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Chapter 11
Stephanie was half asleep when she rolled to her right side and reached for her body pillow. When she didn’t feel it, her semi-conscious brain deducted that it’d fallen off the side of the bed. She was fairly active in her nocturnal state. She didn’t just talk in her sleep, she held conversations. Simone used to use that fact to her advantage to try to find out what her Christmas presents were. Her activity wasn’t only verbal in nature. During the night she twisted more than Chubby Checkers. There were a lot of nights that she would wake up to find all of her pillows and her comforter on the floor.
As much as she wished she could drift back into a blissful slumber she knew that she wouldn’t be able to unless she had the pillow to tuck between her legs and hold tightly. It was the only way she could sleep soundly which meant she needed to retrieve it. A trick she’d learned long ago was to keep her eyes closed during this process, if not, falling back to sleep was near impossible. Opening her eyes signaled her brain that it was time to start the day and at that point it was game over. Once the on switch was flipped and her mind started reeling, there was no shutting it off.
Eyes still shut tight, her arm flopped over the mattress in a search and rescue mission. She began blindly patting the air for her fluffy sleep aid. When her efforts came up short, she stretched to expand her reach. The motion caused her face to rub against the sheet and she inhaled a very distinct scent of masculine musk. When the aroma registered, the realization that she wasn’t in her own bed and the memory of her night of debauchery washed over her.
Needless to say her eyes flew open. The room was dim, the only light coming from the slit in the drapes that were pulled shut. She remembered that Ace had mentioned he had an early flight.
Was it early? What time was it? Was he gone? Was he here?
Pushing up on her elbows she peeked beside her and only saw empty space. Next she checked the clock on the nightstand. It read eight fifteen. A vague memory that his flight left at eight o’clock surfaced in her consciousness, which meant that he was in the air. She didn’t know where he was going or when he’d be back, but he was gone.
This whole thing felt so surreal. Yesterday morning at this time he’d caught her returning his trashcan. They’d been virtual strangers. And now, here she was alone in his house, naked, after a night that…well, there were no words to describe what last night had been.
The last twenty-four hours were like a dream. If she hadn’t woken up in Ace’s bed she’d doubt whether or not any of it had even happened. But it had. She’d had her magical night at the ball and it was way past the stroke of midnight.
Back to reality.
She started to stand but hesitated. The fact that she was naked shouldn’t matter considering she was alone and even if Ace was still here, he’d seen, kissed, touched and licked practically every inch of her body. Modesty would be kind of a moot point. But considering she never walked around in her birthday suit in her own house, it didn’t surprise her that she was uncomfortable at the thought of doing it here.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to. Beside the bed, neatly folded on a chair, were her sweats, shirt, bra and underwear. The sight filled her with a giddiness that she’d only ever felt for boy bands and Ryan Gosling. Ace had that effect on her. One look, one touch, one sweet gesture when he wasn’t even present sent her floating on a cloud of bliss.
She couldn’t stop smiling as she quickly dressed. But that light, happy, weightless feeling that only Ace inspired was gone the moment she realized that she didn’t have her phone. It was at home.
Panic replaced her euphoric high as she ran out of the bedroom. She’d been unreachable for hours. What if Scott had needed her? What if he’d had an episode? What if Simone had had trouble with the car? What if she’d been stranded on the side of the road with no one to call?
In her hurry she stumbled down the hallway. If she weren’t so distressed she would’ve appreciated the humor in the fact that she looked like Bambi trying to walk on ice as she navigated the narrow space. She was used to being on her feet for extended periods of time, but she wasn’t used to dancing or the other activities that she’d participated in last night. She was sore in muscles she didn’t even know she had.
Somehow she managed to get to the front door. Her eyes squinted at the bright sunlight as she dashed from Ace’s condo to her own. Frantically she looked for her phone. It wasn’t on the kitchen counter, the table, the couch, the coffee table, or the bathroom. Each second that she couldn’t find it the panic levels in her body increased like a pressure cooker.
She envisioned the worst-case scenarios, picturing Simone on the side of the road stranded and alone. Scott scared, sick and alone.
How could she have been so irresponsible? She was their “in case of emergency.” What if they’d had an emergency?
She was almost to her bedroom when a buzzing sound froze her in her tracks. Holding her breath, she tried to discern where the noise was coming from. It sounded like the couch, but she’d already looked there. The vibrating alert stopped on her way back to the living room but she continued that direction.
Upon a more thorough investigation, which consisted of checking between the cushions, she located her phone. Her body was flushed with relief when she saw that she hadn’t missed any calls from Brookside or Simone. Then her body flushed with an entirely different emotion when she saw that she did have a text from Ace, who must’ve programmed her number into his phone, and a missed call from a number she didn’t recognize.
First she opened the text. Hey darlin’. I didn’t want to wake you this morning because you were sleeping so soundly. I’m about to get on the plane and can’t stop thinking about you. Don’t forget, dinner when I get back. See you soon.
A simple message from him was all it took for the now familiar dizzying delight to spread through her again. Stephanie had never been particularly romantic. With Mason, things never felt reckless and whimsical. They’d been nice. Safe. Steady. Well, at least they were until they weren’t. It’s what she’d always believed she wanted in a relationship. But one day with Ace and she was starting to rethink her position.
“Where were you last night?”
Simone’s voice startled her and her phone flew out of her hand. She fumbled to try to grab it, but that only sent it soaring further away. It landed at her sister’s feet.
“What? Where were you?” Stephanie challenged her sister defensively.
Before she could reach it, Simone bent down to pick it up and turned it over, so that the screen was facing her. “I was home. Asleep in your bed, which is why I know you weren’t.”
When Stephanie saw the knowing grin that spread across her sister’s face, she was certain there was no longer any question in her mind as to exactly where she’d been last night.
Simone handed it back, her smile only growing larger as she said, “You might hold the distance record for the shortest walk of shame.”
Stephanie’s cheeks heated as she snatched the phone back from her sister. They were both adults and she knew she had nothing to be embarrassed about, but that didn’t change the fact that she was. Not because she thought there was anything wrong with what she’d done last night. She didn’t. It was just not something she really felt like discussing with her sister, or anyone for that matter.
Stephanie hoped that a subject change to her sister’s favorite topic, herself, would do the trick. “Did you have fun last night?”
