by Mia Carson
Chase’s only response was to pull her closer and let his lips move languidly over hers. “I don’t give a damn about the couch, Graceland.” He buried his hands in her curls, massaging her scalp, and she knew if they didn’t get off the couch soon… well, they’d get off on the couch again.
“Don’t you have to work today?” she asked.
“I took some vacation days,” he said with a shrug. “Which means I’m free for whatever you want to do. My vote is for anything that involves us being naked.”
She raised a brow, tracing her finger down his chest until he grunted. “So shower first and then we’ll decide?” She leapt off him with a giggle and hurried into the bathroom seconds before he stalked after her, kicking the bathroom door closed on her laughter.
8
Chase planned on taking Grace to the outdoor market for the day and letting her peruse while he found some fresh fish and vegetables to cook a fancy dinner later, but halfway there, he received a phone call from his contractors and they had to make a detour. They were having issues with the blueprints for the theater renovations, which had to be taken care of ASAP before any work could begin.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, kissing the back of Grace’s hand in the limo.
“Why? I don’t mind. Besides,” she said, glancing at her cell, “Jimmy is there for some reason. I want you to meet him.”
“Yes, your roommate.” Chase smirked. “Dexter said he was quite a character.”
“He has his moments,” she agreed. “He’s been dying to meet you all weekend, though, so be nice.”
He drew her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, unable to get enough of her sweet scent of cherry blossoms and vanilla. “When am I not nice?”
“This morning when you interrupted my yoga,” she said, poking him in the chest. “I’m only half stretched out now.”
“I thought we finished stretching in the shower, and in bed, and on the floor,” he said, chuckling, thinking of the last one. They’d been recovering when she decided to tackle him again. They’d rolled off the bed in a heap of sheets and limbs before she straddled him.
The drive to the theater district was long enough for hard breathing and flushed faces when Dexter knocked politely on the rear door. After quickly ensuring their clothes were in place—a habit Chase enjoyed—they stepped out and walked to her theater.
“Feels weird being back,” she mused.
“Why? You’ve only been gone for a weekend.”
“Yeah, but it feels like a lifetime already. The woman you met that night… I think she’s different now.”
Chase grinned, his chest swelling because he had caused that change. He remembered the not so happy look on that woman’s face. The Grace beside him now was certainly more carefree, and though she still had that sarcastic edge and kept her secrets close to her chest, a glimmer of hope filled him that one day soon, she’d let him in. Just as he would one day let her in.
They entered the theater, which buzzed with activity, and were barely inside the doors when someone yelled Grace’s name excitedly. Chase glanced over to see a tall man with long black hair run towards her and pick her up in his arms. A sharp pang of jealousy shot through him until he heard Grace call him Jimmy. He relaxed a little, but immediately slipped his hand back in hers when Jimmy put her back on her feet.
“And you must be Chase Valentine,” Jimmy crooned, holding out a hand. “Pleasure to meet you, man.”
Chase took it with a smile. “You too, Jimmy. Grace hasn’t told me much about you, I’m afraid.”
“I’m sure you two haven’t done that much talking,” Jimmy said with a wink as he nudged Grace’s arm. She blushed instantly and smacked his arm, but Chase chuckled. “See? I’m right. The damn man can’t keep a grin off his face or his hands off of you.”
“Why are you here?” Grace asked him quickly. “I thought we were supposed to clear out.”
“We were,” he said, his face darkening. “Bastard hasn’t given us our checks yet, so I’m here with the others, demanding he fork it over. What are you doing here? You didn’t say.”
Chase saw his contractor as he passed Jimmy and waved at him. “My fault, I’m afraid. Issue with the blueprints. Grace, who’s this man who hasn’t paid Jimmy yet?”
“Hasn’t paid her either,” Jimmy told him, “in what? Three months now?”
Chase frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Who? Tell me.”
“It’s fine,” she told him, but he caught the anger in her eyes. “Really, we’ll go take care of the asshole director and you deal with your contractor. Promise.”
He didn’t want to but said he would be on the stage if she needed him. He kissed her forehead and hurried over to find out about the problem with the blueprints. He shook hands with his long-time contractor, Devin, and leaned on the table beside him.
“What am I looking at here?” he asked, running his hand over the new print for the theater. After only a few seconds, he mumbled, “What the hell are these measurements? This is all wrong.”
“Good, so you saw it too,” Devin muttered. “They came in like this at six, and I’ve been trying to track down whomever created this catastrophe on paper.”
Chase rubbed his face before scratching the back of his neck. “How long to get them fixed, you think? Couple of days? I don’t want to get too far behind on this.” He glanced around at the theater and its old, slightly decrepit state. His eyes fell on Grace and Jimmy walking to another man who was directing the workers where to move things.
He watched as Jimmy tapped the man on the shoulder and talked to him, a smile on his face. The man laughed harshly, his lips moved in reply, and Jimmy’s face fell. The man Chase assumed was their director and the man in charge of paying them their dues, shifted his attention to Graceland.
“Devin, have you seen Theodore?” he asked, his gaze on the man causing Grace’s face to turn three different shades of red in a manner of minutes.
