Too Hot to Handle by Victoria Dahl Page B

go.”
    “You don’t have to go. We could watch more of the show. I like it.”
    “But what if I molest you again?” she said with forced humor.
    “Oh, I don’t think you were… I mean, I think I—”
    “I was just kidding!” Her smile felt like the grin of a madman. “Anyway, I’ll see you later. Tomorrow, maybe. In Providence, I mean. Not here.”
    She rushed out before she babbled some terrible secret, grabbing her shoes before she raced for the door. Shane stood outside his bedroom, watching, but she kept him in her peripheral vision as she called another goodbye and escaped.
    But she didn’t have the chance to breathe a sigh of relief, because she opened her door to find Grace waiting for her. For a moment, Grace looked cheerful and waved hello. “Hi, Merry. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by, I—”
    Her gaze fell to Merry’s bare feet as Merry shut the door. The smile snapped to a frown. “Where were you? I thought you were with Crystal.”
    “I was.”
    Grace eyed her bare feet again. “Without shoes?”
    Merry cleared her throat. “I thought you were staying at Cole’s tonight.”
    “I was, but I’m out on a site tomorrow and I forgot to pack boots. So what’s up?”
    “Nothing!”
    Grace was more than familiar with Merry’s nervous reactions, but they both knew that Merry was never nervous when they were alone. Her eyes went from Merry to the door, then back to Merry’s feet again. “That bastard.”
    Merry sighed and rolled her eyes. “We watched a show at his place.”
    “I leave you alone for two hours and that asshole swoops in and makes a move on you.”
    Merry dropped her shoes and dropped onto the couch. “Cut it out, Grace. We watched TV. That’s it.”
    “My ass! Are you telling me that Shane Harcourt wants to be friends with you?”
    “Why wouldn’t he? I’m a pretty awesome friend.”
    “You’re an amazing friend. You’ve also got a pretty spectacular ass.”
    “I do?” Merry craned her neck to try to see her backside.
    “What happened?”
    “Nothing! God, what is your problem with Shane? He seems perfectly nice and he’s funny and he wanted to see Firefly . What did he do to piss you off so much?”
    Grace shrugged and looked a tiny bit chastened. “I don’t know. I can’t figure him out. Cole obviously trusts him, but Shane never really tries to get to know me better. I can’t read him. I don’t know what his deal is.”
    “Do you try to get to know him better?”
    She scowled, answering Merry’s question.
    “I’m a big girl, you know,” Merry said softly. “I know I act like a clueless idiot sometimes, but I’ve managed to navigate my way through a pretty complicated life.”
    “I know that! You’re just a little…innocent about guys sometimes.”
    “I’m not innocent! I’m not too trusting. I know what men can be like. It’s not naïveté, Grace, it’s just celibacy. And if I want to have sex with Shane, I’ll have sex with him.”
    Grace’s scowl returned with a vengeance. “Fine. Whatever you want. Did you do it?”
    “No!”
    “Good.”
    Merry groaned. “Oh, my God. Even if you thought it’d be a mistake for me to sleep with Shane, how many mistakes have you made with men? Don’t I get to take the same chances?”
    “No,” Grace said sullenly. She dropped onto the couch with a huff. “No, I won’t let you make the same mistakes. You don’t deserve that.”
    “And you did?”
    “Yes,” Grace said without even thinking.
    Merry’s throat thickened. “Oh, fuck you,” she said softly, taking Grace’s hand. “That’s not even close to true.”
    “I’m not kind like you are, Merry. You’re good . And I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Not if I can stop it.” Grace’s hand tightened around Merry’s.
    “You know bad things have already happened to me, and I’m fine. We come from the same place. You know that. I might seem like a helpless dork, but I’m not. And if I want to get boned like crazy by