“I’ll tell her. Keep me posted.”

“I will.”

“She’ll be fine, Lucy.”

“Keep telling me that. All I can hear are her screams. It’s horrible.”

“It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Thank you, Molly.”

“Any time.”

Lucy ended the call and thanked the receptionist. She was on her way back to the chairs when she heard Simone’s screams reach a whole new level. That was the last thing Lucy heard before everything went dark.

Chapter 6

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

—Maya Angelou

This has to be a dream, Emma thought as she woke from a short nap to Grayson’s warm body snug against her back, his arm around her waist and his legs intertwined with hers. If it’s a dream, I never want to wake up.

She’d read about sex like they’d had in romance novels, but she’d never expected to experience it. And it wasn’t just the sex, but the connection she’d felt with him from the beginning. How would she ever go back to her regular life after this? Even though she loved her life with Simone in the city, it would seem so boring and mundane after this exciting week in Vermont.

She already ached for him, and she hadn’t even left him yet.

Sighing, she reached the hand he’d tucked under her breasts and smiled when his fingers curled around hers.

“What’s with the deep sigh?” he asked in a gruff, sleepy-sounding voice.

“Just thinking.”

“Don’t do that. Not yet anyway.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I know, but for right now, today, everything is perfect, and I’d like to wallow in the perfection for a little while longer before we let reality intrude. Would that be okay?”

Smiling, she said, “That sounds like a good plan. What does this wallowing consist of?”

He pushed his reawakened erection against her back. “More of this. Lots more of this.”

“Mmm, I could be talked into more of that.” When she would’ve turned over to face him, he stopped her.

“Like this,” he said. “Just like this.”

Emma had never done anything other than good old-fashioned missionary, so she waited breathlessly to see what he had in mind.

Grayson released her hand and cupped her breast, rolling her tender nipple between his fingers and making her squirm. His lips brushed against the back of her neck, and she gasped from the sensations that zinged through her body. “Your skin is so soft,” he whispered, his warm breath giving her goose bumps. “I love how responsive you are to me.”

His hand moved from her breast to her belly and then to her core. He drew her leg up and over his hip, opening her to his fingers.

Emma trembled as she anticipated his touch.