The Exception(16)

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I didn’t know what to say and I was shocked.

“Don’t be. I’m not. I should have done it a long time ago. Bartender?” He held up his finger.

“No you don’t. I think you’ve had enough to drink. Come on.” I grabbed hold of his arm. “Let’s get you back to your room.”

He didn’t resist as I hooked his arm around my neck and took him up to his suite.

“Where’s your keycard?” I asked as I propped him up against the wall.

He reached in his pocket. “I think I left it in the room,” he slurred.

“Are you sure?”

“It’s not in my pockets.”

“Okay. Come on, back on the elevator.” I sighed as I hooked his arm around my neck.

“Where are we going?” He stumbled and almost fell.

“To my room so I can call the front desk and get you another key.”

Stumbling down the hallway, I propped Drew up so I could get the key from my purse. The moment I let go of him, he slid down the wall and to the ground.

“Ugh. Come on, big guy.” I helped him back up and took him to the bedroom.

“We have something in common,” he spoke. “Something I think you should know.”

“Oh yeah. What’s that?” I asked as I helped him onto the bed.

“We both left someone standing at the altar.”

Did I just hear him right?

“What?” I frowned as I stared down at him.

“I left my fiancée at the altar just like you did.” He rolled over.

I knew trying to find out more was going to be impossible in the condition he was in. He probably wouldn’t even remember that he told me in the morning. Picking up the phone on the nightstand, I dialed the front desk.

“Front desk, how may I help you.”

Looking at Drew, I saw that he had fallen sound asleep.

“I’m sorry. I’ve changed my mind.” I hung up.

There was no use in trying to get him back to his room. He’d most likely be out the rest of night anyway. After removing his shoes and socks, I covered him with a blanket. Grabbing my nightshirt, I took it to the second bedroom, slipped into it, and climbed into bed. Why didn’t he tell me that he could relate after I told him about Grant? And this whole thing with Jess. Wow. I could tell he was unhappy, so I was not totally surprised. Something really bad must have happened for him to do it on vacation and send her home. Which led me to another question. Where was home for him? I never did ask.





Chapter Ten


Drew



My head felt like someone had taken a hammer to it as I struggled to open my eyes. Where was I? This wasn’t my room. Shit. I placed my hand on my forehead. I was fully clothed except my shoes and socks were off. Slowly climbing out of bed, I walked into the living area of the suite and saw Jillian sitting at the table.

“Uh, hey,” I spoke as I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Good morning.” She smiled brightly. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit. Um, how did I end up here?” I asked as I walked over to the table and took a seat.

“You don’t remember?”

“No. I don’t.”

“I saw you at the bar last night and I helped you to your room, but when we got there, you didn’t have your key, so I brought you back here. I was going to call the front desk to have them bring an extra key, but the minute you hit the bed, you were out. So, I just let you sleep.”

“And where did you sleep?”

“In the other bedroom.”

Suddenly, there was knock on the door.

“Are you expecting someone?” I asked.

“Room service. I ordered us breakfast. I figured you’d need some coffee the minute you woke up.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“I can take it from here,” Jillian spoke as she wheeled the rolling cart over to the table.

She picked up the pot of coffee and poured some into a cup.

“Here. Drink away.” She smiled.

“I’m sorry about last night. Thank you for taking care of me, but you should have just left my dumb ass down there.”

“Why? And don’t be sorry. It happens to all of us. I’m sorry about Jess. Do you want to talk about it?” she asked as she removed the silver lids from the plates.

“No. Not really.” I took a sip of coffee. “I’d had enough. It was something I should have done months ago.”

“If you were so unhappy, why didn’t you?” she asked innocently.

I cocked my head and raised my brow. “Really?”

She held up her finger and smirked. “Right.”

I gave her a small smile as I continued to drink my coffee and attempted to eat some eggs. When I finished eating and finished up my third cup of coffee, I got up from my seat.

“Thank you for letting me crash here last night and thank you for breakfast. I better head back to my room and shower. I still reek of alcohol.”

“Yeah, you do.” She wrinkled her nose.

I chuckled. “I guess I’m going to have to go down to the front desk and get another key.”

“Don’t forget your shoes and socks.” She smiled.