“It’s okay if you don’t want to. We can chalk it up to a few months of friendship, and you can cut out now.”
“What? Like all the others?” She was used to being left when the guys found out she wouldn’t give them what they wanted. He saw it play over her face. There was so much more to this than she was telling him, and he wanted to break through that barrier she had around her heart. “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen, Gracie Lynn. You’re going with me to Boston. You’re going to meet my family and friends, and find out that I’m a good man. We’ll take it at whatever pace you decide, and we’ll see where it goes from there.” He gave her a final small kiss. “We got a deal?”
He could still see the hesitance in her demeanor. “I promise I’ll behave myself around you, Gracie. I won’t pressure you into anything you’re not ready for.” He let his hands brush through the soft waves of her hair. “Although I will continue to kiss you if that’s alright with you. And maybe try to cop a feel.”
A timid laugh finally broke from her lips, and he leaned forward to take them to his. He had no idea when he had met this woman what he was in for, but now that he was jumping in, there was no way he could jump out.
He wanted her, desperately, and with a hunger that ran far beyond anything he’d ever felt. Sex was off the table, but just how long would they be able to keep up that charade? She wanted him just as badly as he wanted her, and it was only a matter of time before they both fell in together. He was determined to find out everything about her past, who had broken her heart and how he could get her to trust him. Boston would be the time to do that.
Grace followed Evan into the lobby of the building off of the Atlantic Wharf district. She was instantly grateful for the warmth inside, as the city of Boston was getting ready for snowfall that evening. Grace looked forward to experiencing it even though she wasn’t used to such cold weather.
Evan had been great to her the days leading up to this little trip she had agreed to. So many times she fought with herself on going at all. She even texted him late the night before leaving.
Grace: “Hi.”
Evan: “You’re not backing out. You better be packed and ready to go bright and early, cupcake.”
He knew her too well. So, there they were. The last time Grace had travelled anywhere had been in college on a class trip to England. Since then, she didn’t have the funds to really go to all the places she dreamed of experiencing. Just the sensation of getting on a flight, the cab drive over, and the idea of being in a different location was enough to have her excited.
A concierge with deep-set tawny eyes and salt-and-pepper hair greeted Evan by his last name and shook his hand. Grace smiled as he offered to take their bags to the penthouse for them, but Evan insisted they were fine and thanked him as they made their way to the elevators.
The quiet ding of each floor that passed made her more anxious at the thought of being alone with Evan in his home. Her furtive glance caught his electric eyes anchored on hers. A coy smile played on his lips as her mind raced with all types of situations she might find herself in with him over the weekend. Mind out of the gutter, Grace.
The lobby was beautiful but it was nothing compared to the loft itself. She gasped at the luxurious ambiance of his home. High ceilings with tall arched windows instantly caught her eye. Gray ash hardwood floors, oversized doors, sleek furniture, and a glorious kitchen made Grace feel like she had stepped into a lavish lifestyle that she was in no way accustomed to.
“This is extremely fancy,” Grace breathlessly stated as she walked over to a window and gazed over the water.
“This is where I spend some time, but not all of it.”
“Where do you spend your time then, other than on location?”
“At home.”
Grace gave him a puzzled look as she followed him toward a bedroom with colors of white and cream. Everything screamed clean, large and modern. “How many homes you got, Matthews?”
“Well, I have this and a place in L.A., but my childhood home is my real home. The one my mom lives in. I stay there a lot more than I stay here.” To say that answer filled her heart was an understatement. She loved the idea of him being close with his family.
Evan moved her suitcase to the top of the bed. Grace shuffled to it, wanting to quickly empty the contents of her luggage. Not because she was hasty to accomplish the task, but because she didn’t want the bedspread to get dirty.
“Don’t worry about unpacking now, Grace.” He turned her around to face him and clasped the collar of her wool coat. In one swoop, he brushed it off her shoulders and scooped it into his arms. She had to stop herself from thinking how sexy it would be to have him strip off her clothes. Her daydreamer’s mind had to stop from getting out of hand with those tempting thoughts.
