Fifteen minutes and a quick shower later, she headed toward the smells emanating from the kitchen.
“Hungry?” Alec asked as she walked into the kitchen, his gruff voice scraping across her already vibrating nerves and grating headache.
She slid into a chair at the kitchen table. For a few drawn out moments, she stared at the red numbers on the digital clock until the edges of her vision blurred. Unable to focus for a second longer, she dropped her head against the cool wood surface. “No.” Her voice sounded like sandpaper so she cleared her throat. “I’m not putting anything in my mouth for at least a week.”
Ignoring her, he placed two heaping plates of food on the table before relaxing into the chair next her. “Try a couple bites. You never know. It might help.”
Lifting her head that felt as though it weighed a hundred pounds, she studied the yellow eggs, crisp bacon, whole-wheat toast, and grapes. On any other day, she’d be grateful for the well-rounded breakfast. Today…not so much. “Or it could make me sick again and my stomach muscles already ache something fierce.” She shook her head and even that slight movement resurrected her dizziness and made her stomach tilt obnoxiously. “No, I think I’ll just take a little nap right here. Going back to my room is too much work.”
He picked up her fork and lifted a bite of scrambled eggs to her mouth. “Just one bite of everything and then I’ll stop bothering you. It’ll settle the acid in your stomach.”
Raising one eyebrow, she examined the way the eggs jiggled in slow motion on the tip of the fork. When she opened her mouth to refuse, he took the opportunity to stuff a forkful of eggs into her mouth. As it rolled around her mouth, she was tempted to spit it out, but she resisted the urge when she saw the stern look on Alec’s face. Chewing slowly, she let the smooth texture coat her sour tongue before she swallowed. Not so bad.
“What do you think?” he asked, waving the fork in her direction.
“That I might have a couple more bites.” She grabbed the fork out of his hand.
He smirked. “I thought so.”
“Do you want coffee?”
“Please,” she said, drawing out the word. With her brain still fogged from overindulgence, she needed to be more alert before she started questioning Alec about his presence in her kitchen and taking care of her last night, but first she wanted to eat and enjoy having someone take care of her.
Alec poured two cups of coffee and sat down again. She could feel the heat of his eyes burning into her with every bite of food that ventured into her mouth. After a few minutes, she set down her fork. “Thanks for helping last night, but you can go home now. I’ll be fine.”
Shadows clouded his midnight blue eyes. “I was worried about you. I didn’t like seeing you come home in that condition.”
Violet attempted to roll her eyes, but the motion strained her dehydrated eyeballs. Okay. She wasn’t drinking like that anytime in the near future. “I’m alive. Nothing to worry about. Go on.” She waved her hand. “You don’t need to babysit me. I’ll probably sleep most of the day.”
“Can we talk for a couple minutes first?”
She didn’t reply right away. Instead, she lifted her coffee mug to her lips and swallowed a large mouthful that scorched the roof of her mouth, leaving it rough and numb to the touch. That wasn’t the best delay tactic, especially when the look on Alec’s face told her he wouldn’t leave her alone until he said what he wanted. “Go ahead. What do you want to talk about?” she asked, twirling the mug in circles on the table.
Bracing his elbows on the table, he exhaled loudly. “Can we talk about what happened between us the other night?”
“I don’t think there’s anything else to discuss,” she whispered, feeling heat flood the pale skin of her face. “You told me you didn’t want anything else. I can accept that. Last night, the drinking, wasn’t just about you,” she lied unconvincingly. “It was everything…law school, my parents, the Foundation.”
He closed his eyes tightly and sucked his lip into his mouth. His lip ring was gone this morning and she kind of missed it. He must have left at some point this morning or last night to shower and change clothes. At that thought, she remembered vomiting on him and she ducked her head. Oh shit. Here came the complete and utter mortification. She couldn’t blame him for not wanting anything to do with her. Who would when she shelled him with vomit at least two times that she recalled and who the hell knew what she did while she slept?
Tangling his hands into her hair, he tipped her head up, forcing her to look at him. “I’m sorry about the way I handled things yesterday morning. I’m not good at relationships—even short ones. I tend to wreck everything before its get too far, so I haven’t bothered in a long time.”