“It won’t happen again, Logan.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. After last night, I may never be allowed to sit in the stands again.”
Logan laughs, passing his finger over the bruise at my hairline. “Good, Grace. Glad to know you can behave.”
He stands, moving back to his own seat. Nick is at my side a few seconds later with his phone in hand.
“Bizzy has sent me a few messages, the last one saying to check your email.”
I log onto the in-flight Wi-Fi and see two emails from her. The first one is her checking on me and making sure we made our flight okay. The second is entirely more detailed.
Grace,
You are already airborne, but I wanted to check in. I texted Nick until he finally replied and said everything was okay. He assured me he wasn’t too hard on you.
Thought you’d want to know, it’s official. Mathis finally got his shit together. Claire is no longer in the friend-zone. I’m not sure what made him finally step up, but Shaw told me Mathis was a different kind of pissed when he heard we were in trouble. He said, and I quote, “Claire’s ass is going to be on fire when I finish with her. What the hell was she thinking?”
So, of course, I called her this morning and woke her up. Mathis was in the background, rumbling up a storm.
Isn’t that great?
It didn’t even take him a week once he came to his senses.
Now, the bad news. I don’t think we’ll be allowed in the stands for a long time. Shaw was completely unreasonable. Nothing I did could change his mind. (*wink)
I can’t wait to hear how the weekend goes. Nick may be playing it cool, but he’s very excited. Don’t tell him I told you, but this means a lot to him.
I have a shift at the hospital tonight, so I’ll be unavailable until tomorrow morning. And we have Brayden for the week, but call me when you can.
Xo
Bizzy
PS- I like Melanie. Let’s invite her to our next night out.
I finish reading with a smile on my face. Nick gives me a knowing look, and it’s obvious he’s aware of Claire and Mathis, too. I want to ask him more, but instead, I snuggle to his side and think about what Bizzy said. Nick’s excited to meet my family.
Now, I have butterflies for a completely different reason.
Chapter 18
Nick
“Keep Driving!” Grace hisses from the backseat angrily.
“Who is that?” Logan follows her orders and passes her parents’ home, which has several cars in the driveway.
“The red car belongs to that damn Mary Cobb! The others I don’t know.” As she speaks, her phone rings and she answers, immediately starting in on questions for her mom.
Logan glances over at me and rolls his eyes. “We’re going to Grandpa’s.”
Grace hangs up and huffs, sliding to the middle and leaning over the console. “Mama says they started showing up about thirty minutes ago. Mary Cobb orchestrated an ambush, showing up unannounced, with her bridge club in tow. They brought enough food to feed an army. She claimed she was being neighborly and trying to help out since this weekend is such a big deal. Now, she’s perched at the front window watching for us. Mama said she can’t get rid of them.”
“Good thing she doesn’t know our rental car,” he replies, annoyed. “Wonder how she planned this one.”
“I’ll tell you exactly how she planned it. She probably reviewed the latest flight schedule into Tallahassee. Then she calculated the time it takes to drive here. She and her cronies had an agenda. Mama is livid.”
“Why doesn’t she tell her to leave? Find an excuse to get them out of there?” I think about the times my own mom has had to get out of similar situations.
Grace’s eyes slice to mine, and I bite back a laugh. She’s riled up, and it’s hard to keep a straight face.
“Don’t forget my dad is the Mayor. Mama has to finesse this, but she promises they’ll be gone within the hour. She’ll meet us at Grandpa’s house.”
The more she talks, the more riled up she gets, and her voice transforms. A southern drawl becomes more and more distinct. It’s fucking sexy as hell, and I have to fight reaching over and hauling her into my lap.
The thought of hearing my name come from her lips with that accent, while I’m buried inside her tonight, makes my cock twitch in my shorts.
“We’re here!” She slides back as the car comes to a stop then gets out.
A mountain of a man leans against a porch column with his feet planted firm and his arms crossed. His eyes are focused right on me, as if he can see the dirty thoughts that were running through my mind.
Roy Monroe is nothing like I expected. When Grace has talked about her grandpa, she’s never mentioned he is a replica of Sam Elliot—Roadhouse style.
I come face to face with powerhouse men with the sole purpose of destroying me, but none of them come close to intimidating me as much as Grace’s grandpa.
And I’m not even out of the car yet.
“He’s not as bad as he appears, but he’s protective of Grace. Word of advice, show him she’s important,” Logan suggests.
“Well, that shouldn’t be hard considering she’s become my entire world.”
“Good, let him see that. Maybe de-pussify it a little.” He chuckles and exits the car.
My door opens, and Grace holds her hand out to me. “Come on.”
Be a man, Nick Bennett. You got this. I say silently to myself and take her hand.
Logan is already on the porch, waiting and watching us. He’s wearing a shit eating grin, completely relaxed. When we get close enough, Roy steps forward, and Grace drops my hand, jumping into his arms. He squeezes her tightly, flinging her around like a ragdoll.
“Peach Princess,” he says affectionately, kissing her cheek.
She takes his face in her hands and does a full scan. It’s an exchange I recognize well, since Bizzy and I do the same thing so frequently. She returns the kiss to his forehead then looks at me.
