Before I could chastise her for spending that kind of money, Lydia and Bridget pulled me into a tight hug.
"Happy fucking birthday!" Lydia said, clearly having gotten her party started a little early. She tilted her head to the side, eyes wide in a "look over there" expression.
When I did, an unexpected swarm of butterflies appeared in my stomach. Grey beamed at me from across the room where he was standing with Joshua Slade. My stomach, butterflies and all, dropped to the floor. Why the hell was he there? My eyes darted around the room in search of Bridget, or a place to hide. I caught sight of her coming out of the bathroom. She must have seen the panic on my face.
"It's okay," she mouthed, looking toward Grey before giving me a thumbs-up, which was a bit corny, but reassuring. I let out a breath. She must have let Joshua bring Grey along.
With the panic gone, I looked back to Grey. His eyebrows were tight as he watched me. Though his presence made me a bit nervous, I grinned at him so hard I must have looked like a complete idiot but God, however fucked up it was, I'd missed him. I wanted to go over and throw my arms around him and feel his around me. Luckily, another pair of masculine arms pulled me out of the trance that was Grey.
"Happy birthday, Claudia," John, the doorman from our building, gave me a warm hug. I chanced a glance at Grey when John released me. His jaw was tight as he glared at John. John's wife, who I'd met at the building Christmas party, wrapped her arms around John's waist from behind and the tension in Grey's face disappeared. I gave him a quick smile and then turned back to Grace.
"I can't believe you did all this," I said, waving my hands around at all the decorations.
"John and Gina did most of the work," Grace replied, smiling at the couple.
"Thank you both." I gave Gina a quick hug.
"You're welcome, Claudia. It was our pleasure," Gina said.
"Auntie Claudia!" Izzy yelled, running through the small crowd. I scooped her up into my arms and squeezed her tight.
"I'm so glad you're here, pumpkin." I kissed her cheek. "Hi Jess, hi Shawn, I'm so glad you're here." I fought hard not to look at Grey. The last thing I needed was for him to talk to Jessica.
My sister watched me nervously. I put Izzy down and pulled my sister into a hug. "I suppose you asked to come over Sunday to throw me off the scent of this little party?"
"Grace made me," she replied as I went on to hug Shawn.
I wondered if Grace really thought the party through, and if Bridget consulted her about our surprise guests, considering we were working a job at home. My sister and Shawn didn't know what kind of work we really did and I wanted to keep it that way.
"Happy birthday, Claudia. This is really great," he said, looking around the restaurant.
"Yeah, my friends are the best."
"We can't stay very long, need to get this one home to bed at a decent time," Jessica said, hoisting Izzy up on her hip.
"But I'm not tired!" Izzy humphed, her little eyebrows pinching together.
"I know you're not, but you will be pretty soon. We can stay and have fun for a bit as long as you're good." Jessica put her back down. I was glad to hear they weren't staying long. Izzy shot off between Lydia and Grace who were standing nearby.
Jessica and Shawn followed. They'd never been the kind of parents who let Izzy run around unsupervised, no matter how many other adults were around. Considering it looked as if it was an open bar across from the main dining area, leaving early was a wise choice.
"I can't believe the sexy twin is here!" Lydia whispered loudly in my ear as she sidled up next to me.
"Jesus, Lydia!" I hissed. "You mind keeping it down; my family's here."
The DJ started playing songs from the eighties. I knew that was all Grace. She loved that decade. "Sorry, I'm just wondering how he ended up here? Who invited him?"
"I'm guessing it was Joshua over there next to him," I said, keeping my eyes on Grey.
He laughed at something Joshua said, but his eyes drifted back to mine for a moment. He was doing a pretty good job of not staring. I, on the other hand, needed to work on that or someone was going to notice.
"Then who invited him? He's pretty fucking hot, too?" Lydia continued, clearly on the prowl.
"That would be Bridget." I looked away from Grey long enough to spot her again. It wasn't hard; I just followed the line of Joshua's gaze.
