by Susan Stoker
“Um . . . I think you have the wrong idea,” Allye told her. “We had a fight. I’m not sure we’re even together anymore.”
Pene stared at her for a long moment, then smiled. “One thing you need to learn about Grayson. He’s kind of a hothead. His father, rest his soul, was like that too. Grayson gets all worked up about something, then when he’s had time to think, he comes to his senses. You just need to give him that thinking time and space. I’ve told him time and time again that if he doesn’t get that under control, he’s going to suffer the consequences. I hate to tell him ‘I told you so,’ but . . . if the shoe fits.”
Allye couldn’t help but smile.
Pene leaned in, rested her elbows on the mattress, and lowered her voice as if she were telling a secret. “I probably shouldn’t bring this up, since I’m his mother and all, but Lordy, after his father and I fought, and the man came back and we had a more civilized conversation . . . the make-up sex was out of this world!”
Allye blushed hotly. Then she asked tentatively, “Your husband died?” She thought she recalled Gray saying something about it while they’d been in the ocean, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Unfortunately, yes. I miss that man every minute of every day, but he gave me the best twenty years of my life. I wouldn’t trade those for anything in the world. He used to say, ‘Pene, my love, you only have one life, and you have to live every day as if it’s your last.’ And that’s what we did together. He was a train engineer, and it was a freak accident. A car was stuck on the tracks, and instead of getting out of the control room like he was trained to do, away from the impact, my husband did everything he could to slow down the train before it hit the car.”
“What happened?” Allye asked, horrified for the beautiful woman sitting before her.
“At impact, the car caught fire, and it spread to the control room, and he couldn’t get out.”
Allye couldn’t help herself. She reached out and put her hand on Pene’s, squeezing lightly. “I’m so sorry.”
Pene nodded. “Thank you, sweetheart. Frankly, it sucked. But Grayson and his brother were there for me. What I learned through all of it is to love hard while you have the chance. Love with your whole heart, and give it your all. Make whatever sacrifices you have to in order to make your relationship work. Because, as I said, we only live once. Make it count.”
Allye’s eyes teared up. It seemed once the dam had been broken, there was no holding back her tears anymore.
“Lordy, don’t cry, dear! Grayson will have my head if he walks in here and sees you in tears, especially since you never cry.”
“He told you that?” Allye asked, holding her tears back by changing the subject.
“Oh yes. He’s told me all sorts of things about you.”
“I didn’t know you talked that often.”
“He’s my child. I’d talk to him every day if he let me. But I try to control myself.” The older woman winked at her.
Allye couldn’t fathom that. Her own mother had never talked to her unless she had to. The foster parents she’d had weren’t that way with their own children either. It was as if, once the kids turned eighteen, the parents were glad to see them head out into the world so they could have their lives back.
“You’ll see when you have your own kids,” Pene said, patting Allye’s hand knowingly.
Gray’s mom stayed with her and chatted about what Gray was like as a kid, what she did now with her volunteer groups, and even a little about Gray’s younger brother, Jackson.
Allye lost all track of time, fascinated by Pene and how open and friendly she was. But soon she was nodding along to whatever Pene was saying, because she was feeling extremely tired and wasn’t exactly paying attention anymore.
“I hope when you come out to Florida to visit, you’ll come to one of my clogging classes. We’re not as good as you, but I’ve told all my friends about you, and they’re dying to meet you. Maybe you can talk to that dance group of yours and tell them a trip to Florida for a performance is a good idea. No, I know! I’ll come up there to Denver. Girls’ road trip! It’ll be a ton of fun and—”
“Mom, can’t you see she’s exhausted? Give it up.”
And with those words, Allye was suddenly wide-awake again.
Gray was standing in the doorway, leaning on it with his arms across his chest. When he saw her looking at him, he pushed upright and sauntered across the room. He kissed his mom on the cheek, then turned to her.
“How you feeling, kitten?”
Hearing him say his nickname for her in that low, sexy voice made the tears spring to her eyes once more.
“Don’t cry. God, don’t cry,” he said in a tortured tone.
He sat on the edge of her bed and gathered her into his arms, burying his face in her hair.
She barely noticed when Gray’s mom slipped silently out of the room, leaving them alone.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, not lifting his head. “I was a dick. I should’ve listened to you. I had already decided you were right and there was no way you’d hide out while other people were being hurt and killed, and was on my way back home. And for the record, I couldn’t do it either.”
“I shouldn’t have rushed off without talking to you again,” Allye replied. “I was hurt and wasn’t thinking straight.”
Gray pulled back. “I guess we both still have some learning to do about each other, huh?” He gently ran his thumbs under her eyes, wiping away the stray tears that dampened her cheeks. “I hate that I made you cry, when you never cry.”
She gave him a small smile and held on to his wrists. “I think it’s good for me.”
He rolled his eyes at her, which made her smile even wider.
“Take me home?” she whispered.
“To your apartment?” he asked.
Allye shook her head. “No, home. To Colorado. I miss your house.”