“Somewhere, I think, why?”
“He’s the producer for these plays, too, and I think he’d like to know that his actors aren’t getting their money,” he muttered and told Devin to find the man and bring him over.
When the man yelled so loud everyone in the theater turned to watch, Chase gritted his teeth, hopped off the stage, and stalked over to stand behind the director. He didn’t say anything, simply glared at the back of the man’s head, waiting. Jimmy smirked, and Grace’s eyes flickered to him then back at the man.
“What? See? She can’t even pay attention when I’m standing in front of her talking!” the man yelled, waving his arms at Grace. “She’s the worst actress I’ve ever hired, and I want her out of my theater!”
“Excuse me,” Chase growled, making the man jump. “Are you the director?”
“Damn straight I am,” the man snapped and whipped around to face him. Chase smirked when the man had to take a step back so he could look up to meet his green eyes. “Terrance Davidson. Who the hell are you? Another stage hand?”
Grace laughed and Terrance shot her a look, but Chase said, “Do I look like a stage hand? I’m the man in charge of the renovations for this theater.”
“Ah, Chase Valentine! A pleasure to meet you,” Terrance said, and immediately, his tone changed as he held out his hand. Chase declined to take it and stood with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Terrance let his hand fall and spoke uncomfortably. “Uh… well then, I guess I should let you get to work. No need worrying about the actors. I have them well under control.”
“I highly doubt that,” Chase said stiffly. “I overheard you speaking to this woman. Is that how you talk to all of your actors?”
Terrance glared at him. “How I speak to my actors is not the concern of the man in charge of renovations. You are not the producer, nor are you the owner.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe not, but you know what I am? I’m that woman’s boyfriend,” he said with a wicked grin, nodding towards Grace. Terrance swallo
wed hard. “And you know what else? I’m good friends with Theodore, who is the producer and—oh, look, there he is now. Should I tell him or should you, Terrance?”
Theodore ran a hand over his bald head. “Tell me what? Terrance? What seems to be the trouble here? Ah… Grace, Jimmy, so good to see you both,” he said happily, hugging them both. “Grace, I meant to tell you, rave reviews for the last play. Can’t wait to get you back in here once all the work’s done.”
She beamed, and Chase stood straighter, proud of her. “Thanks, Theodore. Too bad you’re the only one, it appears, who wants me on stage.”
“What? Who said that? You’re not leaving me, are you?” Theodore asked quickly. “Terrance, you better not let my actors get poached.”
“That’s not what… no, of course not,” Terrance said, stumbling over his words as sweat broke out on his forehead.
Chase moved around him to rest his arm on Grace’s shoulders. “Then maybe you should explain why your actors haven’t been paid yet, Terrance.”
“They’re lying,” he snapped immediately. “They’re all liars. I’ve paid them. I have!”
“Bullshit,” Grace yelled. “You always say you will, but you don’t! Three times, now, Terrance. Three times I haven’t seen my money until weeks later, and what I get is not what I’m owed!”
“You don’t deserve to be paid! You’re just a washed-up nobody who pisses all her money away!” Terrance took a step towards her, but Chase shoved her protectively behind him, reached out, and grabbed the man by his shirt front.
He shook him hard enough for his teeth to rattle. “I’m only going to say this once, you pompous ass. You will pay your actors everything you owe them, and then you will get out of town.”
Terrance struggled to get away from him, but Chase’s grip was too strong. “You can’t do that to me.”
“No, but he can, and I have friends in very high places in many places in this city,” he warned with a smile. “If you so much as try to direct a street play, I will have your ass dragged out of this city. Understood?”
Chase released him and shoved him backwards. Theodore called for the two security guards to come over as Terrance continued to argue. He didn’t shut up until Chase took a threatening step towards him, sending him in fright back into the hands of the two security guards. Theodore had them drag Terrance away, threatening to sue the man.
For a second as Chase smiled smugly after the bastard, he worried Grace would be upset with him, but when he turned to face her, she nodded in approval. “Damn, for a man I thought was a stiff, you have quite the temper under there, Loki.”
“Loki?” Jimmy asked with a raised brow. He shook his head and held up his hands. “Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.”
“Does everything with you revolve around sex?” Grace argued and smacked Jimmy in the arm.
“You’ve known me long enough. Answer that question yourself.”
She rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Chase, staring up at him with such intense passion in those depths, he wanted to drag her to a secluded corner and have his way with her. But there were far too many people. No one would her hear cry out his name except he himself. He contented himself with lifting her off her feet and kissing her hotly.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“Standing up for me like that. Not many people do,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. Terrance was being led out of the theater by a yelling Theodore and several security guards. “He wasn’t always a bastard.”
“No? What changed him?”
“Your girlfriend wouldn’t sleep with him for a raise,” Jimmy butted in.
Chase’s arms tightened around her. “He asked you for sex?”
“Asked, coerced, felt up behind stage,” Jimmy muttered, and with each word, Chase’s anger grew until his blood boiled.
“Should’ve decked the man,” he growled and turned to go after him, but her arms stopped him. “What? I just want to teach the man a lesson.”