“I’ll give you the tour.” Evan clasped her hand in his. It was warm, strong, and rough, and by now she could recall by memory how it felt. But she never got used to it when he touched her. It sent shockwaves through her body.
He showed her each room, but when he took her to his office, she gaped at the books lined against the walls. “I may have to examine your book stash later.” Grace smiled.
“Examine away. I’m sure they’d love it.”
“This seems so…” She didn’t want to say unlike him, but it really was. “Is this your bachelor pad? You bring your women here?”
A rumble released from his chest as they traveled to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out two bottled waters, handing one over to her. “I guess you could say that. I definitely don’t take girls to my mom’s house.”
She gulped her water and tried to remain unruffled about the honesty of his response. She wondered how many women he had screwed in his bed, and how she would stack up to the ones that had much more experience than she did. That was if she ever decided she wanted to sleep with Evan. Which she didn’t. No, she didn’t. You don’t want to, Grace.
“I’m sure those women loved this place. If I were you, I’d show off the books. It’ll make them fall that much harder.”
“I only show those to special girls. Which means nobody has seen them but you.” He winked at her and she tried to repress the fluttering in her stomach.
“You’re smooth, Matthews. How many women fell for that line?”
“Honestly, Grace? Most girls I had flings with didn’t give a shit about books.”
Of course. Grace tried not to let that whole not-his-type impression get to her again. He quickly changed the subject. “You hungry?” Once again, he strolled to the fridge and looked inside it. “I had Zach stock up for us, but we can go out. Then some of my friends want to meet tonight at Stoddard’s. It’s a bar nearby.”
“We can eat something here for now,” Grace answered, wanting to relax after their flight. The evening was spent fixing sandwiches, talking and unwinding, before heading out into the stinging wind.
Grace had been nervous to meet all of Evan’s friends, but the fun manner of all of them put her at ease. Zach jumped on the chance to introduce her before Evan could. A group of what Evan endearingly called “misfits” all made Grace feel like a part of the crowd, accepted as one of them. They were a humble, gregarious, and smart bunch. Hours of socializing had passed, and Evan had led her to an intimate corner to steal a small kiss. He let his nose rub against hers softly. “They like you.”
“I like them, Evan.” His face showed relief, as though he were aiming to please her. His hand cupped her cheek and he kissed her forehead gently.
“You okay? Ready to leave soon?” he whispered, his lips hovering closer to her as he sported a beer in his hand.
She nodded and finished off the local lager he had suggested. “Yeah, but I could always use one more of these.”
“You got it, sweets. Stay here.” She smiled as he went to order her another drink. His Bostonian accent was definitely coming through. It might be that he was relaxed after so many beers, or just the atmosphere. He was comfortable. It was a
different vibe he exuded compared to being on high-alert, always worried about being recognized. His friends brought out the best in him. They were lively and kind. Much like him.
Grace was nervous to head back to Evan’s loft. That alone thing played on her mind again. Overnight. In bedrooms near one another. She wasn’t so sure she was ready to either deny or accept him. Part of her wanted him so badly that she could barely breathe, the other part told her to be guarded, not fall for the guy who could bring her pain. A lot of pain.
“Hey, babe.” An arm swung around her shoulders. At first she thought it was one of Evan’s friends, but upon further inspection, she noticed he wasn’t part of their group. His business suit had a few wrinkles and his tie was slack around his neck. He was good-looking and he knew it. A douchebag to the extreme. She was used to guys like this trying to pick her up and loathed these entitled men who thought women were so lucky to even be talking to them. “I’m Colin. What are you drinking? I’ll get you something.”
“No thanks, Colin. I’m fine.” Grace tried to shrug him off of her, and he clasped her tighter to him. He reeked of alcohol. “My date’s coming back.”
“Date? Who, that Captain Abrams kid?” Colin snorted and leaned in closer, his mouth touching her ear. “I could please you more than that fucking twat ever could.”
