SHIFT EXCHANGE

Chapter 12

Kara struggled to wakefulness with a mighty crick in her neck and a throbbing ache at the base of her skull. Her mouth felt like sandpaper and tasted sour. For the life of her she couldn't understand why she was sleeping in such an uncomfortable position, her bed was usually so comfortable.

Slowly she cracked her eye lids and recognized the soft brown suede of her couch. That explained the awful neck contortion. She'd also been sleeping with her nose squished against the back of the couch and her mouth open, which accounted for that body parts gross status.

Memories of the fall, ER visit, and movie night came back to her in a rush. She became aware of how warm her feet and calves were in comparison to the rest of her body and turned her head, against the screaming refusal of her neck, to look toward the other end of the couch.

Jake was slumped with his back wedged into the opposite corner. His head leaned back against the armrest, arms crossed against his chest and Kara's feet were tucked in flush with stomach under the blanket that covered the lower half of both their bodies.

He looked breathtakingly sexy.

Kara blinked a couple times as she took in the scene. In her mind she could see herself crawling across the couch and snuggling against him firm chest, the warm, soft gray cotton of his t-shirt against her face. In her fantasy he wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her tight to him. Then he kissed the top of her head and called her sweetheart like he had last night. Imaginary Jake's voice had the same deep, sexy timber of its real counterpart, but was rough and tinged with sleep.

Her cheeks burned and her body flushed in reaction to the fantasy. Thank goodness she had good impulse control or she'd definitely be in his lap.

Kara rolled her eyes and decided coffee was sorely needed. Carefully she shrugged herself up to a sitting position, trying her best not to disturb the sleeping man sharing her couch. She stretched her screaming neck.

Amend that to Coffee and aspirin.

Her feet were still under the blanket and on his lap. She didn't know how she would be able to get them free without waking him. His legs were on the outside edge of the seat cushions, boxing her in. Even after extricating herself from his person, she would then be faced with stepping over him to get free of the couch. Kara rubbed her face as she tried to think of the best way to extricate herself.

After a moment Kara began to slowly pull her legs up by the knees. She bit her lip in anticipation and watched his face carefully for signs of him waking. After several minutes she successfully had her legs pulled free and tucked up against her chest. Now she was faced with gracefully getting past the long, muscular legs blocking her.

Jake stirred a little and readjusted his arms. He looked even more handsome with a slight shadow of a beard. His face was completely relaxed in sleep and looked beautiful. She supposed most men wouldn't like being called beautiful, but she couldn't think of any other word. His features were chiseled and defined. He had full lips, just the slightest hump on his nose told of a Roman ancestor in his past, and dark lashes laid softly on his light olive skin.

Kara broke free from her staring and tried to re-focus on the current problem. She had never been graceful. She had no doubt that any attempt she made to climb over him would end in hurting, at least herself, if not him as well.

Looking over the back of the couch she realized that, although quite a climb, she had a better chance of making it over that and not disturbing him. Carefully she rocked to her feet and stood up on the cushion. She placed her right leg on the top edge of the couch and put her weight on it to swing her left leg around.