by Skye Jordan
“I’m definitely not falling asleep.” She was still talking, that was a good sign, even though she sounded like she’d fall asleep any second. “I’m getting my second wind.”
He chuckled as he rolled on the condom, then stroked all her luscious skin. He wanted to get naked and rub all over her, and he would, but he had a more urgent need to bond with her after the emotion they’d shared. Somehow he felt like loving her now was sort of sealing the deal and holding that moment between them.
Stupid, maybe. But he needed her. He really, really needed to claim her. Right now.
She pushed up on her elbow, moved toward the middle of the bed and reached over to nudge Grant’s laptop aside—giving Grant one killer view of her beautiful ass. He pressed a knee between her thighs and stroked his hands up her legs, over her cheeks, her ribs, her shoulders, her neck and threaded one hand into her hair, using the soft mass to gently lift and turn her head to cover her mouth with his.
Faith licked into his mouth with her eyes open and hot. She lifted her ass, rocked against his hips and hummed with desire. His need skyrocketed and he conveyed that with his mouth. Faith returned the fierce kisses and gentle bites, lifting to her elbows and arching her back to rub him harder with that gorgeous ass.
She pulled back to whisper. “Inside me, Grant. I need you.”
The words created an implosion in his chest, crumbling any defenses that might have remained. He positioned himself, then tightened his hand and held her gaze as he pushed inside. Everything about the way she received him turned him inside out. The way her mouth dropped open. The way her eyes rolled back until they closed. The way she rose and eased into him, as if she couldn’t get all of him fast enough. The long slow moan that rolled from her throat as he filled her.
And finally, her verbal approval. “Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.” Until he couldn’t get any deeper and she groaned, “God, yes.”
And when he refastened his grip in her hair so he could hold her gaze as he thrust, her sounds of approval drove his hips harder and harder.
She pulled her knees under her and arched her back. Grant’s position and the strengths of his thrust pushed her head to the mattress. Her hands curled into the bedspread and she used the tension created from the weight of her body to push herself back and into his thrust.
“I can’t...believe the things...I let you do...to me,” she said, panting as she rose to climax. “I can’t believe...how fucking...good it is.”
Grant couldn’t believe how fucking sexy she was. Or how fucking lucky he’d gotten in finding her.
As her passion rose, she pushed harder, demanding more force. Grant loved the way she gave herself over to whatever her body wanted. He released her hair and took a more centered position behind her, allowing him to thrust harder, hammer deeper and within in seconds, Faith shattered with a scream and a whimper, her muscles quivering uncontrollably through the letdown.
Wicked satisfaction swamped Grant’s chest. He stayed deep inside her while she recovered, stroking his hands up and down her back and hips.
When she stirred, he withdrew. He shucked his shirt and pants in seconds and sat on the bed, collecting Faith into his arms, and spreading her thighs to straddle his lap. And easily reentered her as she settled into position.
They spent long moments kissing and touching and just staring at each other. Grant had never done this with a woman, and he couldn’t get enough of it with Faith. But his body’s need soon took control of the steering wheel. But there was something different between them now. Something new, something deep. Some kind of understanding he couldn’t put words to. But he was sure they were on the same page. If fact he’d never been more sure of anything.
And as he pulled his legs under him and used his thighs to drive into her, Faith wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressed her forehead to his, and held his gaze steadily, lovingly, until she finally peaked again. Grant let go at the same moment kissed her as they tumbled into bliss together. He was sure he’d never felt anything more perfect in his life.
Faith rested her head against his chest, and her warm breath bathed his skin. Grant sat back on his heels and stroked her hair, her back, her shoulders. When his feet started to tingle, he kissed her head and murmured, “I’m fuckin’ crazy about you, Faith.”
She didn’t answer and a trickle of heat coursed through his chest. Alarm? Hurt? It was so foreign he couldn’t even identify it. Maybe it was just too soon to be voicing it. She really did have a lot of other things, more important things, to think about. Still...he didn’t like this feeling.
He pushed up on his knees and found her far heavier than she’s been just minutes before. He cocked his head to look down at her face and found her eyes closed. The stricture in his chest loosened a little.
“Faith?”
No answer. Not even a flicker of her lashes.
He grinned and tried one more time. “What do you think? Still want to work on that video tonight?”
He got nothin’.”
The last of the unease inside him vanished. He chuckled, stroked her hair and kissed her head again. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m here to back you now.”
And—damn—that felt so good.
Eleven
Faith set up the last table inside the covered arena at the county fair grounds, and shook it to test for stability. The ice sculptures could weigh hundreds of pounds, and she didn’t want this year to be the first year a table gave out and ruined the contest for someone.
When the heavy-duty table held, Faith smiled and ran her hand over the wood her father had hand crafted for this event. But that brought a flurry of other thoughts and emotions. First her mind turned to Natalie and her curt call to Faith early that morning to tell Faith that since she was being so unreasonable, Natalie would forego judging for the greater good so that Holly would benefit.
“Martyr,” Faith muttered, running her finger over one of the many scars in the table. But she was still ashamed of herself for coming down to Natalie’s level. “That won’t happen next year...”
