The hotel was gorgeous.
Their room was amazing.
And Chelsea felt like she couldn’t enjoy any of it because she felt so damn stupid and guilty.
“Chels! Room service is here!” Drew called out.
She was in the bedroom with the door shut, trying to relax and fix herself up after her multiple breakdowns today. She shouldn’t have mentioned the suite; she should have gone with two separate rooms so she could wallow in her own private pity-party without having Drew or anyone around.
“Holy crap, that’s a lot of food,” she heard him say.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she frowned. She had showered and dried her hair, but right now in her pajamas and robe without a stitch of makeup on, she began to second-guess every decision she ever made.
Especially the one that had her ordering room service so she could spend even more time alone with Drew.
“Like this is going to change his opinion of me,” she murmured and forced herself to walk to the door.
Out in the main room, Chelsea found him looking out the window. She cleared her throat to alert him to her presence. He smiled and she felt an odd flutter in her belly.
Weird…
“Sorry I took so long,” she said as she sat down on the sofa. The coffee table was covered with an assortment of food and drinks. “This all looks and smells amazing.”
Nodding, Drew sat beside her. “Although I think eating is going to be a bit awkward like this.”
It wasn’t ideal, but she didn’t think it would be a problem. “What if we sat on the floor? That might work better.” And before she could second-guess herself, she slid down to the floor and crossed her legs, placed her napkin in her lap, and smiled up at him.
The expression on his face was priceless.
“You don’t have to sit on the floor if you don’t want to,” she said, “but I am starving and ready to dig in.”
Slowly, Drew came to the floor and eyed her weirdly.
“What? What’s the matter?”
“I…I just thought you would have freaked out at the setup, that’s all.”
Laughing softly, she said, “Why? Because I’m so uptight?”
He groaned. “Don’t tell me; let me guess…more words from Bianca?”
“And apparently from you.”
Another groan. “I’ve got a proposition for you.”
Pouring herself a glass of wine, she said, “I’m listening.”
“Can we pretend like the last year never happened?”
Now it was her turn to eye him weirdly. “Why?”
“Because I think we are carrying a lot of baggage regarding how we feel about each other, and honestly, I’m beginning to realize I don’t know you like I thought I did.” He paused. “And hopefully, you’ll see that maybe you don’t know me either.”
Taking a sip of her wine, Chelsea considered his words and realized he had a point. So much of what she thought she knew about him wasn’t quite right. Oh, he was still obnoxious and irked the crap out of her, but maybe without the influence of all their friends around them, they could discover something to actually like about each other.
“I think I like that plan,” she said after a moment. Once he poured himself some wine, she held up her glass. “A toast.”
Drew raised his glass and smiled at her.
“To new beginnings,” she said, tapping her glass to his.
“To new beginnings,” he agreed.
The wine was delicious, but her mouth was watering for everything else in front of her. They had decided to start with shrimp cocktails and she-crab soup. Both were magnificent, and they were enjoying the food so much that they didn’t talk a lot. When they moved on to their entrees, Drew was the one who broke the silence.
“The crab cakes look amazing,” he said.
Chelsea glanced over at his prime rib. “So does the steak.”
“Want to share? Do a little modified surf and turf?”
“Absolutely!” They divvied up their dishes, and once she took her first bite, she let out a very unladylike groan. “Damn, that’s good.”
Drew nodded in agreement. “Hell yeah, it is.” After taking a sip of his wine, he looked at her and smiled. “This is good.”
She nodded. “Delicious.”
He chuckled. “No, I mean this. Us. Sharing a meal. It’s good. And I’m glad you’re someone who doesn’t mind sharing.”
Ah…that made sense. “I have no trouble sharing my dinner or even my road trip snacks. But I’m going to warn you now that I am not good at sharing dessert.” Frowning, she glanced around the table. “We didn’t order dessert?”
Laughing again, he said, “I asked them to wait an hour before delivering it. I had no idea how full we’d be or if we’d even still want dessert.”
“There is always room for dessert.” She took another bite of her dinner and hummed happily. “It makes Bianca crazy when I say that. She’s forever reminding me how I should watch what I eat.” Then she laughed. “And yet she’s always eating off my plate! So stupid.”