"Shit, is every guy who works at that place hot? Did she invite more?" Lydia asked, scanning the room.
"I doubt it. He's the guy she went on a date with, or I guess maybe the guy she's dating now by the looks of it."
"Holy fuck! That's the guy? Way to go, Bridge." Lydia tossed back the rest of whatever drink she had in her hand. "At least the other one is single."
I loved Lydia, I really did, but as I watched her adjust her shirt to show more cleavage, I wanted to punch her in the throat. Of course, I would need to find a more diplomatic way to keep her from pouncing on Grey.
"Slow down there, killer. We're still on a job," I said, stepping in front of her to stop her from eye-fucking Grey.
Lydia stuck out her lip. "Fine, guess I'll have to find some company for the night elsewhere." She headed to the bar.
When Bridget finally went over to talk to Joshua, I smiled at Grey and motioned toward the bar with my eyes. We arrived at the same time.
"Vodka and soda," I said, smiling brightly.
Grey chuckled beside me. "I'll have the same." He set his empty glass on the bar. "Happy birthday, Claudia. This is quite the party."
"It is, although they don't seem to have been very selective about the guest list," I said, nudging his arm.
"Ouch." He grabbed at his heart. "Old age is making you bitter."
Touché.
"You're such a smart-ass." I picked up my drink and took a healthy sip. "Seriously though, how did you end up here?"
I had a pretty good guess, but I was curious why Joshua would have brought him along to crash a party for someone he'd never even met. I'd seen him in passing around the office, but somehow we'd never been formally introduced.
"Your little redheaded friend invited Joshua, and I happened to be sitting next to him in the most boring convention imaginable when he got the e-mail. I told him I couldn't stand another minute of that shit and if he let me tag along, we could use the company jet to fly back. That was enough to persuade him since he's pretty shy around new people and wanted someone he knew with him, and the fact Bridget said it was okay after he insisted on asking her first," he said, laughing. "I think he's got it pretty bad for her."
"Why wouldn't he? Bridget is great." I said proudly.
"I'm sure she is if she'd earned the right of friendship with you," he said with a smirk.
"Stop making fun of me; it's my birthday."
"Did you like your gifts?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, I love them but if I'd known you were coming, I would have brought them to give back. It's too much."
"Please keep them, just a friendly token and an apology, nothing more."
"If you give gifts like that to all your friends, you must be pretty popular."
The vodka was clearly starting to kick in.
Grey leaned on the bar with is elbow. "You're more special than my average friend," he said, giving me a sexy half smile. His eyes were dark, lids hanging low as his gaze drifted to my mouth.
I bit my lip.
"God, don't do that."
"Do what?" I asked with a shrug.
"Bite your lip like that. It makes me want to do it, too."
The lightning of desire spread through my veins. God, I wanted to kiss him, bite him, lick him. I needed a fucking intervention. I was relapsing and Grey was my drug of choice.
"Hey, Claudia," Bridget said, walking up with Joshua in tow. "I don't think you've met Josh yet."
I was grateful for the reprieve before I lost my head and did something stupid again. I needed to slow down on the alcohol and drink some water.
"Happy birt
hday, Claudia." Joshua offered me a bottle of wine with a card attached. "I didn't want to show up empty-handed, and Bridget said you really like wine."
Seeing him up close and hearing him talk, I had to adjust my initial impression of him. He was more adorable than hot; there was an inherent sweetness about him I'd missed before. I could definitely see how well his temperament suited my fiery-haired friend.
"Thank you, Josh, that's so considerate. It's so nice to finally meet you. I can't believe it didn't happen sooner with me being on the same floor at work. Guess this guy and his brother must keep you locked away doing all the real work and making them look good."
Even in the dim lighting of the pub, I could see a hint of color rise in his cheeks. Definitely adorable.
Someone must have asked the DJ to crank things up because the music suddenly got louder. I recognized the beat. Grace was out on the dance floor holding a microphone while the "Cha-Cha Slide," one of our favorite songs from college, blasted through the speakers.
