Going Hard: Steele Ridge Series

by Kelsey Browning

  “Mom,” Aubrey said through her teeth. “The bathrooms will wait.”

  “But I’m not dressed.”

  Grif and Aubrey shared a look that insinuated they wanted to both shake their heads at her. “Does she have clothes in her closet?” he asked Aubrey.

  “Are we talking fancy or casual?”

  “Definitely casual,” he said, passing the pink, yellow, and orange daisies to Aubrey. “For you.”

  Aubrey’s eyes went soft and dreamy. Her first flowers from a boy. From her father. Which made Carlie Beth’s heart go soft and dreamy. He was doing more than paying lip service to being a dad. He was trying and, from the looks of it, succeeding.

  Aubrey raised up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to Grif’s cheek. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Her smile was the size and strength of the sun as she headed for Carlie Beth’s room.

  “How did you know daisies were her favorite?”

  “The same way I knew sunflowers were yours. Sometimes I forget the sheer power of knowledge in a small town.” Grif eased past her into the house and held out the other bouquet to her. “How do you feel about dinner and little sightseeing?”

  “I don’t want to confuse Aubrey.”

  His easy smile disappeared. “I’m not trying to confuse anyone. She’s my daughter and I want to spend time with her.”

  “Then why don’t the two of you go and I’ll—”

  He caught her arm. “Is it her you don’t want to confuse, or yourself?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not trying to complicate or muddle things, but I do want to spend time with both of you. But this is a no-expectations outing. A little dinner and fun.”

  “Mo-o-o-o-m!” Aubrey called from down the hall.

  He took Carlie Beth by the shoulders and turned her around with a swat on the—

  “Did you just pat my ass?”

  A tinge of pink crept into Grif’s cheeks, which just charmed the heck out of her. “Sorry. Probably brought back bad memories of Roy Darden.”

  “Not even remotely the same.”

  Twenty minutes later, Aubrey had not only changed her own clothes, and done her makeup and hair, but she’d made Carlie Beth presentable in knee-high leather boots and a cute dress she hadn’t remembered she owned. While Aubrey brushed her hair, she caught Carlie Beth’s gaze in the bathroom mirror. “What’s going on between you and…” She took a deep breath and swallowed. “…Dad?”

  Carlie Beth’s skin burned hot and cold, not only because she was being put on the spot, but because Aubrey calling Grif Dad made it sound as if they were actually some type of family. And she had no idea what they were. “I don’t know.”

  “Are you dating?”

  Was windowsill sex considered dating? Carlie Beth could readily admit to herself it was the best so-called date she’d had in a long damn time. “We’re…talking.”

  “Is that a euphemism?”

  Squeezing her eyes closed, Carlie Beth breathed. “Please tell me that was rhetorical.”

  When she opened them again, Aubrey’s expression was serious. “I know I was kinda rude the other night, but I really don’t want him to hurt you.”

  She grasped her daughter’s hand and tried to give her a reassuring smile, hopefully masking her trembling lips. “Don’t worry about me. The most important thing is for the two of you to get to know each other better.”

  But dear Lord, the drive to Asheville, with Carlie Beth riding shotgun and Aubrey sitting behind her in Grif’s new soccer mom van, felt entirely too much like a true family outing. They even squabbled over who was entitled to control the radio. Aubrey voted for Taylor Swift while Carlie Beth argued in favor of Creed. In the end, Grif persuaded them that the driver was the only person with the power over the dial, so they sang along to Springsteen for the forty-minute drive.

  Grif glanced over at Carlie Beth. “I booked us on one of the comedy city tours, but now that I’m replaying our last conversation about”—he glanced in the rearview mirror—“stuff, I’m rethinking that.”

  “I know I came across as prudish the other day, but I’m pretty open with Aubrey. She’s been begging to go since some of her friends went on one. It’ll be fine.”

  By the time they boarded the tour bus in front of the French Broad Food Co-op, both Carlie Beth and Aubrey were antsy with excitement.

  “I feel like a tourist,” she told Grif.

