The Paid Bridesmaid(54)

“It’s okay. I’ve been dealing with this my entire life and she’s my responsibility.”

Brandy should be responsible for herself, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.

Mandy continued, “If you guys can stay here a second, I’ll be right back.”

“Sure thing,” Camden said.

The sound of the door slamming shut seemed to rouse Brandy. She started taking off her glamping pajamas, throwing them on the floor. Camden shielded his eyes, and fortunately she was wearing underwear.

Then she leaned over the bed and threw up directly on her pajamas, as if that had been her intent all along.

The smell was almost enough to make me puke, too.

This, unfortunately, happened to be one of my areas of expertise. Taking care of drunk people. I looked around and spotted an empty bag in the trash can. I pulled it out and then placed the pajamas inside, tying off the bag.

I placed the bag inside the bathroom and then washed my hands.

When I rejoined Camden I felt like I needed to apologize. “I’m sorry you had to deal with me last night when I was like this.”

“You were nothing like this,” he countered. “But if she’s supposed to go to that yoga thing tomorrow, isn’t Sadie going to wonder what happened to her pajamas?”

I hadn’t even considered that. “I’ll give her mine. They might be a little big on her, but it’s better than nothing.”

“And how are you going to explain your lack of pink jammies?”

“I’ll tell her I got marshmallow and chocolate on them. Better for Sadie to think I was clumsy than that her mother got wasted. But I don’t really want to walk around the hotel half-naked.”

“Here. Wear this.”

Then he took off his pajama shirt, handing it to me.

My jaw practically flew to the floor once I witnessed the glorious hotness on display in front of me.





CHAPTER NINETEEN


I knew I shouldn’t stare, but it was like my eyes had a mind of their own. All I could do was drink him in. I’d sort of guessed at his physique based on how he looked in his clothes and how strong he appeared to be, but I just hadn’t been adequately prepared.

It was like someone had lovingly and painstakingly carved him out of marble and all I wanted to do was touch him. There were muscles and abs and planes and edges everywhere. A candy house in the woods might not trick me, but I’d discovered that a gorgeous, shirtless man was enough to get me to forget about everything else.

“Rachel?”

I blinked several times, registering both that he’d called my name and sounded amused. He was holding out his top to me and I hastily grabbed it, taking care not to touch his hand.

My throat felt thick as I told him, “Turn around.”

“Right. Sorry.” He presented me with his back, and that was somehow worse. I watched the way his tendons and muscles flexed as he put his hands on his hips and all I wanted to do was go over and press kisses against every bit of his flesh.

I ached with need and had to turn around, too. It was the only way I could control myself. I took off my pajama top and bottoms, folding them and placing them on the dresser. I grabbed my keycard and my phone. I put on Camden’s shirt and inhaled deeply. It smelled like him.

“Okay,” I said and he turned back around and it was a bit like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. I’d thought I was prepared for it, but nope. Instead I was drooling over here like I’d never seen a shirtless, perfect specimen before.

It wasn’t one-sided, either. I saw his half-lidded gaze as he looked at the hem of his shirt against my legs. Awareness hung heavy between us, making me force air in and out of my lungs while my heart did a dance number. I found myself starting to walk toward him.

Fortunately, Mandy let herself back into the room. She looked faintly alarmed, and I quickly explained the situation, including pointing out where I’d left my pajamas for Brandy to change into tomorrow.

“I wouldn’t have even thought of that. You’re right, Sadie definitely would have noticed. Thank you,” she said.

“Of course. What else can we do?”

“Nothing. Go and enjoy your evening.”

I nodded and the Abdominal Snowman and I left the two sisters alone.

“Back to the tent?” he asked. That seemed like a solid plan. We would go back and sleep and let this night just fade into morning. Then two more days until we’d never see each other again.

That thought made me impossibly sad, and so I made a stupid decision. “I know this may sound hard to believe, especially given what we just witnessed, but I am starving. I haven’t eaten all day.” Other than cookies and s’mores, but that hardly counted.

“Did you want to go down to the restaurant? Or the bar?”

Neither one of those options seemed safe. Troy might expand his search. Or someone might see us and turn us in. “I have a secret weapon.” I held up my keycard. “Let’s get room service.”

“How did you manage that?” Camden asked as we went back to the elevators.

I tugged at the bottom of his shirt, noticing how his eyes tracked my movements. “I always get two keys and keep them in separate places because I tend to lose them and lock myself out. This time it works to our advantage.”

It took me a second to realize that I was presuming a lot. He might not be up for hanging out with me. Even if he had said he liked being around me. “I mean, if you want.”