Stud Muffin (Donner Bakery #2) - Jiffy Kate Page 0,21
need some water and something for her head, so I walk quietly back to the kitchen and snoop around until I find a glass and some Advil. After I get some water from the fridge, I walk back down the hall and pause for a second in the doorway.
What the hell is it about her?
I’m never like this.
The last seven years, my life has been a series of dry spells and one-night stands. I don’t ever get attached. It’s never hard for me to walk away. Even after an amazing night of sex, I don’t wonder what the girl is doing the next day. I’m never tempted to call them or text. So, why am I finding it difficult to walk away from her.
Tempest Cassidy.
Recently divorced.
Cheating husband.
Been in trouble with the law.
That’s usually enough baggage to send me running for the hills, but all I really want to do is pull up a chair and watch her sleep, making sure she’s okay.
Setting the water and pills beside the bed, I can’t help but reach out and stroke her cheek … just one last touch … something she won’t remember, but I have a feeling I will.
Chapter 5
Tempest
The incessant banging in my head reminds me of why I don’t drink tequila.
Please God, I’ll never drink again if you’ll just make the banging stop!
God must still be talking to me, because suddenly, the banging goes away, only to be replaced with a high-pitch yell that sounds a lot like Anna Cassidy.
Hell.
That’s it, I must be in hell.
“Tempest Cassidy!”
No, not Anna. Please, God, no. I would rather my mama be here right now, giving me a lecture about being responsible, instead of Anna. She’s mean and bossy, and thanks to her alcoholic father, she hates drunk people. And as I shift around in bed, I still feel drunk. Is that even possible?
Two seconds later, the blinds of my bedroom windows are yanked open and I peek out of one eye to see perfectly-coiffed blonde hair sitting on top of a sasquatch that looks like it swallowed a basketball.
“What the hell, Anna?” I whine, my voice coming out rough, like I swallowed gravel and washed it down with motor oil. Somehow it sounds exactly like it tastes—thick and gritty. I need to brush my teeth and scrape the fur off my tongue.
“Language!” Anna exclaims, holding both sides of her protruding stomach, like her unborn child just heard me say hell, which is in the Bible, so it doesn’t even count.
“Fuck!” I moan, rolling over and covering my eyes.
“Tempest! Are you trying to send me into early labor?” she gasps, clutching her stomach even tighter. “What has gotten into you?”
“Nobody, lately,” I answer. I’m not this crass to everyone, basically just Anna, because it’s fun.
“Lord, she does not mean the things she says,” Anna prays, looking up at my ceiling and then back at me. “Tell Him you don’t mean the things you say!”
“No,” I tell her, hating her for even making me speak. “I don’t feel like it.”
She huffs, crossing her arms on top of her belly. “You’ve always been so stubborn and pig-headed, but it’s one of the things I’ve always admired about you.”
I sit straight up in bed and manage to open both eyes. “Did you just say you admired something about me?” Anna doesn’t envy anyone; it’s a sin. However, she’s the envy of everyone. If it weren’t for her being in so tight with the Big Guy, she’d probably flaunt that fact a lot more, but pride comes before the fall and all that.
“Oh, hush. There are many things I admire about you,” she admonishes, swatting at me and making contact because I’m too slow to move away from her. I’m definitely still drunk.
“Do tell,” I say, as eagerly as I can manage, fixing the pillows behind me. Drunk or not, I’ve gotta hear this.
She makes her pouty lips even poutier and slides her big brown eyes across the room, refusing to even look at me. “No, I’m still mad at you. Cole told me about taking you to the… strip club,” she hisses, obviously thinking that God, as omniscient as He is, might not hear her if she whispers. “He also said he never got a call from you last night and I’ve been worried sick.”
“I’m sorry, Anna,” I say with all sincerity, because I am. Even though she’s a pain in my ass, I love her and she’s one of the few people still on my team, so