“Grandpa, put me down so I can introduce you to my boyfriend.”
He does as she says, and I move quickly, extending my hand to him. “Nick Bennett.” I barely get out my last name because his grip crushes my hand.
He could kill me with these hands. The force behind his clutch tells all. Grace is precious, and I’d better treat her that way.
“Roy Monroe.” He clutches once more before stepping back and tossing his arm around her shoulder.
She’s watching me, biting her lip, encouraging me quietly.
“It’s an honor to meet you. Grace has told me a lot about you.”
He looks back and forth between Grace and me quietly, his expression unreadable. He does this three more times before responding. Beads of sweat run down my neck, and my stomach knots as I wait for him to speak.
“Yeah, I can say the same thing about you. Apparently, you’ve been spending a lot of time with my girl.”
“As much as she’ll let me. It’s my favorite thing to do.”
This cracks the ice. His face softens, and he leans back down to kiss her head again. “We have that in common. It’s one of my favorite things, too.”
Grace stares at him with such admiration, I swallow the lump in my throat. Her reasons for leaving school and staying home are glaringly obvious.
God, I love this woman.
Logan coughs right as a truck drives up. I turn to see a gigantic blue F-350 come to a stop and a man in a suit jumps out. Grace squeals and calls out, “Daddy!”
She meets him halfway, and he repeats the same embrace as Roy. Grace was sore already, but now I fear she’s going to be black and blue. He puts her down and glances at me with a welcoming smile.
I go to him, already less intimidated. He yanks me into a man hug, slapping my back. I grimace, feeling the sting. He may be less intimidating, but he’s no less strong.
“Nick Bennett, I’m Carl Monroe. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Yo
u too,” I cough out as he slaps me again.
Logan takes mercy on me and steps in. “Hey, Dad.”
Grace slides to my side and gives me a sympathetic grin, while rubbing lightly where Carl has no doubt left a hand print.
“It’s time for a beer,” Roy calls out, and I hear the screen door slam as he goes inside.
“It’s the middle of the day,” Carl yells to him.
“Who the hell cares? My work is done for the day.”
“I’m off for the next three days. I’m with Grandpa. “ Logan disappears into the house.
“Might as well join them. Your mom will be here soon.” Carl follows the rest of the Monroe men, leaving me alone with Grace.
“They like you,” she says with a glimmer in her eyes.
“You could have warned me your Grandpa resembles a lumberjack. I was thinking more along the lines of a feeble old man.”
“Don’t let him hear you say that, or he won’t like you anymore.”
“Is it totally inappropriate for me to kiss you right now?” I lean into her, nuzzling along her neckline.
“Probably. How about I take you on a tour of the property later, and you can kiss me all you want?”
I inhale, smelling the mixture of her shampoo and body wash. Memories of bathing her last night come to mind, and I smile against her skin.
“You’ve got a deal, but I may not stop at kissing.”
She starts to giggle, slipping her hand in mine once again, leading me inside.
“It was awful! I almost swallowed my tongue when it happened. Thank God I had Bizzy with me,” Grace explains the way she felt when I went down last night.
“Jesus, Grace, he’s a quarterback. They get sacked!” Roy shakes his head in disappointment. “Did you think they’d tap him on the shoulder and say, ‘give me the ball’?”
She huffs and opens her mouth to argue, but her mom interrupts and agrees with her. They go back and forth, discussing the game, while I enjoy my beer.
The last few hours have been like this, every subject turning into a discussion with Grace and Sharon on one side and the guys on the other. I’ve sat back and taken it all in until they started in on football.
One thing’s for sure; the Monroe men may be farmers, politicians, business owners, and legacies, but they are complete football fanatics. These guys follow the game and have as much knowledge as me. Maybe even more. I knew Logan was a fan, but Grace didn’t mention her dad and grandpa were as well.
Grace is sandwiched between her mom and me on the sofa and goes still when her dad mentions the touchdown in the fourth quarter. Logan moves his eyes to me before taking a swig of his beer to hide his smile.
“I must have been in the restroom. I missed it,” Graces lies uncomfortably.
“How could you miss it? Six shredded them. He started the play with such power the defense didn’t know what hit them. They couldn’t cover for shit. Even watching on TV, I could see the intensity in his eyes. The play has been on every sports broadcast all day, and you were in the bathroom???” Carl glares at Grace with disbelief. “The bathroom?”
We never got around to discussing the game last night. It was the absolute last thing on my mind when I retrieved her from the sober cell. The entire drive home, all I could think about was stripping her naked and fucking her until she understood how careless she was. Punishment was my plan.
But when she looked at me in the elevator and mentioned me canceling this trip, my resolve took a different direction. She needed to hear and know exactly why I was so upset. Punishment sex can wait for another time.
Her hand grips my knee, pulling my attention to her face. “I am really sorry I missed the play.”
The apology goes a lot deeper. I already know she’s sorry for the debacle, but her face is filled with remorse. If we didn’t have an audience, I’d find a way to erase that guilt.
“It’s fine. I already told you that. If you’re interested, we can watch the highlight reels.”
