by Laura Ann
Aaaannnd just like that, the magic is gone. “How chivalrous of you,” Grace said without enthusiasm. She slipped her gloved hand into his and let him pull her upright. “But just for the record, I would have been fine. I can walk down stairs in these shoes as well as drive. Pretty sure I could have gotten out of the car.”
“Until you fell and cracked a tooth on the ice out here,” Vaughn muttered. “Here.” He put a hand on her elbow and began walking her toward the hotel. “Let’s not shed blood so early in the night.”
“Whatever,” she muttered.
“Why the heck do women wear such stupid shoes anyway?”
Because men find them attractive, you Bozo! “Well... I certainly won’t be able to wear them when I’m older, so I better enjoy them now.” Grace smiled at him, hoping to ease his rudeness with kindness.
“Just seems dumb to me,” Vaughn said, opening the front door.
“Good thing you aren’t a girl then,” Grace said easily, walking inside. “And thank you.”
OH YEAH. IT’S A VERY good thing I’m not a girl. Vaughn hadn’t even seen Grace’s dress yet and he was already sweating like a pig. Her slim, toned legs in those shiny shoes were enough to make any man feel as if he were in a sauna. One night, Man. Just one night.
After they had purchased their tickets, they walked over to the area where they could hang their coats. Gently, he reached for Grace’s shoulders, helping slip the heavy, wool peacoat from her body. Smooth skin and elegant shoulders met his eyes and Vaughn gulped as his bowtie suddenly tried to strangle him.
His eyes couldn’t help but drift down to take in the whole picture. Grace’s dress ended at her knees, hugging every curve on the way down. The top was heart-shaped and only had one strap over her shoulder.
Vaughn squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath in through his nose. One night. That’s all it’s gonna be is one night, because it just might kill me.
“Vaughn?” Grace asked quietly, resting her fingertips on his forearm. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” Vaughn squeaked out, stepping out of her reach. He cleared his throat, embarrassed at his tone. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just a little headache.” He handed the coat to the helper, then took off his own, grateful to be rid of the heat it brought.
“You look really nice,” Grace said with a soft smile. “Thank you again for doing this.”
Vaughn nodded. “Thanks. You too.” That familiar pinch in his heart hit when her face fell at his curt words. “Sorry. I guess that wasn’t very boyfriend like, huh?” He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. “You look ravishing, Dear.” He smirked and held out his elbow. “Shall we?”
Grace’s face didn’t change, but she slipped her fingers into the crook of his arm and nodded.
“Sorry. I, uh, I’m not sure what you want me to do here,” Vaughn stammered.
Grace shook her head. “No. Don’t be sorry. You’re doing exactly what I asked for. I just... I just don’t really want you to worry about false compliments okay? Just holding my hand and dancing with me should be enough to convince people we’re together.”
He wasn’t sure why, but her words were like a sword to his chest. What did you expect? You’ve spent the last few months trying to get her to hate you and move on. “If that’s what you want,” he finally forced out.
Grace’s smile wasn’t as wide as normal, but she nodded. “I think it’s for the best.” She turned away from him and studied the room. “Wow. They really went all out.”
Vaughn followed her gaze and had to give the decorator’s credit. “Yeah. It looks much more high-end than I would have expected from this tiny place.”
Grace laughed. “Yeah. You should see our town in the daytime.” She glanced up at him with a twinkle in her eyes. “It looks even smaller then.”
Vaughn couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. “How many people were in your high school?”
Grace shrugged. “Maybe forty in my class?”
He whistled low under his breath. “Wow. That is small. And this girl, the one who you all are trying to show up, is she here tonight?”
“I would think so.” Grace’s eyes wandered again. “She’s the one who put this whole thing together.”
“Why the couples thing? Why does she care?”
Grace’s lip curled up. “I guess the town gossip says she’s trying to make it more... exclusive or big city or something along those lines.” Grace scoffed. “She’s dating some plastic surgeon or something, maybe she was trying to show off for him.”
