Surrender Your Heart

by Kirk, Cindy

  Dear God, why did I ever think this would work?

  “Looks like your dad farms quite a few acres.” Nick’s pleasant voice brought her back to the present.

  “How’d you guess?” Grace hated talking farming but her stomach was a mass of nerves and she hoped some light conversation might have a settling effect.

  Nick gestured with his head toward several large storage silos. “Those were my first clue.”

  His smile was so warm and friendly that Grace couldn’t help but return it. And for a fleeting moment she forgot to worry about how she was going to make it through the weekend. Unfortunately, the minute she set foot on the front porch and heard the buzz of conversation from inside the house, her neck tightened into a thousand knots. “This was a mistake.”

  “Just relax.” He treated her to a flash of dimples. “These are your family members. If anyone should be nervous, it should be me.”

  Shame filled her. He was doing her a favor and all she’d been able to think about was herself. She hadn’t for a moment considered that Nick might have some qualms about the weekend.

  “Are you?” she asked. “Nervous, I mean?”

  Nick shrugged. “Not really. I’ve played the boyfriend role enough in real life to have it down pat. I can do the devoted act in my sleep.”

  Though Grace smiled, his words were clearly a warning, one she’d better heed. It would be so easy to get caught up in this charade and forget it was just a game. She had to remember that men like Nick Tucci only fell for the girl-next-door plain-Jane type in the movies, not in real life.

  She reached for the screen door, but Nick beat her to it. “Allow me.”

  A moment later, Grace stood in the doorway to the home that had been in her family since the early 1900s and inhaled the atmosphere. The grandfather clock her father had built stood in one corner. The lace doilies her mother had tatted one summer graced the antique side table. Everything was so familiar. An overwhelming urge to call it all off nipped at her tightly held control.

  How many times had she imagined bringing home a handsome man to meet her parents? How many times had she prayed that God would send her a man she could love and respect? How many times had she told herself to be patient and remember that things happen in God’s time?

  So what was she doing stooping to a childish game of Let’s Pretend? Though Nick had already brought their bags inside and set them down in a corner of the foyer, Grace was seized with a sudden urge to flee.

  As if Nick could read her mind, he reached up and rested his hand gently on her neck, rubbing it with slow circular motions. The mere touch of his fingers forced all rational thoughts from her head.

  “Relax.” His voice was as low and soothing as his fingers. “We can pull this off.”

  We.

  Grace released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and reminded herself she wasn’t in this alone. For whatever reason, Nick had consented to be a part of this charade.

  Propelled by emotions she couldn’t begin to identify, Grace turned toward the man and lifted her face to his.

  The appreciation in his eyes took her by surprise and she took a stumbling step backward. She would have fallen if he hadn’t grasped her arm, offering her a steadying hand.

  “Gracie.”

  Grace’s heart stilled.

  Nosy Nellie had spotted them.

  Grace forced a smile to her face and gave a casual wave even as her heart sank. She’d known she’d have to face her aunt sometime this weekend, but she hadn’t planned to be torpedoed the minute she and Nick walked through the door of the family farmhouse.

  Grace knew it was ridiculous, the way her stomach twisted in knots over a middle-aged woman in a purple jogging suit.

  But this wasn’t just any woman. Her mother’s sister had been meddling in Grace’s life since she’d had the unfortunate luck to be born with her aunt’s coppery red hair. According to her mother, Nellie had wept with joy, declaring God had blessed her with a child after all.

  Grace thought her mother should have put a stop to such nonsense from the beginning. But the two sisters were close and her mother turned a blind eye to Nellie’s domineering ways. To be honest, Grace had enjoyed having two “mothers” when she was very young. But by the time she’d reached her teens, her aunt had become an interfering thorn in her side.

  Grace had quickly learned it did no good to complain. Her parents had quoted Leviticus 19:32 so much, the verse was permanently imprinted in her brain.

