes at least to realise she was naked.
With a long, guttural groan, she pressed into the bed and hoped the whole thing was a nightmare.
Because she did not want to deal with reality.
“How’s Sleeping Beauty?” Mitch asked when Josh wandered into the kitchen.
“Suffering.”
Suffering and stunning. Her skin felt like satin. During the night Caroline had gotten out of bed, complained loudly about her clothes being too heavy, stripped out of her underwear and climbed back in with him. If she hadn’t been four sheets to the wind, he’d have been in heaven. As it was, he spent the night holding her naked body and trying not to let his hands wander—well, wander too much. He thought he deserved a medal.
“First hangover?” Mitch grinned.
“According to her it’s her first everything.” Josh reached for the coffee pot. “She says I’m corrupting her.”
They clinked coffee cups in a toast to a job well done.
“Must you two be so loud?” Josh’s mum complained as she came into the kitchen.
One side of her hair was spiked out from her head, and the other side was mashed flat against it. Her yellow robe was wrapped tight around her and she hunched over as though standing was almost too difficult.
“Somebody needs coffee,” Mitch said out of the side of his mouth.
Josh tried not to laugh. It was tempting to give his mother the same lecture she’d always given him when he’d tied one on when he was younger. She never showed any sympathy for self-inflicted illness—especially illness of the hangover variety.
“Coffee, yes.” She walked gingerly to the dining table, assuming someone would bring her a cup.
“I’ll get it, will I?” Josh poured her a cup.
“What was it you used to tell us about restraint, Mrs. Mac?” Mitch was definitely in an evil mood. “Oh, yeah, that it was a sign of maturity.” He hid behind his coffee mug.
“Obviously I’m regressing.” Helen reached greedily for the coffee mug Josh held out. “I was mature. I don’t have a clue what I am now.” She tried to smile up at Josh. It looked like a grimace. “Do we have painkillers? Lots of them. Strong ones.”
“I’ll get you some.”
“Bless you,” she muttered before sipping the coffee.
Josh came back with a bottle of pills. “We need to talk about Dad.”
“This is not the best time.” Helen lunged for the painkillers.
“There’s never a good time. At least right now you can’t argue back, or run away. I’m taking the advantage.”
He pulled out a chair beside her at the table.
Mitch headed to the door. “That’s my cue to go. I’ve got a couple of leads on the photos of Caroline that went viral. I’ll run them down today and let you know what I come up with.”
As soon as Mitch was gone, Josh turned to his mother. “What’s it going to take to make you reunite with Dad?”
Helen hugged her coffee mug to her chest and scrunched her eyes against the light. “I don’t want to take him back. He’s on his own now.”
“You can’t throw away thirty-five years of marriage.”
“Watch me.”
Josh pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is me Mom, you can be honest. We both know you don’t want a divorce. You want Dad back the way he was when you first met him.”
Her eyes became glassy with unshed tears. Her shoulders slumped. “He’s the only man I’ve ever loved. The only one I want to love. But he hurts me every day. I can’t live like that. I could have forty years ahead of me, and I don’t want to spend it watching daytime TV and eating in silence. I want to live. I want him to live. But he doesn’t want that. He’s done. Ask him. As far as he’s concerned, sixty-seven is the age to quit living. It doesn’t matter to him that we could have years and years ahead of us to enjoy. To live.” The look in her eyes was heartbreaking. “So I’m done. I want to live, and I can’t do it with him.”
Josh took his mother’s hand in his. “What if he made an effort to change?”
She looked so dejected. “Honestly? I don’t think I’d believe it. He’s stubborn, cantankerous and set in his ways. Your dad hasn’t been anything but predictable for the past few years. I don’t see that changing.”
“He might surprise you yet.”
“No. He won’t.” His mother gave him a brave smile. “I know this is the last thing you need to deal with right now, what with the wedding and starting a new life with Caroline. So don’t think about us. We’re adults; we can deal with this by ourselves.”
Josh took a deep breath. “Neither one of you is behaving like an adult, Mom.”
His mother sat away from him. “Well, you only have another week to put up with us, then you’ll be off on honeymoon and we’ll deal with our marriage mess by ourselves.”