  He took her hand. “That’s the whole point.”

  An hour and a half later, they’d laughed so much that the muscles around Carlie Beth’s ribcage ached. The tour had been a little ribald, pretty informative, and highly entertaining. She said to Grif, “If you were thinking of starting something like that in Steele Ridge, I hate to tell you the whole thing would be about ten minutes long, if that.”

  “Actually, I’m trying to get an idea of what Steele Ridge can offer that Asheville and other towns can’t. That’s our sweet spot.” He grinned at Aubrey. “So for dinner, should we go tourist or local?”

  “I say tourist,” Aubrey told him.

  “Tupelo Honey Café it is.”

  Once they were inside the famous Asheville restaurant, Grif flashed a smile at the hostess and a table for three miraculously opened up even though a line of people snaked down the sidewalk outside.

  “You live a charmed life, you know that, right?” Carlie Beth said to him as the hostess led them to a table near a window and flashed an I’d-be-happy-to-be-dessert smile at Grif.

  The most entertaining part of the entire situation was Aubrey’s glare at the attractive twenty-something woman. “You’re scoping out my dad.”

  “Oh.” The hostess had the grace to tuck her chin in embarrassment. “Sorry about that.” She quickly passed around menus and scurried from the table.

  “Aubrey,” Carlie Beth scolded.

  “What?” Her tone was mild as she studied her menu, but she darn well knew what she’d done.

  “That was rude.”

  “So is eye-frisking a man who’s with two women.”

  “If I’d realized a fourteen-year-old was such good personal security, I would’ve imported Aubrey to LA years ago.”

  Aubrey looked up and trained her narrowed eyes on Grif. “Do a lot of women hit on you?”

  He shot a panicked look at Carlie Beth and she gave him a subtle head shake. No, she hadn’t mentioned a word to Aubrey about Madison Henry. That was something he’d have to do when the time was right.

  This was probably the only time Carlie Beth had ever seen him fiddle with his clothes, first tugging at his folded sleeves and then brushing a hand down his shirt front. She gently pulled his hand away from his collar before he completely mangled it. “Los Angeles is a big city,” he said finally.

  Aubrey pulled out her phone. “Hmm…population of LA County is ten million and gender split is fifty-one percent women and forty-nine percent men. If you assume one out of each five hundred, then we’re talking over ten thousand women.”

  “I don’t even know that many women.”

  “You don’t have to know them. You just have to come into contact with them.”

  He propped an elbow in the table and cradled his head in his hand, angled toward Carlie Beth. “I can’t win this, can I?”

  “Nope.” A surge of affection so huge welled up in Carlie Beth that it threatened to drown her, simply crash over her head and take her to the bottom. So she avoided Grif’s scrutiny and fumbled for her menu. “Should we order?”

  A few seconds later, she looked up and caught sight of a familiar face in the line outside the restaurant. Dave was standing—arms crossed and mouth drawn—staring directly at Carlie Beth. He’d told her several times that he wasn’t a fan of the city, so what was he doing in one of the busiest parts of Asheville?

  Aubrey caught the line of Carlie Beth’s gaze and looked over her shoulder. Her eyebrows went up, but she waved at Dave, and he grudgingly returned the gesture.

  When she turned back to the table,
Aubrey said, “Wow, Dave is having a night on the town. Wonder if he has a date?”

  From the way he was standing apart from the other people in line and scowling toward Carlie Beth, she doubted it. Still, she gave him a tentative wave as well, but he turned away and melted into the crowd.

  “Who was that?” Grif asked.

  “Just a friend from home,” she said, shaking off the apprehension that Dave might’ve followed them from Steele Ridge.

  When the waiter approached the table, Aubrey asked for the Southern Belle grilled cheese, Grif went for the shrimp and grits, and Carlie Beth simply pointed at something on the second page. “Oh, and one of those bacon Bloody Marys, please.” Lord knows, she needed some fortification.

  Once the waiter was gone, Grif said, “So I had an ulterior motive for bringing you to Asheville. It was a spy mission.”

