by Codi Gary
But was she ready to think about an actual relationship with Eric?
Little needles of jealously stabbed at her when she thought of another woman waking up with him every morning, making dinner with him until food was forgotten and all they hungered for was each other. Another woman who would call him on his bullshit and bear his children. Another woman who would kiss him fifty times a day and grow old with him.
The thought of Eric with anyone else made her ill, but no matter how much she cared, she wasn’t sure if they were right for each other. It had to go beyond just feelings and down to what they both wanted for the future. She had been too afraid to ask any heavy questions about kids, afraid he’d think she was trying to move fast. A month was not long to date someone, and definitely too soon to start talking about marriage.
Unless you know that person is the right one.
She frowned at herself. Romantic craziness got you into trouble, and that was trouble she didn’t need. They were happy right now. No sense in rocking the boat.
And her feelings for him were definitely different from anything she’d ever felt before. She just wasn’t sure yet what to do with them except to treat him with all the respect and care that he’d done for her. That was a good start.
She slipped out of his arms to make breakfast. Fuzz got up to go with her.
When she reached the door, his voice stopped her. “Where are you off to?”
She turned toward him. He looked blurry-eyed and ornery and sexy. She couldn’t stop the goofy smile that spread across her mouth. “I was going to make us food.”
He shook his head. “Forget it. You’ve been sick all week and don’t need to strain yourself. Come back to bed, and we’ll get donuts later.” He held his arms out. “Hurry up, woman, it’s freezing without you.”
“Well, gee, since you asked so nicely.” She walked back to the bed and crawled into his arms. His big hand played with her hair and ran down her back, over the cotton of his T-shirt.
“How was work?” she asked.
He shrugged. “It was work. People got drunk, acted stupid, and I called them a cab. What did you do yesterday? Somebody said they saw your car parked at Mike Stevens’s.”
She looked up to see his expression. His eyes were closed and his face was relaxed. “Yeah, I went there after I spent the afternoon with my mom. We exchanged Christmas gifts and talked.” Several moments ticked by before she prodded, “Who said they saw my car?”
“I don’t know. I think it was Kirsten.” His voice held something she couldn’t place.
She leaned up on an elbow and tried teasing. “Were you jealous?”
He opened his eyes and looked at her face so directly, she froze. “Yes.”
His answer startled her, and a tiny part of her was thrilled. “Why were you jealous? I told you that Mike and I are just friends and that’s all we’ll ever be.”
“I don’t know.” Eric ran his hand over his face with a groan. “Just thought maybe you might have changed your mind.”
“Not yet. I promise you’ll be the first to know if I do, though.” She said it lightly, adding a kiss to let him know she was kidding. It was so strange to think of this big, macho guy feeling so insecure. It was just another clue that what was between them had somehow become real. “So, what should we do today?”
The shadows left his eyes, and he wiggled his bushy black eyebrows. “I could think of a few things.”
She ran her hand over the soft down hair covering his scalp. She was surprised he was letting it grow.
“Oh yeah?” she purred. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
* * *
Eric held his breath as her lips trailed down his neck. Her hands were doing little circles over his body, and after weeks without her, his cock was ready to explode. He waited with bated breath while her hand slid over his stomach and under his boxers. He lifted his head to kiss her, playing softly over her lips. She responded briefly, kissing him back hard, but then pulled away to trail her mouth over his bared abdomen. She hovered over him, her breath warming the front of his boxers. She slipped her hands into the top and slid them down.
His cock sprang free, and Gracie’s hand wrapped around the base of him just before her mouth covered his tip.
“Jesus…” he groaned, running his hand over the back of her hair.
She pulled up enough and teased, “Nope, just me.”
Before he could laugh or tell her that was a good one, her mouth was back and his laugh turned into another groan. His hands moved out of her hair, and he gripped the covers in his fists. He tried to think about anything but the feel of her going down on him. He started visualizing a car engine and how to rebuild it, but the sweep of her tongue under his shaft made little stars explode behind his eyes.
“Fuck, baby, if you don’t stop I’m gonna…”
She paused long enough to whisper breathlessly, “It’s okay.”
He rolled them until he was sitting up, hovering over her. “No. Not for me. It’s not good for me unless you go too.”
He caught her smile a second before his mouth took hers, and he drew out the kiss, making slow leisurely sweeps of his tongue. He helped her pull his T-shirt over her head, revealing her small perfect breasts, and gave each rosy nipple a soft kiss. “You are so beautiful.”
He watched her face as he rubbed the firm mounds gently, taking one of the hard points between his lips. He rolled it in his mouth, and her head fell back with a moan.
“I think about this a hundred times a day, touching you, kissing you, listening to those sweet sounds you make when I do something you like.”
Her lips twisted up at the corners, and her voice was breathy as she joked, “Only a hundred?”
He chuckled and moved his hands down her body. “It’s probably more, but every time you cross my mind, my dick pitches a tent in my pants, and it’s damn uncomfortable.”
Gracie giggled until he slipped his hand between her legs. His fingers found her clit, then slid down along her slit. He worked his fingers in and out of her with one hand while the other pressed her nub, making fast circles over it as she moved against him.
