by Scarlet West
She laughed. “Well, I needed one. All I have here is my evening stuff.”
I colored. “Yeah,” I admitted. “Sorry about that.”
She laughed again. “Sorry? You don’t ever have to be sorry.”
We kissed.
Later, we sat down to breakfast. I made toast and fried eggs and sat down with her, feeling a little shy. It seemed weird to be entertaining a stunner like her in my homely kitchen.
“These are good,” she said, eating enthusiastically.
I felt my heart soar. “Thanks,” I said.
“So,” she said later as we had a cup of coffee together. “What happens now?”
“Now?” I asked.
“Well, today, for a start,” she said.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “What should we do?”
She shrugged. “Walk?”
I nodded. “Great.”
We went out of town a way, into the hills. There was a place I knew that was really great for walking, a long path that led up the hillside to a place with a great view. We went up there.
At the top of it, we stood and looked out. My heart was full as I watched her, looking out over the landscape.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said. The wind ruffled her hair and I caught my breath at her loveliness.
“You are too.”
We kissed.
Later, we went home. It was afternoon when she looked at her watch.
“I suppose I should get back,” she said.
I frowned. “I guess so.”
“I hope I can see you tomorrow?” she asked.
I nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Good.”
We both laughed. After she had gone, I thought about a lot of things. Called my uncle.
“Uncle?”
“Yeah? Oh, Grayson. Hi. How’s things?”
“Good. Listen, Uncle,” I said uncertainly. “I have this plan. When I come up next weekend, maybe we could discuss it, hey?”
“Sure, son,” he said. “Sounds good to me. See you then.”
As soon as I’d hung up I went upstairs to get my laptop. I wanted to record my idea now, before I forgot some details. There was so much to put in place. I frowned as I worked, not sure if this was the smartest plan I was making. But the instant I thought of her face, I knew. This was everything I’d ever wanted.
And, as these things do, everything had fallen into place.
24
Kelsey
“So,” I said as I walked into the new office. I looked around, my heart already racing with the excitement of it.
“So,” Grayson said. “This is it. Bradford Consulting starts here.”
I smiled at him, feeling a glow of pride in my chest. We had been dating for three months now, and he’d been planning and working most of that time. Now, when his notice at his old work ended, he was almost ready to launch his venture.
And I was here to see it happen.
“It’s wonderful,” I said.
He went pink.
“It’s nothing,” he said shyly.
I laughed. “Grayson Bradford, stop being horridly modest, or I’ll be impelled to smack you.”
“Oh?” His brow raised. “That sounds interesting. We’ve never tried it.”
I lifted a hand and gently smacked the side of his head. He laughed. In the empty office space, full of possibility, he bent down to kiss me.
I sighed and clasped my arms around him, holding him close. I could feel a building urgency inside me and I pressed myself into him, glad there was no one there to see us because it was weekend still.
“Come on,” I whispered into his ear. “Or I’ll be forced to take you here on your new HR manager’s desk.”
“Oh?” he looked at me with a grin. “That sounds interesting. We never tried…”
I smacked him again, harder than last time, making him laugh. We headed back home.
Upstairs in his apartment we fell onto the bed together, bodies so ready. He undressed me with passionate intensity and took me right there, still in his shirt, teeth gritting with the force of his need.
I sighed, collapsing wearily under him after the urgent lovemaking. My body was shiny with sweat and bruised.
He lay beside me. He stroked my hair and looked into my eyes.
“I’m so lucky,” he said.
“Me too,” I smiled.
We both laughed.
We lay like that and then made love again, this time with a slow sweetness that made me melt in his arms. I felt my body melt under his touch and knew I had found the perfect man for me.
Over dinner we were mostly silent and I could tell he was a little nervous about his new venture, because he kept on talking about his brothers, the game on Saturday, the weather. Anything except the opening day tomorrow.
I didn’t say anything, though, and waited for him to mention it.
As he left the house the next morning, he turned to me with a white face. He looked impossibly nervous.
“Kelsey? You do think things will be alright?”
“Alright?” I nodded. “It’s wonderful. It’ll all go wonderfully.”
He looked hesitant, but nodded.
“I believe you,” he said.
I laughed.
He didn’t say anything else for a while. It was only later, as we went downstairs to our cars together, that he turned toward me.
“You really think Heath’s not disappointed?”
I sighed. I had suspected that his brothers were the core of his concern. He had left the construction company at the beginning of the week. Now, he was opening his own company. He really did seem to be unsure how they would take it. I cleared my throat.
