Page 17 of You Complicate Me

“Nick,” she whispered.

“Grace.”

Wow, best dream ever, she thought hazily. She was almost awake, and yet she could still feel his skin against hers. The scent of soap and laundry detergent and manliness surrounded her. She could feel his rough, strong hands at her waist. Even the shift of the mattress beneath her seemed so very…realistic.

Almost too realistic.

Grace pried one eye open. “Oh,” she squeaked, finding herself nose to nose with—and on top of—Nick. It wasn’t a dream. He was real, underneath her with his hands around her waist.

And her hand was tucked lovingly into the waistband of his loose cut-off sweats.

“This is either a really good dream, or the beginning of a very awkward-yet-interesting conversation,” Nick said, his voice thick with sleep.

“Jesus Christ,” she muttered, mortified beyond words, yanking her hand out of his pants. “I molested you in your sleep!” She struggled to roll off him, but her legs weren’t cooperating. “I’m a sexual predator. And I’m stuck!”

Grace dropped her forehead to his shoulder. “Why do I keep embarrassing myself in front of you? This has never happened to me with anyone else! Why you?”

His sigh ruffled her hair, sending a shiver that was entirely too pleasant down her spine. “Well, if it makes you feel better, at least you’re not the one tenting the sheet.”

She lifted her head and glanced down at what was indeed an impressive tent. “Oh, wow.” She hoped her tone wasn’t too reverent. It would add insult to injury to let him know how long it had been since she’d been greeted by morning wood.

He obviously misunderstood her tone and rolled his eyes. “Don’t sound so surprised. I’m a guy, and it’s morning. And as if that wasn’t reason enough alone, I woke up with a beautiful woman on top of me and her hand down my pants.”

Her mind raced. Just how far down his pants had her hand been? Had it been wrapped around the hot, hard length now tenting the sheet? Did he realize she’d been dreaming about him while she blindly groped him?

Did he really think she was beautiful?

Focus, damn it, she thought, giving herself a sharp mental slap. He’s going to be your brother-in-law, you shameless slut, she chastised herself. Stop molesting the man.

Grace fidgeted again, carefully lifting her hips off his, but she still wasn’t able to put more than an inch between their bodies. “I really am stuck.”

He lifted his head to glance over her shoulder. “It’s the blankets. They’re all tangled around your legs.”

When she began to squirm again, he deftly rolled over her and pinned her wrists above her head. “You really need to stop moving,” he murmured.

Grace went still, though not because he’d told her to. With Nick’s lean, muscled length stretched out on top of her and his mouth only a heartbeat away from her own, she couldn’t form a single thought that didn’t end with him sliding that impressive erection into her. She simply closed her eyes and struggled to control her ragged, shallow breathing as his hands smoothed their way down over her hips and thighs, untangling the sheets that shackled her to him.

“There,” he said after what felt like an eternity. “You’re free.”

But he made no effort to release her and she made no effort to escape.

“Nick,” she whispered, staring up into the depths of his beautiful, unfathomable eyes.

“Grace.”

“I’m taking a break from men and dating,” she said, the words sounding insincere even to her own ears.

His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I don’t get involved with complicated women.”

She nodded. “I’m very complicated.”

“I noticed.”

Slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, he lowered his head.

And that’s when her phone blared her cousin’s ringtone, which just happened to be Disturbed’s Down with the Sickness.

Note to self: cancel phone service. Immediately.

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