16. Elise
16
ELISE
Elise
G rant sighed again, longer and deeper, and I gave in to the urge to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” He lifted his head to peer at me as I started to climb off him. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
I leaned up higher to kiss him before I eased to the side. “You’re two seconds from falling asleep.”
His smile was slow and sexy, like he was proud to be this sated with me.
“We can’t nap. We’ve got the rehearsal dinner later.”
Before I could get off the bed, he snagged me with his strong arms locking around me. I laughed harder as he rolled me until he hovered over me again.
“Yeah. Later. There’s no reason we can’t stay just like this, in bed. Napping or…” He lowered his smoldering gaze down my bare body and up until he stared at my lips.
I pulled the corner of my lower lip in, and he growled. A hard kiss had me squeaking in surprise.
“Do you realize how goddamn sexy that is?”
Inside, I wanted to squeal with delight. Knowing he’d been noticing little quirks about me felt right. “Just like any time you run your hand through your hair is?” I lifted my hand to drag my fingers through the thick black mess.
“What?” He chuckled around the one word.
“Every time you do it, your arm tenses and all the muscles strain.” I cleared my throat, dismissing the years of swoony sighs I mentally did when he did that gesture of frustration. Pressure in my bladder prompted me to redouble my efforts to get up. I’d been hydrating so much with this island heat, but it didn’t feel so great after having sex.
“We’re not going to lie around and nap because we can’t miss that dinner.” I leaned up to peck a quick kiss on his firm lips. “And we can’t fool around anymore until I go to the bathroom.” I punctuated the urgency with a series of little slaps at his shoulder as I spoke.
He laughed, releasing me, and I felt like a sex goddess feeling his stare on my ass as I hustled to the bathroom.
When I finished, he headed in there, and I got dressed.
My phone showed two missed calls from Claudia, and while I waited for Grant to come back out, I realized I’d been slacking in checking in with her.
Who’s a mother hen now? I rolled my eyes, hating that I’d failed to at least text her here and there. She was suffering from a breakup, after all, dealing with the aftermath of a crappy ex who stole from her and didn’t want her to ever forget how much of a catch he was.
Instead of occasionally popping in to see how she was doing, I was busy sleeping with my boss.
Oh, God. I covered my face with my hand as the shame and embarrassment swept through me. I didn’t regret it. I should, but I wanted to be greedy and selfish. I wanted to cling to the memory of him so deep inside me, his lips so wet and hungry against mine.
Grant came out of the bathroom, preventing me from spiraling into a post-coital panic. He must have had clothes in there already because he entered the room without any of his gloriously honed body revealed.
“I—”
Knocks sounded on the door as he pulled up the zipper to his shorts.
“I’ll get that,” I told him, moving to the door while he finished looking presentable.
Vince stood in the hallway, smiling like he usually did. “Hey, Elise!”
“Hi, Vince. What’s up?” I smiled, maintaining the polite persona that wasn’t hard to have around him. He was a jolly sort of guy, easy to like and get along with.
“I was hoping I could steal Grant for a few minutes. Just to talk a bit.” He sighed, exaggerating a sheepish pout. “I know I said this weekend would be a time to kick back. No work. But something came up with a report, and I wanted his clarification about it.”
“Oh.” I smiled wider. “No worries.”
Grant stepped behind me, widening the door open a bit more. I was careful to shield the view of the messy bed in the background. Why, I didn’t know. This man thought Grant and I were engaged. Seeing proof that we were busy in bed wouldn’t be a shocker. Yet, I felt like what Grant and I did was a dirty secret. It shouldn’t have happened, not like that. Not when we were faking this relationship. Yes, I wanted him, but I should’ve insisted on honesty first.
“Sure, I can chat for a bit.” Grant smiled at me and then pressed a kiss on my brow. As he stood straight, his back to Vince, he mouthed, “Don’t go far.”
I sucked my lower lip in and nodded, too giddy with his flirty mood.
He silently groaned at my deliberate tease but pivoted to walk into the hallway with Grant.
As soon as they left, I let out a huge exhale and slumped against the closed door.
My phone buzzed in my hand again, and I looked down to see that a call had come in and dropped from Claudia again.
“Oh, shit.”
What if she was in trouble? Or sad? Or needed me? What if Keith was bothering her? Or she was struggling with moving? Guilt hit me, and I hurried to call her back. I was too selfish, not thinking about her and staying in this la-la land of lust with my freaking boss.