“Why doesn’t she order her own food?”
“Seriously? Because she doesn’t want anyone to know she actually eats.” Shaking her head, she went on, “Have you ever noticed how she orders only salads but then will eat off of Jimmy’s plate? She tries saying she just wants a taste, but by the time the meal is done, she’s eaten a good portion of his. She does it to us girls when we go out too. We all laugh about it.”
“That’s insane! Why do you let her get away with it?” He paused and took a forkful of mashed potatoes and held it out to her. “You have to try these. I think they’re the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had.”
Without thinking, she let him feed her and damn if he wasn’t right. “Wow. So creamy! I should have asked if I could have them instead of the cauliflower caponata.”
“Why? That looks great too!”
She held up a forkful for him to try and fed it to him.
Wow…this is getting intimate.
Pulling her fork back, she watched as Drew closed his eyes and hummed–which sounded insanely sensual.
And getting more intimate by the minute…
Chelsea cleared her throat and quickly grabbed her wine and took a long drink. “So, Drew, what’s something you like to do in your free time?”
“Well, when we’re not out on Friday nights with the herd…”
“Herd?”
He nodded. “I swear we’re like this little herd–we all go out together and do everything together. It’s a little odd.”
“Why? Didn’t you always go places with your friends in high school and college?”
“Yeah, but…not like this. It’s like we’re this core group and no outsiders are allowed to stay.”
Now that he said it, he had a point. The few dates she’d had over the last year only managed to make it to one get together at O’Dwyer’s, and her last boyfriend mentioned how he didn’t feel welcome there at all.
“I can see by the look on your face that you know what I’m talking about.” He took a sip of his wine. “I don’t know if you remember, but I briefly dated a woman over the summer–Amy–and she specifically requested that we not go to O’Dwyer’s after only going there once with me. Strange, right?”
“Um…not really. I just realized how my last boyfriend made the same request. He said he didn’t feel welcomed at all.”
“That’s what Amy said too!”
“Wow. I guess there is something to it.” She paused and took another bite of her meal. “Although, if it were up to Bianca, she’d have us all paired off so it would just be four couples and more…”
“Intimate?” he finished for her with a husky laugh.
“Exactly! Why is she always using that word? Why does everything have to be intimate?” She laughed and shook her head. “She makes me crazy, I swear.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why are you friends with her?”
“We’ve been friends since the third grade,” she explained, shrugging. “We just are.”
Placing his fork down, Drew rested his arms on the table and studied her, his expression serious. “Chelsea, the two of you are complete opposites. What could you possibly have in common with her?”
And for some reason, she found that wildly offensive. “You mean because she’s so fun and vivacious and I’m dull and boring?”
His dark eyes went wide. “No! I meant because you’re an intelligent woman and she’s fairly…you know…not.”
“Drew…”
“I’m serious! She’s kind of bitchy and controlling and…not to hurt your feelings, but…she doesn’t speak very highly of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean when we first met, and I would say something nice about you, she would always say something negative. That’s kind of why I formed the opinion of you that I did.” He looked a bit regretful at the admission. “Although, to be fair, you certainly didn’t help matters by always getting annoyed with me.”
For a minute she didn’t know what to say. Then she remembered Bianca doing the same thing to her where Drew was concerned. When she shared that, they both sat staring wide-eyed at each other.
“Holy shit,” he murmured. “Do you know, when I first met you, I thought you were kind of hot. But Bianca said I didn’t have a chance because you thought I was a…a…oh, what the hell did she call me? An unintelligent swine? I think that was it.”
“Oh, my God! Are you kidding me? I once mentioned how I thought you were good-looking and she’s the one who told me you were…a pig,” she said, her cheeks turning red. “She said you only dated bimbos, and you thought I was too prudish to get a date.”
The fact that he didn’t correct her told her–in this instance–Bianca hadn’t lied or exaggerated.
And for some reason, that bothered her.
They ate for the next few minutes in total silence. Chelsea finished her wine and poured herself a second glass–something she rarely did–but if ever there was a night that required a little more drinking, this was it.
