by Lila Kane
“You didn’t have to do all this,” she said.
“The painting?”
“Yeah.”
“I know.” He grinned. “Looks good, though, doesn’t it?”
At that she chuckled. “Yeah, it looks really good. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He stood. “I’m not surprised you decided to come so early.”
“Couldn’t sit still.”
“Supervise then,” he said with a nod.
“That’s what Kara said. And–”
Her gaze was diverted by the sound of the front door. Nathan glanced over, surprised to see Riley, disappointed he hadn’t been able to continue the conversation with Grace when she seemed more open to him than usual.
He gave Riley a nod.
Riley nodded in return. He smiled at Grace and said, “I’m going to talk to Nathan and when I’m done I’m going to come back out and chide you for being here instead of at home resting.”
Grace’s grinned. “I’ll be here.”
Nathan followed Riley into the kitchen. He looked to Kara and shrugged.
“Okay,” she said, heading for the door. “Back to the other room.”
Nathan settled his weight against the counter by the sink and crossed his arms.
“You painted the living room,” Riley said. He mimicked Nathan’s pose on the other side of the sink.
“It needed to be done.”
“Yeah, but not by you.”
Nathan’s jaw shifted.
“That didn’t come out how I meant it.” Riley dropped his gaze and scuffed his foot on the tile. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. “I meant that you didn’t have to do it, it wasn’t your responsibility but you did it anyway.”
“You know Grace would have tried to get it done if I hadn’t.”
“I know. But the fact that you do, the fact that you know this much and probably more about her, makes it even worse that I blamed you for what happened.” Riley lifted his head and shrugged one shoulder. “I shouldn’t have blamed you for Grace getting hurt. You were there for her. You stuck around even though Grace can be stubborn sometimes.” He glanced toward the door as if expecting Grace to walk through. “Well, she can be. But you were still there.”
Nathan breathed in deep. “I don’t want to see her hurt,” he said finally.
Riley nodded and straightened. He cast a wry smile in Nathan’s direction. “Clearly.”
“If it makes you feel any better, she gave me hell about being here.”
“That’s what makes Grace who she is.”
“Yeah…” Nathan grinned. “It’s sort of growing on me.”
“Good luck with that.”
“I think I’m making progress.”
“But,” Riley added, his face growing serious, “if it makes any difference, I’m rooting for you.”
Those simple words meant more to Nathan than he would have thought. “Thanks.”
Riley tilted his head toward the door. “We’d better get out there before Grace tries to start painting something.”
Nathan followed Riley to the living room and saw Grace where he’d left her, now with a notebook in hand, talking with Kara.
Grace looked up, eyes raising to Riley’s face, one brow lifted in expectation. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her for a tight hug. Nathan watched her eyes droop and her head tilt to his shoulder.
“I like this way of being chided much better than any other way you’ve done it in the past,” Grace murmured.
He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I thought I’d try a new tactic. You feel better?”
“I hate crutches,” she said, eyes straying to Nathan’s a moment, “and I really, really hate bees. But I feel better.”
“So,” Kara said, dropping into a chair next to Grace, “our next big task is the kitchen, right? Painting. Just one coat of white for touch-up.”
“Right.” Grace nodded. “Then I think we can take a break from painting a while, finish cleaning and then maybe we’ll be ready to start getting some furniture in here. The weeds around the back patio could use some attention, too, but I think Maddy’s waiting for her chance at that.”
Nathan pocketed his hands and waited for her to assign tasks but Kara spoke up first. “I’ll start prepping the kitchen for painting.” She cast a smile in Nathan’s direction. “Thought you might want a break from that for a bit.”
“Thoughtful.”
“I know.”
“I have to get back to work,” Riley said, “but I’ll be back later and we can finish with the kitchen.”
Grace waved him off. She lifted her head and met Nathan’s eyes. “You think you might want to work more on the mural upstairs? It would be great to get that finished before we get the games and the furniture in there.”
Nathan smiled. “No problem.”
~ ~ ~
With Riley gone, Grace pulled herself up from the chair and reached for her crutches.
“What are you doing?” Kara asked.
“Stretching.”
“You’re not going to help with anything. You need to sit down and work on that furniture list. You can come in the kitchen. No, go upstairs with Nathan. It’ll be more interesting than watching me put tape up everywhere.”
Grace looked from her to the stairs in dismay. “Kara, you know I can’t get up those stairs.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Nathan said.
“Good.”
Kara disappeared before Grace could protest. “I could probably start with the weeds outside,” she told him weakly.
To her surprise, Nathan just laughed. “Piggyback?”
“No way.”
Her eyes traveled to the stairs again, a full set of steps that looked like a mountain compared to the ones in the front.
“How are you going to get upstairs, then?”
“I wasn’t planning on going upstairs.”
“Don’t you need to supervise, make sure I get the mural right?”
Grace pressed her lips together. Yes. But she wasn’t going to admit it. “I trust you.”
