She couldn’t believe how close she was to an almost naked Grady Cole. She could smell the musk of his aftershave. She could see the texture of the skin on his arm and shoulder, the detail of the tattoos. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to pull off the blanket and let him into the bed next to her. She wanted to be loved by him.
“Tell me what?” she said, breathless with anticipation.
“Thank you.”
She wasn’t sure why he was thanking her, for looking after Destiny, for being good company, for putting a little light in his life, for stepping out of the bathroom in the towel, but before she could ask, he kissed her on the cheek.
It was a gentle kiss, more affectionate than passionate. It was a kiss of fondness.
Even still, it sent a shockwave through her. It woke up a desire in her for more. She wanted to follow him down the path of intimacy, to finally find out what it was like to go all the way with a man, but before she could react he got off the bed and went back to his armchair.
He pulled his blanket up over himself and settled into the chair.
“Good night, Autumn,” he said softly.
“Good night, Grady.”
She lay there, motionless, her senses in disarray. She’d never felt that way before. She was lying just a few feet from a man who she wanted more than she’d ever wanted anything. He was right there. And she knew with a certainty he wanted her too.
Her pussy tingled with desire. She felt warm and wet and longed to touch herself, but she didn’t dare. What if he heard her? What if that was exactly what he was trying to coax her into doing?
She lay next to Destiny in the warm bed and tried with all her might to fall asleep.
It didn’t take long for sleep to come.
CHAPTER 26
AUTUMN
They woke early the next morning and Autumn wasn’t sure exactly where she stood with Grady. Had last night been a date? Had they been flirting? Had they been expressing interest in each other?
Or was it all just dinner conversation?
Did Grady know what she’d been hoping for when she stepped out of the bathroom?
“How did you sleep?” Grady said, brushing past her on his way to the bathroom.
He had a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else.
“Good. I heard you with Destiny during the night,” she said.
“I woke up for a while and thought I should hold her. She slept well though.”
Autumn nodded. She’d been so aroused when she fell asleep that she’d had explicit dreams about Grady all night long. She prayed she hadn’t made a sound in her sleep.
She sat up in the bed and watched his perfect body move around the room. He put on the coffee and got dressed right in front of her while it brewed. She was shy but not as shy as she’d been with him before. She knew him better now. They’d been through things together. She tried not to look like she was watching him but that’s exactly what she was doing. She picked up Destiny and bobbed her on her lap while watching Grady put on a clean t-shirt. He sat at the end of her bed and pulled on some shorts under the towel and then stood up, letting the towel fall to the floor.
He was so well endowed that the shorts scarcely covered what was beneath.
He walked carelessly to the coffee machine and poured two cups.
“Here,” he said, handing her a cup of fresh coffee.
She looked into his face to avoid looking at his crotch.
“Thanks.”
“I can take Destiny out for a little exploration while you get dressed,” he said. “Give you some privacy.”
“Okay,” she said, glad to be getting the room to herself while she dressed.
They drank their coffee together, neither of them saying much, but Autumn felt a strange sense of intimacy between them. It was what she imagined a morning after might feel like, if she’d ever had a morning after.
They were a little like a couple, sipping their coffee in various forms of undress, him sitting next to her on the empty side of the bed.
“How was the armchair?” she said.
“I’ve slept on worse.”
“You should have slept on the bed next to me,” she said. “I could trust you to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Could you?” he said, a cheeky grin crossing his face.
She hit him playfully on the arm and he laughed.
After the coffee he finished getting dressed and went out to the motel lobby with Destiny, taking his bag with him.
Autumn took the chance to get ready properly, having a hot bath, putting on the new makeup they’d picked up, trying on the underwear and clothing. It wasn’t anything fancy but it did the job.
She gathered her things and met Grady out front. He was watching the local news channel on the lobby television and playing with Destiny.
“You hungry?” he said.
She nodded and they drove to a diner next to the Italian place they’d had dinner in. They each ordered eggs and bacon and washed it all down with coffee.
“I could get used to sharing meals with you,” Grady said while they ate.
She looked up at him.
“Why’s that?”
“You have a nice way about you.”
“A nice way?”
“You know, you make conversation but you don’t talk nonstop. You say nice things, or interesting things. You don’t complain about the food. You’re just good company.”
She smiled at him.
He got the bill and she noticed he left the waiter a twenty dollar tip. She liked that he was generous with his money. She’d never cared about being with a rich man, but she’d always known she didn’t want to be with someone who was stingy.
After that, they were back on the road for a few hours until they started to get back to the familiar territory of her childhood.
“That’s my high school,” Autumn said as they passed the brick building she’d spent so many days of her life in.
“I love it,” Grady said.
“And that’s the bakery I worked in,” she said as they made their way down Main Street.
Grady pulled over and stepped out of the car. He came back a minute later with a big, pink cakebox.