“And as much as I’d love to see it, I’d prefer you not go to jail today for assault. I’m fine. Nothing ever happened,” she promised, standing on her toes so he could kiss her again. He wanted it to go on forever, but there was still business to attend to, and if he was going to take her downtown, he had to deal with the damn blueprints.
He crushed her to his body, lifting her off her feet until she laughed, and finally set her back down. “Ten minutes, tops,” he whispered in her ear and walked away, hoping the entire theater didn’t notice the growing erection through his jeans. “Damn that woman,” he cursed as he walked back to Devin, picturing all the ways to help her finish her yoga later that night.
Anything to get his mind off the idea of another man’s hands on her body.
Grace knew since she first met Chase, he held something back, and after watching his confrontation with Terrance, she was excited to see what else she could bring out of the man. There was a tough guy beneath that charming exterior, a man who wasn’t afraid to fight for what he wanted.
“Loki, indeed,” she whispered.
“What was that?” Jimmy asked.
“Nothing. So, looks like we’ll get paid, and I’ll be able to hand over my rent to you,” she told him, relieved that things were truly looking up. “Still no word from Mickey today.”
Jimmy plopped down into one of the old theater seats. “You think your mom really did it, then?”
She shrugged, and with a heavy sigh, flopped down beside him. “I don’t know. I tried calling her, but she didn’t answer and won’t respond to my texts,” she said as she pulled out her cell and checked it again. Nothing.
“That ring on your finger… How long are you planning on keeping it?” he asked with a wry smile.
Grace glanced down at the diamonds and frowned. “I forgot I even had it on,” she said quietly, spinning it around her finger. “I guess I should give it back.”
“Do you want to?”
“It’s not mine,” she said sadly. “I haven’t taken his money yet.”
She waited for Jimmy to get onto her for it. After all, the whole point of the weekend was to get the twenty thousand and make her life a little easier. Instead, she fell in love with the damn man… Grace’s heart thudded. Love? No… it can’t be that, can it?
“What are you thinking about that’s got you all panicky?” Jimmy asked. “Grace?”
“I… uh, nothing. It’s nothing,” she muttered and tried to hide her face, but Jimmy nudged her until she gave in. “I think… I think I might be falling for him—really falling for him.”
Jimmy stared at her long and hard, studying her face, and he burst out laughing so hard he cried, wiping tears of mirth on his arm. Grace could only watch, waiting for him to stop, but he didn’t for a long time and she finally threatened to whack him upside the head if he couldn’t pull himself together.
“People will think you’re on something,” she muttered.
“I’m sorry, but the look on your face. It’s priceless,” he said, still cackling. “Oh, Grace, hon, everyone can see it.”
“You don’t think I should take the money?”
“If you didn’t love the man, you would have,” he told her. “Clearly, you have quite a few feelings for him if you haven’t yet, and that ring on your finger? He hasn’t asked for it back.”
She puffed out her cheeks and cracked her knuckles. “But this is crazy. No one falls in love like that! Over a weekend?”
“Some people do, if they’re meant for one another,” he told her gently. “Don’t overthink it. You’ll only ruin it. Just let it play out, see what happens. I will say I’ve never seen you so happy before. You’ve smiled more today than I’ve seen in the past year.”
There was no arguing with him on that point. She felt happier than she had in years, freer with Chase than anyone else. Watching him work on the stage, she couldn’t help but grin, remembering all the time they spent together and how incredi
ble every minute had been. There were still so many things she didn’t know about him, and she hadn’t even decided yet how she would tell him the truth about why she took his offer in the first place, but given time, she would. With him, there was no rush to figure everything out, no hurrying, really, at all.
“How did I manage to find him?” she asked Jimmy quietly.
“I dunno, but I hope you don’t mess it up with him. That man up there, he’s yours,” he told her sternly. “Don’t let him go.”
As if he’d sensed them talking about him, Chase glanced her way and smirked, those damn eyes heated as they met hers. Grace waved and let herself continue to hope this was her new life.
But as happy as she was, she couldn’t block out the worry that the problems with her mom and Mickey were far from over, no matter what she was told.
Dinner was interrupted by Chase picking Grace up and tackling her onto the couch when she muttered something about testing out a new yoga pose in the morning, one that stretched all the muscles he had her using in ways she couldn’t even imagine. The more she talked about it, the more his face tightened and jaw clenched until finally he scooped her up and showed her even more ways to use said muscles.
When they finally made it back to dinner, they finished everything on their plates and he told her to make herself comfortable while he found a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. She perused his movie collection, but it was the video games she was more interested in.
“How good at these are you?” she called over her shoulder.
“Pretty decent, why? Don’t tell me you play.”
“You’re not one of those guys that thinks a girl can’t kick ass at video games, are you?”
He chuckled and brought over two tumblers with amber liquid swirling inside. “Are you going to prove me wrong?”
“Hell yes, I am,” she said gleefully. “You are so on.”
“Fine, here’re the terms,” he told her as he turned on the TV and the gaming system. “Pick the game, but we’re playing for something.”