Page 28 of Enticing My Off Limits Billionaire

"I'm shitfaced," she mutters, more composed than she was before. "And... extremely embarrassed, and really, really sorry."

"For what?"

"For texting you," she replies. "For putting my arms around you like I did. We're friends; I shouldn't ruin that."

I don't know how to respond when I feel like I'm the one who should apologize. I'm much older than her and supposedly wiser, yet she has me wrapped around her finger.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," I say, my voice rough.

She looks up at me, her brown eyes wide and glazed over.

She's so drunk.

And I was on the brink of taking advantage of that.

"Are you sure?" she breathes.

"I'm positive," I answer.

My apartment is just ahead, and I hold Madison steady as I bring her through the lobby and into the elevator. My place is only on the third floor, but I don't think she can manage the stairs. The elevator slides open after just a couple rings, no neighbors up and around at this hour of the night, and I guide Madison down the hall before unlocking the door and letting her in. I switch on the lamp by the door as she steps inside, gazing around with wide eyes.

"I love your place," she says quietly. "I wish I was seeing it under other circumstances."

What circumstances?

Dinner?

...or after the date?

Stripping our clothes off on our way to the bedroom?

I try to banish the thought from my mind, but it sticks with me as I gesture toward the kitchen table. "Take a seat, and let me make you some tea," I murmur. "Just give me a second."

She nods and trudges over to the table, slumping to a seat in one of the wooden chairs. I clear some of the stacked books and art supplies off the table and move them to one of the numerous bookshelves in my living room, and I hear Madison gasp in delight as I try to collect myself enough to even put the kettle on.

"I didn't know you had a cat!" she says. "What's her name?"

I come back into the kitchen to find that my cat, Stanley, has jumped up on the table, where he is definitely not supposed to be. The orange tabby purrs as he soaks up Madison's attention, Madison scratching him behind the ears with a huge smile on her face.

"His name is Stanley," I say, leaning against the doorframe and watching the two of them. "And he does not normally like people this much."

"Well, I'm flattered," she says, grinning at me. Her face falls when she meets my eyes...though I'm not sure why. Maybe she's unsure what we're doing here, where we go next.

Hell, I'm not sure what we're doing here or what's going to happen.

So, I go to the stove and put the kettle on.

"You okay with peppermint?" I ask. "It's all I've got."

"Yeah," she says. "That sounds great."

"You're not hungry, are you?"

She shakes her head. "No, I ate before I went out tonight."

"Good, because all I've got is ramen," I tell her.

"That's okay," she replies with a laugh. "I don't think I could handle anything too fancy right now anyway. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be rough."

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