Faith trailed off, realizing next year was one big question mark. She may not be able to make the store profitable enough to hold onto. She may be somewhere completely different, starting over. Alone. No Taylor, no Caleb, none of the people from Holly that she’d known all her life.
No Grant.
Faith sighed and started moving methodically among the tables to double-check the extension cord connections.
Her cell rang and she smiled a little, looking forward to the sound of Grant’s voice. As she pulled it from her back pocket their night flooded back to her. He’d slowly been edging his way into her heart since he showed up in town. But last night he’d impressed the hell out of her. How open he’d been when she’d told him about Natalie. How reassuring he’d been about his feelings for her. How receptive he’d been of her emotions.
And the way he’d made love to her after... God, it had been the most beautiful night of her life. Passionate. Loving. Intense. She’d never felt as connected to another human being as she’d felt to Grant last night, looking into his eyes as he made love to her.
She looked at the screen and saw Taylor’s name. Which made her think of how Grant had been gone when she woke up this morning. And made her wonder if he’d felt it too. And that it had scared him into pulling away.
“Hey,” she answered. “I thought you were going over your books with Grant.”
“I’m headed there now, but I called because—“
“Weren’t you supposed to do that this morning?” It was the reason he’d given her when he’d texted later in the morning to tell her he couldn’t help her set up.
“No, he said he had something else to do this morning and pushed it back.”
A pang of hurt pulled hard at the center of Faith’s body. She winced and pressed a hand to her forehead. “I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do. I just figured out what he was doing.”
Now dread joined the hurt. Bu
t Taylor sounded excited, and she would never be excited about Faith getting hurt. “And?”
“Your Christmas Light Fantasia is up on YouTube. It looks incredible. It’s adorable and funny and informative. And the final result is a-freaking-mazing.”
Joy exploded through Faith’s chest and she grinned. “Really?” He’d spent the morning editing her video? “But...I didn’t get around to narrating...”
“Grant did. And he’s really good. He’s got a sexy, professional voice, yet he’s got a really straight-forward way about explaining things, and he’s funny. Must be all those interviews he does with the media all the time.”
He did media interviews? She really needed to learn more about hockey and the NHL and... She shook her head. Yeah. Maybe in her spare time.
“Wow,” she said. “That’s amazing.” She couldn’t stop smiling—even though she knew without any doubt her heart was going to shatter when he left. Which reminded her that she only had a couple of days left with him before he returned to DC to reenter hockey season.
“It is,” Taylor agreed. “But what’s really amazing—are you sitting down?”
Faith slid her butt onto the nearest table. “I am now.”
“You’ve already gotten one-hundred-and-twenty thousand views.”
Faith’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“But it gets better.”
“How?”
“He went online, found the components necessary to put the whole thing together, listed them, and linked to them on the Home Depot website.”
Faith laughed. “Well that’s great for Home Depot, but it doesn’t do anything for me.”
“It does when you have an affiliate account.”
“I don’t—“
“Yes, you do. Grant set one up for you.”
Her mind swirled. She was still high on the number of views of the video alone. “What? How?”
“This is the beauty of living in a small town, girlie. You bank at Old Town Bank, which is managed by Betty Fleur. Betty’s son, Hank, played hockey with Grant from the time they could skate until they left for college. Grant’s parents also keep their money locally and bank there. So when Grant went in and told him what he wanted to do, Betty did everything short of jumping over the teller counter to help him hook up your bank account to the affiliate account. But I hear she did it without giving him access to your account information. Now, just so you know, the funds for affiliates don’t go in for thirty days, so whatever you see in your Home Depot account won’t be deposited into your bank account for a month.”
Faith pressed a hand to her heart. “But...how do you know all this?”
“Faith, seriously? The same way I know his car’s been outside your shop two nights in a row.”
She said the last with a how-could-you-not-tell-me you’re-gonna-hear-about-this-later tone. Which meant that between friends and family members, Taylor had probably gotten that information from half a dozen different sources, vetted it and pieced together a very accurate story.
“Oh my God.” Her stomach jittered so hard, she felt sick. She dropped her hand from her heart to her stomach, then gripped the table edge. “That’s...” Tears welled in her eyes. “Oh my God.”
“I hope he’s good in bed, girlie, cause that boy is a winner in every other way. I just pulled up to the store. I’ll call you if I find out more, but I have a feeling he’ll be seeing you before I do, so you’ll probably already have the scoop by then.”
Taylor didn’t bother to say goodbye before she disconnected. And Faith lowered her phone, staring at it in awe. She couldn’t begin to fathom having anyone think of her so...unselfishly. Anyone but her father. And even he hadn’t been able to do that for years. Not since he’d gotten sick.
Faith didn’t know how to respond to such a kind act. How did she go about thanking someone for something like that? It wasn’t just the time he’d spent working on the video and setting up the accounts. It was doing it for her when he knew she couldn’t do it for herself, yet needed it so badly. It was his ability to think ten steps ahead of her and anticipate her needs, then fill them while she was still struggling moment to moment. It was the sheer fact that he’d not only listened to her, but he’d heard her and then taken that next step and actually made something happen for her.