"Claudia, happy birthday, girl! It wouldn't be a party if we didn't dance to this at least once, so get your sexy ass out here!"
I glanced at Grey, who smiled wide, waiting to see what I would do. Bridget was already shaking her head in refusal as if she'd read my mind, but I ignored her and grabbed her hand to drag her with me through the tables and join Grace. Grace and Lydia were already lined up and doing the steps, which Grace and I forced the two younger girls to learn, by the time we weaved our way through.
We fell into line when they did the first half-turn in the dance and followed along to the commands in the song. Pretty much the whole room watched us. I laughed when we finished "cha-chaing real smooth" and turned to see Grey and Jessica with Izzy in her arms joining in. The area set up for dancing was fairly small, so the other guests probably couldn't fit without running into some of the tables, although I could tell Shawn was seriously considering squeezing his way in anyway.
The song ended and another favorite came on. Izzy ran around the edge of the dance floor and I bent down to greet her.
"Mommy says we have to go," she said with her bottom lip sticking out.
"I know, pumpkin. It's getting late. I'm so happy you came, and if you're really good for your mom and dad, I'll come pick you up in a couple of weeks and take you to the beach and movie I promised last time. Would you like that?"
She nodded her head enthusiastically. I followed her off the floor to say good-bye to Jessica and Shawn.
"Who's the guy?" Jessica asked. Since she knew everyone there other than Grey and Joshua, I was pretty sure whom she was talking about.
"Just a guy Bridget is dating and his friend," I responded casually.
"Yeah, okay," she replied with a knowing smile.
I ignored whatever implication she tried to make and gave her and Shawn a quick hug before rejoining everyone on the dance floor. Grey slipped away back to Joshua who stayed close to the bar. It wasn't long before Bridget followed suit.
We were in the middle of grooving to "We are Family" when Grace grabbed my arm.
"Oh my God! He came!" she yelled in my ear.
I followed her gaze to the door where a man, who I assumed was the mystery man from the gala, was smiling in her direction. She then turned her back to him and kept dancing, giving me a wink as she did. I raised my eyebrows.
"Can't seem too eager," she said, leaning in close.
Good, I was glad she was playing it cool and not rushing things. It'd been a long, long time since she'd had more than a casual date, but the looming prospect of retirement clearly had her hoping for something more serious.
I gave her the international sign for drink. She shook her head, so I walked to the bar alone while she continued dancing with Lydia and Gina who were still going strong.
"I think we're going to head out," Bridget said when I got close. "I have to get up early tomorrow."
I smiled at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but it seemed that was all I was going to get.
"This was a great party; thanks for letting us crash." Joshua shook my hand.
I could feel Grey's eyes on me, much like they'd been the whole night, but he'd managed to be fairly discreet so no one other than my sister seemed to have picked up on anything.
"It was nice to see you again, Claudia," Grey said, briefly touching my forearm. Because he'd come as Joshua's guest, courtesy of Bridget, it was only good manners he left with them. I didn't really want him to go, but I knew it was for the best. I'd paced myself pretty well with the drinking, but I wasn't foolish enough to think I was only vulnerable to Grey's charms under the influence.
"Nice to see you, too," I said and then bit my lip for good measure. He shook his head and smirked.
"Don't forget dinner on Sunday," he said quietly over his shoulder as he walked by.
"Looking forward to it."
❖
The plan for pacing my alcohol consumption flew out the window around eleven after Lydia ordered a third round of shots for those of us who'd stayed at the party. I vaguely remembered John taking his shirt off and dancing on the bar after doing a body shot off Gina. I managed to lose one of the designer heels I'd taken off by the dance floor at some point. Grace and her new man disappeared sometime between me going to the bar and when Grey left. She didn't bother with so much as an introduction or a good-bye, which seemed more than a little weird. She'd been spending a lot of time with this guy and I had yet to meet him. I began to wonder if she was hiding something.