“Watch the way you’re talking about my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend? That jerk-off? Honey, I could go more rounds. Longer, faster, harder.”
Grace laughed. “Well, his dick is bigger than an elephant’s, so just take your tick-tac, Mike and Ike, teeny weenie and get the fuck away from me. Got it, Colin?”
She glanced over and saw Evan standing with a shocked expression. “Evan.”
He gathered his wits and placed the drinks on a table nearby as Colin got closer to her, putting his nose near her temple and taking a whiff. His fingers tangled in her hair and she tried shrugging him off again. “Your boyfriend won’t mind me taking you for a spin, right, Captain Abrams?”
“You heard the lady. She wants you to get the fuck away from her, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do, asshole.” He gathered Colin by the collar and extracted him from Grace, backing him up into the jukebox.
“Okay, fuck. I didn’t think you were such an uptight prick.” The inebriated jerk shifted and pushed Evan’s hands away. When he turned back toward Grace, Colin muttered, “Who’d want that slut anyway?”
Evan turned and swung at Colin, landing a hard uppercut under his jaw. Colin groaned in pain, but before Evan had a chance to block himself, he caught a return fist to his nose. Grace yelped as they lunged, both of them pushing at each other and propelling blows. She began to panic, the scene before her bringing up vile memories she would have rather forgotten as the crowd around them began to grow. “Evan, stop! Stop!”
Evan’s and Colin’s friends both gathered around, backing the two men off of each other as they called out every single vulgar name imaginable. Grace moved in front of Evan and fastened her hands on his jaw as he struggled to remain still. “Evan, look at me. Let’s go.” Panic played over her face as she moved forward and kissed him. It stopped him in his tracks as he looked down at her. “I’m begging you. Let’s just go. Please.”
He breathed in and clasped her in his arms tightly. He took several deep breaths trying to steady himself, to control the outrage she could feel coursing throughout his body. He was much stronger than the other guy, so she knew he had restrained himself, but it had still petrified her.
Zach grabbed Evan’s shoulders and tugged him around whispering to them. “Get out of here before they call the cops, man. Last thing you need is to get bagged. I’ll try to talk to the bar manager and calm this sauced fucker down.”
He nodded, pulling Grace in his arm and taking her outside. “Let’s go.”
She could barely feel the cold wind hitting her face as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. Loosening Evan’s grip when he grasped her hand, she paced and wrapped her arms around her shoulders as they waited for a cab.
“Are you pissed off at me?” he asked in surprise as he saw her expression.
“Yes. Yes, I am.”
“Grace, I was just protecting you.”
“I don’t need protection. I can take care of myself,” she barked in anger.
He huffed, looking down and shaking his head. “I get punched, and you get angry? Un-fucking-believable.”
“My brother died getting in a fight, Evan.”
Evan stood immobilized after her outburst. Her breath caught, but she dared not look at him too long. She didn’t need his pity. “You said he fell and broke his neck.”
“He did,” she responded quietly as she dug a tissue out of her bag. She approached him and dabbed at his nose with it, then handed it over for him to keep. The cab rolled up and Grace hurried toward the door, glad for the shelter from the wind that was beginning to prickle her skin. Evan sat beside her and said nothing. He knew she didn’t want to be bothered.
After a quiet cab ride, they made it back to the loft and removed their coats. Grace wrapped pieces of ice in paper towels as Evan sat on the arm of his couch, pulling out tissues from his bleeding nostrils.
She stood in between his open legs and cradled his jaw in one hand, resting the ice against his nose with the other. He closed his eyes and sighed as he placed both hands on her hips, pulling her in closer to him. His grip was firm as she sifted her fingers through the locks of brown-sugar-colored hair that fell over his forehead. She tried to ignore how hard he was against her, and how much she desired him. “You scared the shit out of me, Matthews.”
He nodded, those sapphire eyes staring right into her. “I’m sorry, Gracie Lynn.”