She wished Taylor wasn’t with him. Faith wanted to leave here right now and find him. Beyond wrapping him a bear hug and kissing him until he couldn’t breathe, she didn’t know what she’d do to thank him. Because she already gave herself over to him completely on a nightly basis and would continue to do so until he returned to his real world.
“That’s an awful deep look of concentration.”
The male voice startled her out of her thoughts. Dwayne strolled beneath the arena’s cover, hands in his pockets, a big grin on his face. Faith’s mind shifted gears. “Hey, there.” She turned to face him. “That’s the biggest smile I’ve seen on your face in a while.”
“Grant’s had that affect on a lot of people in town.” He came up beside Faith and slipped up onto the table next to her. She loved the way no one even thought to question her father’s craftsmanship. “You should see the affect he’s had on the boys. He’s given that whole team an infusion of pure energy. They’re working twice as hard and having twice as much fun doing it. I’m really glad you and Grant became friends. You’re both orphans in a way. Both such good people. I love it when good things happen to good people.”
He sighed happily and looked around. “Where is that boy? He told me he had to move practice until this afternoon because he was helping you set up.”
“He was going to, but something else came up that he needed to take care of.”
Dwayne nodded. “Well, I’m glad he got home even if he did have to deal with his family while he was here. That didn’t turn out all bad. And it gave him a break from all that baloney he lives with.”
Faith shook her head confused. She couldn’t if Dwayne was talking about his family here or... “Baloney.” She smiled, remembering how her dad loved that phrase. “That reminds me of dad.”
“Yeah. I miss that man. We knew what baloney was. These young men, they haven’t figured it out yet.”
“And that would be...?” she asked.
“All the smoke and mirrors around him up there in DC. All the ESPN interviews, the newspaper articles, Sports Illustrated features. Money, power and women—they’re the three common denominators in the downfalls of all great men. In Grant’s case, power comes in two forms—money and fame. He’s already got more money than he’ll ever spend in his lifetime and I always see him with a different woman on his arm at all those events he attends for the team to please charities, sponsors, owners and managers. And each of those women is just as rich, beautiful and powerful as Grant.”
Dwayne waved it away like he was swatting a fly. “It’s all baloney. Smoke and mirrors. It’s not real. And when it all disappears...well...if that’s all you had, you’re left with nothing. At least nothing substantial.”
Faith was still trying to absorb all Dwayne had just told her about Grant in the span of two minutes. It opened up a whole new perspective on both the man and his life back in DC.
The excitement somersaulting through her chest just minutes go had been relegated to a corner and her heart dropped a little lower in her chest.
“Ah,” she said, as if it all made sense now, when if fact, the more she learned, the less she understood. “That baloney.”
Dwayne chuckled and patted her knee. “What can I help you with, darlin’?”
“Uh...” Faith refocused and looked around. “Actually, nothing. I’m done with all the big stuff. Now I’m just wandering around double checking things.”
Dwayne gave her a long sweet hug. “Your daddy’d be proud of his little girl.”
Unfortunately, Faith seriously doubted it. “Thanks, Dwayne.”
Grant had taken pages and pages of notes from his hour-long talk with Taylor. A talk he’d realize
d within the first ten minutes would take weeks, maybe months, to adequately flesh out and understand.
“So, you can see here”—Taylor pointed to one of the several spread sheets she’d brought over—“I have several revenue streams that I monitor at all times. That way I can tell where I need to either concentrate or cut, change, whatever.”
They were sitting at a small desk in the basement that Faith used as an office, and he’d been cooped up there long before Taylor had come by, trying to figure out a better way of running the store so Faith could make a livable wage. And he’d realized a couple of important things.
The first was that if she wasn’t ready to give up something as intangible as judging an ice-carving contest, she sure as hell wouldn’t be ready to do what Grant really thought she ought to do, which was get rid of the store and do something she really loved. The second was, if she couldn’t do the first, she sure wouldn’t be open to the complexity of trying to continue a relationship with Grant.
The only bright spot was Taylor and this niche she’d carved out in what seemed to be a market that wasn’t only thriving, but growing.
Grant shook his head, still staring at the numbers on her spreadsheet. “Don’t take this wrong, Taylor, but, if I’m understanding this right, you make a shit-load of money for talking about really stupid-ass shit.”
To Grant’s relief, Taylor laughed.
“That doesn’t bother me because you’re not my target audience,” she told him. “And my target audience finds pushing a three-inch disc of vulcanized rubber around an ice rink with a stick while brawling with a bunch of other guys some really stupid-ass shit.”
Grant grinned. “Good point.”
“If you use this as a template, you could, in theory, simply change the topics and have Faith film how-to segments the same way.” She leaned back. “For example, instead of a post about how to design your planner for maximum efficiency, Faith would create a post about how to design your garage workbench for maximum efficiency. And instead of posting links to all the pens, papers, stickers, and stamps I used in the process, she would do what you did with her Christmas lights video—ingenious and incredibly sweet, by the way—and link to all the wood, screws, nails, glue, tools, and paint she used to complete the process.”