incoherently.
âYou do not love me,â he answered coldly.
She was confused.
âIâm not your doctor fiancé,â he explained. âYou have the wrong guy.â
âCarl doesnât kiss me like you do.â
He grinned. âAnd no one ever will.â
Heat bolted through her stomach. She didnât like the way her body responded to his. She looked up with all the neutrality she could muster. âJust so you know, I hate diamonds because of you. I hate your family too.â
Brent looked at Daniel. âI changed my mind. Iâll take the front seat.â
Whatever.
The car moved and the motion unsettled her stomach. The heaviness of her eyes and the need to just pass out overcame her. All went black.
Someone pushed on her shoulder.
âGo away,â she mumbled.
âJessica, wake up,â someone said with a voice warm as a dream.
She swatted a hand away.
âLet me try,â came another voice.
âDonât touch her.â
Jessieâs eyes fluttered open. That guyâBrent and his sidekick whose name she forgot peered over her. âYouâre still here,â she said.
âYouâre at my house,â Brent said, âand itâs time to get you to bed.â
She didnât protest. He unbuckled her and his arm slipped around her waist. One look at the set of steps to his house and she rolled her eyes. âYou have a lot of stairs.â
âIâm sure you can manage.â
The yard spun out of control. She stumbled up the stairs with him. He grasped her waist and helped her.
They reached the front door and he let them inside. She sighed loudly.
âWhat?â he said.
âThereâs so many stairs.â She might crash on this bottom step if he presented a pillow.
He helped her up the steps, and around the corner to yet another set. The evening felt long and unending; the good buzz of the alcohol faded. She yawned as she followed him into a bedroom where she saw the big bed. âI hope youâre not planning on sleeping with me.â
He laughed. âNo.â
âWhy are you laughing?â
âIâll be sleeping in my own room. Call me crazy, but back in the car you confessed that you love me. That kind of emotion so soon tends to scare a guy away.â
She folded her hands over her chest. âI did not say that.â
âNever mind then, letâs get this over with. This is my guest bedroom.â Brent slung the suitcase on the bed. âThereâs your stuff.â
âMy stuff.â
âYour friend Clara packed a bag for you.â
âI forgot to call her. I should call her. Whereâs my phone?â Jessie started for the suitcase and lost footing. She flung her hand at the zipper and tugged with clumsy fingers, but it wouldnât budge.
Brentâs hand closed around hers. âYou can call her in the morning.â
Jessie yanked her hand free and stepped on her own foot. She tripped and fell onto the bed. Her face planted into the pillow. She wanted the spinning to stop. She wanted this night to end. Brent pushed her legs completely onto the bed. A cover folded over her back and locked in some much needed heat.
âJessica, do you need anything else?â he said, turning off the lights.
âNo one calls me Jessica,â she mumbled into the pillow.
âThen Iâll be the only one.â
Invisible weight bore down on her eyelids. She couldnât keep them open and she entered that sweet spot where dreams were found.
* * * *
Sunlight woke her. Early morning sunshine to be exact. Bright, yellow, cheery, and the polar opposite of Jessieâs mood. Piece-by-piece, the room came into focus. The enormous bed she lay in took up most of the space with two dressers squeezed on either side. The pale gray comforter matched the color on the walls. She noticed the room didnât give her any clues as to the owner.
Where am I?
No ideas came to her mind.