Lovely Pink by Raine Miller (best beach reads .txt) 📗

my bottom lip to keep from laughing at his thoroughly adorable explanation of why a man averting his eyes to naked breasts was not only highly improbable but also outrageously unrealistic.

He wasn’t quite done explaining it to me, apparently.

“I’m standin’ here in front of my really fuckin’ sexy fiancée—who I’ve just undressed by the way—and you’re tellin’ me I’m not supposed to look!” Biting sarcasm rolled off his tongue. It would appear that Gray’s self-control had come to a complete and abrupt end as he gave the hospital johnny an angry little snap in front of me. “I am not made of stone.”

“And I…am not your fiancée,” I reminded him, secretly happy about the “really fuckin’ sexy” part.

“Well, the hospital staff thinks you are, so hurry up!” He jerked the johnny in my direction once more and jiggled it at me.

“Fine.” I dropped my arm from across my chest and freed the girls. I repeat, the girls have been freed and are on public display! Have a gander if you will!

A soft groan came out of him in the seconds it took to put my arms through the sleeves, so I knew he’d looked just as he’d assured me he would. The weird thing was I didn’t care about Gray seeing me naked. It wasn’t even the first time. Honestly, I was relieved we were finally doing this sexual dance around each other out in the open, rather than while under the influence. Things had been brewing between us for a good while now. We’d already crossed the sex line anyway, even though I don’t remember much from our night nearly two months ago. I’m not even sure how much Gray remembers because we were both drunk when it happened. He was still sleeping it off when my walk-of-shame out of his suite at The Jefferson was happening.

Not our shining moment, but if anything, I did trust Gray to have my best interests in mind. We were connected through family and an elite inner-circle that basically required we protect one another. An encounter was bound to happen at some point, especially since we were both single now. The part where he kept talking about getting married was a bit more confusing. On both of the occasions when Gray had asked me to marry him, our night had ended badly, accompanied with so much drama and trouble I didn’t know what to think anymore. I needed some truthful answers for Gray’s motivation before I made any kind of decision on the matter. Money was involved from my grandparents on some level I was certain, but I wanted to hear it from him first.

I stood still, allowing him to tie my gown closed as I made some careful observations. Gray’s outward reaction toward me was not at all what I’d expected, especially based on the earlier boasts about giving me some more hot and dirty sex, whenever I said yes to marrying him. Gray wanted me. I knew he was aroused right now, because I could smell it on him.

It was desire I detected in the spicy scent radiating from him in waves.

And that monster snake he had going on in his pants was seriously impressive. I regretted that my naked party with Gray was a lost dream of which I had absolutely no memory. There were some flashes of what we had done, but I do not remember specifics about his body (penis) sans clothing. It was rather cruel to know I’d had him inside me, but no mental picture of what he looked like when he was there. Torturing myself with the conceptual images of us together was not helpful in any way whatsoever.

“Why are you mad at me?” I asked after he’d helped me to get settled in the bed, and my oxygen cannula back in place.

“I’m not mad at you.”

“Well, you sure aren’t acting very happy after you got to see me naked—so what’s the problem?” I knew I was pushing him, but I figured I was entitled to some information.

“My lovely, Pink, seein’ you naked is not my problem, I assure you. My cock is workin’ just fine where you’re concerned, beautiful.” He cupped himself over his slacks and thrust his hips up from the chair. “How do you think I got this, hmm?”

“I hoped it was because you had to undress me,” I answered truthfully, although I did find it strange to be so undisturbed by the topic of our open conversation—Gray’s hard-on from taking my dress off of me. Could this night get any weirder?

Probably yes, so I shouldn’t even ask.

His brown eyes pierced right into me before he spoke. “You’re a goddess. There are no other words to describe you better than that. Reese, I definitely want more naked time with you—so much more—but not if I’m gonna send you to the goddamn hospital unable to breathe!” He pulled at his hair with both hands for like the hundredth time tonight. “Fuck!” he barked.

“But you didn’t cause this, Gray.”

That big lanky body of his, so tightly posed in the chair beside my hospital bed, looked ready to snap in two; his sandy brown hair a tousled mess from so much nervous hand-dragging through it; the frown lines on his handsome face growing frownier by the second.

“I upset you to the point of sending you here in fuckin’ distress with a full-blown asthma attack! Baby, how is that not my motherfuckin’ fault?”

“Language, Mr. State Attorney General,” I scolded gently, sensing he was really beating himself up over this. “Stress can make the symptoms worse, but it won’t be the cause for an asthma attack. I wish you would listen to me.”

“I’m sorry, baby, so goddamn sorry for doing this to you. I was way out of line tonight and I really hope you’ll forgive me at some point—”

“I forgive you.” I shut down his rambling repentance with those three little words.

“You do?” His eyes widened in surprise.

I nodded. “Yes.” I held out my hand and