by K. C. Crowne
The next evening, after a voluntary Saturday afternoon at the non-profit clinic, I stopped at a coffee shop on the way back home, wanting to get a little caffeine in under the wire before it got too late in the evening. Blueprint Roasters was my café of choice, and I sat down at my usual table on the second floor and took out my laptop as my coffee cooled.
An email from Carly awaited me in the inbox.
Hey!
OK, I wanted to say thank-you-thank-you-thank-you a million more times before we leave. Aside from that, I wanted to send you some information about the girls - favorite foods, usual bedtimes, random stuff you ought to know - so you could look it over before Wednesday.
I wanted to see if you’d be able to swing by sometime soon to meet Nancy (that’s the daytime nanny, in case you forgot). Grace already met her today, so whatever’s good for you works for us. How about Monday afternoon?
Also, I wanted to extend the offer of having you stay at our place during the time you’re taking care of the kids. I know it’s a little closer to your office than your new apartment is, so it might be a little more convenient for you. Not sure what Grace is doing, but if she wants to do the same there’d be plenty of room for you both.
Let me know what works for you. And thank-you-thank-you-thank-you – slowly but surely, I’ll hit a million.
Best,
Carly
I finished my coffee, thinking over the email. She was right – it would be a hell of a lot more convenient to stay at the house than it was to go back to the penthouse every night. But what if Grace wanted to stay there, too? No doubt she’d be intrigued by the idea of staying in a big, spacious mansion rather than her apartment.
It would be a recipe for trouble. I could already imagine the danger in the two of us staying up for a nightcap, both of us tired and exhausted from a day of work, followed by an evening of taking care of the kids. We’d share some wine, get some fresh air.
What would happen if we found ourselves alone once more, with only the mountains and the moon there to watch us?
I closed my laptop and tossed back the last few drips of my coffee. Determination ran through me as I slipped my MacBook into my bag and headed out of the café. I’d have to spend the ten days that we’d be watching the girls fighting my sex drive with every fiber of my being. I couldn’t let my guard down, not even for a second.
Once back home, I changed into some gym clothes and went into my home workout room, eager to burn off the tension in my body. I lifted, ran, and finished off with some cycling, the view from my stationary bike overlooking southern Denver.
When I was done, I hit the shower and, just like the night before, found myself fantasizing about Grace, my cock going hard.
My thoughts needed to be on the task ahead. But instead, all I could think about was her beautiful body spread out before me, a look on her face that suggested she wanted to finish what we’d started all those nights ago.
Chapter 11
GRACE
I let out a grunt of frustration as I tossed the pair of panties in my hand into my bag. I’d gone back and forth, wondering if they were too sexy to wear around Hayden. Then I’d gotten pissed at myself for even caring if I wore anything too sexy around him.
It was all so aggravating, and the worst part was that tomorrow was the first day of our babysitting.
Tuesday night had arrived faster than I’d hoped, and I was a bundle of nerves. I’d spent the last few days losing myself in work. One of the nice things about doing physical activity for a living was that I always had the option to sweat out whatever was troubling me.
However, even hours and hours of Zumba hadn’t been enough to cool myself off regarding what was about to happen. No matter how nervous I’d been, getting the text from Ryan letting me know that Hayden was planning on spending the nights at the house along with me was enough to push my anxiety up to the next level.
I kept finding myself thinking about him, memories long forgotten bubbling to the surface.
I remembered the first time I’d noticed him. Well, noticed him in that way. Really, it had been the first time I’d noticed any guy in that way.
It’d been home back in New Zealand during a New Year’s Eve party at our place. I’d been twelve, still a gawky, gangly kid who was years away from growing into my looks. I remember hating being that age. All the other girls were beginning to develop, looking more and more like young women with each passing day.
Not me, of course. I was doomed to be stick-thin until I was around fourteen. And to make matters even worse, I’d shot up like a weed. So, while the other girls were petite and curvy, I was a tall, klutzy mess with a mouthful of braces.
Not my most glamorous years.
I’d lagged behind my girlfriends in another way, too – I didn’t give a damn about boys. We’d have our sleep overs, and all the girls would be chatting the night away about which guys they thought were cute, which ones they wanted to share their first kisses with.
Me? All I cared about was reading. And, of course, I wasn’t into anything girly — books that might make me look halfway normal. Nope, I’d been on a pulp sci-fi kick when I’d been going through puberty. So, while the other girls would be discussing their crushes in hushed voices, I’d be thinking about which book about space invaders or body snatchers or whatever else that I wanted to read next.
Maybe it was the haze of memory, but I specifically recall the day that defined the peak of my adolescent awkwardness. We were having some big party outside, our family and friends all hanging out near the lake by our farm. And even though I didn’t have anything close to boobs at that point, I had the bright idea to wear shorts and a bikini top.
I remember seeing him, that memory of Hayden Frost as clear in my mind as if it had happened yesterday. I recall him showing up in a cherry red convertible, he, and some other guy along with a pair of stunning girls. Not only stunning, but older and sophisticated. Of course, those girls were probably only seventeen or eighteen.
