Breaking Her Rules

by Jennifer Snow

  “Gracie!” Her mother rushed forward and hugged her. “Wow, look at you.” She pulled away and smiled. Then her gaze moved past her to Erik, standing awkwardly behind her.

  “Mom, you remember Erik,” Grace said, moving away and turning toward him.

  Erik extended a hand. “Hi, Veronica.”

  “Welcome, it’s nice to see you again.” She moved forward and hugged him.

  He nodded.

  “Hi, Grace.”

  The sound of the familiar male voice behind her made her cringe. She turned to see one of her mother’s ex-boyfriends standing in the hall, buttoning a dress shirt, his hair still wet from the shower. No need to wonder what he was doing there. “Dale,” she said tightly before darting a pointed look at her mother.

  Veronica looked nervous as she smiled. “Grace, I was going to tell you last week when we spoke, but I decided to wait until you got here.”

  “Wait to tell me what?” That she’d reconciled with a man who’d cheated on her and left her without paying her back the money he owed her for helping him start his own power-washing business? That after eight years of hearing nothing from the man, she’d allowed Dale Sheppard back into her life to see what further damage he could do to her heart and her finances?

  “Dale just moved back to Lovelock last month, and we’ve decided to give things another try.”

  The need for approval in her mother’s expression and Erik’s presence beside her made her put aside her true feelings on the subject for the moment, and she simply nodded. “Great.”

  Her mother beamed. “Come on in. Do either of you want something to drink? Eat?”

  “We’re fine,” Grace said and Erik nodded.

  On the tiny kitchen table, her mother’s tarot cards were scattered across the worn plastic tablecloth that she was appalled to realize was the same one that had covered their secondhand table years ago when she still lived there.

  “Mom, I can’t believe you’re still doing this.” Grace shook her head. Her mother had discovered she had “the gift” when Grace was twelve, and before long there had been a sign on the front lawn that read Veronica’s Psychic Readings. Every day after school, there was always some local woman or a tourist passing through indulging her mother’s new talent.

  “When you have a gift, Gracie, you can’t ignore it.”

  “I didn’t see the sign out front,” she said.

  “Mayor Joe made me take it down unless I got a business license. Now I’m sort of word of mouth . . .” She removed her sweater and hung it over the back of her chair.

  Grace’s eyes widened as she took in her mother’s choice of clothing. “Mom, are we wearing the same dress? Stand up.”

  Her mother laid the deck of cards aside and stood. “I don’t think so—mine’s more of an off-white. Yours is more of a pearl,” she said, eyeing the fabric, cinched with a brown belt around her waist.

  “It’s the same dress,” Grace said, feeling sick. Since when did her mother wear plain colors, simple fabrics? Where were her multicolored skirts and mesh, long-sleeved blouses?

  “Are you sure?” Erik asked, glancing between the two.

  “Mom, take off the belt.”

  Her mother did, and she went to stand next to her. Without the leather addition around her waist, the fabric fell loose down to her knee, the way Grace’s did. “Same dress,” she said with a sigh. What was she supposed to do now?

  Her mother smiled. “See, I told you we were more alike than you thought.”

  She was happy about this? “This was a coincidence, Mom.”

  “I think you both look great,” Dale said.

  Had anyone asked his opinion?

  “Does it really matter if it’s the same dress?” her mother asked. “It looks different on each of us.”

  “Yes it does matter.” She refused to go anywhere wearing the same thing as her mother. Especially when her mother looked ten times better in it. God, what would the Adamses think?

  “Okay, I’ll change,” her mom said, looking disappointed.

  She blocked her mom’s escape. “Into what?”

  “I don’t know . . . something from the closet.”

  “No, you look great. And the belt really does add to the dress.” She suppressed a sigh. “I’ll change.” The only other dress she’d brought along was the too-tight, too-short dress Erik had disapproved of. She’d planned on giving it to Kylie, seeing as how it had cost her a small fortune and was nonreturnable, but what choice now did she have other than to wear it?

  Chapter 9

  “So, how many girls have you had in here?” Faith asked, scanning Walker’s bedroom later that afternoon after the decorators had kicked her out of the backyard so they could prepare for that evening’s event. From the window, he could see the crew from Elegant Events arranging tables and chairs while a DJ was setting up beside the large gazebo that would serve as a dance floor. The pool attendants were cleaning the pool, and the caterers were finishing the food preparations downstairs in the kitchen.

  His father had gone to the seniors’ home to pick up some of his grandmother’s friends, providing Walker a brief respite from having to be around him. He would introduce him to Faith that evening at the party, and then avoid conversation with him for the next twenty-four hours.

  He cleared his throat as he set their bags down on the bed. “Not many.”

  “Oh come on, give me a number. A guy always knows.”

  “You ask a lot of questions.” He was starting to feel like his time with Faith was one big interview. Question after question. She was relentless in her need to capture information about him, and the more he learned about her and the more time he spent with her, the less he wanted to reveal.

  “Sorry, I’m a sucker for accurate details,” she said with a laugh, moving closer and kicking her sandals aside. Her tiny five-foot-two frame seemed so short next to his six feet. He was used to standing next to her in heels. She wrapped her arms around him. “So, what number am I?” she purred.

