Princess Next Door(11)


“You made them?”

“No, I bought them. I didn’t have time to cook myself anything.”

When she stopped, he got her in the truck and put his foot to the gas to get there faster.

By the time he pulled up, she was about to vomit again, and he got her upstairs to her bathroom before she did it on the floor. Not that it mattered much, as she was covered in vomit. Holding her hair out of the way, he grabbed her cell phone, dialing Marshall.

“You got home already.”

Before he spoke, Princess vomited.

“I’ve got it under control, but it seems alcohol really, really doesn’t agree with her. It’s all over my truck. It okay if I get her to call you tomorrow?”

“Crap, do you want us to come over?”

“No, no, I’ve got it. She’s in safe hands.”

“I’ll talk tomorrow,” Princess said, then vomited.

He heard Marshall wince. “Good luck, man.”

Five minutes later, Princess was crying. “This is so wrong. My stomach is cramping real bad, and I think I got vomit down my boobs.”

Turning on the shower, Zane didn’t see himself getting home to his bed.

Holding her in his arms, he stripped her down to her underwear, and even as he wished he had the chance to admire her, he was in no mood to be thinking anything sexy. His car stank, he had vomit on himself, and now he had a very ill Princess on his hands. Getting her washed and dried took him nearly an hour, and when he had her in bed, he took a shower. Gathering up their clothes, he was about to do some laundry when she appeared in the bathroom and began vomiting again.

He was starting to think it wasn’t the beer but the food she’d eaten.

“I’m never eating takeout again.”

So many people had said the same old thing.

It was going to be a long night. Instead of being pissed about that, though, Zane found himself smiling as he headed to her laundry room. There were worse ways to spend an evening.





Chapter Four


Wynter woke with the worst feeling in the world. Grabbing her head, she groaned and turned to see Zane lying beside her. She gasped, sitting up in the bed.

“There’s some painkillers and water by your lamp.” He held onto her pillow, and she stared down at him, startled to see him in her room.

“Erm, what are you doing here?” she asked.

“Give yourself a moment and last night will all come flooding back, and you won’t need to ask another question.”

She’d gone out drinking, and slowly, she recalled being in the bar with Zane. Dancing with him, listening to him perform with his group, and then she winced. “I vomited in your car.”

“Yes, you did, and I’m sure there’s a nice big puddle out there as well. Not to mention all the vomiting you did in here last night. Those wings you ate must have been really nasty.” He held onto the pillow, and she chanced another glance at him.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and with a quick look underneath her sheet, she saw he was also in boxer briefs.

Nibbling her lip, she looked at him. “Did we, erm, did we…”

“Have sex?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Oh.”

He laughed. “Don’t sound so disappointed. Believe it or not, Princess, I don’t screw a vomiting body, nor do I screw a corpse.”

“A corpse?”

“You were completely out of it last night, and the idea of being with you didn’t appeal, not at all.”

“That bad?”

“Yep, that bad.”

She rubbed at her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“You also vomited in my truck, and I’ve not even gone down to check how bad that is.”

“I will totally clean it. I promise.”

“You feeling any better?”

Her stomach felt tender, but her head was easing, and besides being completely embarrassed, she felt fine. “Yes.”

“Good. You need to call Marshall. I told him you would in the morning. You were too busy hurling last night.”

“I will. I will totally do that.”

He held out her cell phone. “Here you go.” He snuggled back into her bed.

“You slept here last night?”

“I was worried that you’d fall asleep with vomit in your mouth, and that image wouldn’t leave me, so I decided to be a gentleman and stay. I hope that’s okay.”

“It is.” She held her cell phone. “I’ll go make the call.”

“Take your painkillers first. It’ll help with the bad head.”

She took the painkillers and entered her bathroom, closing the door silently behind her.

Stepping in front of the mirror, she winced. She looked awful. Her eyes were all dark from the small amount of makeup she’d worn last night.

She didn’t stink, which she was happy about.

Dialing Tammy’s number, she waited for her friend to answer.

“It’s about time you called. How are you feeling?” Tammy asked.

“I’m feeling … okay.”

“Marshall said you were vomiting last night. You didn’t have that much to drink.”

“I ate some takeout food, and believe me, I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. That stuff was just disgusting.” She wrinkled her nose. “Zane took care of me. Like … all night.”

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