But it was Hayden who I remembered most of all. He’d launched himself over the door of the convertible, wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off shorts and sunglasses.
Just the sight of him and his perfect, sculpted body had been enough to turn me into a woman right there on the spot. I’d gone from not caring about boys in the slightest to staring at one like he was the only person in the world.
He was tall, his hair shaggy back then, and when he’d whipped off those sunglasses and revealed those stunning, ice-blue eyes, it was over. He’d burned himself into my mind, starting a crush that would last through the years.
I remember trying to get his attention, sauntering in front of him wearing my bikini, doing my best impersonation of what I’d thought a sexy, seductive woman was supposed to look like.
How did Hayden respond? He’d burst out of his chair, scooping me, his best friend’s goofy kid sister, off her feet and carrying me over to the shore of the lake. I remembered how it had felt against his body, his muscles powerful and strong. Once we’d gotten far enough into the water, he tossed me into the lake, laughing as he did.
Hayden had been strong enough to throw me some distance, and he was all smiles when I finally popped my head out of the water. Then he’d stuck out his big hand toward me, helping me swim back the rest of the way.
He’d only been messing around, of course, busting the chops of his best friend’s kid sister the way he always did. But the sensation of my body against his had made me feel a certain kind of way that I never had before in my life, like all the puberty that I’d been missing out on had hit me as surely as the surface of the lake.
I’d had no idea what to do with the feelings that he’d caused to take hold. So, what did I end up doing? Why, I rushed back into the house, ran into my room, grabbed the nearest sci-fi book, and spent the rest of the evening under the covers reading, the boom-boom-boom of fireworks sounding in the distance as I flipped the pages.
It was less about reading, of course.
I have no idea what book I picked, or what it was even about. It had been a fit of adolescent insanity, and I’d retreated back to what I knew.
Another memory appeared. This one was years later, long after my family and I had moved to Colorado. It was summer break between my sophomore and junior years at University, and I was at a pool party with some high school friends of mine.
However nervous and awkward I’d felt about my body back when I was a kid, in those days I was all confidence. I’d finally gotten my braces taken off. My smile was perfect and straight, my body had filled out, and I’d been getting so much attention from guys that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
Granted, I hadn’t been dating any of them, but still – it’d been fun to feel sexy and desired for the first time in my life. I was confident, vivacious, and hell, maybe even ready to lose my virginity. While all my other friends had been experiencing their first times in hotels on prom night or in the back of their boyfriends’ Honda Accords, I’d been a late bloomer as always.
That was fine. I hadn’t been worried about losing my virginity; I figured that when it would happen, it would happen.
And when I saw Hayden Frost after all those years, home on break after his graduation from Harvard Med, I knew it was time.
My friends and I were lounging, working on our tans, and eagerly chatting about our plans for after college graduation. I’d been long past my tomboyish sci-fi phase, and specifically remember having a copy of Emma close at hand. Not that I was there to do much reading.
It’d gotten out among my friends that I was still a virgin. I hadn’t been trying that hard to keep it hidden. More like, if they didn’t ask, then I wasn’t going to say anything. But when the subject of college hookups had come up the night before over burgers and fries, I’d made the decision not to lie.
Of course, my high school friends had taken it upon themselves to get me laid over summer break, so that I could go back to college as my friend Amy had put it – “a more complete and experienced woman.”
As much as I hadn’t wanted to lose my virginity just for the sake of doing so, I went along with it. Heck, maybe my friends were right that I needed to put myself out there, not spend all my time studying in the library or my dorm room. When I’d come to them eager to brag about my grades, all they’d wanted to hear about was the fun I’d been having. But I hadn’t had a ton to report on that front.
So, there I was, working on my tan and going over virginity-losing strategies.
And that’s when he showed up. Hayden Frost strolled into the place like he owned it – his usual method of entering anywhere. He was dressed in black and white trunks, flip-flops, and nothing on top that would obscure the view of his achingly amazing body. I remember thinking that, with how well he’d been doing at med school, it might’ve come at the cost of his physique.
Nope. He looked tall and powerful and somehow even more imposing than he did when I was a kid with a crush. At first, I’d been just as nervous as I had been when I’d seen him on New Year’s Eve all those years ago. But this time, I had an advantage. This time, I had a body. And I wasn’t afraid to use it.
As I watched Hayden and his friends settle into one of the open corners of the poolside area, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the one I wanted to lose my virginity to. He was hot, sure, and that most definitely influenced my decision. But there was something more to him than that, like a…connection between the two of us. That sounded a little crazy, but it was something I couldn’t ignore.
So, when he was all settled in, I decided to make my move. Sauntering over in my bikini, my curves on full display, I approached Hayden with a sly smile on my face, like it didn’t matter what I said because my boobs would be doing all the talking.
Hayden was leaning back in his deck chair with his hands folded behind his head, his upper body a perfect V of pure muscle, and as I approached him, all he did when he finally laid eyes on me was smile that same, cocky smile I’d seen so many times.