“I know this probably won’t change anything,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “But I’m sorry. I didn’t know you and I made a decision based on someone else’s words.”
“Thanks.”
“I really did used to be a bit of a pig.” He rolled his eyes. “Although that’s not quite how I would describe myself.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation, Drew.”
He shifted beside her. “I know I don’t, but I want to explain.” Pushing his plate aside, he turned to fully face her. “Back in high school and college, I was a serial dater, and believe me, so was Jimmy. We were total frat boys, and I’m not proud of how we treated some of the girls we were with.”
She sensed a but coming…
“But we’re older now, and I’d like to think I’ve evolved…matured. Every once in a while, I slip back into that mode–the obnoxious jerk who doesn’t think before he speaks. I know it doesn’t make it right, but…”
“I get it. Believe me.” Then she realized that may have come off as bitchy and figured she owed it to Drew to be honest too. “I kind of hate how you’ve only seen me while we’re out with the group. The rest of the week, I’m a different person, but for some reason whenever we’re out–or I’m out with Bianca, Kendall, and Shauna–I tend to tense up.”
“Why?”
“Why?! Look at them and then look at me! They’re like these tall and beautiful and confident women. We’ve all been friends for years and I’m like the nerdy girl they keep around because they feel sorry for her.”
His eyes went wide. “Chelsea, that’s ridiculous. You’re just as beautiful as they are! I honestly think you’re more beautiful than any of them.”
She was pretty sure her jaw was on the floor and when he started to stammer before reaching for his wine, she figured he hadn’t meant to say what he did.
Or he simply didn’t mean it.
Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…
Without thinking, Drew slammed back his glass of wine.
Sure, add alcohol. That ought to make you say less, you idiot!
“So…um…”
Chelsea reached over and placed her hand on top of his. Her skin felt warm and soft and…wait…he shouldn’t be thinking things like that–especially not right now!
Damn wine.
“You…you think I’m beautiful?” she asked, her voice unusually quiet. Then she looked at him and took his breath away. “It’s okay if you were just saying it to make me feel better. I know what I look like and trust me, I know I’m totally lacking compared to the three of them.”
“You’re wrong,” he said, his own voice sounding gruffer than it normally did. “Do you know what I see when the four of you are out together?”
Silently, she shook her head.
“I see Bianca who tries way too hard to be seen. Nothing about her looks natural–like she’s someone who spends hours in the bathroom watching makeup tutorials. Most of the time, she looks like a clown.”
Chelsea smirked but didn’t say a word.
“And Kendall and Shauna look like they’re trying to do everything Bianca does, but not outdoing her,” he went on. “The three of them are like…what was that movie…Mean Girls? Yeah, that’s the one I’m thinking of. They’re the girls that care more about how they look than anything else.”
Her expression fell slightly and he reached for his glass and mentally cursed because it was empty.
“But you? You don’t need all that stuff. You show up and you have a natural way about you that is way more attractive than anything your friends are doing.”
“Drew…”
“It’s true, Chels. I’m sitting right here next to you and I can see you don’t have on a drop of makeup and you…” Go big or go home… “You’re beautiful.” When she started to look away, he reached out and cupped the side of her face. “They only wish they could look as good as you.”
She lowered her eyes briefly before looking at him again. “I doubt that, but you’re sweet to say it.”
“Do you know why Bianca puts you down?” She started to look away again but he wouldn’t let her. “She’s putting you in your place–to make you feel small or doubt yourself–because it’s the only way she can compete.”
“Drew, you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Boys…well, guys…have always chased after her. She was the first girl in our grade back in middle school to have a boyfriend. And not just any boyfriend, the captain of the football team who was two years older. She dated a captain of one sort or another every year.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“And she was the head cheerleader, the homecoming queen, the prom queen…”
“People can be superficial,” he said casually, his hand still caressing her cheek. “She probably developed boobs before everyone. That’s why the guys wanted her.”
“That explains middle school, but not later.”
“Like I said, people–guys–are superficial. Most want to date a girl who looks good but doesn’t have a whole lot to say.”
“That’s awful!”