Water threatened to leak out of her eyes, but she stopped it and kept her voice steady. “Don’t do that to me ever again. Please, Evan. It’s not worth it.”
He squeezed her hips hard, his gaze sweeping over her, his expression hungered as he studied every curve of her face. “You’re always worth it, Grace.”
Her face softened and her throat tightened as she scooted back from his grip. “You feeling okay now, buster?”
The tension between them was thick as she handed him the cold wrap she made. She needed to keep her distance. He was dangerous for her control. “Yeah.” He grabbed it from her as she backed away. “What happened with your brother?”
She shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later. It’s late, and I’m ready to call it a night.”
Grace walked toward her bedroom when Evan called her name. She turned to look at him, a gleam in his eyes. “I’ll wake you tomorrow. And sweetheart?” He stood and ambled toward her. He placed his lips on hers, and she could taste a hint of sweet caramel malt on his tongue. “My dick isn’t the size of an elephant’s. But it’s close.” He winked and tramped off, leaving her in a state of shock.
Grace cried out as punches were thrown at Nathan. He and Kyle were both big guys, but her brother was faster and more agile as he began to fight back. “The whole school knows she’s a slut, Clark.”
The scene switched and she was in her room, crying, as her brother sat beside her. “Don’t listen to those people, Grace. It won’t matter years from now. Nobody will ever care, you hear me? Let’s go to that party. You should be there.”
Nathan pushed Kyle onto the grass and knocked him in the face. “Leave her alone, Kyle! She’s gone through enough!” They tumbled toward the swimming pool, the crowd surrounding them as they cheered on opposing teams.
They were back in her room. “Gracie, promise me.”
She gasped for air, flailing her arms as she attempted to call for help, but the water took over again, and she fell underneath holding onto Nathan. He was too heavy, and nobody was offering help. She grabbed a hold of his shoulder and pulled him to the surface.
“Nathan!” She dragged his body to the shallow end of the pool and shook his lifeless body. “Wake up, Nathan.” They left. They all left her. “Help me! Pleas
e, call 911! Nathan, wake up! Please, I promise, I’ll do what you said, just open your eyes.”
Perspiration dripped from her body, despite the cold temperature. She tried to steady her heart as she got her bearings. This wasn’t Austin; it wasn’t her bed, her room, her house. Her phone showed it was quarter-to-three in the morning, and she had no desire to fall asleep again. All those awful images were conjured and she couldn’t get them out of her head. Grace quietly made her way toward the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
She moved toward Evan’s office and turned on the lamp that sat in the corner. Different shapes of frames surrounded the room and she took her time studying what she figured were photos of family members. Her eyes then roved the shelves of books. Even if she stayed in that room all night, she doubted she could browse over every single title, but he owned classic literature, poetry, religion, science, and finance. Books on acting, filmmaking, directing, screenwriting, and producing sat grouped together on a different shelf.
An old leather-bound copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets caught Grace’s eye and she grabbed it. A faint street light filtered in through the sheer curtains covering the large arched window. A cushioned bench sat under it, so she took her spot and peeked outside. Large snowflakes fell over everything like a blanket, and she enjoyed watching it unfold. She leafed through the book in her hands, reading through some of her favorite sonnets.
“Gracie? What’s wrong?”
His voice was gravelly and his hair spiked up. Black sweatpants hung low on his hips and he sported a white thermal that stretched across his broad swimmer’s shoulders. He moved toward her, and she never craved him more. There was sexy actor Evan Matthews. He came to her defense at the bar, brought her to this magical white-covered winter wonderland, was well-read, and looked like a god even all rumpled from sleep.
Was it possible for this guy to be it for her? Grace got that thought out of her head as swiftly as it has entered. Last thing she needed was to want something she knew was beyond impossible. Even if they both desired each other, she knew it couldn’t last. He lived in Boston, never stayed in the same place. He was a movie star. She was a normal girl trying to be a fulltime author. They were from different worlds and wouldn’t fit.
A Promise Kept Page 13