“Our house. And nothing would please me more than to take you home.” He paused then, as if thinking about whether he should ask something. She saw the moment he decided to just go for it. “Will you miss it here? The dance theatre? Your friends?”
Allye immediately shook her head. “I can dance in Colorado. And my friends will still be my friends. Hopefully I’ll make new ones too.”
“You will,” he vowed. “How could you not? You’re amazing.”
She smiled up at him. “How’s Robin? Can I see her before we go?”
“Last I heard, she’s okay. Has some pulled muscles—and before you ask, no, you don’t need to know how she got those—and she had to have quite a few stitches, but her husband is here, and he told me earlier she can go home in a few days.”
“I’m glad.”
“You did awesome up there,” Gray said. “I hated that you were in danger, but you stayed smart and did what you could to keep him off balance and distracted while the others snuck up on him.”
Allye nodded sadly, then said quietly, “I’m glad he’s dead. Did you see those other women in the other rooms?”
“Yeah. They’re here in the hospital, too, although I did hear they had to take the one with all the tattoos to the mental ward. Nightingale really messed her up.”
“He suffered, right?” Allye asked after glancing at the door to make sure it was still closed.
“Yeah, kitten. We made sure of it.”
“Good.”
“I love you,” Gray said after a moment. “So much, you just don’t know. When I first met you, I thought you were a bit too snarky for my taste. But by the time Black fished us out of the ocean, I think I knew you were it for me. Levelheaded, calm under pressure, and someone I definitely liked having at my side in an emergency.”
“Really?”
“Really. I was shocked as hell when you showed up at The Pit, but relieved as well. I knew I’d been given a second chance. My dad always used to tell me to live the life you’re given with no regrets. Well, I regretted letting you go and not getting your number the second I left that
beach. Then there you were. In Colorado. It was a sign, and I wasn’t going to let you go again.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. I can’t promise to always be the best girlfriend, because I’ve never really been loved by anyone before. But I promise to try to be receptive to what you’re saying and do my best to not run off without talking to you again.”
Gray shook his head. “No, kitten. I’ll do my best to listen and not fly off the handle.”
“Your mom says you inherited that from your dad.”
“I suppose I did,” he said sheepishly.
“I’ll give you space when you need it,” Allye vowed. “You’re allowed to process, Gray. I’ll try not to push you to make a decision when it’s something big and important.”
“Speaking of something big and important,” Gray said, running his hand over her hair once, then standing.
Allye gasped when he went down on one knee on the hospital-room floor. She stared at him with her mouth open and her eyes wide.
“Allye Martin, I love you. So much so, I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you. Will you marry me? Sleep by my side for the rest of our lives? Have children with me that we’ll love unconditionally and annoy so much they’ll be happy to leave home after graduating high school, but then will miss us so much they’ll show up the next night for a home-cooked meal? Will you put up with my mood swings and my job with weird hours? Will you promise, no matter what I might say or do, that you’ll never leave me and will love me forever? I can’t live without you, kitten. I gave you up once, and let you down in the worst way. I won’t do it again.”
This time, Allye’s tears were joyous ones. “Yes, Gray. Of course I’ll marry you. I love you so much.”
Then she was in his arms, and he was holding her as if he’d never let her go.
Allye happened to look up, and she saw Gray’s mom looking in the window of the small hospital room. She was crying, too, and when she saw that Allye had noticed her, she gave her a thumbs-up and a smile.
Allye closed her eyes and let Gray take her weight. How she’d gone from almost drowning in a boat in the middle of the ocean to being happier than she’d ever been in her entire life, she didn’t know. But as Pene Rogers said, live life as if every day is your last. And that’s just what she was going to do.
Epilogue
“Allye!” Gray called. “Let’s go! We’re going to be late!”
“Keep your pants on!” she yelled down the stairs. “I’m comin’.”
Gray grinned and went back to pacing. It was recital afternoon at the Barbara Ellis Studio of Dance in Colorado Springs, where Allye had been teaching since they’d returned from California. She’d made the decision that she didn’t want to dance herself anymore, at least not with a professional dance theatre. Part of that decision was made because she’d have to drive up to Denver at least twice a week to continue to do so, as there wasn’t a professional theatre in Colorado Springs. And she’d said the other part of her decision was because she’d enjoyed teaching the class with little Rory, the girl with Down syndrome, and she wanted to do it as a career.
Barbara had gladly brought Allye on staff. This afternoon was the first recital since she’d started teaching full-time, and the class for children with disabilities was making its debut. There were eight boys and girls in the class—three with Down syndrome, two in wheelchairs, one who used a walker, and a pair of sisters with seizure disorders.
Gray thought he was more nervous than Allye. He heard her on the stairs, turned, and froze.
He couldn’t believe someone as beautiful as Allye was with him.
She had on a fairly modest dress. It was black, with a high neck and long sleeves, but cutouts left her shoulders bare. It was formfitting and sleek, and shimmery from whatever was in the fabric. And in her heels, she was slightly taller than usual.
She did a little spin at the bottom of the stairs and asked, “Do I look okay?”