  He struggled to find the words to answer. He didn’t intend on adding her to the list of girls he’d had sex with in that room. He didn’t intend to have sex with her at all. In fact, he hoped she wouldn’t lose her shit when he announced he would be sleeping in one of the spare rooms that evening. He didn’t see things moving forward with her, and he didn’t want to lead her on. He’d done that long enough. “We should probably start getting ready.”

  She pouted. “You know . . . I like a chase as much as anyone else, but I’m starting to think you’re not attracted to me.”

  Shit. “Of course I’m attracted to you. Who wouldn’t be?” The problem was that his mind was continually on Gracie and whatever was going on between them.

  “Are you hot for Grace?” she asked, as though reading his mind.

  Was it that obvious?

  “He better not be, or I’ll cut his balls off.” Kylie’s voice in the doorway behind him was a relief, but her words were terrifying.

  “Hi, Sis,” he said, giving her a hug. “This is Faith Hart. Faith, this is Kylie.”

  “Ah, there’s the source of dirt I was looking forward to meeting,” Faith said, hugging Kylie. “I’m dying to hear about what a heartbreaker this one must have been, but he’s not giving me much.”

  Kylie smirked. “Oh, I can help you with that.”

  “Well, why don’t you do that, while I get ready? I’ll be down in a bit,” Walker said, desperate for a few minutes alone.

  Faith looked disappointed, but she nodded and followed his sister out of the room.

  He sat on the edge of his bed and rested his elbows on his knees, letting his head fall into his hands. An hour in his family home and already he couldn’t wait to get back to Vegas. It didn’t help that his coach was pissed at him for taking two days away from training or that he was going to have to spend that time dancing around Faith’s come-on attempts.

  He sighed and went to the window.

  Grace and her mother were now stan
ding in the backyard. Veronica chatted with one of the decorators but Grace stared off in the distance, looking uncomfortable and on edge.

  He knew the feeling.

  Man, he wished he could take her and get out of there. Go someplace quiet, where they could finally have a real conversation, without the flirting, without the second-guessing one another—just a real conversation about whether or not she would ever consider a relationship with him.

  Erik appeared next to her, and Walker felt a knot in the pit of his stomach as the man wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Walker realized that it might be too late.

  But too late or not—it didn’t change the fact that he was falling in love with Gracie Andrews.

  ***

  “I think you’ve been living in Sin City too long,” Gram Adams said, eyeing her dress with disdain later that evening.

  “Grams, that’s not nice. I think she looks amazing,” Kylie said, hugging her tight.

  “No, Grams is right. This is yours, by the way, as soon as I take it off,” Grace whispered. “And congratulations, Grams. Fifty years. Wow.”

  The older woman smiled, leaning closer, and drawing the two of them into a huddle. “The key is great sex.”

  Oh God. Gross.

  Kylie choked on a gag next to her. “Well, thank you for that image, Grandma. Drink?” she asked Grace.

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll see you in a bit, Grams,” Kylie said to the older woman as they headed toward the outdoor bar. “So, where’s your mom?” she asked, linking her arm through Grace’s as they approached the shaded canopy tent.

  “Over there.” Grace pointed to where her mother stood near their seats with Dale and Erik, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

  “Wow, she looks great. Love that dress,” Kylie said.

  Grace sighed. “White wine please,” she said to the hired bartender for the evening.

  “We’re not serving . . .” the guy started, but stopped when Kylie dropped a twenty into his tip jar. “White wine it is.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t warn me about Dale and my mom,” she said as the bartender poured their wine.

  “I knew you’d be upset and I thought it was something she should tell you herself. I think it’s actually serious this time, from what your mom has told me.”

  “I’ll believe it when it lasts longer than six months.”

  Kylie sighed. “Quit being so negative. Your mom is happy, that’s all that matters, right?”

  Her mom was happy for now. But Dale had disappointed her once before, and Grace was reluctant to believe that he’d actually changed since the first time he’d cheated on her mom and left her heartbroken. The only good thing that ever came from her mom’s mistakes was Grace’s ability to learn from them. She watched as Walker and Faith approached the group and her mother pulled Walker in for a hug. He lifted her from the ground, and her squeal of delight could be heard from across the pool.

  Kylie laughed. “Looks like Faith may be the jealous sort,” she said, nodding toward the tiny blonde, looking stunning as usual in a pale pink strapless sundress, but who now also wore a scowl on her face.

  “Has your dad met her yet?”

  “He fell all over her like every other guy here. Walker’s plan seems to have worked.”

  “What plan?”

  “Bringing a date to serve as a buffer to prevent a full blowout with Dad.”

  “You think that’s really why he brought her?” She refused to read anything into the relief she felt as she watched him from across the pool. In a pair of dress pants and black dress shirt, opened at the collar, he looked amazing. The memory of his thighs pushing against hers as he’d kissed her in the truck-stop restroom hours before made her cheeks hot.

  “Of course. It’s Walker we’re talking about. When is he ever serious about a woman?”

