“God. I’m not sure he’s listenin’ to your plea at the moment.”
Oh, crap! She’d said that out loud?
“Yep, you did,” Brendon confirmed.
Cheyenne pressed her face against his neck, hoping to never have to make eye contact with this man again. And she was definitely giving up drinking. Forever.
Holy hell, he smelled good. Too good. Like … she didn’t know what he smelled like because her nose was suddenly numb, but she liked it. His smell. Not the numbness.
Crap, she was in bad shape.
She had no idea how much time passed before she felt the soft, cool sheets at her back, but she was grateful that she didn’t have to try to walk again. She doubted her feet would work and her knees were also numb.
“Sleep it off,” Brendon instructed, pulling the blanket up over her.
“You’re a nice guy, you know that?” Cheyenne muttered, her eyes defying her instruction to close and meeting his once again.
“You’ve got me confused with someone else.”
“Who?” she asked, confused.
“Who what?” Brendon questioned, his forehead wrinkling as he stared down at her.
“Who do I have you confused with?”
Another chuckle reverberated from Brendon. “You should stop talkin’ now,” he whispered.
“Are you gonna leave?” she asked him, her eyes drooping as she gave in to sleep, hoping when she came to the room wouldn’t be imitating one of those stupid Tilt-A-Whirls she’d never liked as a kid.
“No, I won’t leave,” he said softly. “Just go to sleep, Chey. I’ll watch over you tonight.”
Cheyenne nodded. Or at least she thought she did. “I don’t care what you say, you’re a nice guy.”
“I assure you I’m not,” he answered.
Hearing that last statement spoken in his rich, sexy tone, Cheyenne drifted off to sleep.
But not before she called him a liar. Only, she didn’t think the word actually made it past her lips.
BRENDON MADE HIS way back downstairs after Cheyenne’s breaths evened out. He needed to put some serious distance between them. The woman was just too damn cute for her own good. The way she’d begged God not to let him notice her pebbled nipples and the way she’d inhaled him like she was in a bakery and he was the first batch of donuts … she was all the more appealing. And that, in no way, was a good thing.
But no matter what she thought, he wasn’t a good guy. If he was, he wouldn’t have considered taking advantage of her in her drunken state. Granted, she would’ve had to stay awake for that to happen because he might not be nice, but he wasn’t desperate. Or stupid.
“She asleep?” Jessie asked when Brendon came back downstairs and joined her and Braydon in the living room.
“Yeah. I’m gonna camp on the couch tonight,” he informed her, nodding his head toward the tiny, two-person sofa.
“I can stay if you want me to,” Jessie told him, glancing over at Braydon, who was standing by her side.
“We’ll be fine. I’ll just pass out there,” he told her as he pointed to the couch, clarifying exactly where he’d be more for his benefit than hers, “and leave when she’s up and movin’ around in the mornin’. I just wanna make sure she doesn’t need anything.”
Jessie nodded, leaning against Braydon when he put his arms around her. “You’re a good guy, you know that?”
Brendon frowned. “I think you’re as drunk as Cheyenne.”
Jessie giggled. “Think what you want.”
“If you need anything, just call,” Braydon said. “We’ll stop by and pick up Scrap. Take him back to Jessie’s for the night.”
Brendon nodded his agreement. His wire-haired mutt would be upset with him if he didn’t bother to come home tonight, but at least Scrap would have someone to keep an eye on him. Glancing around the room, Brendon asked, “Everyone else gone?”
“Yeah. Travis and them just left.”
“Okay. Do I need to clean up in there?” Brendon asked, nodding his head toward the kitchen.
“All taken care of,” Jessie replied.
Brendon turned back to face Braydon and Jessie. “I’ll be good, I promise.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Braydon answered with a smirk.
Brendon didn’t bother to respond. He knew how his family felt about Cheyenne. They cared about her and didn’t want to see her hurt. And that was the very reason Brendon had sworn to rid himself of the damn obsession he had with her. It wouldn’t do any of them a damn bit of good.