“Good.” He grabbed her crutches and put them aside. “I promise I won’t drop you–”
“Wait, no–Nathan, what are you doing?” He already had his arm around her waist, supporting her.
His face was close when she tipped her head up. Her voiced stalled in her throat at the look in his hazel eyes. “You said you trust me.”
“That’s not what I was talking about,” she whispered.
“Does that change anything?”
She wanted to say yes, that she’d already decided he wasn’t safe, that she couldn’t trust him, but the words died on her lips once more. Dammit. He wasn’t making this easy. Even worse, he hadn’t mentioned their kiss in the truck, hadn’t once tried to kiss her again. Had he changed his mind?
“I’ll be gentle,” he told her, and knelt in front of her.
He reached his hands back and Grace leaned in to link her arms around his neck. When he stood, hitching her legs up to wrap around his waist, she let out a startled laugh.
Nathan looked over his shoulder. “Your foot? Did I bump it?”
“No, uh…my notebook.”
He started for the stairs, and she heard amusement in his voice. “I’ll come back for it.”
Grace braced herself for a slow trek up the stairs but Nathan kept a steady pace. Like he’d told her, he was gentle.
“When was the last time someone gave you a piggyback ride?” Nathan asked her as he reached the last few steps.
“Well…maybe Grandpa when I was little.”
“Seriously?”
“I don’t know, Nathan, I usually prefer my own two feet to get around. I’ve never had to deal with only one before.”
Grace looked out the window as they passed, noting clouds had piled up. She adjusted her hands. “Am I choking you?”
“Grace, you hardly weigh anything. You’re not choking me. Did you have breakfast?”
>
She ground her teeth together and refused to give him a response.
He paused at the doorway to the rec room. “Does that mean no?”
“You can put me down now.”
Nathan leaned down slowly and Grace’s foot touched the floor. He kept his arm around her waist and glanced around. “No chair. Here.” He leaned her against the closest wall. “I’ll go get your notebook and a chair.”
“I don’t need a chair–” Grace closed her eyes and shook her head. “Nathan, I have to tell you something.”
He gave a simple smile. “Yes?”
Grace bit her lip, irritated she couldn’t just say what she needed to say. “Just that…I’m sorry for getting mad at you yesterday.”
“I understand.” He flashed the smile again and turned toward the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”
She opened her mouth to stop him, but he left before she had a chance. Grace slumped against the wall, lightly resting her left foot on the floor. He understood? What was that supposed to mean? It wasn’t a big deal?
It wasn’t easy for her to apologize and all he could say was that he understood, and walk away?
Grace closed her eyes and listened to his footsteps coming up the stairs once more. Was he angry that she hadn’t said more in her email? Or maybe that she hadn’t said anything about their kiss? Yeah, she’d sort of brushed him off, but that was how she did things. She didn’t know Nathan as well as she needed in order to believe he was different.
She might even be able to admit she cared for him if the situation were different. If he didn’t have a past. If she weren’t so afraid to trust.
Her eyes popped open at the thought. Before she could think it through, Nathan stepped into the room, chair in hand. He unfolded it closer to the wall with the mural and set her notebook beside it.
“All set.” He returned to her side. “Ready?”
Grace let him help her to the chair, trying to swallow nerves, the need to say more.
“It’s coming along,” Nathan said. He settled his hands on his hips and took in the entire wall. Over half of the drawing was done. Tracy and Kiley had started painting in one corner, bright colors that cheered up the room.
Save for the old foosball table they’d acquired from the other youth center, the large room sat empty. It needed life, and the mural helped accomplish that. Grace was biding her time until they could get furniture, trying to be patient. The furniture meant the youth center was at that next level. It meant the youth center was livable. Kids could use the space.
A few more months. With some ambition they might be able to get the youth center done early, before the kids went back to school. Before the deadline with the star.
And Nathan, standing confidently in front of a colorful mural, might be a big part of finding that piece of the star. Nathan, with a heart so tender it caught her off guard most of the time. He was trying his best to help her and she kept pushing him away.
“Nathan.”
He turned with a smile still in place. “Yes?”
“I really am sorry about getting upset with you.”
He started to nod but saw the seriousness on her face and crouched in front of her instead. “I should have told you before.”
“I know why you didn’t. I would have done the same thing.” Grace slid her palms on her jeans. “I think…that if you keep seeing your ex-wife, then you’re right. You probably have something to do with finding the star.”
She lifted her eyes a few inches and saw his chest rise and fall with a couple breaths before he answered. “I think it would be worth discussing.”
“You say that like you’re not sure if that’s the case.”
“No, I’m sure.”
“How do you know?”
He reached out and secured her hand in his own. “Do you really want to know?”
She nodded.
“Each time I saw Amanda, she was trying to get me to leave. The first time to tell me that I don’t belong here and the second, trying to get me to come back to her.”
Grace bit her lip. The idea of him going back to Amanda made her cringe. It was just because he hadn’t been happy, that’s all. Not because it would hurt if he left.