“Do you look okay?” Gray asked as he slowly walked toward her.
“Yeah. The dress is new, and one of the girls at work helped me pick it out, but I thought it might be too much. I mean, it’s only an afternoon dance recital and—”
Gray didn’t let her finish. He put one hand behind her neck and pulled her to him so hard, she let out a small “umph” as she hit his chest. Then his lips were on hers, and he was kissing her as if he’d never get enough.
She didn’t push him away. In fact, one hand went around the back of his neck, and her fingernails dug into his skin as she held him and kissed back. Their heads tilted one way, then the other, as their breathing sped up.
Gray pulled back when he knew he was one second away from spinning her around, hiking up her skirt, and taking her right there on the stairs.
He could tell she knew how on edge he was. Her eyes sparkled with lust, and she had a rosy flush to her cheeks. She licked her lips slowly, and he almost decided the hell with being on time.
“I guess I look okay,” she teased.
“You look good enough to eat,” he retorted. “And I’m fucking starving.”
She rolled her eyes at him, and Gray felt his cock get even harder. God, he couldn’t get enough of her sass. The thought that he’d almost lost her hit him at the weirdest times, and this was one of them.
“Don’t,” she said, leaning forward and kissing him softly. “I’m here, and I’m fine.”
“I love you,” he told her.
“And I love you too,” she returned immediately. “But we really do need to get going. The kids are gonna flip if I’m late.”
“No, they aren’t,” Gray told her. “They’ll greet you just like they always do, with big hugs.”
“True,” Allye admitted. She brought one hand up to his face and palmed his cheek. “How’d I get so lucky?”
“That’s my line,” Gray said.
They smiled at each other, and he finally broke their embrace, turning her and giving her a little push toward the garage and then a smack on the butt. “Get going, woman, your minions await.”
Giggling, she led the way to the garage.
Hours later, after Allye’s special-needs kids stole the show by being the most enthusiastic group of kids ever to dance, even though they definitely weren’t the most coordinated; and after Barbara Ellis announced that the name of the school was being changed to the Barbara Ellis and Allyson Mystic Studio of Dance; and after his mom surprised them by showing up at the recital with two of her friends; and after Ro, Ball, Black, Meat, and Arrow also surprised them by showing up with enough flowers for every little girl and boy to receive one, making Allye cry in the process; and after Allye said hello to every parent who showed up to watch the performances, Gray finally pulled into the garage back at their house.
He hit the button to close the garage door and shut off the engine.
“Stay there,” he ordered as he climbed out.
Allye stayed sitting, a small smile on her face as she humored him.
Gray stalked around the car to the passenger side and opened the door. The first thing he saw was the overhead light glinting off the engagement ring on her finger. He’d wanted to get her something big and gaudy, but defied tradition and let her pick out what she liked instead. The last thing he wanted to do was buy her something she wasn’t going to love. But he’d arranged it so that, when they went to the jewelers, the man didn’t tell her anything about prices. Gray had wanted Allye to design exactly what she wanted, price be damned.
She’d ended up with a ring Gray never would’ve picked out for her, but one he knew was perfect. Her eyes had lit up the first time she’d seen it, and he knew he’d move heaven and earth to see that kind of amazement and joy in her eyes every day for the rest of their lives.
It was platinum, with two small, square diamonds on either side of a bigger emerald-cut stone. Total carats were only about two. He would’ve gone with a four- or five-carat ring that no one would be able to mistake for anything other than what it was, a cl
aiming, but he loved what she’d created for herself simply because she loved it so much.
Reaching down, Gray helped Allye out of the car, then closed the door behind her. He crowded her back toward the vehicle, and his hands went to her hips and started inching up her dress. “I couldn’t think about anything other than doing this the entire time today.”
She smiled at him and played with the buttons on his white dress shirt as he slowly slid her dress over her hips. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he told her, then shifted her over two feet or so and abruptly spun her around so she was facing the hood of the still-warm car. He pushed on her back, and she eagerly bent over, spreading her legs without him having to tell her to.
His hand went between her legs, and he found she was soaking wet for him. “You’re awfully wet, kitten.”
“I fantasized about this all the way home. About you taking me in this dress, without bothering to take it off first.”
“You did, huh?” Gray asked as he roughly fingered her, making sure she was slick and could take him without pain.
“Uh-huh.”
“What else did you think about?” he asked as his free hand went to the button and zipper on his pants.
“Us in the shower. In the—” Her words cut off as Gray pulled her panties to the side and thrust into her without warning.
“This?” he asked. “Did you think about this?”
“Yes . . . oh God, yes.” Allye leaned over farther, offering herself up to him, the heels putting her at just the right height for him to thrust into her without having to bend his knees.
Gray knew he was acting crazy, but seeing how wonderful she was with all the kids at the recital just made him love her all the more. And that made him want to show her exactly how much she meant to him. He’d controlled himself all afternoon. Hadn’t snuck her away for a quickie in one of the empty workout rooms. He needed this. Needed her.