by Grady, D. R.
“I didn’t care about your mixed signals. I knew the moment I met you that you were the one for me.”
“You planned to pursue me?”
Since she was ensconced on his lap, she felt the rumble of laughter as well as heard it. “Yes. If you showed you weren’t in the least interested, I’d have dealt with it. But you were showing signs you were interested in return, so I continued.” He shrugged.
“This seems surreal,” she murmured, and wanted another kiss. This man was hers, so she could kiss him.
She leaned forward and pressed their lips together. His curled up in a smug masculine grin before he kissed her back. A long, leisurely affair she wanted so much more of.
“Are we good?” he asked after a few more heady kisses.
“Yes. You’re not scared of this relationship either?” She had to clarify the point. Being in a relationship obviously wasn’t all roses and chocolate hearts.
“No. I think my fears were because I’ve never done this before.” He stroked her cheek. “But you’re worth the effort.”
She mock scowled at him. “I know you didn’t just call me high maintenance.”
“Maybe I did,” he teased but then he sobered. “Anything that works needs maintained. It doesn’t just happen. You have to put a little effort into it to keep it running.” He paused. “I’m willing to do this if you are.”
Since it was the deal of the century, this took no brainpower. “I’m in.”
Chapter 46
Her dad eyed her knowingly. “You seem awfully happy for a woman who has construction crews at her house daily.” He had come to check out the progress.
Trixi’s cheeks heated, but she didn’t try to stop the ensuing grin. “Mark and I worked some important things out. We’re doing really well right now.”
“I’m glad. You had some rough times?” He sounded like he wanted details, but she wasn’t ready to share those.
“Of course. It’s a relationship.” She straightened. “Speaking of those, how is yours?
It was his turn to flush. “Amazingly well. I can’t believe how much further I fall in love with her each day.”
Chuckling, she patted his arm. “I’m happy for you, and for Nina. She’s a great lady.”
“Would you be okay with seeing her in my life permanently?” His voice was edged with an intensity she recognized. This was vital to him, but he was downplaying it.
She rolled her eyes. “Dad, you’re in love with her, she’s in love with you, why wouldn’t you make it permanent?”
He swallowed audibly before looking away for a moment. “What if she says no?”
“What if she says yes?”
“I would be the happiest man alive,” he whispered.
“I think Nina would be the happiest woman alive.” Trixi smirked. “Except when Katy realizes she’s in love with Leo. Then she’s going to be pretty happy too.”
Her dad laughed. “That could take some time. Neither of them recognize it.” He sobered. “Neither of them needs to right now though. They’re friends first and that’s a great way to enter a relationship.”
“True.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Mark and I didn’t have their type of relationship.”
“Sure you did. You knew each other before you started dating. You’ve shared a roof. You know one another better now than most couples.”
“Yes. I really enjoyed having him and Gran in the house.”
She peered out the window of the guest cottage. The construction on the damaged guest wing had commenced and it was a noisy, messy job, but that wing was looking much better.
The cleanup crew had finished right on schedule and she had prepared to move back into the house, when the construction started. It changed her mind. She and Gran had instead covered everything they could with old sheets and then retreated to the guest cottage. Her dad moved back to his house and Mark opted to stay with Leo until his wing was replaced.
“What is the possibility Mark will ask you to marry him?”
Her dad’s quiet question caused her stomach to flip and her heart to stutter. Heady happiness threatened. “I don’t know.” She hadn’t thought about this.
“Would you accept?”
“It’s too soon in our relationship.” Marriage was a huge commitment.
He nodded. “You’re still young, so it’s probably best for you to wait.”
“But you know Nina is the right one for you?”
“Yes. We’re a little older and we’ve both been married before.”
She chewed on the inside of the other cheek. His reasoning made sense. “You know exactly what you want now.”
“Yes. And so do you.”
Deciding not to touch that seemed like a great idea. “I think Nina will be thrilled to marry you.”
His lips drew down. “Baby, she’s intimidated by Wintermyer, and she’s not certain she wants to take on a man with my money.” He didn’t sound happy.
She couldn’t hide her amusement—and he noticed.
“What are you smiling about?”
“I don’t think Nina has been entirely honest with you,” she prevaricated.
His eyebrows slammed together. “What do you mean?”
“It means you need to ask her a few pertinent questions about her finances.”
Storm clouds brewed across his face. “She hasn’t been honest with me?”
“She hasn’t told you things you haven’t thought to ask or to check out,” Trixi gently corrected.
The storm clouds blew out, and left gloomy, flat ones in their wake. Nina would need to do some fast-talking this evening. Or in the next thirty minutes.
“I need to go locate a certain woman and pin her down for some questions.”
“Make certain you ask the right ones.” Trixi kept her own expression solemn.
He bent forward to kiss her forehead and then departed. In the quiet, she surveyed the wooden frames holding up the new wing.
