Page 173 of The Doctors Will See You Now

Where in the hell am I?

Scooting to the edge of the bed, I dragged my feet off the mattress and rubbed my knuckles into my eyes. I stretched my arms above my head and yawned as I watched my legs dangle above the light hardwood floors. The instant I stood up, my eyes caught my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror beside the white armoire. Cripes. I’m naked…

Where in the hell were my clothes?

Across the bedroom toward the door, I scanned the space until I caught sight of my dress haphazardly strewn across the floor like it’d been dragged into the room by a stampede. Hazy—yet somehow very real—memories of last night filtered into my brain.

The party. Drinks with Scott. Dancing with Scott. Sex with Scott.

Oh. My. God.

Last night, I’d had a crazy, slightly drunken, toe-curling, several orgasms, amazing-sex night. With Scott Shepard.

My eyes met my reflection in the mirror again, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at the absurdity of the situation. I mean, I’d just had sex with someone I’d written Gossip columns about. I’d never done that. Hell, I’d made a point never to do that.

Blame it on the alcohol?

More like my vagina and the fact that you’re really starting to like Scott…

I ignored the latter and focused on the first part. My horny vagina. Yeah, she was definitely to blame in this scenario. But, in her defense, Scott was walking, talking sex. After the Barron debacle, all she’d wanted was to feel good.

The longer I stood there staring at the wanton, slightly disheveled woman in the mirror, the easier it became to pick out the details. I wasn’t just naked—I was worked over. Beard rash covered ninety-five percent of my skin, and two very large and obvious reddish-purple marks dappled my breasts. Each breast to be exact. Hickeys? Seriously?

It was like I was fifteen all over again and experiencing my first real hookup in the back of Jimmy Velvet’s old pickup truck. Jesus Christ.

“Good morning,” the perpetrator himself greeted me. I glanced up slowly, as if working my way through a murky pond, to find him standing in the doorway and fully dressed in a white, buttoned-up collared shirt and gray slacks.

His deep, baritone voice, his eyes, him, all of it brought a flood of memories back into my brain. The way we’d danced together at the party. How good it’d felt to be in his arms. The terrifying things it’d made me feel and think. The way I’d internally freaked the fuck out and left him on the dance floor. Yeah, it was safe to say, last night had been a bit of an emotional conundrum for me.

But it’d also been amazing, too.

Fucking hell, I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that I was secretly thankful Scott had followed me after I’d abruptly left the party.

What was happening to me?

You like him.

I mentally shook that thought off. Naked and in his bedroom, with a very handsome Scott standing behind me, was not the time for that kind of internal monologue.

I wasn’t particularly modest or embarrassed by my body in its natural state, but standing completely naked, comfortably chatting with the man you didn’t expect to hook up with last night was a challenge for even the most confident of women.

“Sleep well?” he asked with a soft smile, and I turned away from the mirror to face him.

I didn’t miss the sparkle of enjoyment in his eye as he perused my naked and visibly hickey-fied body. And unfortunately for any chance I had at a display of self-righteousness, what I felt in response wasn’t even close to embarrassment.

Man, I hated how good the renewed ache in my abdomen felt.

Quickly, before my vagina could take charge again, I redirected my focus.

“Did you seriously give me hickeys?” I questioned and pointed to both breasts.

His smile turned amused. “I thought those were called love bites?”

“Does it really matter what they’re called?” I spat back. “I mean, what thirtysomething-year-old man gives a woman hickeys?”

He chuckled softly and shrugged. “I guess I got a little carried away.”

“A little?” I pointed to the marks again. “There are two of these suckers.”