Stripped Down by Lorelei James Read Free Book Online

that Sutton needs to be told?”
    “Can we do it early in the morning? And at least give him the rest of this night with London? The doc pretty much told us nothin’ will change tonight anyway.”
    “Makes sense. You cool with Aunt Marie bein’ the one who knocks on the honeymoon suite door at six a.m. and tells him what’s up?”
    “That’d be best. He won’t punch her. And she does have that calming nurse demeanor.”
    Right then, Aunt Marie yelled at the receptionist.
    “On second thought...”
    Cres chuckled. “She seems feistier than usual. I’ll walk them out.” Cres headed to the desk.
    Melissa squeezed Wyn’s arm. “She followed me here, do you want me to lead them back to the hotel?”
    “If you wanna go, that’s fine.”
    “That’s not what I asked.”
    Wyn studied her. “Why would you want to stay? We just met today. For all you know I could be a total dick.”
    “A total dick usually doesn’t know he’s a total dick, so that argument doesn’t apply. Try again.”
    “Do you want to stay?”
    “Yes.”
    He exhaled. “Good. Because to be honest, I didn’t know how to ask you to stay. This is”—he gestured to the hospital and to her—“screwing with my head.”
    She stood on tiptoe to whisper, “I’d rather be screwing with your body, but since that’s not in the cards…” Then she stepped back and pointed to his hand. “Speaking of cards…playing strip poker would be a great way to kill time.”
    “Strip poker, huh?”
    “Virtual strip poker, beings we’re in public.”
    “How’s that work?”
    “We keep score. The next time we’re alone together, we’ll have a specific order in how we remove our clothes.”
    For the first time in two hours he had a sense of hope about something—it sounded like Melissa didn’t want this thing with them to be a one and done either. “You keep score, baby, and I’ll deal the first hand.”
     

Chapter Four
    Mel laid down her cards. “Full house, jacks over sevens.”
    “Damn. I thought I had you this time.” Wynton spread out three twos, a six, and a ten.
    “Three of a kind with deuces?” she tsk-tsked. “With two players that’s never a good gamble.” She eyed his shirt collar and imagined peeling that pristine white shirt off his broad shoulders and down his muscular arms. Her gaze caught on the thick column of his neck. She wanted to sink her teeth into that hard flesh. Taste the salt and musk on his skin. Fill her senses with the overpowering maleness of him.
    “Melissa, darlin’? You okay?”
    Her focus snapped back to him. “I’m fine. Why?”
    “You moaned like you were in pain.”
    She leaned forward. “That moan was your fault. See, I imagined stripping you out of that pesky shirt and my mind wandered south from there.”
    “You’re already kicking my ass at poker and now you gotta give me a hard-on in the waiting room?”
    “Just keeping you updated on how eager I am to get my greedy hands all over your naked body. You had way too many clothes on before.”
    “The feeling is mutual.”
    But he was distracted when he said that so Melissa turned toward the front entrance when he muttered, “I’ll be damned.”
    The good-looking military guy who’d first offered Jim medical assistance at the wedding paused inside the doors and scanned the waiting area. At the end of the row, Cres straightened up and ran his hand over his hair before he stood.
    The guy saw him and smiled. Cres met him halfway and they shook hands, but not in the usual way guys shook hands. Their connection lingered.
    Holy crap. Cres Grant was gay.
    She sent a sidelong glance at Wynton. Did he know?
    He watched the two men, not exactly circumspectly, as he shuffled the deck.
    “Is that a friend of your brother’s? I saw them talking at the wedding. And he left with Sutton’s boss when I got here. Think he came back to see how your dad’s doing?”
    Wynton said nothing but then she felt him staring at her.
    When their eyes met, she got her