Page 42 of You Complicate Me

“God, I hope not,” she muttered.

Chapter Twenty

Grace was willing to bet her favorite Kate Spade purse—and she really, really loved that bag—that it wasn’t Sadie’s idea to drag all of them to the Royal Landing amusement park, which was a good hour’s drive from their resort.

Sadie’s skin turned a sickly shade of pale as she gaped up in mute horror at a giant coaster called The Disemboweler. The poor girl obviously didn’t share Michael’s lifelong love of crazy, lose-your-lunch amusement park rides.

Grace couldn’t say that she was exactly feeling it, either. After days of eating toast, bananas, and other mild fare, Grace’s stomach (and metabolism) was ready to actively revolt if she didn’t get some real food, real fast. And in Grace’s world, real food meant grease, cholesterol, and anything fried to a nice, crispy, buttery brown.

Nick, bless his heart, gave her hand a squeeze. “What do you say we skip this one and get something to eat instead?”

She might have moaned and drooled a little before blurting, “Oh my God, yes. Please.”

Michael frowned at her. “Jesus, Grace, he’s offering you food, not orgasms. Chill out.”

She shrugged, refusing to be embarrassed by her fervent enjoyment of junk food. But still, no way would she tell him she’d once had a nice little mini-orgasm while eating a deep-fried Twinkie at the State Fair. That fact was between her, Hostess, and a carney named Stan to whom she still sent a Christmas card every year. Good times.

Nick leaned down and Grace shivered as his lips brushed her ear. “Just so we’re clear, orgasms aren’t off the table. All you have to do is say the word.”

That time, there was no “might have” about it. She definitely moaned. And drooled.

Nick chuckled while Michael grunted in disgust. “Ready to try this thing out, Sadie?”

Sadie let out a high-pitched nervous laugh that reminded Grace of an injured hyena she’d seen at the zoo once. “Sure. It looks…” Sadie gulped, “…great. The Disemboweler…that’s quite a name. Let’s do it.”

Michael rubbed his hands together in childish glee, completely oblivious to his fiancée’s apprehension. Grace frowned. “You don’t have to go, Sadie,” she said. “He can go by himself. You can come with us to get something to eat.”

“Don’t be stupid, Grace,” Michael scoffed. “Sadie loves roller coasters. She wouldn’t miss it, right, baby?”

“O-of course not.” She offered Michael a tremulous smile as he slung an arm around her shoulders. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

Grace glanced up at Nick, whose furrowed brow confirmed what she already knew to be true. Sadie didn’t like roller coasters.

So why was she pretending she did?

As Michael looped his arm around Sadie’s waist and tugged her to the line of roughly a hundred thrill-seeking idiots who wanted a turn on The Disemboweler, Grace forced herself to shrug off her concerns.

It’s Sadie’s and Michael’s business, not mine, she told herself. Go with the flow.

And as Nick reached down and laced his fingers through hers? Yeah, going with the flow pretty much rocked, she decided.

A few minutes later when Grace was tucking into a grilled cheese sandwich the size of her head and a ridiculously huge order of fries, a frazzled Gage showed up, staring after Sadie and Michael with a disgusted scowl on his face.

“What the fuck is that punk doing? Sadie’s afraid of heights.”

Nick frowned at him. “She told you that?”

Gage shoved a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Since the thing at your aunt’s house when she was twelve, she can’t even go in elevators. She always takes the stairs.”

“What thing?” Grace asked.

“My aunt had a treehouse in her backyard,” Nick murmured. “It was falling apart. I told her not to go up there, but Sadie was a headstrong kid. The floorboards snapped, and she fell and broke her arm. She’s hated heights ever since.”

She knew it went against the whole go with the flow thing, but the lawyer in Grace couldn’t help but ask, “So why didn’t she tell Michael that? I mean, he thinks she loves roller coasters, and she didn’t correct him.”

Nick’s frown deepened. “She’s never been one to talk about her feelings. Maybe she’s trying to overcome her fear or something.”

Grace followed Gage’s gaze to Sadie in line for the ride. The poor kid looked like she was going to puke. Michael looked totally oblivious.

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