“Is that little Gracie?” he asked. “Holy shit, it is!”
He rose from his chair, looming over me like he loomed over everyone else with his imposing height. Hayden whipped off his shades and stepped over slowly, and as he got closer, the confidence I’d mustered faded little by little.
“Wow, Gracie,” he said, giving me a look up and down. “You’ve sure grown up.”
“Um, yeah,” I said, my voice weak, my legs shaking with equal parts fear and excitement. “Haven’t I?”
“How about a hug?”
“Huh?”
“A hug. You know – that thing where you put your arms around someone and squeeze?”
Always with the jokes. But I was too surprised by his request to think twice about it.
“Uh, sure.”
If there had been any doubt, the sight of him bare chested in front of me, his huge arms spread out, had been enough to dispel it.
So, I stepped forward and I hugged him. And his body felt so good against mine that I wanted to scream.
“You’ve really grown up,” he said.
“I’m glad you noticed.”
I didn’t have a chance to say another word before Hayden reached down, took hold of me by the hips, and lifted me off my feet. I let out a squeal of surprise as he carried me over to the pool, stepped down into the water, and held me over his head.
“What you do say we make this reunion a real splash, huh?” he asked.
Then, just like when I was a kid, he tossed me into the water.
I was seated on the edge of the bed, my roommate Willow leaning against my desk across from me, her slender arms folded over her chest and her many bracelets dangling down.
“He seriously tossed you again?” she asked, a slight, amused smile on her lips.
“He seriously tossed me. That’s how Hayden has always viewed me — like some bratty, immature little sister and he’s my bullying older brother.”
I rose from the edge of the bed and grabbed some more underwear out of my dresser. I threw the panties into my bag as if it were them that I was so pissed off at.
“It’s so annoying! Why the hell does he have to act like that? I’m a grown woman, almost thirty, and he still treats me like some annoying kid with a mouth full of braces!”
“For some people, their perception of others remains rooted in their childhood memories of them.” Willow spoke with her usual blissful calm. “It’s like…how a house someone lived in for a few years in their youth makes an indelible mark on them, despite living there for a short amount of time. Everything’s more memorable as a child.”
“So, what you’re saying is that because I was a gawky kid to him back then, that’s all I’ll ever be.”
She slowly shrugged. “Not necessarily. Maybe you two just need some time to recalibrate your energy with one another. There’s a good chance this time together will do just that.”
“Or he’ll bully and tease me the whole time.”
“Not if you make the conscious decision not to let that happen,” she said, raising a finger. “Energy feeds on energy. And if you don’t provide your part of the dynamic, he might not provide his. Then you’ll have the chance to build something new and exciting.”
“What could we possibly build between us that’s new and exciting? Maybe the guy’s just a jerk through-and-through and I’m being naïve to think otherwise.”
“Well,” Willow said with a smile. “You might not be able to lose your virginity to him, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun.”
Shit. I’d been friends with Willow for a while, roommates for a couple of years. And she’d just touched on something about me that I never told anyone.
But I wasn’t about to lie to her.
“Well, about that,” I said. “He still could take my virginity. That is, if I were to let him.”
Willow was confused.
“Wait a second,” she said. “You can’t possibly mean…”
“I mean it,”
I said, taking a deep breath. “I, Grace Anderson, am a virgin.”
Chapter 12
HAYDEN
“Just wanted to say thanks again for all of this,” I said to Tracy, the two of us in her office at around three-thirty the afternoon of the first night at Ryan and Carly’s. “I know this is a pain in the ass to work around my schedule, but you’re really doing me a solid.”
“Doing solids is what good office managers do,” she said with a crafty smile.
“Is that right? Didn’t know being so benevolent was part of the job.”
“It is when it means I’ve got you in my back pocket for the next time I need some time off.”
“Ahhh,” I said, leaning back and putting my feet up on the corner of her desk. “A tit for tat kind of thing, right?”
“You know it. I didn’t get to be running one of the most successful cardiac care clinics in the country by being a pushover.”
“Trace, never in a million years would I call you anything close to a pushover.”
She chuckled as she leaned forward and pushed my feet off her desk with the eraser end of the pencil in her hand.
“I don’t care how expensive those loafers are,” she said. “I don’t want them on my desk.”
“Fine, fine,” I said as I sat up. “Anyway, are we all set for the next week and a half? I take off at four every evening to get to my friends’ house by five?”
“That’s the arrangement,” she said. “And all you have to do is take care of those adorable kids and be ready when I spring a favor on you sometime this summer. Hell, maybe I’ll make you take me out to dinner at the Silver Lounge.”
“That’d be a hell of a quid-pro-quo,” I said with a smirk. “And probably a violation of some kind of workplace rules.”
“Some rules are worth breaking,” she said.
I laughed and she did too, our back-and-forth an expected part of our working relationship by this point. Before either of us could say another word, a knock sounded from the office door.