The fuzzy feeling in her mouth was at an all-time high. Gross. Like a small rodent had crawled into her mouth during the night and died. She needed water, and she needed it now.

Her phone started ringing on her bedside table, she fumbled for it and put it to her ear. “Yeah?”

“You sound like shit.” Her brother’s voice echoed down the line, far too damn loudly.

“Thanks.”

He chuckled. “Just making sure you got home okay.”

“Looks that way…”

There was a bang on her door. “Get up,” Piper moaned.

“As much as I’d love to chat, I gotta go.”

“Rusty…”

“Talk to you later.” She hung up on Deacon before he started one of his annoying “why we should respect alcohol” lectures, and flung her phone aside. Though in this instance, he was probably right.

Why had they done this when they knew they had work today? Dragging her sorry ass out of bed, she hung onto her head to fight the pounding dizziness and shuffled to the door, wrenching it open. Light streamed in from the living room window, and she winced.

Piper stood by her door, leaning against the wall, still in the clothes she’d been wearing at the club. Her blond hair was sticking up on one side and lipstick was smeared across her right cheek. “What the hell was I thinking?” she whispered.

Rusty shook her head. “No idea, but let’s not do that again.”

Piper nodded, then gripped her head as well. “Agreed.”

They shuffled side by side down the hall, the smell of fresh coffee a siren song leading them toward the kitchen. “You made coffee? Have I told you lately that I love you?”

Piper stopped suddenly, eyes widening. “Um…it wasn’t me.”

Rusty followed her sister’s gaze, and her mouth fell open. Reid stood in her kitchen, as if he owned the place, that overlong hair tied back, leaning against the bench, mug in hand. “Want one?” He lifted his mug and gave it a little shake.

A flash of memory broke through her fuzzy brain: Reid calling her, coming to the club. “You’re here?” She stared down at herself. “Did you…”

He grinned. “I wasn’t going to, but you decided to give me a strip tease.”

“I what?” Noooo. No. No. No.

“I managed to get that shirt on you before the panties and bra came off. Then I took the couch.”

“I stripped?”

“Did a little dance and everything.” His grin turned wicked. “I didn’t peek. Promise.”

Heat started climbing up her neck. She couldn’t meet his eyes and instead focused on the ink covering one side of his throat. It was some kind of swirly design, and she wondered how far down it went. Damn, even his neck was sexy. Could necks be sexy?

Stop it!

Her face was so damn hot now that her eyes actually started to water. “I stripped…and danced?”

“Yeah, you were good, too. Still managed to strip down while you swayed all over the room. That takes some serious skills, babe.”

That’s it. She was never drinking again.

Piper turned to her, mouth gaping, then a smile spread across her face. “Oh my God, Rusty. You didn’t?” Then clutching her head, she doubled over and busted a gut laughing.

Reid was still smiling as he poured them both coffee. He handed the mugs over, along with the bottle of painkillers they kept in the bathroom cabinet. “Maybe you should check your phone, Piper. It was glued to your ear at the club.” After dropping that bombshell, he carried on, sipping his drink.

Her sister turned green and all but ran from the room. Her scream followed shortly after. Wasn’t hard to guess who Piper had been drunk dialing.

Rusty crossed her arms and took in the sexy, smirking pain in the ass in front of her. His beard was thicker this morning, and she had the sudden urge to cup his face in her hands, feel his whiskers on her palms, learn how coarse or soft it was. “You stayed?”

“I wanted to make sure you were both okay.”

Ah hell. “That was nice.”

“I can do nice.” His gaze moved over her, making her suddenly self-conscious. “How you feeling?”

His voice was gentle, and she swallowed hard. “Like shit.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “It was good of you to stay.”

God, the way he affected her.

Before she could catch her breath, he’d put his drink down and was moving across the room, not stopping until he was right up in her personal space.

His hands landed on her hips. “I stayed because I wanted to. Would’ve rather been in your bed.” He shrugged. “But that wasn’t happening last night.” His gaze turned intense. “You were pretty smashed when I picked you up. In a club full of fuckin’ horny guys just waiting to take their shot. You gotta know how stupid and careless that was?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “I don’t want you doing that shit again, not unless I’m with you.”

She stiffened. “Stupid?” He said nothing, just held her gaze. Like hell. “First, I don’t take orders, from anyone. So if you think I’ll just roll over and do what you tell me, you’re going to be seriously disappointed. And second, my brother was with us. We were fine. I sure as hell don’t need your permission…”

“He had enough on his hands with his own woman, add in you and your sister…” He grunted. “Not sure how he would’ve handled all three of you if I hadn’t showed to take you home.” He stroked her jaw with his thumb, his gaze following the movement. “Don’t go getting all pissed. I’m just looking out for you.”

He kept stroking her face, her neck, the sensation making her shiver. Suddenly staying angry at him seemed too much effort.

“You tell him about me, Rusty?”

“What?”

“Your brother, you told him we’re talking.”

Jesus. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah. He knew who I was and why I was there.” He gave her hip a squeeze. “I liked that.”

She gave his shoulders a light shove. “Arrogant.”

He chuckled. “You love it.”

Dammit, he was right. She did. “Look, thanks for getting me home, and yes, my brother knows about you. I also get that you were worried, but none of that gives you the right to issue orders and expect me to follow them like a good girl. That’s never going to happen.”

His gaze sharpened, that square jaw going hard. “I don’t love the thought of you in a room full of drunks. It’s not me ordering you about. It’s me taking care of what’s mine. End of story.”

His? Holy shit. Her heart picked up pace.

He curled his fingers around the side of her neck, thumb brushing just below her ear. “And yeah, I like that you told your brother about me…means you’ve been thinking about me, and not just when I call. So you’re just gonna have to deal with it.” Then he grinned, and it was hot as hell, all straight white teeth and sexy beard. “Gotta say, despite being shit-faced, you were entertaining as hell. Cute, too.”

Her face heated again. “Do not say another word.”

His smile got bigger. “Found out besides stripping, you get chatty when you’ve been drinking.”

She cringed. “What did I—” She cut herself off abruptly as more hazy flashes of memory broke through.

“You remember our chat in the car?” he said, smug as hell.

It all came back, and she covered her face with her hands. “Shoot me now.”

“Fuck no.” He pulled her hands down, holding them both in one of his, and slid a finger under her chin with the other. He tipped her head up so she was looking at him. “Not after you told me what you’ve been doing when you think of me.”

She groaned, and he chuckled darkly, the low sound making her shiver. “Well, at least I’ve finally worked out what the I in R.I.P. stands for…”

“Irresistible?” More goddamn smirking.

She rolled her eyes. “No. Irritating.”

He stared at her for a long time, until that wicked smile slowly disappeared and something else replaced it, something that made her suck in a shaky breath. “I don’t think you get it, Foxy. That you’ve been thinking about me, while you get yourself off? That’s hot as fuck. I’ve been hard ever since you told me. You’re killing me, you know that, right?”