Her phone burbled and she absently answered it.
Katy continued the burbling. “Trixi? You’ll never guess who I ran into.”
“Okay, I give up, tell me,” she directed.
“Dad’s ex-fiancée, Chrissy?”
“Yes, I know her.” She didn’t plan to continue their association, especially if the woman had been responsible for some of their troubles. It had at least stopped now.
“Dad confronted her about the problems you were experiencing and she decided maybe she better seek legal counsel, just in case.”
A strategic idea. Of course, Chrissy was smart. The women knew how to see to her own best interests. “Right.”
“So, she gets this lawyer, and it turns out he’s a partner in the firm, about Dad’s age, single, and looking for his next wife.”
A picture formed in her mind. “Let me guess, he and Chrissy took one look at each other and fell in love.”
“That’s exactly what happened. She’s so gaga over this man, it’s almost sickening. I saw them together, there was a group of gorgeous, wealthy men nearby, and while Chrissy noticed them, she was enthralled with her new man. The same was true with him.”
“She’s in love, or pretending to be?”
“I think she’s actually in love. She glows, like she’s super happy.”
Hmm, interesting. “I’m happy for her.” Surprisingly, Trixi was.
“I know, it’s amazing, isn’t it?” Katy didn’t give her time to respond. “I mean she was with Dad, didn’t love him, but now she meets this guy, basically because of Dad, and falls for him in an instant.”
“Maybe she’ll leave Dad alone now.” Trixi went on to spill the details of her conversation with him about Nina.
“He doesn’t know she’s got money of her own?”
“Nope. Nina never mentioned that little tidbit to him.”
Katy’s laughter burst over the line and Trixi joined her. “I can’t believe he didn’t run any reports on her.”
“He never bothered to look int
o her finances because he was so head over heels for her, he forgot.”
“Do you know how much she has?” Katy’s tone went all inquisitive.
“No, I’ve never asked. And you’d never know it because her house is normal.”
“So is her car. Her clothes are nice, but she doesn’t splash her wealth around, does she?”
“Not at all.” Trixi was happy Nina wasn’t the type to do so. She was comfortably off though, due to several inheritances.
“Of course, she’s an heiress and she claims inheriting money isn’t as interesting as if she made the money herself,” Katy mused.
“She told me the same thing, when it came up in conversation.”
“How did her inheritances come up in conversation?”
“I was worried about the house, worried about money and Nina pulled me aside and informed me I could have an interest free loan or she could gift the money to me, whatever I needed.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. “Our new Mom is awesome.”
Trixi laughed. “Exactly.”
“So, speaking of romance...” Katy now pulled out her fishing pole.
“Are we speaking of romance?”
Katy brushed right by her evade tactic. “How is yours going?”
She didn’t want to evade this conversation, at least not entirely. She just wasn’t certain what to tell Katy. “It’s going really well.”
“I sense a but in your tone.”
Best friends always did. “I’m afraid.”
“Of what? Of Mark?” Alarm threaded heavily through Katy’s question.
“No!” Trixi quickly exclaimed. “No, not of him.” She thought about it in the ensuing silence. “I think it’s the same fear that’s always been there.”
Katy cleared her throat, as though to encourage her to talk.
“I’m afraid of losing him.”
A loud exhalation answered her. “Trix, sometimes you’re the silliest, stupidest person I know.”
“Excuse me?” Should she be offended?
“Everyone, no matter who they are, are afraid of losing their loved ones. You probably more than most, because you lost your mother so young. But Trixi, this is a part of life. We don’t spend our time fearing when our loved one’s time is up.”
“What do we do?”
Trixi pictured Katy shaking her head. “We love and enjoy them for as long as we have them.”
“You’re awfully quiet,” Mark commented after supper.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s dangerous,” he teased while tugging her closer where they snuggled on the sofa in the guest cottage.
“It’s important,” she refuted and squirmed into a better position. A deep sense of contentment settled over her as she enjoyed his masculine scent and warmth.
He kissed her temple. “You’re important.” His lips trailed to the corner of her eye.
Trixi threaded their fingers together. “So are you.”
She felt him smile. He squeezed her fingers.
“You’re feeling good about our relationship?” He sounded concerned.
“Yes, I am. I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
He made an affirmative noise in the back of his throat. “We’re both living in new, cramped spaces, dealing with semi-new jobs, in addition to a new relationship. You’ve also got all the repairs on your house to deal with.”
“Plus Dad is serious about Nina.”
Another soft kiss to her temple. “That’s a lot of stress.”
“Nina isn’t a stress, not at all.”
“No, but she changes your family dynamics. This adds another new factor to your life. You’re juggling a lot of things.” His concern deepened.
They were silent for a long while as they pondered, enjoying each other and the cozy living room. Mark had been reluctant to light a fire in the fireplace, but she had insisted. She couldn’t allow a fear of fire to creep into her life. This one was contained, so she could deal with it.
