He leaned in close, his soft lips brushing against her ear. "Hard to be professional when you're taking off my pants, Wilkes.Veryhard, if you get my drift."
"Will you please stop talking?"
Damn him and his honeyed baritone. Holly quickly unsnapped the button, refusing to let her mind wander into the gutter. "Can you manage the zipper yourself?"
"Maybe, but you can help me with it if you want."
"Pass." She stepped away and tilted her head toward the bath. "Hurry up and get your ass into the tub. My food is getting cold."
Eli held her gaze as he leaned back against the wall again and unzipped his shorts, then dropped them to the floor.
Despite her best intentions to not peek, she hadn't expected him to be completely commando.
She swallowed, her throat clicking audibly at the sight of him.
Sweet cheese and crackers.
He grinned and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off at the pass.
"Donnelley, if you ask me if I see anything I like, I swear I will throw you into that tub," she growled. "One of us has to remain professional. And since you're two sheets to the wind, that's me."
Eli made atsknoise. "So violent."
He pushed away from the wall again, and his face went deathly pale.
She grabbed him around the waist and ushered him over to the tub. "Steady, okay? Walk slowly."
"I'm fine."
Eli climbed into the bathtub, giving her an eyeful of his bare ass. His backside was as nice as the front, and he had great thighs, too. Thick, powerful, and tan.
She forced her gaze toward the ceiling and counted backwards from ten. Why did he have to be so sexy? Even drunk, he was still the sexiest man she'd ever laid eyes on.
Or laid, period.
Eli groaned as he sank down into the hot water. “Fuck. This feels so good."
Once his body was sufficiently covered by bubbles, she relaxed. "I'm going to go get the food. Don't drown, okay?"
"'K."
He closed his eyes as she hurried from the room. After taking a quick detour to feed Miss, she went to the kitchen and grabbed silverware, the food bags, and two bottles of water.
His gaze landed on the bags when she entered the bathroom. She unpacked all of the cartons and set them along the edge of the tub. "I doubt you want to eat, but I brought you some water."
"No, I can eat. I never get puking sick, and food helps soak up the alcohol."
She gave him a dubious look and handed him a carton of plain sticky rice. "Maybe start with this for now."
He peered into a box of General Tso's chicken. "Maybe one of these, too."
Holly sat down next to the tub on the fluffy rug and dug into the Kung Pao chicken and fried rice.
"I'll ask you again: why did you try and drown your problems in alcohol today?"
He set the container of rice down on the edge of the tub and ran his hands down over his face. "Because."
"Have you told anyone why?"