When her hand reached between them and grabbed his dick, he let her take control. She guided him to her entrance, and he pushed inside.
She tried to kiss him hard, but he controlled the rhythm of their lovemaking and kept the kisses soft. He eased out of her and slid back in deep, so slow it was bordering on torture for him, but he wanted it to be good for her. She held on to his shoulders, and he continued to kiss her sweet mouth as he slipped in and out of her tight body.
Finally, she started to tremble. He caught her cry in his mouth as her body rocked against his, and when her muscles spasmed around his cock, he let go.
As they both came down, he rolled onto his back and ran his hands over her spine. Her lips were sweetly swollen and her eyes dreamy, and he reached up to cup her cheek. Her smile was like Christmas lights, bright and twinkly, and her voice was low when she quipped, “I think you’re getting better at this.”
He grunted. “I’ve always been good at this. I’m just lucky I found the right partner.”
Her body stiffened, and he realized he’d sounded like a fucking jackass.
“Sorry, I just meant we’re good together.”
“Yeah,” she said, trailing her fingers over his chest without meeting his eye.
“It’s too bad you still don’t like me, though.”
His teasing had the effect he hoped for, and she relaxed. “Yeah. Too bad.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Being in love with someone is all about the little things…and not killing each other.” -Miss-Know-It-All’s Gossip Column
Two days before New Year’s Eve, Gracie sat down in the window seat of the Delta flight that would take them to Salt Lake City, Utah, and on to Chicago, Illinois, and finally, New York City. They had decided to fly out of Twin Falls instead of Boise because it was closer, but the two rows of seating on eith
er side of the plane’s aisle made the jet seem smaller.
Not that Gracie minded; she loved flying, but Eric was so tall, she was worried he’d be cramped.
“Are you sure you don’t want the window seat?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m good.”
She noticed the beads of sweat on his temples, and his skin appeared ashen. “Are you okay? Are you going to be sick?”
He jerked his head. “Yeah, no, I’m good.”
The flight attendant gave her safety demonstration, and the plane started to roll. Gracie watched Eric grip the armrests and bit her cheek to keep from smiling.
“Are you afraid of flying?”
“No, I just hate taking off. And landing.”
This time, Gracie did laugh, even as she slid her hand into his. “Don’t worry. Just squeeze my hand if you get scared.”
“I’m not a child.”
“That’s not why I’m offering. Everyone is scared of something. You shouldn’t be embarrassed of it.”
Eric didn’t say anything else, but as the plane lifted off the ground, Eric’s grip tightened on her hand. Gracie’s stomach flipped as the plane hit a pocket of air and dropped. She wasn’t scared of flying, but she wasn’t a fan of turbulence either.
“If you’re so nervous about taking off and landing, then why did we choose the two-stop option? We could have gone to Boise and just had the one stop in Denver.”
Eric turned his head, and she realized his eyes were closed.
“Because I didn’t want to pay for parking.”
Gracie burst out laughing. “You would rather be petrified than pay thirty dollars?”
“I am not petrified. If I were petrified, I wouldn’t be able to talk.”
Gracie grinned wickedly and leaned over, brushing her lips over his. “I’ve got a few ideas on how to get you to relax.”
“There is no way I’m fitting in a tiny airplane bathroom.”
Realizing he thought she was talking about sex, she giggled. “Actually, I was thinking we could just make out.”
He gave her a quick, hard kiss and whispered, “As much as I love doing that, I’m not really in the mood. I’d rather just talk.”
Gracie’s jaw dropped, and she was glad he couldn’t see the blush on her cheeks. She would never have expected Eric to turn her down just to talk.
He really is scared.
“Okay, what should we talk about?” she asked.
“Tell me about what’s going on with Pip.”
Gracie’s heart lifted. “I talked to Margaret, and the court hearing is set for the eighth. We’re hoping that none of her children show up and argue, since they haven’t seemed eager to help take care of her, but you never know.”
He opened his eyes and kissed her forehead. “You’re going to make a great mom.”
Gracie’s eyes filled with tears. “I know. And I love her. Of course, being a single mom is going to make dating more complicated.”
“Not if you’re with the right guy. He’s going to want you and her and all the baggage that comes with it.”
Gracie’s breath caught, and it was on the tip of her tongue to ask if he was the one. If he wanted all this and her.
But she was a coward.
“Thanks.” She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “I still have to find a bigger place. She can sleep with me or in the Pack ’n Play for now, but eventually, she needs her own room.”
“You still have time to look.”
She was relieved he hadn’t offered to let them move in, because that would have been an awkward plane ride. Although she could picture it, which should have made her run for the hills, but it didn’t. She imagined Eric and her arguing over décor and him teaching Pip about cars. The three of them hitting all the Rock Canyon activities, like the Fourth of July parade, the Harvest Festival, the tree-lighting ceremony. Being an actual family.
There was a loud ding, and the flight attendant came over the loudspeaker, letting them know they had hit ten thousand feet but to keep their seat belts securely fastened. Eric’s grip loosened a bit, and her hand started tingling as the feeling came back.
“So, I downloaded a couple of movies for us to watch on my iPad.”
