Page 14 of You Complicate Me

“Is that a show?”

Her eyes widened and she sputtered for a moment before saying, “You’ve never seen Criminal Minds? Do you live under a rock or something?”

He shrugged, tossing the bags on the bed. “I don’t have a television.”

“You don’t have a television,” she repeated, incredulous.

“Don’t need one.”

“What do you do in your spare time?”

“I teach a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class at the YMCA on Tuesdays. I like to run. Read. Go to the movies.” He shrugged again. “Whatever.”

She shook her head. “Wow. That’s unbelievable. I’m not sure what I’d do without Criminal Minds. And Game of Thrones. And The Black List. And The Walking Dead.”

Now he was incredulous. “You watch all those shows?”

“I work a lot.” She lifted a shoulder. “When I’m not working or asleep, I like to watch television. It gives my brain a rest.”

Surely someone as gorgeous, smart and sexy as Grace had plenty of friends to go out with and men chasing her. She could have a date every night of the week if she wanted one. He had to assume staying home and watching television instead of going out was her choice. “How long have you been divorced?”

“About six months.”

Yeah, that explained it. Probably wasn’t ready to date yet. All the more reason he shouldn’t be in a hotel room alone with her. Hell, he’d almost pounced on her in the diner, for God’s sake. He’d been about two seconds and one more of her hitched breaths away from pinning her to the wall and kissing the hell out of her.

And what really disturbed and excited him in equal measure, was that she hadn’t looked like she’d stop him.

He distracted himself by glancing around the room for the first time. “Jesus, it looks like the Partridge Family threw up in here.”

Grace lifted her hands in a what-the-hell gesture. “You know the Partridge Family but haven’t heard of Criminal Minds?”

He raised a brow. “I didn’t say I’d never seen television. I just don’t have one now.”

“Well, let me assure you, programming has improved significantly since the ‘70s.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” he murmured, glancing around the room again.

He hadn’t lied about the décor. It was pure ‘70s, from the gold foil wallpaper, to the rust-colored shag carpeting, to the orange bedspread with the brightly colored geometric patterns on it. There was even a lava lamp on one of the two chrome and glass nightstands. And since the bed was a double, he imagined he’d be sleeping in the homely little lime-green wing chair in the corner. He sighed. Good thing he didn’t usually sleep much.

At least the place was clean. The comforting scent of Pine-Sol filled the air. The housekeeping crew definitely earned their money in this place, Nick decided.

Grace grabbed her carry-on bag and toted it into the bathroom. She came out a moment later with a huge smile on her face. “I shit you not, there’s orange vinyl tile in there. It totally reminds me of my Grandma’s rec room when I was a kid. I love this place!”

Nick had guessed the moment he saw Grace that if a real, full-on smile ever graced those pouty lips of hers, the sight would be breathtaking. The kind of smile that lit up a room like sunshine. He now knew he’d been right. Grace was beautiful all the time, but when she smiled…damn.

Something akin to panic grabbed Nick by the balls. In that moment, he wanted her more than he wanted his next breath. A complicated woman he’d practically just met. He didn’t do complicated, and even if he did, she wasn’t ready. Not to mention she was way the hell out of his league.

What was the matter with him? First, he’d freaked her out with his intensity, now he was freaking himself out. He wasn’t used to feeling this many, well, feelings.

The smile slowly faded from her eyes. “Nick, are you okay?”

Not even close. “I’m…fine. Just need some air.”

And with that, he fled the room like a complete pansy.

Chapter Seven

By the time Nick came back about twenty minutes later, Grace had devoured her apple pie, which was beyond fabulous, scrubbed the remnants of make-up from her face, tied her hair up in a messy knot, and was pawing through her bag looking for a nightshirt.

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