Off Limits

Chapter 4

Kate woke to warm sunlight in her eyes, and a blistering headache that made her shut them again and wish for nothingness to consume her. Her stomach churned as she rolled over, her mind flashing through memories from last night. Gossiping friends, too much cheap wine, attentive but unattractive date, bitchy ex, Tyler ...

Tyler.

Kate groaned and buried her head underneath the duvet. Why couldn't she be one of those people who blacked out when they got drunk and woke up the next morning all chirpy and oblivious? Instead, she had to remember every single horrific and embarrassing detail.

She sniffed at the black tank top that Tyler had bundled her into bed still wearing and tried not to gag. Even with the anti-smoking laws, the damn stuff always seemed to permeate everything she owned whenever she went out. But thank god she was still wearing clothes, stinky or not. And thank god she'd found out Tyler wasn't gay before he'd seen her drunk, otherwise who knew what she would have allowed him to do. Not that he would have taken advantage of her or anything. She knew him well enough to know that. Didn't she?

Kate groaned. She couldn't think with this hangover and stale cigarette smoke hanging around. She rolled out of bed and stumbled queasily into the shower, gathering the rest of her dirty clothes from the floor as she went and stuffing them in the laundry hamper. With the hot water running over her skin and the fruity smell of her shampoo filling the shower, Kate began to feel almost human. It would be a long time before she and Mr Jameson had a night out again. If ever, she thought with a grimace.

Scrubbed clean, she padded shakily back to the bedroom, her stomach growling the way it always did when she'd overindulged. She was just planning which greasy diner to visit for a fry-up breakfast when she realised her car was still parked outside the Jolly Roger. Tyler had brought her home and she'd left it there.

Shit. Who the hell could she call this early on a Saturday morning for a lift and a—

Kate stopped mid-thought and sniffed. Was that ... bacon?

She hurriedly pulled on yoga pants and a tank top as the smell intensified. She was either having a hangover-induced hallucination, or someone down the hall was having a fry-up. Maybe it was Val. Her neighbour was always treating her to cookies and cakes that she'd baked, so maybe she'd help her out with breakfast and a lift as well. Kate stumbled through the bedroom doorway into the open-plan living / dining area, rubbing her still-tired eyes and cursing the throbbing in her head.

The sight that greeted her made her stop short.

Tyler stood in her kitchen wearing what looked like her brother's old grey sweatpants that she'd shoved in the linen cupboard. And nothing else.

Kate gasped, her body frozen mid-stride. The tanned, toned muscles of his back mocked her as he stood casually at the stove. The pants were a little big for him and sat low on his narrow hips, and as he turned to tip bacon rashers onto plates she caught a glimpse of dark hair leading from his belly down beneath the waistband. Jesus. He was so intensely masculine, and her body was responding to him in a way she didn't like one bit. How the hell had she ever believed this man was gay?

"Hey," he said casually as he saw her, turning back to the stove and cracking open a couple of eggs. "You look like you need coffee." He motioned with the spatula to the machine where a fresh batch was percolating and Kate felt her abused body crying out with relief. She could almost kiss him—if that wasn't the worst idea in the world.

She made a beeline for the percolator, but he stopped her, holding out a big glass of water. He dropped two Aspirin into her palm. "These first."

She swallowed them grudgingly, irritated that she needed them and irritated that he was here, making himself at home in her kitchen and looking gorgeous as sin. "What are you doing here?"