Page 31 of As a Last Resort

SAMANTHA

I woke up to the smell of bacon. Am I in heaven?

I moved my head.

Nope. Definitely not in heaven.

“There’s water and Tylenol on my nightstand.” Austin’s voice seared through a pounding headache.

I opened one eye and looked at him as he stood in the doorway.

“Are you wearing an apron?”

He stood in front of me holding kitchen tongs and wearing a chambray apron with white lace lining the front pocket.

“Wouldn’t want to get bacon splatter on my limited edition Guy Harvey, now would I?” He winked and turned around.

Memories of last night flashed through my head and I flushed. I bit him. Oh my God, did I seriously bite him? What was wrong with me?

Four vodka tonics and three shots was what was wrong with me.

I can’t even remember what happened after that.

I sat up and looked around. I was in a king-sized bed that felt like a cloud.

A few pictures hung on the wall—one of Austin and his dad on a charter boat with a huge fish and one of the whole Marcs family out on a dock.

I was in his room.

I looked down at the huge tarpon screen-printed across the shirt I was wearing. Oh my God, he changed my shirt! Did we have sex? Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. I didn’t randomly sleep with strangers after a few too many beverages.

Well, he wasn’t a total stranger.

“You going to throw up?”

“What?” I didn’t realize he was still standing at the door again.

“You look a little queasy. Are you going to get sick again? There’s a trash can on the other side of the bed.”

“Again?” Shock rang through my body. “I threw up last night?”

“You vomited quite aggressively.”

My body broke out in chills. “Ew, don’t say that word.”

“What word? Vomit? ” His eyes danced as he leaned casually against the doorframe.

“Stop. Seriously. You’re going to make me puke.”

“I’m not sure you have anything left to offer.”

I buried my head in the pillow but popped up as a thought crossed my mind. “Oh no, too fast—Wait, so if I was incapacitated all night, did we… Don’t laugh at me, I’m serious!”

“Puking drunk girl who can’t hold herself up really isn’t my style.”

I swallowed cotton and whispered. “I was that bad?”

He nodded.

“Don’t ever let me do that again.”

“There are clothes on the chair that’ll probably fit. Take your Tylenol. Come out when you’re ready.”

“Yes, sir, Captain.” I gave him a salute, one that immediately made my head spin.

“And no quick movements,” he added.

I gave him a thumbs-up as I turned over and buried my face in the pillow.

The covers were wrapped around my legs and the heat was stifling.

I slowly kicked at them, sighing at the feeling of cool air rushing to my legs.

I opened my eyes to Austin’s flushed face, his gaze fixed on my lower half.

My fire engine–red lace thong practically screamed a bright and cheery good morning against his white sheets.

“I’m going to go flip the bacon,” he muttered, his ears turning crimson as he bolted from the door.

The clothes on the chair weren’t his, unless he was into dressing like a woman three sizes smaller than him. Vanessa flashed through my mind. Would he give me clothes his ex-fiancée wore? And even weirder, would he seriously keep them this whole time?

No, thank you.

I pulled a pair of way-too-big gym shorts out of his dresser and used the bathroom. After splashing my face with cold water a few times I felt more awake, but still seemed a little green around the gills.

I walked into the kitchen and he looked me up and down.

“They didn’t fit.” I had a little more attitude than necessary. He smirked as he handed me a mug of steaming coffee.

I slowly gazed around his house. It was clean and tidy but simple, with a dark gray couch in the middle of the living room and a small entryway table. “What’s that?” I asked, peering over to the table where a little plate held his keys.

“It’s a key dish.”

“A key what ?” I asked, chuckling.

“A key dish. You put your keys on it.”

“Why don’t you just put your keys on the table underneath the key dish?”

“But then what would I do with my key dish?” I couldn’t tell if he was trying to be funny or if he was serious.

I inhaled the coffee. It may have been the best smelling coffee I’d ever had in my hands.

“So,” he continued, as I perched on a barstool, “what was up with last night?”

“What part of last night?” I asked, trying to play it cool as I busied my mouth blowing on my coffee.

“The mission to get wasted and forget your day.” He put four pieces of toast into the toaster.

I could still hear Ivy’s words rattling around in my head, even though it was all a little foggy. “Do you remember that guy I was telling you about? My work nemesis who sounds like a certain breed of canine when he laughs?”

“Your Pugentine?” He gave me the side-eye.

“Nope, still not my boyfriend. But my assistant, Ivy, called yesterday and told me he was put on the highest profile project our firm has ever had—the one that I was managing before I came down here. I would have been put in charge of it, should have been put in charge of it, but wasn’t. Because I’m here.”

He grabbed a plate down from the cabinet.

“We’re both gunning for this big promotion. The fact my boss gave this other project to Robby is pretty much a flare gun with the news that Robby’s getting it over me.”

“Have they announced he got it yet?” He caught a slice directly from the toaster as it popped up.

Well, that was surprisingly hot.

“Not yet.” I watched as he spread butter over the entire piece. “You’re being very intentional with your buttering skills. Most people just put a blob in the middle and call it a day.”

“I’m not most people.” He poured himself more coffee and leaned against the counter. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not going to try and convince me I’m crazy for reading into it?” He shook his head. “It gets better… He’ll be here at five o’clock.”

“Here, like in Florida?”

“Yep. Apparently while my mother’s little bikini incident garnered quite a few laughs, it also demonstrated I may have some other priorities while I’m here that may be distracting me from my job.”

“So your boss is sending him down here to chaperone you?” he asked. “I’m all about looking for the silver lining but that seems pretty crappy.”

“I don’t know whether to dump my coffee on your head or thank you for your honesty.”

