“You know I’m joking, right?”

“I wasn’t. This party planning thing was fun. I could see myself doing it.”

Tara laughed. “Okay, mogul. Time for you to go.”

They walked to the door together. Nathan was chatting with Jamal, Wendy and Mick.

“Okay, we’ll see you later.”

“I’ll see you at the gym on Monday,” Jamal said.

“Nah. Probably at the gym tomorrow morning.”

Jamal grinned. “You got it. We’ll see which one of us shows up first.”

“It’ll be me.”

“I dunno, Nathan. You look pretty out of it. You’ve had too many beers. My guess is you sleep in.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who was downing shots of whiskey with the offensive linemen. So I’m pretty sure you’ll be the one sleeping in, asshole, while I’ll have already run three miles and put in a hard iron press for thirty minutes before you even drag your ass out of bed.”

Mia rolled her eyes and grabbed Nathan’s arm. “Yeah, and then you can both compare dick sizes. Tomorrow. Good night, everyone.”

“Hey, I wasn’t done insulting Jamal,” Nathan said as Mia took the keys from him and clicked the doors to unlock his SUV.

“Uh-huh. You can continue it in the morning.”

“Hey,” he said as he climbed in. “You driving?”

She got in the driver’s seat. “I am.”

He buckled his seat belt, then turned to her. “Are you okay to drive?”

“I’m fine. I only had a couple of glasses of wine the entire night.”

“Okay, then. Drive it like you stole it.”

She laughed. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that. But since we’re in your vehicle and mine’s at my town house, how do you feel about coming back to my place?”

He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. “I feel pretty great about it.”

Yes, Nathan was seriously inebriated. She was glad he’d had such a good time.

She drove to her town house and pulled Nathan’s SUV in front. By then he was lightly snoring, so she turned off the car.

“Nathan.”

No response.

“Nathan.”

Still nothing. She shoved at his shoulder. “Hey, beerhead, we’re here.”

He woke up and looked at her. “Great. Where’s here?”

“My place.”

“Okay. Let’s get this party started.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, let’s do that.”

Nathan slid out of the car. Mia got her keys and went to the front door. Nathan followed behind her. They went inside and she locked the door behind her, knowing Nathan wasn’t going anywhere tonight.

She laid her bag down and went into the kitchen. “How about some water?”

“A beer would be good.”

She laughed. “No more beer for you.”

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. “Did I ever tell you how good you smell?”

She leaned into him, enjoying the feel of his hard body against her. “You might have mentioned it.”

“Let’s go upstairs. I want to get you naked.”

“Sure. I’m going to grab a glass of water first. How about unzipping my dress?”

He drew the zipper down. “Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t.”

Nathan disappeared up the stairs and she filled her glass with water, deciding to get a glass of water for Nathan, too. She checked a couple of text messages on her phone, mainly thank-you messages from party attendees. She smiled at that, then made her way up the stairs.

When she got to her bedroom, she leaned against the doorway and sipped her water, then shook her head.

She knew Nathan well. He could handle his liquor up to a point, but she’d watched him do several shots of whiskey with his friends and teammates, and she knew for a fact he was shitfaced. He might seem normal, but she’d been through this with him on countless nights out. And as soon as he sat still or lay down, he was out.

Like now. He’d taken off his shoes and had propped himself into a sitting position on her bed, no doubt to wait for her to come up.

And he was sound asleep.

She smiled, slid out of her dress and went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she was done, she nudged him.

“Hey, let’s get you out of those clothes.”

He cooperated, so she got him undressed and under the covers. And when she turned out the light and climbed into bed, he turned and nestled against her.

She closed her eyes.

TWENTY

MIA ROLLED OVER AND BLINKED, THEN REACHED HER arm out for Nathan.

His side of the bed was empty. And cold.

She frowned, then reached for her phone.

Okay, it was seven a.m. and way too early to get up. She looked over at the bathroom door, but it was open and the bathroom was dark, so he wasn’t in there. Did he get up and leave already?

No. Nathan wouldn’t do that without waking her up to say good-bye. At least she didn’t think he would. It wasn’t like they’d spent the night together a lot.

She got out of bed and saw his clothes from last night laid over the chair.

Okay, he was still here. Somewhere.

She slid into a tank top and a pair of shorts, then started downstairs. The smell of coffee hit her halfway down. She kept coffee around for guests, but normally she brewed tea. When she turned the corner at the landing, Nathan was there, leaning against her kitchen island while he drank a cup of coffee.

Wearing just his boxer briefs.

She had to gape for a moment at the picture he presented. Wide shoulders, broad back, muscled thighs. She was fully awake now, for sure. If only a nearly naked beefcake like this could present himself in her kitchen every morning, it would be the best wake-up call ever.

She made her way into the kitchen. Nathan turned his head and leveled his thousand-watt smile on her.

“Morning.”

“Good morning. You’re up early.”

“I got plenty of sleep. You’re the one who’s up early. I thought you might want to sleep in.”

“I’m good, but thanks.” She filled her teapot with water, then set it on the stove and went to grab a cup and the tea diffuser.

“Thanks for taking me in last night.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you had fun at your party.”

He laid his cup on the counter and tugged her against him. “I was surprised as hell. And I had a great time. Thank you.”

He was rubbing her back, and she had to admit it felt good to be pressed against his warm body. And when he grasped the nape of her neck and pulled her forward for a kiss, she didn’t resist.

This was what she’d wanted last night—a continuation of what they’d started in the coat closet. She raised up on her toes to get closer, to run her hands over all the glorious, exposed muscle of his arms and shoulders. He responded by cupping her butt and drawing her against his now-hard cock.

Her sex was now sharply awake and ready for him.

Until the teapot whistled. She pulled back. “Sorry.”

He gave her a look that was all raw hunger and need. “Turn it off.”

She flipped the burner knob to off, then went back to Nathan, who drew her against him.

“I’m hard and I need to be inside of you,” he said. “You sleeping naked in the bed next to me when I got up this morning? That was torture. I wanted to wake you up and fuck you.”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Why didn’t you?”

He bent and took her bottom lip between his teeth, teasing her before kissing her again, more deeply this time. She moaned against his mouth, flicking her tongue against his.

He pulled his mouth from hers. “Because you needed to sleep. But now you’re awake and we started something last night that we didn’t get to finish.”

She smoothed her hands over his chest, using the pads of her thumb to roll over his nipples, and was rewarded with his sharp intake of breath.

“I agree. I’m ready for you.”

He flipped her around so she was facing the island, then slid his hand inside her shorts. She quivered at his touch, a hot fire of need sparking inside of her.