“Claudia?” I asked once the call picked up.
“Oh! El?—”
The call dropped.
I scowled at the device. “What the hell?”
This wasn’t some dinky, rundown island motel. The resort where Reese planned to marry was an extravagant and expensive lodging, new and certainly capable of good tech and reception.
Then again, the news did say a tropical storm might be inching closer to hit on Monday…
I grabbed my key card and shoved it into my pocket. Stepping outside might improve my connection to Chicago. But it didn’t. I paced in the lobby space where I saw countless others on their phones, and I still couldn’t reach Claudia.
“Need something?” Ginny asked as she came from the café area. She held an iced coffee and smiled when I noticed it. “Just making sure I can stay up late tonight.”
“And tomorrow, after the wedding.”
She beamed. “You look frustrated.”
I shrugged. “I was trying to call my cousin back home, but the reception isn’t great.”
Rolling her eyes, she nodded. “I know what you mean. When I waited in line for this coffee, I was trying to check in with the dog sitters back home. It was difficult. The barista said sometimes with increasing pressure in the area, it’s tricky.”
“That’s what I figured.” We walked together, strolling toward the spacious curve of windows that provided a view of the beach. It was a roundabout path to the elevators, but I wasn’t ready to go back up to the room. It would smell like sex yet, and I needed to clear my head and analyze that Grant and I had done it. We caved. We surrendered. So… now what?
Ginny seemed to be in a similar idle mood, casually passing the time. After sipping her drink, she smiled. “When I first saw you scowling at your phone, I thought you might be trying to work on something for Grant.”
“No, no work.”
“Even though my husband managed to make time for ‘something that popped up’.”
I laughed with her.
“Something always ‘just’ pops up, you know?”
I nodded. “I do. Life sure isn’t dull.”
“Vince was impressed with Grant because of his work ethics and how driven he is, but he’s been clear about hoping he can have more balance in his life. All work and no play…”
“I know what you mean.”
“Vince was like that too when we first met.” She sighed, almost wistful as she gazed at the horizon.
“How did you meet?”
“I was his receptionist.” She snorted a laugh. “Before he grew the company to what it is now.”
I gaped at her, smiling wide. “You were his receptionist?”
She nodded. “Yep. We had a classic workplace romance.”
Well, how about that… It seemed we had something in common, then.
“And I stood with him in all my roles. When I moved up to a department head. Then when I quit to be his wife and mother for Reese. And now, I’ll stand by his side as he finally retires.”
“It bet it’s been a journey.”
“Oh, of course, it has. And it’s one I wouldn’t change for anything. We’re partners in life. And I see how you and Grant have found that same connection, that same sense of being a team and sticking with each other no matter what.”
Uh, maybe?
“Grant can be so serious, and now that I’ve had a chance to get to know you more, I can see how you complement him. He’s so stern, but you’re so laidback and quick to smile. Opposites attract.” She winked at me. “Just like me and Vince way back when. I’ve never doubted that Vince and I complement each other. He reins me in when I’m too silly, and I soften him up when he’s too serious. From just these past couple of days, I notice that you and Grant have already established that too.”
I blushed, rubbing my shoulder. I was well aware of how Grant and I complemented each other in bed.
But that was just the once, right?
While he had distance from me and focused on something with work, he’d lose sight of that attraction we'd explored so swiftly.
For so long, we’d been tied to each other with our jobs. Now that we’d given in and had a taste of each other, he’d want to go back to what we knew worked.
Wouldn’t he?
Doubt filled my mind, and I tried to do my best to shove it back as I listened to Ginny talk about the rehearsal later.
He asked me not to go far.
That implied that he wasn’t done with me in bed.
But what if he is?
One time to scratch an itch. Now that he’d had me… Could that really be it?
I winced, looking out at the horizon and wishing we’d gone about it better. That I could’ve had the clarity of mind to say that I really wanted him. Not just for a quickie, either.
I didn’t think I had any right to claim him like that. It was far easier to give in to desire and let my body and my instincts control me. Afterward, though, my only regret was in not stating my intentions.
Ginny’s words hit hard. They drove home the idea that I could belong with Grant—as something more than his assistant or fake fiancée.
Feeling him deep inside me changed something. After we came together, it clicked.
As I checked the time again, I wondered when and where I’d find the courage to ask him what he thought about forgetting me as a prop and looking at me as a partner in life instead.