  Her friend made a good point. One she couldn’t allow herself to forget. Walker was the kind of guy every woman thought she could be the one to change . . . and every woman quickly discovered how wrong they were. She wouldn’t even try.

  His gaze met hers, and he smiled as if they shared a secret from the rest of the group. She kept her gaze drifting as if she hadn’t been lingering too long on him but when it passed Erik, she knew she was busted. His eyes were locked on her the way hers had been locked on Walker. She smiled brightly and waved, but he simply nodded and turned his attention back to the conversation. Walker, she couldn’t help but notice, continued to stare.

  ***

  “Are you wearing anything under that dress?” Walker whispered, coming up behind Gracie where she stood away from the crowd at the far end of the backyard two hours later.

  She jumped, spilling white wine on her bare toes in her strappy sandals. “Stop it,” she said pointedly.

  “I’m not doing anything.” He shot her an innocent look. “It’s just that I’ve been staring at you, trying to figure out how you’ve hidden panty lines so well in this see-through fabric.” His gaze rested at her hips and she tugged at the edge of the dress, attempting and failing to cover more of her thighs.

  Oh God, those fantastic thighs. He’d always been impressed by her height and those long, lean, graceful dancer’s legs. More than once as teenagers hanging out by the pool he had stared at those legs, wondering what it would be like to have them wrapped around him. If only she’d given any indication back then . . .

  “Can’t a woman have any secrets?” She took a sip of her wine.

  He watched her pale pink lips part as she drank the liquid then licked the edge of the rim as a trickle of wine spilled down the side. He closed the small gap between them in a flash. “Are you trying to get me hard, because it’s working.”

  She backed away from him, her shoulders hitting the fence. “Only took twelve years,” she mumbled.

  He advanced toward her again, this time resting his arms against the fence on either side, preventing any chance of an escape. “That’s not fair. I didn’t know the situation back then.”

  “There is no situation. There may have been at one time, but that’s been over for quite a while now.”

  “That kiss this afternoon says otherwise.” He moved even closer, daring her to deny it. He’d kissed his share of women, but no other kiss had left him wanting more than the untimely one with Gracie. So much more . . . and he couldn’t have it. Yet, here he was. His lips inches from hers, it would be so easy. “Dance with me,” he said, as a slow ballad came over the speakers and couples drifted together under the gazebo.

  “No.”

  “Why not? One dance with an old friend.”

  She glanced over his shoulder. “I think Faith is looking for you.”

  “Even more reason to hide,” he said, taking her hand and half dragging her across the backyard.

  “Walker . . .”

  “Shhh, this is easy, step into my arms.” Taking her waist, he drew her closer, keeping one arm firmly around her and taking her hand in his. “See? Easy,” he said as he started to sway. His hand slid a little farther over her hip, and she quickly repositioned it on her back.

  “Stop.”

  “I was feeling for a panty line.” He smiled at her annoyed expression. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll behave.” Or try to anyway. He turned them slightly and nodded toward his grandparents dancing in the center of the group. “Fifty years. Impressive.”

  “Yes it is. They are a rarity these days.”

  “They don’t have to be. I think everyone can be as happy as they are, if they marry the right person.” He cradled their hands into his chest and kissed hers.

  “You said you’d behave.”

  “It’s harder than I thought.”

  His gaze locked with hers, and he couldn’t tear his away even if he wanted to. Her dark eyes were full of unanswered questions, apprehension, and obviously unwanted emotions. All he wanted to do was kiss her and tell her how he was feeling about her, reassure her she could have fifty years with someone whose love would never fade
, if she let go and took a chance.

  But she looked away, taking his courage with her gaze as the song ended. “Well, thank you for the dance,” she said, awkwardly stepping away from him in the crowded space.

  “Gracie . . .”

  “Mind if an old lady steals him for the next one?” Grams asked next to them.

  Gracie smiled. “The only old ladies I see are the ones whispering about how jealous they are of you over there.” She pointed to the group from the seniors’ home sitting along the fence.

  Grams laughed. “Old biddies. They’ve been trying to take George away from me for years.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s your secret then, Grams?” Walker asked, taking her hands as Gracie moved away.

  “Great sex and good cooking. I know how to keep my man happy.”

  Walker raised an eyebrow at Gracie.

  “Well, I’m screwed. I don’t know how to cook. I’ll leave you two to your dance,” she said, disappearing into the backyard.

  Walker watched her walk away, disappointed that their talk had been cut short.

  “So, what’s going on with you two?” his grandmother asked.

  “Gracie’s been a real friend these last few weeks. She’s helped me out a lot.” It was such an understatement.

  “That guy she’s with . . .” She frowned and shook her head. “You’d think a cell phone battery would have died by now.”

  “He’s an important man,” he said tightly. “You should be honored he took time out of his busy schedule to come to your party.” Teasing his grandmother was better than getting into how he felt about the man who held his fighting career in his hands. Or about his sudden, growing feelings for Gracie.

  “He didn’t.” She studied him for a moment before saying, “Have you had a chance to talk to your dad yet?”

  He nodded.

  “And?”

  “And he’s as closed minded and stubborn as ever.”