The Broody Brit for Christmas (Holiday Springs #1) - M.J. Fields Page 0,20
things. The combination has burned me once, and I won’t let it happen to me again. And now,” she exhales, “Jenny won’t stop until she finds me a rebound fuck when quite honestly, I’d rather fuck myself.”
I blink, stunned, confused… turned on. Part of me strangely appreciates the fact that my money turns her off. So many women these days seem to be after all the wrong things. They want to know about the businesses I own. The places I travel. The cars I drive. When I met Hope, I hadn’t made any money yet. And as we grew, we grew together. But since I rejoined the dating pool, it’s as though my money magnetizes all the wrong women. “Actually, I think it makes perfect sense to accept a date with me.”
“Doesn’t make any sort of sense…” Her slurred voice trails off.
“It would be mutually beneficial for us.”
“How so?” she mumbles sleepily.
“Those around us will stop trying to hook us up with people we’re not the slightest bit interested in.”
“Perfect, except the money thing.” She yawns. “And you have a son.”
“I can promise you, Nikki, I don’t take Nathaniel on dates. He’s yet to meet any of the women I’ve dated for precisely the same reason you won’t date a ‘man like me.’ After they get off physically, they seem to want a resumé and financial report. It’s off-putting on so many levels. So, Nikki, we’d be doing one another a favor.”
She’s in and out between wake and sleep when she whispers, “Fine.”
“Friday night after soccer then.”
Lifting her feet so they rest on the seat, she curls into herself and mumbles, “Uh-huh.”
By the time I pull into town, Nikki is passed out beside me, literally un-wakeable. When I called Faith from my phone to explain the situation, and that I may be later than I had thought, Faith reminded me no one at Nikki’s house would miss her since she was supposed to stay with Jenny. Then she encouraged me to bring Nikki to what she calls the ‘drunk tank.’
The drunk tank is literally a small studio apartment I’d had constructed when I gutted the top two floors of the building to make Nathaniel and me a home.
It was initially intended for visits from my family. However, they preferred a hotel over a brick-walled industrial loft. Nights when someone who’d over imbibed needed to lay down, it was always available. It didn’t happen often, but it still puts my staff and me at ease to have it available.
No one hates drunk drivers worse than me.
After parking in the back lot, I open the passenger side door and lift her out effortlessly. Fat-shame my arse, her curves are perfect. She mumbles something, a whisper, a warning, a mixture of both, yet doesn’t wake when I walk into the lit entrance or take the flight of stairs up to the second floor.
When I reach the top, Faith is standing at the doorway to the ‘Drunk Tank.’ She not only smiles, but her eyes twinkle.
I warn, “Don’t get any ideas.”
“Imagination is a horrible thing to waste, and hope should never be lost.”
“Faith,” I say her name like the warning it is intended to be as I walk past her and into the apartment. “She’s drunk, passed out cold. I fail to see anything remotely romantic about this situation.”
She hurries to the day bed that doubles as the couch and pulls the pillows off of it. “Not going to try the ladder to the loft? You could throw her over your broad shoulder and stalk up the—”
“Yes, that sounds like a great idea. Sexy, too. Jostle her around, and then she could puke down my back.”
She shakes out a blanket and hands it to me, grimacing. “You had to ruin it for me.”
I chuckle as I cover Nikki with the heavy down comforter. “She was cold in the car. Could you make sure the heat is on?”
She places her hand over her forehead. “She’s not warm.”
“Tequila tremors.” I chuckle as I force myself to turn and walk away so Faith doesn’t get her ‘hopes’ up.
“Will she be okay alone?”
I nod. “She’s fine.”
“Maybe I should stay a bit longer?”
Yes, please, I inwardly plea but instead nod. “If that will make you feel better, then sure. I’m going to read to Nathaniel.”
“He fell asleep while I was reading to him,” she says with a slight cringe.
“That look tells me you swayed from the reading list he and I came up with and—”