Shifted

Chapter 13: Finally...

The next morning, I woke with a start to a sharp knock on the door. Daylight was peeking through my drawn curtains. I checked my phone to see it was already 10:00 am. There was a steaming pot of water and a tea setting on the bedside table alongside a small bottle of aspirin. One of the staff must have come in while I was sleeping.

The knocking got steadily louder at the door, sending my already pounding head into a frenzy.

"Go away," I shouted, stuffing a pillow over my head. I was typically a morning person, but apparently, I was toast after tequila.

"Briony," Dillon's voice called from behind the door. I ignored him, wishing I were still asleep. "C'mon, Briony, we're going to have to leg it to Glenevin at this rate."

I trudged over to the door and crankily ripped it open.

"Can't," I growled and tried to shut the door. Dillon caught it with a strong arm and stepped in the doorway.

"Why not, lass?" he said, pushing the door open a little more. He gave me a look, noticing I was still in yesterday's dress. "Why didn't you change last night?"

"I couldn't undo all the buttons," I moaned, opening the door the rest of the way. "That's why I wore it to the pub too."

"Would you like me to help? Or I can call Lily up," Dillon said, hovering near the door.

"You'll do," I walked over to the mirror, twirling the dress lightly. It's strange how much confidence this dress gave me, so much so that I didn't want to take it off.

Dillon closed the door and walked up behind me, looking in my eyes through the long mirror. I felt as though I could nearly hear what he was thinking, causing my pale skin to once again betray my feelings.

"So, last night..." he started, unbuttoning the top button. The dress scooped down in the back, leaving the top button resting right in the middle of my back, with the bottom button at my waistline.

"Yeah, last night," I breathed. "It was interesting, and spinny."

"Spinny?"

"Yeah, spinny. As in, everything was spinning for a majority of the night," I explained.

"Interesting choice of words, but accurate," he laughed. "I'm sorry about Raine, he's not exactly chivalrous when he's had too many pints."

"No worries, women are always on the lookout for that kind of thing. I've essentially been trained for it."

"Oh, well, I'm even more sorry then," Dillon sighed. There was a short pause as he continued to struggle with the buttons.

"You know, I'm glad Emery came to talk to me after dinner, she's so kind. Though it sounds like she's been through a lot," I said, changing the subject.

"Aye, she's pure class. Too bad me oul fella won't take a note or two from her," Dillon said, making it to the third or fourth button. His fingers lightly brushed my back as he worked and I had to cross my arm over my chest to keep the dress from falling from my shoulders.

"I thought she was his advisor, shouldn't he be constantly taking her advice?"

"She is technically, but my father is hard-headed as they come and even Emery doesn't have much success convincing him on anything that he doesn't want to do," Dillon explained.

"I thought I heard you defending my honor to him on my way out of the dining room last night," I smiled, looking at him through the mirror. He glanced up at me, his face flushed this time, and nodded before looking back at the buttons.

"Speaking of yesterday, what was going on with you and Raine at his place yesterday afternoon?" he asked pryingly.

"What do you mean?" I asked whirling around so my face was only inches from his. "You were the one who scared the bejesus out of me with your incessant knocking and made me spill my tea. Raine just lent me a clean shirt," I said innocently.