“What kind of movies?” he asked, suspicion rife in his tone.
“Good ones like Pride and Prejudice, The Duff, Veronica Mars…”
He groaned, and she laughed.
“I may also have a Lethal Weapon, The Magnificent Seven, and a few other masculine choices.”
“Now we’re talking.” Eric kissed her, and as he pulled back, their gazes latched. “Thanks for being here, Gracie Lou. It means a lot.”
Gracie’s heartbeat sped up. “Sure. I’m happy for you. I’ll even let you pick first.”
She set up the iPad, and Eric lifted the armrest so that there was nothing between them. As they put the split-way headphones in their ears, Gracie laid her cheek on Eric’s chest while he held the screen on his knees. As the opening scene unfolded in a church, with some pretty nasty men threatening the townsfolk, Gracie realized that she’d never wanted to make a man happy before. She’d dated a lot of men, but she’d always worn the pants, and if she didn’t, she lost interest fast.
But compromising with Eric felt good. Just being with him did.
Who would have thought?
* * *
Ten hours later, Eric carried their bags across the shiny hotel floor, a definite hitch in his giddy-up from the hours his legs had been bent up to his chest. Next time they flew, he was booking first class and he was stretching out.
Gracie kept trying to take her bag from him, insisting she could carry the pink, bedazzled-looking luggage, but he’d growled at her more than once that his woman wasn’t carrying her luggage when he had an extra hand.
It was after eleven at night in New York, and Eric was ready to go to bed. It was funny considering he would usually be awake for another five hours or so at home, but traveling all day had wiped him out. He’d taken a little nap in Chicago, stretched out on the floor with his head in Gracie’s lap. That had been nice.
More than nice.
They checked in and headed up to their room on the fifteenth floor. The publisher had arranged their accommodations, and as they stepped inside the room, Eric froze.
“Holy shit!” Gracie said.
The room was spacious, with a king-size bed and two black nightstands on either side. The artwork on the walls was black-and-white framed photos of New York Skylines and the oversized black chair and ottoman in the corner looked inviting. A black desk was positioned against the wall, and the drapes to the window were spread open, showing off the bright lights from the city buildings.
“This is nice!” Gracie went into the bathroom and flipped on the light. “Hey, check out the bathroom.”
Eric came up behind her and whistled. A deep claw-foot tub and large shower, complete with two-sink vanity. It was almost as big as his bathroom.
“Before we leave, I’m soaking in that tub.”
Suddenly, Eric wasn’t so tired.
“Why don’t you go first, and I’ll clean up after you?” he said.
She smiled up at him. “You sure? We might be able to squeeze into the tub together.”
He looked dubiously at the bathtub. “Yeah, sure, with my legs sticking out. I can wait.”
Gracie grabbed her suitcase from him and wheeled it into the bathroom. “I won’t be long.”
Eric walked over to the window and looked down. Even at nearly midnight, the streets were packed with cars and people. It really was the city that never slept.
By the time Gracie finished in the bathroom, he had unpacked his clothes, including the tux he had rented for the party, and hung it up in the closet. The invitation from his publisher had said black tie, and he already knew he was going to feel like an odd duck, even in the penguin suit. He was supposed to meet his agent for coffee in the morning and go by his publisher’s office after, but he was hoping he’d get to enjoy
the city a bit with Gracie.
Gracie came out of the bathroom in Hello Kitty pajamas, and Eric grinned. “Has anyone every called you adorable?”
She quirked her left eyebrow at him. “Yes, but it’s not always meant as a compliment.”
He kissed her slowly until she was leaning into his body. “Mine is. And I won’t be long.”
He grabbed his shaving kit and a clean pair of sweats before heading into the bathroom. After his shower, he stared at his face, his beard, and his short hair that was just now several inches on the top and cleaned up on the sides.
He pulled out his trimming scissors, razor, and shaving cream and started to cut away at the hair on his face. When it was short enough, he covered his face with shaving cream and then slowly dragged his razor down his cheeks and neck.
Once his face was toweled dry, he looked back at the man in the mirror. It had been a long time since he’d seen his face clean-shaven. His cheekbones were high, and his chin square. It was strange, and he wasn’t even sure if he liked it.
Gracie might, though.
He pulled on the sweats and stepped out of the bathroom. Gracie was in bed, watching something on her iPad. Something that she obviously didn’t want him to see, since she slapped it shut.
When she turned toward him, she froze.
“Whoa,” she whispered.
Eric ran his hand over his face self-consciously. “I thought these city folks might be scared of the big, hairy mountain man.”
“I forgot what you looked like under all that hair,” she said. “The party is black tie, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, why?”
Her green eyes raked over him from head to toe. “I just realized that as sexy as you are with a beard, tomorrow you’re going to look like fucking James Bond.”
Eric laughed, not really taking her seriously. “Yeah, whatever.”
“No, I’m serious. You are going to have women crawling all over you.”
He couldn’t deny that her flattery was appreciated, but unnecessary. He flopped down on the bed next to her and reached for her tablet. “I only want one woman, so it’s not going to be an issue.”
She moved the device out of his reach. “Aw, who? Megan Fox?”