Trixi couldn’t say she was exactly enjoying it, as it did bring back recent bad memories, but she was handling it. She suspected with time she would come to enjoy a crackling fire again.
Despite her trepidation, it was right to be here, in this man’s arms. They had only been dating a few weeks but Trixi knew he was the right man. There was comfort in that knowledge. As he pointed out, she was juggling a lot of new things. Right now, she decided to stop worrying about things and instead start enjoying her life.
A new job she loved, a house she loved, a family she loved, and with a quick gasp, she abruptly sat up and gaped at Mark. Wonder dawned and then spread through her.
“What’s wrong?” His voice was sharp as he curled her close again.
They were still face-to-face, but now she tugged a hand free and cupped his face. “I just had a revelation.”
He must have read something reassuring in her eyes, because he relaxed beneath her caress. “What?” his voice was husky.
She leaned forward to press a soft kiss on his lips. “I just figured out I love you.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners, before he tugged her in for a longer kiss. One that felt like a commitment. “You just realized this?”
Scowling, Trixi tried to maintain the glower, but his happiness prevented it. “Yes, I just realized it.” If he didn’t tell her he loved her, this relationship was...
“I love you. I have for weeks now.” The husky note in his voice deepened as he lifted her chin and brought her close for another sweet kiss. This one announced he was committed. It was interwoven with sweet promise.
“Weeks?” she repeated, dazed by the moment and his revelation.
“Yes. It took a little while to figure out why I wanted to beat my chest every time you were near, and especially when other men got too close.”
Her eyebrows soared. “You wanted to beat your chest?”
“My dad said this is a sure sign of love.”
“I see. Leo isn’t suffering from it, but he’s definitely in love.”
“Dad said the impulse is there, but it’s muted because they’re friends first. He told me to wait, it’ll come.”
“This should be interesting.”
“Oh yeah.”
He leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss that wasn’t sweet. It told her everything she needed to know.
“I love you,” they said together.
Laughing they leaned into each other for another fabulous kiss. It held promise, love, and hope.
About the Author
D.R. Grady lives with her husband near Hershey, PA. She adores chocolate, laughing, collecting bags, books, and shoes, and adores writing stories that resonate with others.
Please visit her website for more information.
http://www.drgradybooks.com
Other Works by D.R. Grady
The Morrison Family Series:
The Nerd and the Marine
The Corpsman and the Nerd
The Nerd and the SEAL
The Nerd’s Pocket Pets
Shadows and Spice
Macy’s Parade
Bad Nerd Rising
Bad Nerd Falling
Nerds on Fire
Free Short Stories:
Math Nerds and Mechanics
Tall Golf
The Dragon Chronicles:
The Dragon Chronicles: Learning
The Me Series:
Treasure Me
Save Me
Trust Me
Heal Me
Love Me
Please visit my website for updates on these series.
http://www.drgradybooks.com
Coming Soon!
(This is the unedited version, so this chapter might change.)
The Morrison Family Series - Book 10
Nerds Unite
By D.R. Grady
Chapter 1
“You belong to me. He can’t have you.” His voice was so sincere. So serious it sent her he
art racing. His eyes didn’t show crazy, but since his words were, fear shot through her.
She had to run fast in the other direction.
Screaming as she tried to lunge away, terror blasted through her because her limbs were leaden and wouldn’t move.
Katy Greene awoke with a gasp. Her heart beat far too fast and a clammy sweat stuck Leo’s t-shirt to her back. She took several deep breaths as the vestiges of the nightmare were replaced by reality.
Reality was definitely preferable, Katy decided before she realized the phone beside her bed continued to blare.
Snatching it up, she answered.
The call to work could not have come at a better time. With the insidious whispers of doom and gloom still taunting her from the fringes, she wouldn’t have been able to sleep again anyway. Instead, she shoved the covers away then raced into the shower to rinse off the nightmare induced sweat.
It took her ten minutes to change clothes and climb into her car, thankful she was heading to work. This way she would be far too busy to dwell on the awful nightmares that had begun plaguing her. They were bad enough she thought about telling one of her two best friends. Either Trixi Duvall, who was her former roommate, sister, best friend and someone she adored, or Leo de Vosse who she had only recently met but who was a kindred spirit if there ever was one, and who she also adored.
Yet she hesitated. Neither of her best friends would offer bad counsel. Both would offer plenty of advice.
Perhaps that was the very reason she kept silent. It wasn’t advice so much she was seeking. Once she figured out what she needed from them, then she’d say something.
Later that morning, she ran into Leo and as usual, a little spurt of happiness zinged through her when she realized he was nearby. She could always find him in a crowded, noisy room. Her senses rushed forward and pointed straight at him, drawing her into his orbit like they were two magnets.