Vaughn’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow. That’s...”
“Ridiculous?” Grace offered.
“I was about to say stupid, but ridiculous is probably a nicer way to say it.”
“Yeah, well, we’re too small to just ignore her, so,” she shrugged again, “here we are.”
Vaughn took a deep breath and the scent of spiced apple hit his nose. “At least it smells like you’ve got good food.”
Grace laughed. “Leave it to a guy to pick out the food first.” She looked up at him. “Would you like to go check out the refreshments?”
“Sounds like a start,” he said with a nod. His large hand grasped her smaller one and he grit his teeth at the rightness of it. “Let’s see what this fancy pants party has.”
CHAPTER 3
Grace did her best to ignore the insanely handsome man at her side, but it was far more difficult than she had imagined. She was used to seeing him in his work t-shirts and worn jeans and boots. Nothing, absolutely nothing could have prepared her for seeing Vaughn Moreno in a tuxedo.
I wonder if he had to have the coat custom made, she mused. His broad shoulders filled out the suit perfectly and made it difficult to keep her eyes on anything but him.
“Here.” Vaughn thrust a plate in her direction and Grace took it, holding in her exasperated sigh. If he were really my boyfriend, we’d have to have a serious talk. Vaughn stepped aside to let Grace go first and she couldn’t help but grin. “Thank you,” she whispered. Okay... I guess he has a few manners, at least.
They spent the next couple of minutes in silence as they loaded their plates. Grace was starving. She hadn’t eaten dinner because she was so nervous and now she was ready to eat the entire table of goodies. Once her plate was full, she backed away. “I think that’s it for me,” she stated.
Vaughn glanced at the rest of the buffet. “I’d like a few more things, give me a minute.”
“I’ll just go grab us a table,” she replied. After Vaughn nodded his agreement, Grace took off, looking for two open seats. It wasn’t hard to find, the dance floor was busy, but the tables weren’t being used much at the moment.
She set her plate down, then pulled out a chair and sat down. Just after she had filled her mouth with a savory bite, another person arrived at the table. Grace glanced up, expecting it to be Vaughn, but she nearly choked on her bite when she spied Camille standing with a smirk on her face.
“Camille!” Grace coughed.
“Hello, Grace. Nice to see you could make it to my little get-together.” A tall, handsome man stood behind Camille, staring into the distance, obviously not interested in the conversation.
That must be the surgeon we’ve all heard so much about. “Oh, me too. I’ve always loved coming to things where I’m forced into certain restrictions and compliances.” Grace smiled sweetly. “Makes for such a fun evening, don’t you think?”
Camille frowned for a moment before her cool smirk was back. “I don’t know if you realized it, Hon, but this was a couples only event.” She made a point of looking around. “Just where is your better half?”
Grace grit her teeth. She’s unbelievable. “He’s not here at the moment,” she finally pushed out.
Camille made a surprised face. “Oh wait, did he run away because you were eating too much?” She pouted in fake sympathy. “Overeating isn’t very attractive, you know. Men tend to lose interest.”
A fire began to burn in Grace’s chest, one she was u
nequipped to handle. Grace was far more likely to run from a fight, then talk back. Wren or even Faye were the warriors, but Grace... Grace usually smiled and took whatever was dealt out. However, tonight was different. She was already on edge with Vaughn’s snarky attitude and now listening to Camille act as if they were both back in high school pushed Grace over the edge. For once she refused to let the bully win. “Thanks for your concern. I’ll be sure to be careful, but don’t worry about him losing interest.” Grace leaned in as if imparting a secret. “I don’t think he would have proposed if he wasn’t interested.” The fight drained out of her just as fast as it had come when she realized what she had said.
Camille’s eyes rounded, then jumped to the large body of Vaughn as he finally approached the table. “So it’s the wedding dress we need to worry about then, huh?” Camille shot back with an evil grin.
Vaughn dropped his plate with a heavy thud and his panicked gaze shot from Camille to Grace. “Wedding dress?” he rasped.
