I had a secondary reason for allowing him to drive my vehicle. If I could comfortably sit in the passenger side of my girl and trust him to take good care of her then to me that meant a lot—it meant I trusted him.
By the time I rolled up to the arrivals area at the airport and found a spot to take in the ten-minute-only spots just outside the exit doors Grayson had already texted me. His flight had come in in fifteen minutes earlier than planned.
Riley: I’m here now. I’m in stall 18.
Grayson: Fair enough. Give me five minutes.
Pulling down the visor, I checked my make-up in the mirror to make sure everything was in perfect place. Satisfied that my eyes popped with the dark cat-eye make-up and my lips shone with the shimmery pink lipstick I flipped it back up. Some might argue that at forty I was getting a little too old for such dramatic make-up looks, but I couldn’t disagree any more strongly. The day you give up on your appearance is the day you indeed grow old.
I impatiently tapped the steering wheel with my newly done gel nails, making a tick-tick-tick sound as I waited. It was a damned long five minutes before I saw him walking down the sidewalk towards my car with a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder.
My pulse accelerated at the very sight of him. He looked even better than the last time I’d seen him. Grinning so wide it felt like my face was about to be split in two, I jumped out of the car and hurried to the back to open the trunk for him. There was just enough room for the suitcase he was pulling behind him.
“Hey baby!” he called when he got within a reasonable distance for me to hear him without him having to shout. His smile was wide and oh-so-sexy. He was wearing a pair of beat-up blue jeans and a gray t-shirt with the name of the oil company that he worked for that fit snugly around his chest and torso. Damn, if he wasn’t a mouth-watering sight to behold. I was such a lucky, lucky girl.
As he reached the car, he dropped the bag onto the sidewalk and opened his arms, welcoming me in for a hug.
“Grayson!” Rushing up to him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself tight to him. Our lips sought out each other’s as if we’d been apart a year and not just a week. I’d never been with someone who had to go away to work before so this was definitely going to be an adjustment, though I will say I liked the rush that was flowing through me at this moment as our tongues danced.
When I finally broke off the kiss, I was panting hard and my head was feeling light, I had to grab on to his arm to keep myself steady on the stiletto-heeled booties I was wearing.
“How was the flight?” I asked, giving him one more quick hug and peck on the lips before reluctantly stepping away. I needed distance from him or we’d never get out of there.
“Just glad I’m home.” Tossing his bag into the back, which had just enough room to accommodate it, he slammed the truck closed. “And that I get to spend the weekend with you.”
8
Riley
This was the ultimate man cave if I’d ever seen one. And huge. Like holy fuck! I guess working in the oil fields had its benefits.
“So, then, this is home sweet home. What do you think?” Grayson asked as he began to give me the tour of his four-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-story home in town.
“It’s big.” I was kind of surprised. It seemed like a rather big house for someone who lived on his own, with his daughter visiting periodically.
“Yes, well. I’d bought the house twenty years ago when I expected to have a large family to fill it with. Unfortunately, that never happened.” Standing in the middle of the living room he thrust his hands into his front pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I suppose I kept optimistic that eventually that would happen, but it never did. And well…” He waved a dismissive hand. “Guess it’s too late now, but after twenty years it’s home sweet home.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“If you want to see upstairs, follow me.” Grabbing the handle of his suitcase he lifted it and headed up the wrap-around staircase that led to the second floor. “The housing market was in bad shape when I bought as well so I got this place for a steal. Five more years and it’ll be paid free and clear and I’ll have a serious decision to make.”
Reaching the top floor, he directed me to the end of the hallway that opened into his large bedroom with its own adjoining bathroom and massive walk-in closet. As he unpacked and then repacked with items for the weekend, I examined the room with more scrutiny.
The feature piece of the room was the mahogany, king-sized bed with a tall black leather headboard that had a navy blue plush duvet covering it. Curious about the other rooms, I checked the bathroom, which was also decorated in navy and impeccably clean. It was impressive, not a single speck of dust or hint of soap stain in the tub or sink.
“Do you have a maid?” I couldn’t help but ask as I re-entered the bedroom.
Laughing, he looked up from sorting through what he’d packed and met my gaze. “Why would you ask that? I’m only here half a month; it would be a serious waste of money to hire a maid.”
Walking across the room, I stepped into the walk-in closet which wasn’t even fifty percent utilized. “Because it’s so neat and organized. It’s like it’s not even lived in. It’s like a not-lived-in super testosterone-filled man-cave museum.”
His laughter intensified. “Is it really that bad?”
Leaving the closet, I grinned as I nodded. “It is indeed quite evident that a man lives here and there’s not much of a female presence that I can see.” He didn’t look convinced, so I continued, “You even have a complete bar set up with a half-dozen beer taps. That’s insane!”
Grayson shrugged, the hint of a blush on his clean-shaven cheeks. “I pride myself in having a clean house and it helps that I don’t have any pets. As for the beer taps it only makes sense. It’s so much cheaper just to buy kegs and hook them up then it is it buy bottles or cans. Plus, it just looked cool, and great for when people are over.”