“What’s that?” she said.
“What does your mother think of strawberry shortcake?”
“She loves it,” Autumn said, amazed at how thoughtful Grady was.
“Now, where’s the hospital?”
She directed him to the edge of town where the hospital was and they parked by the visitor entrance.
Autumn hesitated before leaving the car and Grady noticed that she was nervous.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” he said. “I can already tell that your mother loves you more than anything.”
“Oh, you can?”
“Yes, and she’ll be so happy to see you.”
“What if she’s hurt that I never sent the money?”
“She’ll understand, Autumn,” Grady said, taking Destiny from the carseat and walking her to the entrance of the hospital.
“I guess I should leave you here for a while,” Grady said. “Me and the baby can entertain ourselves for a few hours.”
“No,” Autumn said a little loudly. “She’ll want to meet you.”
“Me?” Grady said.
“Yes, the man who paid for us to be here. The man who drove me all the way here from Montana.”
Grady nodded and they went to the waiting room. Autumn spoke to the nurse and was told they could visit her mother.
She led the way, Grady following behind her, and she was surprised at how much comfort she got from his presence. This was her home. She was visiting her own mother. But having Grady there, a man she still didn’t really know, gave her the confidence and sense of security she needed to go through with it.
When they reached her mother’s room, Grady waited in the corridor.
Autumn entered without him and when she saw her mother lying in the bed she burst into tears.
“Oh, baby,” her mother said, crying too.
Autumn leapt onto the bed and hugged her mother so tightly she made her laugh.
“How I missed you, my sweet,” her mother said.
“I was so scared I’d never be able to see you again, mom.”
Her mother laughed. Autumn had scarcely been gone a month.
Despite the brief amount of time that had passed, her mother had aged.
“What did they do to you?” she said, looking at her mother’s face more closely for the first time.
“I’m not that bad, am I?”
“Oh, sorry,” Autumn said. “No, I mean, you look really great, mom.”
Her mother laughed.
“I know, I know. You don’t have to sugarcoat it.”
“I can’t believe they sent you back to the clinic.”
“Well, when I couldn’t pay the bills.”
Autumn looked into her mother’s eyes and teared up.
“That was my fault,” she said.
“Oh, never say that, you dear girl.”
“I thought they were sending you the pay checks.”
“I know you did, sweetie.”
“Aunt Shirley thought I was keeping the money.”
“She was just confused, Autumn. She didn’t know what to think. Besides, you know she’s always been prone to jumping to conclusions.”
Autumn nodded.
“But tell me,” her mother said, “how on earth did you manage to take care of all the bills so quickly? Did the Hildegards give you what they owed?”
“No they did not,” Autumn said, unable to hide the anger in her voice. “It was someone else.”
“Who?”
Autumn looked at her mother a little shyly.
“Autumn?” her mother said.
Autumn went to the door and opened it. Grady was standing in the corridor holding Destiny. Autumn beckoned for him to enter the room.
He came in and Autumn watched her mother’s reaction with amusement.
“My, my, my,” her mother said.
“Mom, this is Grady Cole. Grady, this is my mother.”
“It’s a pleasure, Mrs. Lane,” Grady said.
He stepped forward chivalrously and took her hand, kissing it gently.
“Oh my,” Autumn’s mom said again.
“Mom, Grady, I mean, Mr. Cole, he’s the one who paid the hospital bills.”
“Mr. Cole, I owe you more than you can ever know.”
“Oh, think nothing of it,” Grady said.
“Not just for paying the bills, but more importantly, for bringing my little girl home to me. You have no idea how worried I’ve been about her.”
Grady nodded.
“Well, Mrs. Lane, your daughter has been like a ray of sunshine in my life. And in my daughter’s. I was glad to be able to do something for her.”
Autumn’s mother looked at her, her eyebrows arched inquisitively.
“Grady, Mr. Cole I mean, was a guest at the hotel, mom.”
“Was he?” her mother said.
“Yes, mom.”
Autumn felt herself beginning to blush. She knew exactly what her mother was thinking, and when she looked at Grady, the smirk on his face did nothing to ease the situation.
“Well, Grady, I mean Mr. Cole,” Autumn stammered, “I imagine you’d like to go wait in the cafeteria.”
Autumn was desperate to explain things to her mother before she got too much of the wrong idea. She’d never been with a man in her life and her mother was what you might safely call conservative in her views on how a man and woman should court. She didn’t want her mother thinking she’d fallen into bed with the first man who looked her way.
“I’m fine here,” Grady said, purposely making the situation more awkward.
“No, no,” Autumn insisted. “The cafeteria is excellent.” Then, under her breath she added, “go, now.”
Her mother watched everything with a look of extreme bemusement and Autumn felt herself blushing terribly.
“All right,” Grady said, raising a hand. “Mrs. Lane, it’s been a pleasure.”