  She should have warned Nick about Nellie. But what could she say? My aunt looks sweet but she can be a pit bull when she’s riled? No, it was best he find out for himself. Maybe Nellie would be on her good behavior this weekend. And then again, maybe pigs would fly.

  Grace grabbed his arm and tried to divert Nick toward the kitchen, but she was too late. He’d caught sight of Nellie weaving unsteadily as she made her way toward them and had stepped forward to help.

  Nellie’s shakiness was highly suspicious. Though hampered by a recent knee surgery, when Grace had first walked through the door, she’d seen Nellie maneuvering through the crowded living room with a quickness and dexterity that Michael Jordan would have envied. But all of a sudden, she could barely stand?

  Nick reached out and her aunt clung to his arm, like he was a life preserver and she was about to go under for the last time.

  “Nick, she’s fine,” Grace said. “Really.”

  But Nick ignored her and kept hold of Nellie’s arm. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

  Nellie’s bony legs trembled beneath the silky fabric and Grace wondered for a second if she’d been too quick to assume her aunt had been faking. But then she remembered the time Nellie had faked an asthma attack to keep Grace from going to an after-hours high school party. By the time Grace had figured out the scam, she’d already called 9-1-1 and had the fire trucks at the house.

  “Gracie.” Nellie opened her arms. “I’ve missed you.”

  “It’s been a long time,” Grace murmured, giving her aunt a dutiful hug.

  Nellie clung to her for a moment before she stepped back and held Grace at arm’s length, her eyes large and pale behind the thick tortoiseshell trifocals. “I was worried you wouldn’t come.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” The lie slid easily from Grace’s lips. “This is my first chance to see Holly and the baby.”

  “I’m glad to hear you’re taking this all this so well,” Nellie said. “I worried this year might be difficult for you, being single and all. That’s why I was glad to hear you were bringing a young man. It can be hard for the older sister when the younger one has a husband and a family and she has no special—”

  “Aunt Nellie, really, it’s no problem.” Her aunt’s words hit too close to home and Grace spoke more sharply than she’d intended. “I don’t need a man to feel okay about myself.”

  Her aunt’s smile faded and Grace cursed her impulsivity. Regardless of how she felt about her aunt’s meddling, there was no call to be unkind.

  “You may not need us—” Nick looped his arm companionably around Grace’s shoulders “—but you have to admit, we’re kind of nice to have around.”

  Grace cast Nick an appreciative smile. His off-the-wall comment had clearly eased the tension.

  “You must be Gracie’s new boyfriend.” Nellie cocked her head and studied Nick, a smile teasing the corners of her lips.

  Grace tensed, ready for the game of Twenty Questions to begin.

  “Nick Tucci.” Nick extended his hand. “And you are—?”

  Grace groaned. She must be more nervous than she’d thought to have forgotten her manners. “Nick, this is—”

  “Eleanora Best,” Nellie said, without waiting for Grace to finish. “Gracie’s aunt.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Best,” Nick said, his voice filled with such sincerity, Grace could only stare. She could see why all the women at the hospital were half in love with him. The man had charm down to a scie
nce.

  “It’s Miss Best,” Nellie said, her smile widening. “But you can call me Nellie.”

  “Nellie.” Nick rolled the word around on his tongue. He shook his head. “It just doesn’t fit. May I call you Eleanora?”

  Nellie’s eyes widened in surprise and Grace waited for her aunt to snap back some tart reply. Instead a pink duskiness touched Nellie’s cheeks. “If you’d like.”

  Grace stared at her aunt. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call you Eleanora.”

  “No one has in years,” Nellie said, a faraway look in her eyes. “Not since I was about your age.”

  “Well, it’s time they started,” Nick said gallantly. “It’s a beautiful name and it suits you.”

  A noise that sounded suspiciously like a giggle escaped her aunt’s lips. “Mr. Tucci, I can see my niece is going to have trouble keeping you in line.”

  “Eleanora,” Nick said in a teasing tone, “I insist you call me Nick.”