“Sharon, did you bring that present I asked for?” Roy gets out of his recliner as Sharon points to the bag on the floor.
He grabs it and hands it to Grace. “Thought you might like this,” he tells her and sits again.
She rummages through the tissue paper and brings out a burnt orange sundress. Her eyes gaze around the room, full of suspicion. The mood in the room changes, the air growing thick as everyone watches her. Her mom glances at the ceiling, a dimple popping out on her cheek. Her dad rubs his hands together with the smile of a man who’s about to tell a punch line.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s this for?” Grace asks no one in particular.
“I figured it may look nice on you since orange is the new black. You’ll be the best dressed woman in the clink,” Roy answers with a straight face.
The room howls in laughter, Logan being the loudest. Grace’s face turns red, her eyes bulging out. “Logan! You told them?”
“Hell yes, I told them.”
“How could you?”
“It was too good to keep a secret. The Peach Princess gets hauled away by the police? Nah, I wasn’t keeping that one to myself.”
My vision is blurry as tears fill my eyes. I’m trying my best not to laugh but fail miserably. Her family is openly mocking her, her grandpa leading the charge.
“I can’t—I mean… Why—?” She can’t get her words out, which amuses everyone even more.
“Stop laughing at me!” she finally gets out, but no one listens.
“You!” She twists to me, jabbing my chest. “You better stop now! This is not funny!”
“Sweet Peach, it’s hilarious.”
“I’m calling tomorrow morning and cutting off your cable!” She points to Roy. “This is ridiculous. First the Chrisley’s, and now this. How do you even know about Orange is the New Black?”
“TV has changed a lot over the years, and this old man has time on his hands. I like my shows.” He shrugs, not affected by her threat.
“Baby.” I drag her to my side. “Laugh it up. Let it go. Your family is teasing you.”
She narrows her eyes then finally relaxes, starting to giggle. “Just so you all know, we weren’t going to the clink. And it was Logan’s girlfriend who was wishing for a ride in the paddy wagon.”
Logan’s face freezes mid-laugh. He gives Grace an evil glare.
“Welp, I think it’s time we head down the road to the house and eat some of the food the nosy nellies of the community made.” Roy gets back up and claps his hands together, his eyes coming to mine.
There’s something indiscernible written on his face. A knot forms in my gut, knowing I’m not going to like whatever he’s thinking.
“But before we do that, let’s get Nick’s things and get him set up in his room for the weekend. Don’t want to be an ungracious host.”
My stomach plunges, and I try hard to remain emotionless. I expected that Grace would be in a different room. But a whole different house?
The room erupts in laughter again, and this time, I’m the target. Suddenly, nothing seems funny anymore.
Chapter 19
Nick
“Grace? Where are you?” I call out from the front room of her parents’ home. This house is large, and I wouldn’t know where to begin searching for her.
“In the kitchen. Walk straight back.”
I do as instructed, while her humming gets louder and louder as I get closer. The smell of sugar and cinnamon becomes stronger, making my mouth water.
As soon as I hit the doorway, I stop dead in my tracks. Grace is standing at the edge of the kitchen island, concentrating on the pie in front of her. My heart starts racing at the sight in front of me. Her hair hangs down in large curls, begging for me to run my hands through them. She’s wearing the orange sundress from last night with a large brown belt tightened around her waist, showcasing every curve of her waist and hips. But it’s not her hair or her outfit that has my dick throbbing.
It’s the fucking cowboy boots�
� Cowboy boots!
Grace is always beautiful, but today, she’s given new meaning to the term sexy seductress. Without saying a word or even looking at me, there’s a primal urge to have her coursing through my veins.
She glances up with her bright smile that quickly dies on her lips. “Nick, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t move.” The words come out harsh and demanding, and she peeks down at herself then back to me.
“Is there something—?”
I make it to her in two long strides, one of my hands going to the back of her head while the other cups her ass. Her eyes grow wide when I thrust my hips into hers, my cock pressing against her stomach.
“Please, God, tell me we’re alone in this house.”
“Everyone’s already gone. We’re supposed to meet them at—”
“Your grandpa, too?”
“Yes, he left—”
I don’t let her finish, crushing my mouth to hers while lifting her with one arm. She lets out a squeak that is barely audible over the roaring in my ears. I try to think of somewhere to go, retracing my steps in my mind to the living room.
It’s too far. The island will have to do.
Her hands grip my hair as I slide her dress up to pool around her hips and rip her underwear in half. They fall away, and my fingers slip inside, finding her wet.
“Jesus, Grace, you’re soaked.”
“It was all you.”
Pride beats in my chest, knowing I affect her the same way she does me. “I’ll apologize now.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m about to fuck you hard. Not sure I can be sweet.”
Her head jerks to mine, her eyes on fire. “Fuck me then.”
The words increase the roaring in my ears, and I fumble with my belt and shorts until I’m free and pushing inside of her.
Heaven… that’s what this feels like. Pure heaven.
Her sexy moans fill the room, encouraging me to thrust with brutal force. I picture her leaning over the counter as I pound into her from behind, but I’m too gone to reposition us. She flexes up, bringing her hands down hard on the counter with a thud.
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