Grace’s face was on fire. She was sure she could roast a marshmallow against her cheeks, but there was no time for that now. Jumping out of her seat, she grabbed Vaughn’s arm. “Oh you know, just a little girl talk,” she soothed. Leaning in she mock whispered, “I’m sorry I let the cat out of the bag, but I couldn’t help but share our news.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. The engagement was supposed to be a secret?” Camille put a hand to her chest. “Whyever would you want to hide something so wonderful?”
Can you just shut up? Grace wanted to yell, instead she just held onto Vaughn’s arm tighter and prayed that he would play along. Ha! I’m praying that he’ll help me lie. Pretty sure the Lord isn’t going to look on that one very fondly.
“Uh... well, the ring is still being sized, so we weren’t making it public yet,” Vaughn stammered, patting Grace’s hand.
It took Grace a moment to realize that he hadn’t outed her. “That’s... right! We wanted to wait until we had the ring.” She nodded jerkily. “So we’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourselves. You know, don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“Mum’s the word,” Camille said with a sly grin. Her eyes roved over Vaughn, who shifted under her intense scrutiny. “So... what did you say your name was?”
“Vaughn,” he said curtly, helping Grace back into her seat.
“And just what do you do Vaughn?” Camille leaned her hip against the table, close to where Vaughn had sat down.
His entire body stiffened and Grace grabbed his hand, willing her strength into him. “I’m a carpenter.” Vaughn kept his eyes on the table as if completely dismissing Camille’s presence.
Grace wanted to strangle the other woman when Camille’s nose wrinkled ever so slightly. “Huh. That can’t pay the bills very well, can it?”
Vaughn acted as if the comment didn’t bother him. “I do fine, but most importantly I’m doing what I enjoy.”
Camille sniffed. “This is Richard,” she said with a nod over her shoulder. “He’s a plastic surgeon.”
Vaughn finally looked up and he and Grace nodded in welcome, which Richard returned.
When no one else spoke, Camille snorted. “Come on, Darling. We have other people to greet.” Spinning on her heel, Camille took off without another word.
Grace sunk back in relief and squeezed her eyes shut when they were gone. However, the relief was short lived when she opened her eyes to find Vaughn glaring at her.
GRACE VISIBLY GULPED as Vaughn watched her. “What were you thinking?” he managed to squeeze out between his clenched teeth. At least she had the good grace to blush, he thought to himself. But whatever made her say I was her fiance had better be good. Acting as her boyfriend was one thing, her fiancé was another.
Grace leaned in, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, glancing around to make sure no one else heard their conversation. “She was just so... smug! And I was already on edge because of—” She snapped her lips shut. “Never mind. I just was already on edge and then to have her claim you wouldn’t want to be around me anymore because of how much I ate just gnawed at me and I snapped. The only thing I could think of that would one-up her was to say we were getting married.”
Vaughn’s eyebrows shot high. “She called you fat?” He glanced at Grace’s thin frame and snorted. “You must have had her worried. You’re the furthest thing from fat I’ve ever seen.”
Grace rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at her lips. “Doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have let her get to me. Camille has always been like that; I should be used to it by now.”
Vaughn sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Nah. It’s alright. I get trying to get the best of a bully. I’ve done it myself a few times.”
Now it was Grace’s turn to be wide-eyed. “What in the world would you have ever been bullied about? You’re like... “ She blushed instead of finishing her sentence and Vaughn desperately wanted to know what she was planning to say, but knew he shouldn’t open those floodgates.
“I guess it really doesn’t matter. Fiancé... boyfriend. Either or. Let’s just get through the night and then it won’t matter.”
He could have sworn Grace’s bottom lip trembled slightly, but she pasted a brave smile on her face. “I owe you big time after this. Can you think of any way for me to repay you?”
