Page 5 of Unstable

“No, no.” She tried to scramble from the bed then remembered that she was naked, and she grabbed up the sheet to cover herself. “Tell me.”

Now she needed to know. She’d never gotten so drunk before that she didn’t remember what she was doing, and the way Roman looked at her worried her immensely. God, why was she always making a fool of herself in front of this man? She hated the way he made her feel sometimes. It wasn’t his fault—it was just his personality that made him seem more worldly and mature than she would ever be.

She’d been absolutely infatuated with him from the moment he stepped foot into her living room—and, really, what woman wouldn’t be? Roman was huge, standing over six feet tall and built like a brick wall, all muscles and dark tattoos. Icy blue eyes stood out from darkly tanned skin, his strong, square jaw lightly stubbled. His dark hair was slightly longer on top than on the sides, and it stood up slightly where it’d been pressed against the pillow.

Instead of appearing bedraggled and unkempt, the dishevelment made him look dangerous and capable of anything. Coupled with the sex appeal he oozed, she wanted to throw herself into his strong, tattooed arms.

She’d smiled and teased him a bit during their first couple of days together, testing the waters, but he’d taken one look down his nose at her—the one that looked like it’d been broken once or twice, and strangely only added to his handsomeness—and immediately dismissed her as if she were no more interesting than some annoying insect flying by.

She didn’t know why his rejection bothered her so much. Maybe because it wasn’t a rejection so much as a dismissal. He obviously didn’t find her attractive, so she’d built up the walls around her heart, cursing her terrible taste in men once more. She always went for the men she couldn’t have, the ones who were emotionally unavailable or had no desire to settle down. Unfortunately, it looked like she would have to cross gorgeous, tattooed bodyguards off her list, too.

Roman scrubbed one hand through his hair, making it stick up even more. “Just saying, maybe you shouldn’t have had that last shot of whiskey.”

“Apparently.” Her cheeks burned with humiliation just thinking about it. She couldn’t believe she’d thrown up all over him. That was definitely a first for her. It had probably gotten all over her too, which explained why she was naked. He probably just stripped them both and put her to bed.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I’ll grab your clothes and put them in the laundry.”

“Already taken care of,” he replied. “Your clothes are in the sink. They were soaked, and I didn’t want to carry them through the house.”

She gave a little nod, confused. “Did you wash them in there?”

“Um… no,” he said, his shoulders tightening with tension. “You decided to climb in the shower when we got home, so I just tossed your clothes in the sink to drain.”

Lord, take her now. This just kept getting worse. He literally had to undress her like a toddler. “Did I… do anything else?”

She swore she saw a hint of red creep over his face before he turned away. “No.”

He looked uncomfortable, and she had a terrible feeling she knew what that meant. She’d been drunk and naked, and she’d probably thrown herself at him. She couldn’t bear to torture either of them with any more questions, so she clutched the sheet more tightly around her and strode into her closet. Five minutes later, dressed in leggings and a tank top, she headed to the bathroom.

She almost groaned out loud as she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her hair had obviously been soaked when she fell into bed, and now it was matted on one side and sticking up on the other, a rat’s nest of crazy, pale gold waves. She wouldn’t have had sex with her either. She was a hot mess.

Shoving down her humiliation, she pulled her hair up in a messy bun, then quickly washed her face. She needed to get into the studio that morning, but she didn’t really care whether she looked like a troll or not.

Roman intercepted her as she came out of the bathroom, halting her in her tracks. Her brain shorted out, and she froze like a deer in the headlights. He was still dressed in only the tight-fitting black boxers he’d worn to bed, and her gaze automatically strayed lower, eagerly drinking in the sculpted muscles and thick bulge in the front. “Uh…”

He cleared his throat, but she could barely hear him over the blood pulsing in her ears. Somehow, she managed to drag her eyes back to his, heat sweeping up her neck and into her cheeks.

He looked as uncomfortable as she felt as he shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Change of plans. Aster and Louis are on their way over.”

Inwardly, she groaned, and the lust clouding her brain dissipated as reality slammed into her. It wasn’t abnormal at all for her assistant, Aster, to stop by. But Louis was probably here to do damage control, which meant that last night must have been worse than she thought. She stared at Roman. “Did I make a complete fool of myself at the bar?”

One corner of his mouth tipped up in an almost-smile. “No, you waited till we got to the truck for that.”

She closed her eyes. She was going to feel terrible if she puked all over the inside of his truck. She opened her eyes and met Roman’s gaze again. “Please tell me I didn’t…”

He seemed to know where she was headed with the question, because he shook his head. “You threw up in the parking lot, then passed out for the ride home.”

Well, thank God for small favors. “I need caffeine.”

Pushing past him, she headed down the hallway into the kitchen. She’d never been a coffee person, and she’d just finished steeping her tea when the doorbell sounded. She took a step toward the hallway, but Roman was already there. “I got it.”

Her gaze swept over his muscular backside, now clad in his freshly washed clothes. Unfortunately. She smirked. She could only imagine her assistant’s reaction had Roman opened the door still half-naked.

A moment later, Louis and Aster stepped inside wearing identical expressions of concern. Louis didn’t bother to greet her, just stomped into the living room and took a seat on the couch. She rolled her eyes before meeting Aster’s gaze. “What’s up his butt today?”

Aster bit her lip. “Do you⁠—?”

“Rina!” Louis’s obnoxious voice cut over whatever Aster was about to say. “Come sit. We need to talk.”