I'd been lucky to make it to my room in the first place, so I had no clue if she was home when I stumbled through the door with a little help from John and Gina, who probably weren't much better off than I was. I really hoped he wasn't on duty the next day.
It was nearly noon on Saturday when I finally crawled out of the bed in desperate need of some aspirin and a cup of coffee. The bottle of aspirin and a bottle of water sat by the coffee maker on top of a note and an envelope
Sorry for bailing last night. I hope the gift makes up for it, it's from all of us, and don't worry, I didn't win it. I'm hanging out at the pier with Jared today. Take some aspirin, drink the whole bottle of water, skip the coffee, and go back to bed until you feel better.
Love, Grace
Inside the envelope were four tickets for a Napa Valley wine tasting, the exact thing I'd bid on and lost in the silent auction at the gala. It made sense she'd specified she hadn't won it because I would have been pissed if she'd paid more than what I bid on it, which was a lot.
It more than made up for her skipping out on the party. Of course, I'd had so much to drink I probably wouldn't have noticed if everyone had left me there dancing by myself anyway. A sad fact I was paying for dearly. I was grateful I didn't have any plans or commitments for the day, which allowed me to follow Grace's instructions and go back to bed.
Chapter 15
After sleeping away most of Saturday recovering from my party, I felt pretty great getting up Sunday morning. So much so I threw on my running shoes, compression pants and a jacket and headed up to North Avenue Beach for an early morning run. It was just a little after five, so the place was all but deserted.
On the trail, my thoughts turned to Grey. Everything was so confusing. I had no idea how to proceed with him. A part of me wished we could move on as friends after the job was over, possibly more, but there were too many lies. Too much baggage stacked up between us, and I wasn't even sure if I was capable of giving him what he and, if I was being truly honest with myself, I wanted.
I was coming around the curve of the peninsula on my way back to the mainland when I caught sight of a man running my way.
I stopped cold, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath.
"What, what are you doing here?" I said, looking up at Grey in his blue pullover hoodie as I pulled the earbuds from my ears.
He laughed, gesturing toward his clothes as if to say, "Isn't it obvious?"
"I came out for a run to clear my head. I used to ru
n this trail all the time before I left for Japan, seemed like it was time to get back in the habit," he replied, stepping closer.
I don't know if it was the endorphins from my run, all of the pent up emotions I'd been battling with since the first time I laid eyes on Grey, or just the joy I felt seeing him so unexpectedly but for whatever reason and, despite my better judgment, I threw my arms around his neck, pushing up on my toes as I crushed my mouth to his.
He tensed for a moment before his arms slid around my back and he pulled me closer, his tongue dancing in perfect unison with mine.
The pound of another runner's shoes against the pavement pulled us from the moment.
"Come on." I grabbed Grey's hand and tugged him in the direction of the parking lot.
We cut across the sand, something I normally wouldn't do, especially since I'd driven there in my baby, but I couldn't bring myself to care about a little sand in my car with visions of all the things I was considering doing to Grey flashing in my head.
"Wow, nice car," he said when the lights flashed as we approached.
I opened the back door and practically pushed him back on the leather seat. He slid over to the other side, pulling me with him as I reached back and closed the door. The space was more than a bit cramped and I was sweaty from my run, but I didn't care. Grey didn't seem to mind at all either.
I straddled him and I unzipped my jacket before fumbling to get free of the sleeves while Grey struggled with his hoodie. I laughed and he grabbed my face, pulling me down to his mouth while my arms were still trapped behind me in my jacket. It was early and my car was parked alone on the far side of the parking lot, so there was no one walking by to see what we were doing, not that I would have cared if they did.
"I guess I didn't really think this through." I laughed against his lips.
I lifted up as much as I could in the cramped space, finally getting my arms free. Grey wadded up his hoodie and tucked it under his head against the seat.
"I could stay crammed in here all day if it means being with you." His eyes swam with emotion. He searched my expression, a hint of concern in his gaze. He was right to worry. With that brief moment to think, everything else barreled back into my thoughts.
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