He bowed courteously to her before leaving the room.
Autumn watched the door behind him, making sure he wasn’t coming back.
“Autumn,” her mother said when the door shut. “Explain.”
Autumn was surprised when she looked back at her mother. She wasn’t angry at all, as she’d expected, but rather enjoying the situation, and her daughter’s obvious embarrassment.
“Mom, it’s not at all what you think.”
“And how do you know what I think?” her mother said.
“Because I know how it looks.”
“And how is that?”
“It looks like he’s my… my…”
“Your?”
“Lover?” Autumn said, making it more of a question than a statement.
“And is he?”
Autumn shook her head emphatically, terrified her mother wouldn’t believe her.
But when her mother spoke, it was Autumn’s turn to be incredulous.
“That’s a shame,” she said.
“What?”
“You could do a lot worse than a man like that.”
“Mother!”
“Well, Autumn honey, look at him.”
Autumn couldn’t believe it. She’d never heard her mother speak like that in her life.
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean, young lady.”
“You’ve never spoken about a boy I liked like that before.”
“This isn’t a boy though, is it. It’s a man.”
Autumn nodded.
“All man,” her mother continued.
“Mom, I get it.”
“Autumn honey, if I was twenty years younger.”
“Mom! Gross.”
“Oh, give me that much,” her mother said, laughing. “The nurses and doctors here seemed determined to take everything pleasurable away from me.”
“But you never speak like this,” Autumn said.
“You never heard me speak like this. That doesn’t mean it never happened.”
“Why is it happening now?”
“Because, my dear, now we’re two women, and this is the way women talk.”
Autumn had been feeling emotional since stepping into the room, but now the tears returned to her eyes and fell over her cheeks. It was the first time her mother had ever referred to her as a woman.
“Really?”
Her mother nodded. “I’m proud of you, Autumn. You went to work for those strange people and you kept your word.”
“It didn’t do much good.”
“That wasn’t your fault. You did your part, and I’m proud of you for that. Prouder than you’ll ever know.”
Autumn got back on the bed and hugged her mother.
“I just pray they can get you healthy again, now that you’re back here. You were doing so well before I left.”
“They’ll do what they can do,” her mother said with the resignation of a woman who’d been in too many doctors’ offices and hospital beds to still put her hopes in the latest prognosis. “But let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about you.”
“What’s there to talk about with me? I’ve been making beds and vacuuming carpets.”
“Oh, I think you’ve been doing more than that,” her mother said conspiratorially.
“Mom!”
“Well? You can’t just walk in here with a man like that, and a baby, and not offer up some sort of an explanation.”
“He’s just a friend, mom.”
“Autumn, take it from a woman who has a lot more experience, a man like that is never just a friend.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, he didn’t just drive you halfway across the country and pay your mother’s medical bills because he’s hoping you’ll become his babysitter.”
“That’s exactly wha
t he’s hoping,” Autumn said.
“Oh, Autumn, please.”
“Well, that’s what I’ve been. I play with the baby, feed her sometimes, give her the female touch.”
“You’re more naive than I thought, my dear.”
“I am not,” Autumn protested, knowing full well that was exactly what she was. “He hasn’t kissed me yet.”
“That will come.”
“He hasn’t so much as touched me.”
“It’s called wooing, my dear.”
“I thought wooing was a thing out of history books.”
“Sadly, it is too often,” her mother said, “but it’s still alive and well if you find the right man.”
“The right man?”
“The kind of man who enjoys that kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Drawing out the thrill of the chase, my dear.”
“The thrill of the chase?”
“Oh, honey, you have so much to learn.”
“Then teach me. You sent me out into the world absolutely clueless.”
“You weren’t ready to learn.”
“Well I’m ready now.”
Her mother looked at her and chuckled to herself. “So you are, my dear. So you are.”
Autumn waited, eager for her mother to proceed.
“Well, let me ask you this. Do you think Mr. Cole likes you?”
Autumn shrugged.
“Oh, please don’t be coy, sweetheart.”
“Fine. Yes.”
“So you think he’d like to kiss you?”
Autumn nodded.
“Then why do you think he hasn’t?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“Humor me.”
Autumn threw up her hands. “Because he’s shy?”
Her mother smirked. “Sweetie, does he look shy?”
Autumn shook her head. “Not really, but he did say he thought he was old enough to be my father.”
“That was just to see what you’d say.”
“I said he wasn’t. He’s only ten years older than me.”
“So you gave him exactly what he wanted.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“And what’s that?”
“Permission, child. Permission.”
Autumn rolled her eyes. “Mom, what are you even talking about?”
Her mother put her hand on Autumn’s shoulder and looked into her eyes.
“Oh, you’ll find out very soon, sweetheart. And when you do, it will be the greatest thing you’ve ever experienced in your entire life.”
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