  Aubrey giggled. “Oh, like Mata Hari.”

  “More like corporate espionage. Steele Ridge needs something that no other town has, something really big to attract tourists to Steele Ridge. Maybe an event that would benefit from my contacts in the sports world.”

  Aubrey’s face went slack at that. “Are you saying famous sports players might come to Steele Ridge?”

  “Nothing’s for sure right now.”

  “If you tell me Ian Brinkmann is coming to my hometown, I will just die.”

  Grif shot a look Carlie Beth’s way. “I’m scratching him off the list for any future event.”

  Aubrey clutched at his arm and bounced in her seat. “Are you serious? You know the Brick?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Oh my God, my dad knows the hottest hockey player in the history of the world. Wait until I tell Brooke. She’ll just die.”

  Not long ago, Grif’s and Aubrey’s easy back-and-forth would’ve put Carlie Beth on edge. Made her feel defensive and territorial. But today, it simply felt like a normal family dynamic.

  Unfortunately, they weren’t a normal family.

  Not a true family at all.

  * * *

  On their way home from Asheville, Aubrey dozed in the backseat and Grif glanced at Carlie Beth, his expression as full of affection now as it had been at the restaurant earlier. “I know I’ve said this before, but you raised a great kid.”

  “Yeah, but she’s not perfect. So be careful about all those stars in your eyes. After you left the forge that day and she figured out I’d never told you about her, she called me an asshole.”

  “Whoa. Miss Joan would’ve been pulling out the Ivory soap if I’d done that at Aubrey’s age. Half the time, I think she’d give all her kids a good mouth-washing now if she thought she could catch us.”

  “I know what it’s like to be infatuated when you first realize you’re a parent. It’s easy to want to be a friend and sweep the little things under the rug.”

  “So are you telling me not to let her snow me?”

  “I’m reminding you there’s a difference between a parent and a friend. And it’s easy, when you don’t see your child every day, to overcompensate when you’re with her.” Although it would be hard on Aubrey—and not only her—each time Grif got on a plane to fly west, it was actually a better deal than a lot of kids from divorced families had. “I’ve never had to share her before.”

  “I don’t want to take her away from you. I’m sorry I ever threatened you with that. I was just so…so…”

  “Surprised?”

  “I was going to say hurt.”

  It seemed impossible that she could hurt such a self-assured, sophisticated man. But she reached for his hand and he threaded his fingers with hers. The comfort, the rightness, of his touch flowed over her. “She could stay with you sometimes when you’re in town, if you both want.”

  “Really?”

  “The only catch is that the rules have to be the same no matter where she sleeps. I have friends whose kids ping-pong not only between two houses but between what are essentially two lives. I don’t think that’s good for anyone.”

  “I started to ask Aubrey something at the table earlier, but I wanted to pass it by you first.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m putting together a nice reception, something where I can introduce the Steele Ridge business owners to plans for economic improvement. Would you be okay if Aubrey helped me organize the reception? I know she’s not old enough for a real job, but I’d pay her and she’d get some good experience.”

  “Thanks for asking me,” she said as they pulled up in front of her house. “But it’s really up to Aubrey.”

  “What’s up to Aubrey?” The sleepy question came from the backseat.

  Grif got out and came around the van to open Carlie Beth’s door. She couldn’t hold back a grin when he slid open the side door—shoop—to hand Aubrey out of her seat.

  Grif Steele driving a family vehicle. It still boggled the mind.

  “I was asking your mom if she thought you’d like to help me put together a reception event. Catering, AV setup, that kind of thing. You do a good job with that and it could give you a leg up if I ever organize something with sports players.”

  Aubrey’s eyes popped wide and she looked over Grif’s shoulder to catch Carlie Beth’s attention. “Really?”

  “As long as your schoolwork doesn’t suffer, it’s up to you.”

  Aubrey tilted her head in disbelief. “When has my schoolwork ever suffered?”

  “Then I guess there’s your answer.”

  With a flying leap, Aubrey jumped out of the van and wrapped her arms around Carlie Beth. “You are the best mom in the whole world.”