Josh smacked his forehead. Hard. “Honeymoon! Shit.”
“Josh McInnes. Language.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “I forgot about a honeymoon.”
“Seriously?” Caroline’s voice came from the doorway. “You only had one job.”
He couldn’t help but grin at the way Caroline was standing. It was as though she was afraid to move any part of her body. She was dressed in the same clothes as yesterday, although now they were crushed. Her face was pale. Her hair was ruffled and her feet were bare. She was adorable.
“The one job I had was to get the rings.” Josh resisted the urge to smack himself on the forehead again. Then he made a mental note to get the damn rings.
“Yes. You’re right.” She still hadn’t moved from the doorway. The look on her face told him that she thought taking another step would be akin to climbing a mountain. “I’ll sort out the honeymoon.”
“You will not,” Helen said loudly, then flinched. “That’s the groom’s job. It’s tradition.”
Caroline smiled wanly at her. “Nothing else about this wedding is traditional. Why start now?”
“I can sort the honeymoon,” Josh told them both. How hard could it be? He’d call someone and get them to make arrangements. “Where do you want to go?”
Caroline put one hand on the wall beside her, while the other rubbed her temple. “Surprise me. I’ve never been anywhere.”
“You’ve never been out of the country?” His mum seemed surprised.
“I went to London with Josh last week.”
“I don’t think that counts, baby,” Josh told her softly.
In his head he put Paris and Venice to the top of his list. He couldn’t think of two more romantic locations. Perfect for a honeymoon. He stopped short. Why was he thinking about romance? This wedding wasn’t about romance. It was about commitment. He gave himself a mental kick in the behind. Still. Paris was always nice. He looked at Caroline. She’d like Paris. And he’d like showing it to her.
“I’ll sort out the honeymoon. And the rings.”
Her eyebrows shot up her forehead. “Tell me you already have the rings.”
“Of course I have.” He tried to cover his gaff with a fake laugh.
The two women glared at him, making it clear that no one was fooled by his declaration. “Okay, I forgot. But I’ll get them. There’s plenty of time. The wedding is a week away.”
“Yeah,” his mum said with heavy sarcasm. “Loads of time.”
Josh ignored her. “Do you want coffee, baby?”
“No. I don’t like it. I just came in to tell you that I’m going home.” She looked down at her feet. “As soon as I find my shoes.” She looked back up at him, the effort in making every movement clear on her face. “Do you think they’ll come if I call for them?”
Josh grinned. “I’ll get them. Then I’ll walk you home.”
She shook her head, then her hands flew up to hold it on. “I’ll walk home alone. I need some time by myself. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Josh didn’t like that one bit. “I’m coming with you.”
“Please. I need some time alone. Just tonight. Okay?”
Josh growled before relenting. “I’ll stay here tonight, but I’m coming back to your place tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She was clearly relieved.
“But I’ll get your new bodyguard to drive you home.”
“New bodyguard? What happened to Gary?”
“Turns out he was an idiot.”
As Caroline swayed in place, he went to find her shoes.
When he returned to the kitchen, Caroline was explaining her problem with champagne to his mother. “I thought it was like lemonade. So easy to drink. You forget there’s alcohol in it.”
“Champagne is like that,” his mother commiserated. “Whatever you do, don’t try any of those chocolate liqueurs. It’s like drinking candy. One minute you’re thinking, this is delicious, next minute you’re face down in your own vomit wondering what the heck happened.”
Caroline shuddered. “Thank you. I’ll steer clear of those.”
“Here’s your bag and shoes.” He knelt down before her and helped her step into her shoes.
“Thank you.” Even with a hangover, her manners were impeccable. She patted him on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, Helen.” She turned to go.
“Oh, hell no.” Josh grabbed her arm and swung her back round towards him. She squealed. “That is not how you say goodbye to your man.”
His lips clamped down on hers as he threaded his fingers into the hair at the back of her head. After a thorough kissing, he released her. She wobbled on her feet.
“Bye, Caroline.” His mum’s tone was heavy with amusement.
Caroline touched her lips, then blinked hard as though to clear her head. Josh smiled knowingly. Maybe now she would regret this desire to be away from him. She mumbled something about needing time alone as she wobbled to the front door.