He couldn’t help but laugh at her indignation. “As much as I hate to quote Bianca, guys are pigs. Present company excluded.”
“Just a few minutes ago, you admitted to being a pig.”
“Used to be. Not anymore. I’m a reformed swine.”
Her laugh was soft and feminine and…sexy. “Well, that’s good to know.”
Reluctantly, Drew lowered his hand and poured the rest of the wine between their two glasses. He was about to make more comparisons about her other two friends when there was a knock at the door. Slowly, he stood and stretched, almost thankful for the disruption. “Dessert,” he said, looking down at her.
“Ooh…okay, let me clear some room. Or maybe we can see if they’ll take some of these plates away.”
Walking over to the door, he couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when he showed her what he ordered for them. It took a few minutes for their dishes to be cleared away and he held their bag of dessert behind his back so she couldn’t sneak a peek. Once it was just the two of them in the room again, he slowly made his way back over to the couch where she was sitting.
“So? What did we get?” she asked, trying to look behind him. “I don’t remember seeing a dessert menu.”
“There was one, but I wasn’t overly impressed with their selection.”
“Oh?”
He nodded. “So I placed a special order and the concierge took care of it.”
“Ooh…I’m intrigued!” She was practically bouncing on the couch.
Sitting next to her, he placed the plain brown paper bag on the coffee table and motioned for her to open it.
“It’s cold,” she said, her smile growing. She pulled out the first container and let out a happy little sound. “Oh, my God! Is this a sundae?”
“It’s not Friendly’s–I know that’s your favorite–but they don’t have them here. So I had to ask for the best ice cream parlor in town and this was who the concierge recommended. I know it’s not exactly the same…”
Before he got another word out, Chelsea was in his lap, in his arms, and hugging him.
“You have no idea how much this means to me,” she said, placing a loud smacking kiss on his cheek. She made no move to climb off of him and he certainly wasn’t in a rush for her to go. “After I got out of the shower, I considered skipping dinner and hiding in the bedroom because I was just feeling so crappy. Now I’m glad I didn’t.” Another kiss on his cheek. “You have made this a totally great night.” And yet another kiss.
Gently, he lifted her off his lap because…yeah…maybe he was a pig because any more of that and she was going to feel how much her nearness was affecting him.
“Dig in!” he said lightly. “Let’s see how these sundaes measure up!”
Chelsea handed him his dessert and one of the spoons before she took the lid off of her own. Drew found himself holding his breath and praying he made the right choice.
“Oh…my…God,” she moaned. “I think this may be better than Friendly’s.”
“Really?”
She nodded, licking her spoon.
Because clearly, she was trying to kill him.
Forcing himself to focus on his own dessert and not her, he opened his container and took a spoonful of ice cream.
And holy shit, it was amazing.
“I swear this is almost orgasmic,” she said around another spoonful and Drew wasn’t sure how much more he could take. Did she have any idea how sexy she was? Even sitting here in her soft robe and no makeup on and…he wondered what she had on under the robe…
No, Drew! No! Don’t think about that!
But for good measure, he rested the ice cream on his crotch for a minute to try to calm things down.
“Don’t you like yours?” she asked, frowning.
“What? No! It’s great,” he said quickly–maybe a little too quickly. “Brain freeze.”
Of the little head, not the big one…
“I’ve got a bit of it myself, but this is too good to stop.” She leaned back against the cushions and placed her feet up on the coffee table. That’s when he saw her hot pink painted toes.
Cute feet, cute toes, cute robe…in another minute he was going to have to excuse himself. How had he never realized just how attractive she was? Well, he had in the beginning, but how could he have let Bianca or anyone change his mind? Why hadn’t he tried harder to get to know her?
“What’s your weakness, Drew?” she asked, scooping another spoonful of chocolate ice cream from the container.
“What?” he croaked.
“Foodwise. What’s your food weakness?”
“Oh, uh…cake,” he said, thankful she was only talking about food. “Although, if we’re being honest, the icing is my favorite part.”
She looked at him and grinned. “Mine too. I mean, cake is good, but the icing is better. Do you ever eat it right out of the can?”