  Behind Aubrey, Grif stood there grinning like a complete lunatic at the two of them wrapped up in one another. Before he could brace himself, Aubrey released Carlie Beth and swung her attention to him, clinging to him like bull nettle. “And you’re the best dad in the whole world.”

  His grin faded to an expression that could only be described as two-by-foured.

  Aubrey gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek, then did a complicated dance step toward the front door. “I have tons of ideas. Gotta go write them down!”

  Once the front door slammed cheerfully behind her, Grif stood there in the front yard, his arms limp by his sides and his jaw slightly unhinged. Poor man had just been Aubreyed. “Nobody warned me about teenagers.”

  “Unfortunately, you don’t even get an Ikea-type instruction booklet with them.”

  “Someone should write one.”

  “They’re like Transformers. By the time you think you understand them and can document the whole thing, they’ve mutated. When Aubrey gets excited about something, there’s no stopping her. She’s a force of nature.”

  His head shake was a vague movement, as if he were just waking from a particularly confusing dream. “I wonder where she comes by that?”

  “Well, you’ve got nurture or nature.”

  His blue eyes cleared of their fog and took on a predatory intensity that made Carlie Beth’s pulse flutter in her throat. “I’m splitting my money between them.” In that way he had, Grif slowly advanced on her, one side of his mouth tilting up, until her spine hit the van’s side mirror. “Is there anything you can’t do? You make cool art with your bare hands. You make single parenting look easy. You make my heart beat like I’ve just run the length of Malibu.”

  “I can’t be trusted with white chocolate or Malbec.”

  His hands went to her hair, lifting the thick mass and letting it drift through his fingers. “And I apparently can’t be trusted with you.”

  When his mouth met hers, it was hot and avid, like he was making a statement and asking a question at the same time. If only she could decipher what they each were.

  She knew her statement and question.

  I want you and where are we going?

  But the power of his kiss was only one reason she didn’t say either of them aloud. She feared an answer as much as she craved it.

  When Grif’s hand covered her breast, her thoughts wh
ooshed away. Her nipple tightened as he rolled it between his fingers.

  His hips pushed against hers, making the level of his arousal more than obvious.

  Carlie Beth smiled against his lips.

  He slid over to kiss the corner of her mouth, her cheekbone, her earlobe and growled, “Something making you particularly happy?”

  Knowing they were in shadow, that Aubrey wouldn’t be able to see them even if she were staring out the front window—which she wasn’t because she was too busy making lists—Carlie Beth eased her hand down Grif’s torso and rubbed the heel of her palm along his erection until she could cup his balls through his jeans.

  “Fuck,” he groaned.

  She laughed, slightly amazed at how wicked she sounded. “Not tonight.”

  “This having-a-teenager thing has its complications, huh?”

  “You haven’t seen the half of it.” She rubbed again, tracing the width and length of him.

  With his teeth set, he grabbed her hand and interrupted her exploration. “What are we doing, Carlie Beth?”

  That stopped her cold. “You’re asking me?”

  “Isn’t that obvious?”

  “The girl is the one who’s supposed to ask that question.”

  His brows drew together. “Uncertainty goes both ways.”

  “What do you want us to be doing?”

  “I could make a crack about that being obvious.” He glanced down at where he was still hard behind his zipper. “But I won’t, because this is serious.”

  “Grif, I’m not asking you for anything. Not for myself, anyway.” Still, a ray of hope was forming inside her.

  His expression went thoughtful. “Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe you need to be selfish for once. Let me take you out. An adult date this time. Wine, dinner, and dessert, if you want. Say yes.” Then he kissed her again, his lips gentle, the lust still there but banked.

  “I never turn down dessert.” But Carlie Beth was worried that what she really wanted was her very own hazelnut cream cheese puff.

  23

  Although Grif had good intentions of treating Carlie Beth to that promised wining, dining, and desserting, apparently the citizens of Steele Ridge had a completely different idea of how he should spend his time. This was the third time this week that he’d come downstairs to find people lined up outside the door of his workspace.