The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,48

sleep on the floor—he could grab a pillow and use the blanket he’d seen in the bathroom closet. But he sank down onto the edge of the bed instead, then lay down on his side, facing her. Her hands lay on her pillow, in front of her face, and she wore a serene look that tugged at something deep in his heart.

She shifted, releasing a soft murmur in her sleep, and he resisted the urge to reach out and take her hand in his. Josh closed his eyes and breathed in her soft floral scent. It reminded him of summer and happier times before his father’s death. Back before his life became so serious and his brother became a self-centered dick. While their father’s death had made Josh more determined than ever to join the family business, Noah had resisted the responsibility. And although he’d done a respectable job of holding it together until Josh graduated and joined full time, Noah had been irresponsible in every other conceivable way since. If Noah were an employee, Josh would have fired him years ago.

He figured he’d lie on the bed for half an hour, then sneak out to investigate, but drowsiness overtook him. Too many sleepless nights spent worrying about his employees’ futures had caught up with him. When he closed his eyes, he promised himself it would just be for a minute, yet when he woke up, Megan had rolled the opposite direction and the room was somewhat bright.

Oh, shit. It was morning.

He groped around the bed for his cell phone, eventually finding it down by his knees. When he saw the time, relief washed over him. 6:45. Time to get up and start working on the real purpose for his presence here.

Megan rolled over and faced him, her eyes still closed, her hands buried under her pillow. He watched her for several seconds, resisting the urge to brush the stray strands of hair from her cheek. She’d kicked the covers partially off as she turned and her bare legs were bent, her nightgown riding up to the curve of her ass, showing him the lacy underwear he’d gotten an eyeful of the night before. Memories of touching her and kissing her washed through him, making him hard. If he woke her up by kissing her, how would she respond?

No.

It took every ounce of restraint he possessed to keep from touching her.

He carefully slid off the bed and grabbed his bag, taking it into the bathroom so he could change. After closing the bathroom door as quietly as possible, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a cotton button-down shirt. He slipped out of the bathroom and then out of Megan’s room into the hall, standing still as he listened for any noise. The question was, which room was the one he wanted?

It was still early enough that everyone was likely sleeping, so he stood in the second floor hallway and took stock. There were four doors: two on Megan’s side of the hall and two on the opposite wall. Megan’s bathroom shared a bathroom with another bedroom, which had to be the other door on her side. That meant the two doors on the opposite side were either both bedrooms, or one was a bathroom. One thing was sure: one of the rooms housed Bart’s home office. He only hoped it wasn’t currently being used as a guest room.

He moved to the door opposite Megan’s and pressed his ear to the door. The light snoring he heard told him everything he needed to know. Now his odds were fifty-fifty.

When he pressed his ear to the door of the room next to the occupied room, he didn’t hear anything. Ditto for the room at the end of the hall. Someone was sleeping in one of the rooms, but which one? Since he hadn’t heard anyone using the bathroom attached to Megan’s room last night, he decided the most likely room for Gram was the one attached to Kevin’s. Which left the door at the end of the hall.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the doorknob and turned it slowly, pushing the door gently when he felt it unlatch. He swung the door open and instantly panicked.

Megan’s grandmother was stark naked next to the bed, with her hands and feet on the floor and her saggy butt up in the air, giving him a view he would—unfortunately—never forget.

Josh’s brain told him, Retreat! Retreat! But his feet refused to move.

“Josh!” Gram’s face