His Unforgettable Fiancée by Teresa Carpenter Read Free Book Online

personal experience told her his judgment was off right now. Better he be pouting than be dead.
    She was reaching for the energy to get up and shower when she fell asleep.
    * * *
    An insistent beeping woke Grace. She opened her eyes to a strange room dimly lit by light from a bathroom. She stretched her neck, working out kinks.
    It took a moment to remember where she was—a less than comfortable armchair in a hotel in Santa Rosa—and who she was with—a man she’d known less than six hours. A record for her. She was strictly a third-date-or-longer gal.
    She shut off the annoying sound of the alarm and ran her fingers through her hair, taming spiked ends she could feel poking out at odd angles. After one last roll of her neck, she pushed to her feet. Half-asleep, she stumbled to his bedside.
    Time to check JD’s vitals, to torture him with more questions about his friend the president and what year it was. He was so out of it he hadn’t heard the alarm going off.
    “JD,” she called his name. No movement. She called again, louder. Nothing.
    She reached out to shake him then pulled her hand back. He still sprawled across the bed, naked except for the knit boxers that clung to his hard backside. Nowhere to touch besides smooth, bare skin. Fingers curled into her palm in instinctive self-preservation.
    Already attracted, touching him seemed risky, almost a violation. But she was no longer a sheriff, just a Good Samaritan no longer bound by strict protocols. Which almost made touching him worse. Duty would drive her to see to his health.
    And this was no different. Giving a mental tug at her big-girl panties, she placed her hand on his shoulder and shook. She was seeing to his health.
    Uh-huh, so why did it feel as if she was stroking a lover? Snatching her hand back, she stood back and waited.
    He didn’t move. Dang it.
    “JD.” She shook him harder. He shifted, moving his head from one side to the other so he now faced her but he continued to sleep. Boy, he was out. Of course he’d had a long day.
    Yeah, and hers was growing longer by the minute. Wait, why was she waking him? Oh, yeah, because of the concussion.
    Half-asleep, she perched on the edge of the bed, and getting right down next to his ear, she said his name louder and gave him another shake. He shot up, rolling over and sitting up in one smooth motion. His eyes popped open, focused on her. The wanting in them sent a tingle down her spine.
    They were face-to-face, eye to eye with nothing but knit boxer briefs and her suddenly inadequate clothes between them.
    “Grace,” he said.
    Flustered and distracted at hearing him use her name for the first time, she was unprepared when he swept her into his arms and pulled her to him.
    “Uh, JD.” She wiggled and shifted. Trying to push away? If so, she failed. The way he held her, she only succeeded in rubbing her hip against him, causing his body to react. Not good. Her hands went to his chest, ready to push him away. The feel of his skin, the heat under her hands addled her senses.
    “Oh.”
    “Grace,” he whispered, and wrapping a hand around her head he pulled her to him as he lowered his head. He kissed her softly, slowly. A gentle caress, sexy but soothing at the same time. Then the contrary man slid his tongue into her mouth and, oh, he tasted good. She fought hard to throttle back her desire, to ease the growing passion. No easy task when all she wanted was to draw him to her for a long sensual snuggle.
    He broke off the kiss, nibbled a path along her jaw and nuzzled a kiss behind her ear. She sighed and her body went limp in his arms.
    “You’re killing me here, JD.”
    He went still. And then pulled back, slowly disengaging his body from hers. He blinked once, twice. She knew immediately when confusion vanished and he became aware of where he was and what he was doing.
    Her cheeks heated when he pushed away from her, not stopping until his back hit the headboard. Could he get far enough