Entering the room, I sat down on the edge of the bed. “So you have people over quite often?”
“Hmmm.” He rubbed at his chin. “Yes and no. I like to entertain. Since I have the large screen projection television most of my friends like coming here to watch the fights. It’s just a bonus that I have beer on tap. We kind of do a swap. They normally bring a six pack of beer.”
“Craft beer?” I cut it with a grin.
“You know it! I wouldn’t let them in the house if they didn’t. And in exchange for the six pack of random craft beer they bring they just use what is on tap. It gives me variety of flavors and the system seems to work.”
I nodded. It made sense. He could have a lot weirder or more destructive hobbies, that was for sure. “Okay, I see your point.”
“I guess I like to be sociable, but since I’m only home half of the year I prefer to be sociable in my own home.”
“You’re quite the entertainer. Maybe if you decide to swap careers you can make a killing as a party planner.”
“Or bartender. Though I can’t see me ever doing anything other than what I’m doing now for the rest of my life. The money is good, despite having to be away from home so much.” His eyes scanned the contents of the suitcase and then he nodded, zipping it up.
“That does suck.”
Pulling the suitcase from the bed, he looked into my eyes and a serious expression took over her handsome face. “Are you okay with me being gone so long? I mean, it’s my job and I doubt it’s going to change anytime soon, not every woman can handle that.”
Sliding from the bed, I walked around to the foot where he was standing and slipped my arms up his chest and over his shoulders. “I’m positive I can handle it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.”
“I’m relieved to hear you say that Riley, I really am.”
“Well, I do kinda sorta like you,” I said in a whisper as I urged him to bend so his lips would meet mine.
“Hmm. Well that’s mutual, baby.”
~*~ T
T ~*~
Grayson
Knowing how much she loved this car; I was rather surprised that she was allowing me to drive it. I could easily have given her directions to the lake house. The fact she would occasionally white knuckle the edge of the leather car seat or inhale sharply each time I took a corner too sharply with just a little too much speed didn’t get past me. I tried not to grin each time she got agitated, but you have to cut me some slack, it was cute. Can’t say I was too sure that she’d let me drive her car again though.
“This is really pretty,” she said, staring out the side window at the line of various trees that passed by, from pine to maple with other species thrown in for good measure. “It’s nice to see something other than fields and cow pastures.”
Chuckling, I shrugged. “Okay, perhaps we can’t see the ocean from our area, but it’s not all farmland.”
“Suppose not.” She didn’t look convinced.
“Have you considered moving back out east so you can enjoy the ocean air?”
She turned her head to look at me, her brow furrowed as she considered. “I’m tempted, but it wouldn’t be fair to the twins to go anywhere else. This is where I moved us and this is where we need to stay. You make decisions in life and have to live with the consequences of those actions.”
“That doesn’t sound so promising.” It bothered me that she didn’t seem overly happy in the western part of the country. What if she decided she was through with the boredom of western life and wanted to go back to the east coast where she was from originally? I couldn’t move. My whole career was working in the oil fields. I wished I had the freedom and flexibility that she had with her job, but I didn’t. I grew up in this area, so I didn’t have anything to compare it with. I travelled lots over the years and seen lots of places, but this had always been my home.
She sighed. “It’s not that. My sister lives here too, I moved here to be closer to her. I’ve built a life here. It just seems like nothing really good has happened to me since being here. If I were to think back at all the memories I have of this place, nothing positive has happened.” Giving me a smile, she patted my leg. “At least nothing good has happened in the past. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a bright future.”
Returning her smile, I appreciated that effort she made to recover herself. It’s not like I was thinking wedding bells and all that, but at the same time if I couldn’t see a future with her then what was the sense of allowing myself to develop feelings? Past relationships had really hardened me toward love and romance. I knew this, but once you hit your threshold for bullshit you stopped letting women in. Maybe she’d be the one. She certainly had a better chance than most of the women I’d dated in the past.
“That’s the way to think about it.” Taking her hand in mine, I gave it a squeeze. “You never know what’s around the corner in life.”
Cocking a brow up at me, her grin widened. “Are you going to be the one to sweep me off my feet and show me what love is all about Mr. Fitz?”
I groaned. “You make me sound so old when you call me that?”
“That so?”
“Yes. I grew up on the farm with my father being called Mr. Fitz.”
“What does your father do anyhow?”
“My parents own a ranch. They breed prize-winning horses. My family has been in the same business for generations. He’s getting a little too old for it though. He’s hoping either my brother or myself will take over the ranch soon.”
“So why don’t you?”
