Curtis acknowledged his generosity with a grunt as he tipped his head back on the couch.
The house was quiet when he finally pried open his eyes. Someone had laid a throw over him, Regan no doubt. His head was throbbing and his mouth was desert dry.
Curtis swung his feet to the floor and stood slowly. Perhaps the caterers had left something in the refrigerator. He could do with a sandwich on those senseless little rolls they had served.
He stumbled to the kitchen, swung open the refrigerator and the light illuminated the room. He winced and realized he 'd heard a stifled gasp of someone sitting at the table.
Focused on the small figure at the table he shut the door quickly. "Thought I was alone. "
"I was hungry. " Her face was coming into focus, but the accent alerted him to who the woman in the dark was. She stood and started toward him. "I just came down for a little snack. Can I make you something? "
He 'd wanted to laugh as he wondered if she 'd ever had to fend for herself in her life. That wasn 't fair. Obviously she 'd made herself something to eat right there in the kitchen.
"I 'm fine. Go finish your snack. "
"You are angry with me. "
"You think? " He stepped back from her as she approached. That expensive perfume which had tangled with his senses the last time they stood in that kitchen was playing games with his body again.
"Curtis, I 'm sorry. I meant you no harm. " She moved closer to him in the dark. "Mon ami? "
"Friends? Sure. " He turned and reached into the cupboard for a glass. At the sink, he filled it with water and felt it land in his stomach. He hadn 't slept on that couch long enough to ward of the drunk he 'd put on. "Damn, " he said under his breath.
"Are you all right? "
"Just hadn 't planned on spending the night on my sister 's couch. I wanted to get home. "
"I would be happy to give you a ride. "
He lifted a brow. "You drove? "
Simone cleared her throat. "You would be pleased to know I have leased a car. I can drive. "
"Hmm, well ain 't that something. "
He thought he knew her well enough that she 'd have had a driver waiting in a car for beck and call.
Even in the dark, he saw her straighten. "You think I 'm just some spoiled brat, don 't you? "
"Honey, if the high heeled shoe fits "
Her hand whizzed through the dark and had he been sober he might have had a chance to block it before it hit his cheek. The sting of it raced through his skin and a curse flew from his lips. "Forget the ride. I 'd rather walk home. "
"Why did I think you had better manners than this? Juidiote. "
She stormed out of the kitchen. If she was going to be around for a while, he 'd have a few more 1chances of pissing her off and that seemed just fine with him. Curtis rubbed at the ache on his cheek.
Well the last thing he needed was for his sister to see him be disrespectful to her houseguest. He 'd call a cab. He 'd sleep off his drunk and in two days he 'd be at the hospital buried in broken bones, cut hands needing stitches, and heart attacks. Suddenly it seemed more appealing than ever.
Simone paced the floor of her bedroom. Oh, he 'd set her off and what made her angrier was that she deserved it. Why had she thought things would just fall into place? She had left him stranded on a yacht in the middle of nowhere. She hadn 't had the decency to tell him she was leaving or provide him a way home. Zach had to wire him the money to make it back to Tennessee and she 'd heard that he was paying dearly for that at the hospital.
She 'd used her wealth to treat him like a prince and then banish him like a pauper. Hadn 't he made it clear to her that even though most people thought doctors were self-righteous and rich, he wasn 't? Hadn 't he told he that he spent more time at the hospital than he did in his little, poorly decorated apartment? Those student loans were plenty and paychecks weren 't, he 'd said.
But she hadn 't expected to fall for him.
Simone looked out over the dark garden from her window and sighed. She 'd spent so much of her life trying to be in charge she didn 't know what to do when she felt the control slip from her heart. The fact that she 'd had many men on that very yacht should have kept things in perspective, but they hadn 't. Curtis Keller was the only one who had taken care of her on that yacht and she didn 't know how to deal with it.
Sure, many men took care of her. Each of them wanted a piece of what Simone Pierpont could offer them. Curtis Keller asked for nothing.
They 'd been thrown together as dates for Carlos 's last wedding. They 'd met a few times, but once the bubbly started and the music slowed, things changed. She 'd changed in his arms that very night and she followed him to that little, rundown apartment he called home, and she 'd loved every moment they 'd spent there.
Without a bag, she 'd worn his shirts around the house. He 'd had an extra toothbrush that he 'd paid no more than a dollar for that he gave her, and she 'd kept. There was no food in the house of a single man and he ordered pizza and over tipped the driver. It was heaven.
Then she convinced him to run away with her for a few weeks. Leave behind the responsibility and the woes of saving lives. Make love to her on the French Riviera under the stars. And so he did.
And that was where she 'd left him.
Simone crawled into bed and pulled the sheets up to her chin as if to hide herself in the dark. She 'd never been in a situation where she didn 't know what to do or have her daddy to go to fix all her problems. The last time she 'd spoken to her father, he 'd turned her away. Taken away her trust fund, her villa, everything. To him she was nothing, and he 'd made that perfectly clear.
It was hard for her to imagine. Her mother had married, again, and lived in Spain. And now she couldn 't even afford to go to her. Zach had been kind enough to fly her to America and offer her a place to stay. She was sure even Regan didn 't know he 'd done as much.
He didn 't know why she was there, but she 'd tell him. And Zachary Benson would never turn her away. That was what friends did for each other.
She 'd hoped Curtis wouldn 't turn her away either, but it didn 't look as though things were going her way.
From the book she bought, she figured she had a good two months before she needed to make her decisions on matters at hand. Zach offered to help her find a job. Why would she need a job, she supposed he wondered. Suddenly an apartment, dark and dank like Curtis 's, seemed appealing.