“I am sure your brothers will be just fine with it,” I said gently.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Thank you,” he said. “What would I do without you?”
He held me close and I held him and felt my heart melting.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you either.”
We drove off to our separate places of work.
Later, at lunchtime, I had a phone call.
“Kelsey!”
“Yes?” I asked, smiling to hear the excitement that thrummed in his voice.
“You’ll never guess what.”
“No, I won’t,” I agreed. “So tell me.”
He laughed. “It’s a surprise. See you at dinner later. Okay?”
“Okay, honey. Love you. Bye.”
I drove home after work feeling vaguely curious. When I arrived, I was in for a surprise.
“Kelsey!”
I stared. “Heath!” I said. I shook his hand, my heart pounding with happiness. “This is a surprise.”
He chuckled. Beside him, Grayson’s handsome face shone. “I told you it was a surprise.”
I laughed. “You did.”
“Well?”
“Yes,” I said. “I am surprised.”
We all laughed and went into the kitchen together. It seemed as if Ainsely had ordered something in, for soon enough we were sitting at the kitchen having a wonderful meal.
I glanced at Grayson, who looked like he was still in shock.
He turned to me with a smile. “When I went into work this morning, you’ll never guess who was there,” he said. He indicated Heath. I beamed.
“Really?”
“I was so impressed by the venture,” he said. “Of course I had to come. And I think we can work together on this new big contract.”
“Oh?” I felt my own heart start to thump with happiness. That was exactly what Grayson needed. A first contract to set his business up.
“Yeah,” Heath nodded, reaching for the olive oil. “I reckon our company could do with some outside consulting. And this seems like the ideal solution.”
I glanced at Grayson, who cleared his throat. He was looking at the table, an expression of wonder on his face.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Thank you.”
/> We sat and had a wonderful dinner and when Heath had left, I joined Grayson in the bedroom. He looked at me with an expression of wonder on his face.
“I can’t believe it.”
I laughed. “Well, you should,” I said. “You have started a great venture.”
“Thanks,” he said shyly. “You know,” he said, hesitantly.
“Mm?” I asked, touch kindling fires inside of me and made me want him right then and there.
“I wouldn’t have started this without you, and I’m so glad I did. Heath says it’s changed things for him too.”
“Oh?” I frowned.
“Yeah. Heath said that it’s now time to move on from the past. That we shouldn’t be chained to upholding one company together. That Dad wouldn’t have wanted us fighting and being jealous. It was no fitting legacy for him.”
I nodded slowly. “He’s right,”
He kissed me. “I think so too.”
We made love.
It was another month before I had my own surprising news. It was a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize yet.
“Hello?” I said cautiously.
“Sweetie?” a voice said that I barely recognized, but the instant I heard it I felt my heart respond.
“Mom?” I was astonished.
“Kelsey!” she said. “I have some news.”
“News?” I asked.
“I’m moving to Colorado. Your dad and I decided it was time to be closer. I love the fellow, you know. Always have. Just can’t share a roof—drives me nuts.”
We both laughed.
“Mom,” I said, feeling myself about to cry. “I am so, so glad.”
She smiled—I could hear the added warmth in her voice. “I know, and so am I.”
So much changed for me after that. I no longer found it hard to go away for longer periods of time, and I found it even easier to feel close to Grayson. We started making plans.
A year later, our first child was born.
We looked down into the crib together, my chest suffused with love so intense and complex that I could barely believe it existed.
“She’s so beautiful,” I choked. My heart was full of wonder.
“She is,” Grayson whispered back.
“You’re sure what we should call her?” I asked, though I knew the answer.
He nodded, throat tight.
“Alexandra Willfred,” I said.
It was perfect. Alexandra, for my father. Willfred, for his. Yes, it was an unusual name. But she was an unusual baby. Looking at her now, I was sure she was the most wonderful being in the world.
“She’s so beautiful,” Grayson echoed. “I can’t believe this is happening.
I smiled at him. “I can,” I said.
We kissed.
Later, we sat together on the couch, his arms around me, holding me like I might shatter. I leaned back on him contentedly and we watched Allie, as she was already nicknamed, shift in sleeping. I felt my heart full of wonder and knew that I had never in my life been so happy.
Things have a way of working out, when you love and let yourself be loved.
The End
About the Author
Scarlet West is a contemporary romance writer who loves strong men who protect their women.
I enjoy writing steamy books that will make you squirm.
As a new indie author, it's my pleasure to make your fantasies feel like a reality.