That was such a loaded question with no real definite answer. “I never cared for the family business. I’m sociable, so even though I work a physically demanding job in sometimes hazardous conditions, I do enjoy getting out there and working with my hands creating, fixing things and making friends with such a diverse group of people that I interacted with daily while working. The farm is also a lot of stress. You can have a successful season and make crazy amounts of money, but at the same time if you have a bad season then you’re looking down the barrel of losing the ranch. I’ve been working for the same company for close to two decades, I get paid very well and I’m good at what I do. Maybe when my body can’t do the job any longer, but I suspect my brother will take over the ranch eventually.”
She got a wistful look in her face. “It would be nice though. I love horses and horseback riding.”
“Then I guess our next date I’ll have to take you home and we can go out. We have close to a hundred acres of land with trails throughout. My mother gives riding lessons and boards people’s horses at our ranch.”
I turned the car onto the dirt road that we would be on for the last leg of our journey, about ten minutes, before arriving at the lake house.
“A weekend at your lake house. A trip to meet your folks. Geez, this seems to be jumping into serious territory.”
Her comment while it was in jest, gave me pause. I suppose it was and it scared me. I hadn’t taken a woman to meet my parents since I was a teenager. No one was ever that special to me. For that matter no other woman had come here either. This place was my sanctuary and I was letting a woman I’d just met into my one refuge.
“I guess maybe we are.” Giving her a wink that displayed more bravado than I was feeling at the moment, I continued, “Get out while you can.”
She laughed, her blue eyes sparking. “I think I’m going to ride this out a little bit.” Suddenly she shot upright in the chair and pointed to the little single-story log house that came into view, quickly followed by the massive lake. My lake house was the end of the trail for this particular road. “Is that yours?”
“Sure is.” A sense of pride welled up in me. I’d build the place from the ground up. It was a small house, about 1000 square feet, but it was solidly build exactly the way I like it and had all the amenities of home. The one beauty of being a tradesman was that all of my friends were handy. “It cost me materials and lots of beer and barbecues to build it.”
“You built that yourself?” She looked at me with a newfound respect in her pretty eyes. “Like everything?”
“I sure did, ma’am.”
I could see she was bubbling over with excitement as we pulled up to the house. “I can’t wait to see inside.”
Pride welled up within me. “Your wait is nearly over.”
9
Riley
This was so nice. Hell, just to see water that you could take a swim in that wasn’t a pool at a recreation center was wonderful. I was opening the car door and jumping out before Grayson even had a chance to turn off the engine.
“What’s taking you so long?” I called over my shoulder, laughing as I walked past the house heading straight to the docks.
“You’re pretty fucking fast when you want to be,” Grayson called from behind me. “Don’t worry, I’ll get our bags and the food.”
Normally, I’d have stopped in my tracks and turned back to help, but I heard the laughter in his voice, so I proceeded until I was standing on the docks and looking straight out onto the lake. Way off on the side of the lake you could faintly see another house.
Surveying the surroundings, I counted five other houses. Far off and to the left, I caught sight of a couple, both on jet skis and tearing up the water. There was a faint sound of laughter that I assumed was from them. It looked like so much fun, even though I had lived by the water most of my life that was one activity I hadn’t had a chance to enjoy—yet.
Turning, a roar of laughter escaped from me as I saw Grayson struggling to lazy man’s haul everything at once. Pity and guilt quickly replaced the amusement. Running across the back lawn I joined him halfway from the car to the front door and lightened his load by close to half.
“I was going to help you. Didn’t think you’d try to manage it all on your own.”
“It was fine. I had it.” He led me up the back stairs of the house and onto the large back porch where a large barbecue and six-seater outdoor table with a built in firepit as a center attraction sat. Plac
ing the bags on the porch, Grayson pulled a set of keys from his jacket pocket and unlocked the door. Stepping aside he motioned for me to enter before him, trailing behind.
Stepping inside, I found myself in the center of the living room. There was a fireplace to the left of me with a three-piece maroon-colored sofa set all positioned facing it. To the right of me was a small kitchen with functional stove and fridge. As I went further into the house, I discovered there were two bedrooms and a full bathroom, with a standard tub and shower. The entire house had a rustic, almost romantic feel. It was hard to believe this was all him, without a woman’s touch. It made me wonder if under the tough exterior he was a romantic at heart. He definitely was a sweet, caring individual, how in the hell he was still on the market was beyond me; it made me wonder if there was something about him I wasn’t quite seeing yet.
Setting the bags that I had in my hands in the living room, I spun to look at Grayson, who had already shed his jacket and slung it over one of the plain wooden chairs at the four-person kitchen table. “This is so nice. It must be a hit with all the girls.” I gave him a teasing smile.
He didn’t smile, in fact his expression was quite serious when he replied. “I just built it a couple of years back so I’ve never brought a woman here. You’d be the first.”
I felt a blush color my cheeks. “Aww, I feel special.”
Walking up to him, I raised myself on my tip toes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. The faint smell of his cologne teased me. I didn’t want to rush a physical relationship, but if we didn’t seal the deal this weekend, I’d go insane—surely I would. I’d spent way too many nights already dreaming of feeling his hands and lips exploring every inch of my body.
Hold On To Me Page 6