  “Nick.” Her aunt rolled the name around on her tongue, just like Nick had done only moments before. “Nicholas is much more of gentleman’s name. May I call you Nicholas?”

  Grace stared. Either she was hallucinating or her sixty-year-old aunt was flirting.

  Nick laughed. “I never could refuse a beautiful lady.”

  “Nicholas,” her aunt said in mock warning even as her laughter mingled with his. When Nellie’s gaze shifted to her niece, approval filled her eyes. “I like him, Gracie. This one’s a keeper.”

  Grace just smiled and nodded. If her aunt wanted to see Nick Tucci as a knight in shining armor, so be it. But Grace lived in the real world and Nick was the type of man Grace had spent most of her dating life avoiding; handsome men who asked women out only to stand them up if something better came along, or who automatically expected sex as payment for dinner and a movie.

  Nick leaned over and brushed her cheek with his lips. “What do ya say, Gracie? Am I a keeper?”

  His touch sent a shiver of excitement racing through her body, but Grace kept a tight grip on her emotions, refusing to get sucked into whatever game he was playing.

  Grace turned toward him and trailed a finger down his cheek, hiding a smile at the surge of masculine interest in his eyes. “Nich-o-las Tucci, I’d be a fool to answer that question. You are already way too arrogant for your own good.”

  He laughed. “Arrogant or not, you know you still love me.”

  “Does the term ‘in your dreams’ mean anything to you?” Grace shot back.

  “Gracie.” Nellie’s hand rose to her throat, her voice filled with shock.

  “Don’t worry, Eleanora.” Nick pulled Grace close and chuckled. “I like a woman who plays hard to get.”

  The spicy scent of his cologne enveloped her and her knees grew weak.

  “Just so she doesn’t play too hard to get that you lose interest,” Nellie said, shooting her niece a warning glance.

  “Believe me, Aunt Nellie, I know what I’m doing.” But despite her self-confident demeanor, Grace was anything but confident. She knew as well as she knew her own name that Nick was way out of her league.

  He was too good-looking for his own good. If you believed the gossip in the hospitals, he’d dated half the women in St. Louis and bedded most of them. She, on the other hand, had dated only two men in the last five years. Both had been brief and unremarkable relationships. Neither of them had ever made her heart beat faster, the way Nick had just done.

  She shifted her gaze to the handsome dark-haired stranger at her side. Maybe it would have been best to come alone, to spend the weekend enduring endless questions and comments from well-meaning relatives about her unmarried state.

  Because she had the sinking feeling that in bringing Nick with her, she may have just have exchanged one problem for another.

  Chapter Three

  The steady rhythmic tick of the bedside clock filled Grace’s childhood bedroom. Though the aging mattress was comfortable, and the feather pillow fluffy, Grace found it difficult to sleep.

  Tomorrow afternoon, just after church, she and Nick would head back to St. Louis. Never had four days flown by so quickly. It was hard to believe the weekend she’d dreaded for so long was over.

  Having a “boyfriend” along had definitely put a halt to all those “When are you going to find someone?” questions. Unfortunately now she had a whole new set of questions to face.

  In fact, Grace had barely gotten through the introductions when her sister had pulled her aside and asked with barely concealed excitement, “Where did you find him? He’s gorgeous.”

  Her mother had been more subtle. Though her eyes had been filled with curiosity, she’d patiently waited until she and Grace were alone in the kitchen. Then, casting a furtive look at the door, she’d lowered her voice and asked in an offhand tone, that Grace guessed was anything but offhand, if she and Nick were serious.

  It had been all Grace could do to keep a straight face. She couldn’t believe her mother was so gullible. She should know better. Handsome men weren’t attracted to average women.

  But Grace had simply shrugged and said they had a good time together and who knew what might happen? After all, Nick was putting on the performance of a lifetime. She couldn’t blame her mother for wondering if wedding bells weren’t far off.