Give me a taste of those berry lips and I’d count us paid in full. Vaughn shrugged. “Nah. I’m getting fed well tonight. That’s payment enough.” He was getting good at ignoring the hurt look in her eye, instead focusing on his plate of food. His appetite was nonexistent, but Vaughn forced himself to shovel the food in his mouth. It was the only thing he could think of at the moment to keep things moving along. His playful side wanted to take the fiancé gig and run with it. It would give him an excuse to hold Grace close, smell her delicious skin, taste those perfect lips. He shook his head, forcing the thoughts out. You can’t have her. She deserves better than the life you’re going to live. Now he just wondered how he could keep her from wanting to dance, knowing that it would test his self-control in a way it hadn’t been tested before.
“How’s business going?” Grace broke the tense silence between them. “You only work for the gallery part-time, right? If I remember correctly.”
Vaughn wasn’t sure why those words had a little sting to them. During the few weeks they had been close, he had told her almost everything about himself, including his work situation. For her to not remember their conversations made him feel lonely somehow. He remembered their time together with near perfect clarity and often went over their conversations when he was alone. Again, what did you expect? You’ve spent the last two months pushing her away. It’s a wonder she even remembers your name, let alone your business.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I do woodworking full-time, but the gallery is only part of my business.” He took another bite. “Lately I’ve been experimenting with wood burning, pyrography. It’s been fun and I think I can make some stuff that will sell, eventually.”
“I’m assuming wood burning is actually burning wood,” Grace said with a saucy grin. “But beyond that, I’m clueless. What exactly are you creating?”
He chuckled and wiped his mouth. “Your assumption is correct, but essentially I’m creating artistic displays, whether patterns or pictures, on pieces of wood. It’s commonly done on smaller pieces, like say... wooden spoons, coasters, stuff like that.”
“Wow. That sounds really cool!”
He pursed his lips and nodded. “It’s pretty fun. I’m not real smooth in my maneuvers yet, but I like it enough to keep going. I’m hoping to use it to add some details to some of my furniture pieces, like the edges of dressers or coffee tables.”
“I’d love to see that,” Grace breathed in awe. As soon as the words left her mouth she snapped upright and clenched her jaw as if realizing how she had sounded. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to go all fan-girl on you. I just think that sounds neat.”
Vaughn nodded, but
dropped the subject. Knowing she was intrigued by his work made him feel far too warm and gooey inside to continue down that path. “What about you? You still making jewelry? I’m assuming you haven’t been brave enough to submit any of your paintings, since I never see them in the gallery.”
From his peripheral vision, he saw Grace stiffen. He knew her art was a sore subject with her. She was a gifted painter, but was terrified of showing her work to anyone. Instead, she had gone the easier route of making jewelry pieces that she sold on Etsy. She did a decent business, but she had once confessed to Vaughn it wasn’t what she really wanted to do. Between the jewelry and her sales position at the gallery, she paid the bills, but her heart was found on canvas.
“I’m waiting for just the right picture,” she said curtly. “I want to make sure I have my best to offer when I start showing my pieces.”
“You’ll never have anything to show if you wait until you’ve perfected your art,” Vaughn argued, stuffing a cream puff into his mouth. “And art isn’t meant to be perfect. Your technique is great. It’s your confidence that needs work.”
Her blue eyes could have lasered him in half. “I will push forward when I’m ready,” she snapped.
Vaughn shook his head and put his hands up. “No skin off my nose. You do what you want with your life.”
“I’m glad we understand each other.”
Vaughn chuckled at her anger. She rarely ever showed signs of a temper and yet it had appeared twice tonight. Wonder what has her so edgy? Whatever. He went back to his food. It’s none of my business.
CHAPTER 4
Grace couldn’t handle sitting at the table with Vaughn much longer. Her nerves, which were already twitching like mad, were now screaming after he dared to bring up her painting. He knows. He knows I’m terrified and that I don’t think I’m good enough. I told him everything! She paused her internal tirade as a sudden thought hit her. Maybe he doesn’t remember? Maybe all those late night conversations where I poured out my heart didn’t mean anything to him? That would make sense, since he doesn’t want anything to do with me now.