“So…” He stroked his thumb absentmindedly over her knuckles, leaving tingles in its wake. “I think if this thing behind the star is trying so hard to get me to leave, there must be some value in me staying.”
“Like you might help find the star?”
“Yes or…”
“What?”
“Maybe leaving would make it harder for you to find the star.”
Grace pulled back, forcing a laugh. “Why’s that?”
His eyes remained serious, fixed on hers. “Because I care about you, Grace.” He traced his finger along her jaw. Warning bells went off in her head, but she was suspended in place. “And if you ever start to feel the same way and then I left, you might decide it’s worthless to trust people when all they’re going to do is leave you.”
“That’s not true.” But her words weren’t convincing. It was too close to the wish she’d made on the star.
“I’m not going to take that chance, Grace. I’m not leaving.”
She swallowed. “We should really work on the mural. I could probably help. Maybe paint some if we could just move this chair–”
“Grace.” Nathan eased into her line of vision, even as she shook her head. “How about we try something?”
“No. What?”
His lips moved in a trace of a smile. “Here.” His hands came up and cupped both sides of her face, the lightest touch.
Her heart accelerated. “Nathan.”
“Just one more minute,” he murmured, leaning in closer.
He brushed his lips across hers, the caress of his breath lingering as her eyelids betrayed her, swooping low at the feel of it. One more slight touch and he pulled back.
Her eyelids fluttered open, vision filled with Nathan. Hazel eyes, green flecks dotting the irises along with the gold ones, lips that turned up in another smile.
“Pick back up where we left off in the truck,” he said.
So he had been thinking about it. And so had she. There was something so simple about a kiss. About Nathan’s kiss. If she could focus on that, on living in the here and now, not worrying about what might be, she could accept this.
If.
Her breath eased out. He took it as a sign of agreement, and leaned in again, lips searing hers with heat this time.
She made a low sound of pleasure in her throat, unable to help herself. It had been so long since she’d wanted to be this close to anyone.
Her hands slid around his neck, and one fisted in the back of his hair.
“Grace,” Nathan murmured.
But he only followed it up with another kiss, hands dancing down her sides so his fingers could slide under the hem of her shirt. She inched forward, bumping her foot on his knee, and grimaced.
“Sorry, sorry,” she breathed, reaching for him when he pulled back.
Nathan caught her hands, lips curving. “Maybe not the best place for this.”
His words jolted her out of the haze. She tensed. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Done what?”
He wouldn’t release her hands. She was supposed to be focusing on the youth center. And the star. Nathan was a risk.
“Don’t go there,” he said quietly, touching her cheek. “This is just…a possible beginning.”
“How the hell do you always know what I’m thinking?”
His eyes flashed with humor. “Good intuition. One thing at a time. And please, God, tell me we’re going to finish this later.”
A laugh tumbled out, and she rolled her eyes at him. “Bet you can’t guess what I’m thinking now.”
“That you want to head back to my place so we can pick up where we left off.”
“Typical,” she said.
“Grace.” The humor left his eyes, and he brushed his thumb on he
r cheekbone. “This is progress. I want to keep moving in this direction.”
Words dried in her throat. She wanted the same thing, and it scared the shit out of her. “One thing at a time.”
He nodded, easing back. “All right.”
That was all she could give him right now.
“Should we work on the mural, then?” he asked.
Relieved, Grace nodded. “Yes.”
The rest…she’d deal with later.
Chapter 14
The fax machine beeped before feeding through three sheets of paper. Nathan swiveled in his chair and grabbed the papers. Ideas from a new client for their website. He looked the pages over, to get an idea the kind of style they were looking for. Then he dropped the pages into the file folder he’d created and set it on the left side of his desk with the stack of other tasks he needed to get to in the next few days.
Business had picked up last week and he’d been unable to spend much time at the youth center. The kitchen had been painted, the mural nearly finished being drawn, and Grace was working diligently planning for each room.
More than the youth center, Grace lingered on his mind. It was getting harder and harder to take baby steps with her. He wanted her trust. He wanted her to let him help, to depend on him.
His home phone rang. Nathan snatched up the receiver, then leaned back in his chair. “Hello?”
“Hey.” He recognized Elliot’s voice. “Movies, pizza, your house.”
“Excuse me?”
Nathan heard laughter and two voices in the background. Maddy’s and Kara’s.
“Elliot,” he heard someone hiss. “Give me that. Nathan?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Maddy.”
“Hi, Maddy.”
“What Elliot meant to say was that we thought we should get together. It’s Friday and Grace needs to get out. We thought of going to the movie theater but it might be easier to do it at someone’s house.”
“My house.” He chuckled when Maddy’s voice turned guilty and she started to come up with another meeting place. “No, that’s fine. There’s lots of room and you’re right, it’d be easier than going to the theater.”
He heard another muffled comment and settled his ankle over the opposite knee, amused with their bantering in the background. Work was done for the night, he wanted nothing more than a simple evening with friends, with Grace, and he didn’t care whether it was at his house or somewhere else.