Laughing, he said, “When I lived at home–you know, with my parents–I would. Although, my mom caught on and would just use extra icing on the cakes.” He smiled at the memory. “And cupcakes were pretty much fifty percent icing.”
“To me, that’s the way a cupcake should be!” Another spoonful of ice cream. “There’s a bakery in town that makes the best cupcakes. Sometimes I stop in there after a long narrating session and treat myself to one.” She paused. “No, wait…I’m lying. The best cupcake I ever had was at Hershey Park. It was like triple chocolate and it was the size of a large muffin.” She shook her spoon in his direction. “Now that was an orgasmic dessert for sure.”
Groaning quietly, Drew wished she’d stop using the word orgasmic.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“You just groaned. Brain freeze slowing you down?”
“Uh…”
“Power through, Drew! You can do it!”
Shoveling a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, he knew it was the safest way to keep him from saying something stupid.
Or seducing her.
Or…
Dammit! Brain freeze!
“Want to watch some TV?” Chelsea asked, scooting a little closer. “I know Saturday night television isn’t particularly exciting, but maybe the hotel has Netflix and we can find something.”
“Sure,” he said, focusing on his dessert.
Chelsea stood and got the remote, and once she was back beside him–closer than she was before–she started channel surfing. “Oh, I love this show! I hate that it ended. I must have seen each episode like a dozen times, but they still make me laugh.”
Drew looked up and saw she had stopped on a rerun of The Big Bang Theory. “I’ve watched this, but wasn’t a huge fan.”
“Want me to keep looking?”
Did he? “If you don’t mind…”
“No biggie.” Holding up the remote, she searched some more and stopped on an episode of Outlander.
“How about this? Have you ever watched it before?”
Nodding, Drew ate a little more of his ice cream. He’d not only watched the show, he’d found–at times–he was incredibly turned on by the show.
“So, this is okay?” she prompted.
“I guess so.”
Five minutes later, the main characters were having sex, and beside him, Chelsea let out a soft hum.
“I know it’s not real, but…wow. These two always look like they’re really doing it, don’t you think?”
“Uh…yeah.”
“I swear, this has got to be a bit exaggerated. I mean…people really don’t do it like this, do they?”
Choking on his spoonful of ice cream, Drew coughed and sputtered for several moments. “What the hell, Chelsea?”
“What? I’m just saying, I’ve never been with a guy who was so…you know…enthusiastic! I get they have to make this a little over the top, but…I don’t know…I was just wondering if maybe it’s just me. That I’m the weirdo who’s never had…enthusiastic sex.”
Just keep eating…just keep eating…
She sighed. “Probably just me.”
His spoon hit the bottom of the container and he panicked.
“And honestly, even in porn it’s not like this. It’s loud and frantic, but you can totally tell they’re acting. At least on this show it looks believable–like they’re really making love and we’re just voyeurs taking it all in.”
Oh, God…she can’t possibly not realize how that sounds…
“The last guy I slept with,” she said and then giggled, “I called him four and snore.” Another laugh. “Literally, it was like four pumps and he was done and would fall asleep minutes later. Ugh…the worst.”
Lifting the container to his mouth, Drew threw his head back and drank the last remnants just to have something to do.
“How do guys fall asleep so fast after sex? I mean, look at Jamie there on the screen. He’s not going to fall asleep.”
“Not all guys fall asleep right away after sex, Chelsea.”
Turning to him, spoon in mouth, eyes wide, she said, “Are you sure?”
Change the subject! For the love of it, just change the subject!
Placing the empty container on the coffee table, Drew twisted and faced her. “I’m positive. I’m a guy and I don’t fall asleep right after sex.” He gave her a sexy grin. “Maybe after the second or third time, but definitely not after the first.”
“Second or third? You mean…”
That’s when he realized Chelsea’s sex life was seriously lacking.
And he wanted to do something about it.
No matter how ill-advised it was.
Reaching out, he took the container from her hands and placed it on the coffee table next to his. Then he gently pulled the spoon from her mouth and put it with the remainder of her dessert.
“Drew…”
“Shh…there’s something I need to know,” he said gruffly before his hands cupped her face and he leaned in and kissed her.