Page 84 of The Usual Family Mayhem

His breath blew across my cheek and his scent wrapped around me. The heat pulsed between us. How did we manage to carry on a conversation at all? “You really need to call all those fancy colleges you went to and hand your degrees back because you aren’t talking like a smart person right now.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Well, not all of that, but you—”

Enough talking. I reached out and brought his head even closer to mine. He didn’t fight me. I didn’t pretend I wanted to go slow. Our lips met and the same blinding heat roared through me as last time. This felt good. Right. A little naughty, but in the best way.

As the kiss raged on, my defenses fell. The flimsy shields I threw up to fight off my attraction to him collapsed with a resounding thud. Him, me, cuddling on this couch, the exploring and touching. I craved all of it.

“This is a bad idea.” A comment I felt obliged to make. I lifted my head long enough to get the words out then dove right back into the kissing.

“Terrible,” he mumbled against my lips.

We shifted and rolled until our legs tangled together and my hands traveled over his chest. I was on top of him now. Balancing my hands on his shoulders and straddling those impressive hips with my thighs.

“Once you see me naked things will change.”

Why was I still talking?

His mouth went to my neck. He licked and nipped, crashing through the last of my control and setting my nerve endings on fire. “I’ve seen you naked.”

Whoa... I sat up, straight up, kissing on hold while I stared at him. “Uh, hello? What are you talking about?”

His fingers continued to move, working their way under the edge of my shirt to find the bare skin of my stomach. “Four years ago. You were in the shower and passed out.”

Thinking about that day made me queasy. I’d gone for a hike, which was always the wrong answer. It was one of those times when I started listening to that nasty, demeaning voice in my head that said I wasn’t good enough. Hence the outside exercise kick. That ended when I became dizzy. My blood pressure took a nosedive and dragged my hiking enthusiasm down with it.

All true. Him being there wasn’t. “You weren’t in the house.”

“I took Celia out to lunch that day, but Mags called in apanic before we got to the end of the street. She said you’d come home groggy and weren’t making sense and then she found you. We turned around and rushed into the house to help.” He had the nerve to smile as he finished his explanation. “And there you were. Naked, wet, and unconscious.”

I was an adult and all, but the idea that he’d seen me without clothing and not said anything... my mind refused to accept it. “Gram pulled me out.”

He made a humming sound. “Not exactly.”

“Oh my God!” A nightmare. A full-fledged nightmare.

His fingertips continued to dance over me. The brush of skin against skin threatened to shut down my brain.

“Celia thought it would embarrass you if you knew about my role in the rescue, so we said Mags lifted you out and never spoke about it again.”

“You’ve all lied to me for years?” They never even dropped a hint. “I think I should be outraged.”

His hands stopped moving. “You didn’t think it was a little weird that a seventy-something woman lifted you out of the tub and onto the bed?”

“With the right motivation Gram could lift a house.”

“Fair point.”

“The only fact saving me from complete mortification and an accompanying mental breakdown is you saw me naked for medical purposes, which is not the same thing as real naked.” Saying it and convincing my brain were two different things.

His hands returned to my hips and tugged me closer. “Okay...”

“You weren’tlookinglooking.”Sure, that made sense.

“Would you feel better if I agreed with you?”

Not even a little. But I had a better idea. My hands slid tothe cushions behind his head, trapping him there with my chest resting against his. “Seems to me if you’ve seen me naked then I should get to see you naked.”

He nodded. “It’s only fair.”

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