Page 40 of Crossing the Line
The fan was in the wrong place.
He shifted and realized that what was under his head wasn't his pillow but the arm of his old sofa.
That thought caught in his lungs and he lifted his hand again.
The silk he felt trailed through his fingers and the sensation dragged him from half-asleep to fully-awake in a heartbeat.
The TV was on.
What show, he didn't know.
But he could hear people talking about some kind of pie.
"Cooking show?" He sighed, his chest rising and falling even with the added weight. "Why is it always a cooking show?"
Janice shifted against his chest and her hair was dangerously close to pulling free from the light hold of his fingers.
His hand chased after the strands as she turned her head to speak.
"You're the one who said to turn it on, not me." She sighed and the warmth of her breath went through his shirt, brushing against his skin.
As long as she didn't move, he'd probably be okay and-
"You're always so grumpy when you fall asleep on the couch," she grumbled under her breath and when he laughed, she turned her head and damn it, her lips brushed against him.
He went from mildly amused to aroused in a heartbeat.
Her hand touched his waist, and he held his breath.
The only woman he'd ever been this sensitive to was Janice.
Before her, the women he'd dated had to practically climb him like a tree for him to react this strongly.
Now, it just took her grumping at him?
He'd never thought of himself as easy, but here he was holding in a breath hoping that her hand wasn't about to move and make things really interesting.
If he was smart, he should find a way to get up and go back to his half of the house.
But apparently, smart wasn't in his vocabulary at the moment.
He shifted, moving his arm to wrap it around her, thinking that if he could turn them both, she could slip back against the cushions, and he could get up from the couch.
Sure, that would have worked in theory.
Or when they were younger.
Or he was in better shape.
Instead, putting his arm around her had just the opposite effect of disentangling them.
As soon as his arm wrapped around her, Janice grabbed on as if she was going to fall.
One arm was trapped between them and the back of the couch, but her other arm?
Well, her other hand found its way under his shirt.
And that changed everything.