  She’d tried to tell Nick to tone it down a few degrees and that all he needed to pretend to be was her “good” friend, but he said it was more fun to pretend to be more.

  More.

  The word sent a tingle of excitement up Grace’s spine. All weekend she’d tried hard to not be affected by Nick’s casual displays of affection. But when he’d catch her eye and smile, or when he’d grab her hand and bring it to his lips, her heart had pounded so hard, she could barely breathe. She could scarcely imagine what would happen if he actually kissed her, really kissed her….

  A light knock sounded at the door and Grace jerked upright in bed.

  “Are you awake?” Nick’s deep voice carried easily though the door.

  Grace hurriedly pushed back the quilted comforter. Her parents and aunt were just down the hall, and if they weren’t already awake, they would be soon. What was Nick doing up? And, more importantly, what was he doing at her bedroom door?

  “Just a minute.” Unlike Nick, Grace spoke in hushed tones, loud enough for him to hear, but hopefully not loud enough to carry through the door and down the hall.

  She swung her legs to the side of the bed and pushed her feet into a pair of pink furry slippers with bunny ears. Grabbing her chenille robe from the foot of the bed, she hurried across the shiny wood floor. By the time she reached the door, the belt of the robe was cinched tight and her curiosity was fully aroused.

  “Grace?”

  “Hold on.” Wishing she had time for a quick look in the mirror, Grace contented herself with just running her fingers through her hair. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the door open.

  Nick stood in the dimly lit hall, barefoot, dressed in a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants and a loose-fitting T-shirt.

  Grace tilted her head. “What’s up?”

  The greeting came out casual and offhand, as if having a half-dressed man knocking on her bedroom door in the middle of the night was nothing out of the ordinary.

  Nick gave her a lazy smile and the dimple in his cheek flashed. His dark hair was mussed like he’d just gotten up and hadn’t taken the time to comb it. He looked, she thought, simply incredible. “Can I come in?”

  A shiver traveled up Grace’s spine. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to throw caution to the wind and invite him in. But she couldn’t. It wouldn’t be a smart move. And Grace was a smart woman. “Ummm, no.”

  Surprise flickered in his eyes and she could tell no was a word he didn’t usually hear from females. “We need to talk.”

  Grace crossed her arms across her chest and shot him an impish smile. “Somehow I don’t think talking is what you have in mind.”

  To her surp
rise, Nick burst into laughter.

  Loud laughter.

  Horrified, all Grace could think of was her aunt just two doors down. She grabbed Nick’s arm and pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind him.

  “You have to keep it down,” she said in a tense whisper. “You’ll wake the whole house.”

  Nick smiled, apparently not at all worried by the possibility. “We’re both adults. Anyway, do you really think your parents would be shocked to find a man in your bedroom?”

  Grace thought quickly. She didn’t want to come across as a total prude. “They don’t believe in sex before marriage. This is their house.”

  “I realize this is their house,” Nick said. “But don’t try to tell me they believe you’ve never slept with a man.”

  “Of course they believe that.” Grace tried to still her rapidly beating pulse, but his closeness made that impossible.

  Nick started to chuckle, then stopped. He stared at Grace for a long moment. “Is it true?”

  She rolled her eyes and forced a laugh. “What do you think?”

  It wasn’t exactly lying. More like hedging. She hated to not tell the truth, but if she did, he’d think she was weird. Or frigid.

  Nick smiled.

  Her heart flip-flopped in her chest.

  Suddenly unsure of the wisdom of her lie, Grace nervously brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “I’m still waiting to hear why you’re here.”

  “I couldn’t sleep.” His gaze remained fixed on hers. “I thought you might like to take a walk.”

  Grace glanced at the bedside clock. “It’s three-thirty in the morning.”

  “It’s a beautiful night,” Nick said, flashing her an enticing smile. “Clear—”

  “Cold.”

  “Minimal snow,” Nick continued without missing a beat. “Just grab—” his gaze lowered to her bunny slippers “—some shoes.”