“Sure.” Emma was surprised when Dex swept her up in her arms andcarried her around to the passenger seat. She was even more perfect than Emmathought she was before.
They didn’t talk much, and even if they had, they wouldn’t havebeen able to hear much. Grace was snoring loudly in excellent rhythm by thetime they reached the house.
Dex gripped the steering wheel and took in a deep breath. “I’m sosorry. This is not atall the way I thought this night would play out.”
Emma shook her head and chuckled. “Totally not what I expectedeither.” But Emma saw more good in it than bad. Dex was sitting in the seatnext to her smiling. Even Grace couldn’t spoil how she felt right now.
“We’ll leave earlier next time.” Dex glanced back at Grace. “Muchearlier.” She reached into the back seat, retrieved Grace’s clutch, and fishedout her keys. “I’ll get her in the house, and then I’ll be right back.”
Dex seemed to be struggling as she tried to open the door. Giventhe state Grace was in, she was bound to be dead weight. Emma got out of thecar, sprinted up the walkway, took the keys, and unlocked the door. Emmaslipped in ahead of Dex and went toward where she remembered the bedrooms were.
“Last one on the right,” Dex said as she followed her.
Emma reluctantly pushed through the bedroom door, almost afraid ofwhat she might find, and then quickly pulled the blanket back so Dex could pourGrace into bed. Emma unfastened one of Grace’s strappy stilettos while Dex tookoff the other. No way were they getting her dress off, so they pulled theblanket up and left her to sleep it off. She was going to have a helluvahangover tomorrow.
“Maybe you should fix her some of your ginger concoction.”
“Or maybe I just want her to feel like shit tomorrow for ruiningour night.”
Dex smiled. “I can go with that.” She glanced over her shoulderinto the bedroom before she pulled the door partly closed. “You can take mySUV. I think I’ll stay here tonight. Who knows if Brent’s coming home.”
“Do you mind if I stay with you?”
“I’d love that. I just didn’t think you’d want to. I mean withGrace here and all.”
“She’s harmless enough now.” She hesitated. “And to be honest, I’mnot quite ready to leave you yet.”
“Do want to go talk in the other room?” Dex asked.
“I’m too tired to talk.” She remembered the guest bedroom from thetour Dex had given her at the housewarming party. She pushed open the dooracross the hall, which was furnished with a queen-size bed. “Can we just liedown?”
“Sure.”
Emma climbed into the bed and waited for Dex to take off her shoesand crawl in next to her.
Dex slipped her arm around her. “Are you okay?” she asked as herfingers floated across Emma’s shoulder.
“I’m fine.” She snuggled in close and put her head on Dex’sshoulder. “But we’re not having sex in Grace’s guest room.” Even though shewanted to be more than close to Dex, the weirdness of it all was too much.
Dex laughed. “Uh, no. That would be totally creepy.”
“Thank you for putting the lights up at my parents’ house.”
“I was glad to do it. I mean, your dad can be a bit of a controlfreak, but I like him.” That earned Dex a pinch to the belly, and she squirmed.
“If you think my dad’s bad, wait until you get to know my mombetter.”
“I got a pretty good glimpse of your mom’s power at dinner. It wassurprising how quickly your dad stopped talking when your mom shot him thatglare.”
“Oh, you saw the look.”
“More than once,” Dex said with a chuckle.
“That’s pretty powerful stuff.” She sat up and tried to mimic hermother’s glare.
Dex shook her head. “Not even close.”
“What?” Her voice rose as she pushed up on her elbow and narrowedher eyes.
Dex smiled. “You’re in the vicinity now.”
She flattened her lips and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah, that’s it. Totally terrifying.” Dex blinked a few times.“Where did that sweet girl who was just here go?”
“Right here.” Emma gave her a soft kiss. “Now get some sleepbefore I rethink that no-sex thing and we end up with a creepy memory to dealwith.” She snuggled into Dex and let the happiness wash through her. She wasridiculously glad to be close to her again.
Emma had just started to doze off when she heard the front doorslam shut. Multiple thuds in the hallway meant Brent was home and stinkingdrunk. She glanced up at Dex to see if she’d heard him too. Her eyes were wideopen.
When the headboard thumping and low groaning started, Emmaimmediately bolted from the warm, cozy spot in Dex’s arms. “Oh, my God.” Shefloundered to get out of bed. “We have to leave.” The wild stories Brent hadtold her about Grace and their sex life were true.
“Yep.” Dex launched from the bed, picked up her shoes, and peekedout the doorway. She took Emma’s hand and quietly led her down the hallway.After stopping only to slip on her shoes, she opened the door, picked up Emma,and carried her to the SUV.
Emma had no words to deal with what they’d just experienced, andshe guessed Dex was pretty tongue-tied about it as well. The vehicle wasexceptionally quiet as Dex drove. When the Bluetooth from her phone connectedto the sound system, Dex had immediately hit the power button on the consoleand turned it off. It was late and there was minimal traffic, with no roadsounds except the tire whine on the pavement. Emma wasn’t quite sure what tosay. The whole disturbing scene had completely freaked her out, and she wassure it had had the same effect, if not worse, on Dex.
She reached over and touched Dex’s arm. “Are you okay?”
Dex shook her head before she glanced over at Emma and grimaced.“Now that was disturbingly creepy.” They both burst out laughing.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Emma watched Dex as she slept. It had been close to three bythe time they’d arrived at Emma’s house. When Dex had walked her to the door,she’d seemed uncertain. Emma was as well, but she’d asked her to stay just