“I get that a lot.” He slid a plate of toast and bacon in front of me and filled up my coffee again. “Hangover cure. Half a pound of bacon, buttery toast, and black coffee. Eat.”

He sat next to me, coffee full and plateless.

“You’re not going to eat?”

“I don’t do breakfast.”

“But it’s the most important meal of the day.”

“Doesn’t do it for me.”

He turned his coffee cup a quarter around every few seconds. He waited until my plate was half empty before he spoke again. “So, if it is true, about Pug Nugget and the promotion, what’s next?”

“You mean besides drinking myself into oblivion for the next couple weeks out of misery? I stay here for another week or so, finish out the due diligence on the island and head back to New York. Probably jump on board his Oakstone Springs team, plaster a big ol’ smile on my face and pretend like I won’t pull the majority of the weight for him when I know I will. Again.”

“And what if it’s not true? What if the promotion is still up for grabs?”

I stuffed a piece of bacon in my mouth. Heaven in food form. I wasn’t used to this many thought-provoking questions at once. His voice sounded whiskey soaked and raspy in the morning. It was distracting. And he was hardcore staring at me.

“I’ll still stay here for another two weeks regardless I guess, then head back to New York, and…

” I paused. I didn’t know the right words to finish the sentence.

What would happen? Keep working my ass off to hopefully get the promotion?

There wasn’t a specific timeline necessarily, but the general assumption was that by the end of the month, an announcement would be made.

“And keep busting your ass for a chance at this promotion.”

I took a long sip of my coffee. “I guess so.”

The thought felt strange for the first time. It felt less important all of a sudden. I spent the last handful of years grinding my life away to climb the corporate ladder and I didn’t see it changing anytime soon.

He was staring at me, trying to read something on my face.

“What?”

“It just doesn’t seem like you’re all that excited about going back and working yourself down to the bone. And either way, it looks like that’s what you’re going to do, promotion or not.” Work was the last thing I wanted to talk about. My head still hurt and I wanted more bacon.

“You’re being way too intense to be wearing that apron.” His eyes were so green in the morning. “So, about last night…”

“Sam?” My head whipped around way too fast at a female’s voice. Lexi padded in the front door, well, more like skipped in, to the kitchen and side-hugged me really hard.

“Careful, she might puke on you.”

My head spun. “What are you doing here?”

“Mom and Dad are at one of her little flower show thingies and staying in the house alone all day freaks me out.”

“She thinks sea monsters are going to crawl up out of the ocean and kidnap her,” Austin teased.

“You’re still afraid of that?” I asked.

“That nightmare I had when I was six changed my life.” She made her way to the coffeepot and poured herself a mug. “I keep a bunch of stuff here just in case they decide to bail on me last minute for a hydrangea trade show.”

Ah. The clothes. I saw Austin smirk out of the corner of my eye.

“What do you have planned for today?” She looked at her brother’s clothes hanging off me and pursed her lips.

“Looking for a place to move to for the weekend, actually.”

“What’s wrong with the Starfish?” Austin had somehow refilled my coffee without me noticing. “I thought Josie had you down for the whole month.”

“She did, but the rest of the rooms are sold out for the weekend for the showcase, as well as every other hotel on the island. With Robby coming down today, the assumption is that he would crash with me.”

“You’re kidding.” Austin sounded kind of pissed. “Isn’t that against some HR code or something?”

“Not when you work for Glenn. And I’m sure Pugster did everything in his power to convince our boss it’d be no big deal.” I could see it now, Robby telling Glenn he’d make it work for the sake of the company.

“Who’s Pugster?” Lexi asked.

“Her coworker who sounds like a pug when he laughs,” Austin chimed in.

“He kind of looks like a more attractive, younger, less creepy brother version of Perez Hilton,” I added.

“Who’s that?” Austin asked.

“Pop culture is not his forte. Don’t hold it against him. He doesn’t even know who J.Lo’s married to this year.”

“Yeah, I do,” he argued. “One of her dancers.”

“See?” Lexi chuckled. “So, assuming your mom’s place is out?”

“Considering our fight yesterday morning, and well, the last twenty-six years of my life, not an option.” I rested my head on the cool granite of the kitchen countertop. My mind replayed the argument again. That, along with the tequila shots I’m pretty sure we had last night, made my head spin.

“And he’s getting here today?” Lexi asked.

I nodded. An awkward silence filled the space. “For the record,” I blurted out, “we didn’t sleep together.” Lexi coughed into her coffee mug. “I just had too much to drink and Austin let me crash here.”

“Okay.” She gave me a small smile once her coughing fit passed.

“Why don’t you just stay here?” Austin said.

A spoon hit the counter. I peeked my eyes up just in time to catch Lexi’s deer-in-headlights look at Austin.

“What? I have a spare bedroom. And didn’t you say it was only for a couple nights?”

“Just the rest of the weekend,” I confirmed.

“Okay. And it’s not like I’m here much anyway.”

“Yeah, he’ll be gone… working,” Lexi repeated, clearly not loving the idea. “Hey, maybe she can pick out some throw pillows too, while she’s here. It’s all gray and manly and mopey in here.”

“It is not gray and mopey.” Austin nodded to me for some confirmation.

I looked around. “It’d be super cozy for Eeyore.”

He pulled my empty bread plate across the counter. “That’s the last time I butter your toast like that.”

Lexi’s eyes went wide. This was clearly too much for her to handle. “I’m going to go for a run. I’m assuming you don’t want to join me?” she asked me as she filled her water bottle. “I’ll let you two get back to your morning chatter.”

I watched her flutter out the door. “She just poured coffee into her water bottle.”

“Yep,” he nodded.

“She definitely thinks we slept together.”

“Definitely.”

I looked at him and we burst out laughing.