Page 54 of I'll Carry You
ChapterEighteen
Jen gropedin the dark room, looking for Colby. Finding her cell phone, instead, she checked the time.Ten thirty?
Holy crap, she hadn’t slept in this long inyears.
She rolled over in the bed, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. Travis must have blackout curtains in his room. By the time she’d arrived the night before and with a few glasses of wine and champagne in her system, Travis had insisted she spend the night. Colby was asleep anyway, he argued, and she could have his bed.
The low buzz of conversation in the adjoining room told her Travis must have gotten up early with Colby.Poor Travis.She’d taken off work because she had no one to watch Colby, and Bunny had come back from her trip. But she’d never intended for Travis to miss another morning of work for her. She sat up, combing her fingers through her hair. The champagne had left her with a mild headache.
Jumping out of bed, her thighs twinged with pain.Ouch.The muscles on her butt hurt, too, and she smiled at the memory.
Travis had lent her a T-shirt, and her bare feet were cold against the hardwood floor of his bedroom. Her toes curled as she found her clothes on the floor. She changed quickly and pulled a hair elastic from her purse. She threw her hair into a messy ponytail. Grabbing her phone again, she looked through her texts. Nothing from Jason.
His last text to her had been a quick one to let her know he was on his way the night before. She stared at the screen, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. Should she text him?
I really like you . . .
She bit her lip hard. What the hell had she been thinking? Nothing like the high of an orgasm to make you utter stupidity.
Had she freaked him out?
She slid the phone into her back pocket and grabbed her shoes. She didn’t feel like putting heels back on this morning. Opening the door to the room, she blinked at the relative brightness in Travis’s living room. He and Colby were sitting on the couch, watching cartoons.
Travis eyed her with a knowing grin. “Morning, sleepyhead.”
Colby didn’t look up as his eyes were focused on the screen.
“Don’t look at me while I’m doing the walk of shame.” She crossed the room to his kitchen. “Do you have any orange juice? My mouth tastes like chalk.”
Travis hopped up from the couch and joined her in the kitchen. He grabbed her a glass while she rummaged through the fridge. She avoided his gaze, pouring the juice, and then sipped it. “Don’t look at me.”
“Why not?” Travis crossed his arms.
“Because I know what you’re thinking.”
Travis gave her a serious look. “I’m not Lindsay. I won’t try to get every detail out of you or whatever it is you women talk about.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not about to share details.” Jen chugged the rest of the orange juice. “But I may or may not have told him I wasn’t feeling so casual about him.” She grimaced.
“Yikes.”
She inspected her empty glass. “I know.”
“This is the guy who told you he’s only into one-night stands, right?”
She nodded. “But that was also after he asked me to be his fake girlfriend for the baking competition.”
Travis’s brows shot up. “Fake girlfriend?”
“He feels bad for the whole thing with Brad. And I told him about the eviction.” She’d told Travis about that whole mess the day before when he picked up Colby.
“And you said?”
Jen moseyed over to the sink and washed her glass. “I said yes. It’s twenty-five thousand dollars. And I need it. He said I could keep all the prize money since he doesn’t know a single thing about baking. Which reminds me. I need to tell Laura I’ll be late to work tonight.”
“So Mr. One-Night Stand—”
“Jason.”