Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Grayson
I stand outside the Happily Ever Afters Romance Bookstore. I can see inside now. As much as I hate admitting all that noise was for a good cause, I do see the fruits of Roxy’s labor. The store is well done. I dare say I might be proud of this woman. To accomplish something this big before you’re even thirty is, well, fucking impressive. I’m just turning thirty in a few months and I’m still hoping that this big break catapults my music-composing career. Fuck, I’d love to rub that in my parents’ faces.
My thoughts are interrupted as I see movement in the store. I turn my head slowly and I feel the breath leave my body.
Roxy is wearing a wrap dress, and it dips low in front at the bottom of the “v” which shows off her perfect breasts, or at least what I think are perfect from what I’m seeing. Damn it. I need to stop ogling her. Fake. Girlfriend. I remind myself.
She pushes open the door and smiles at me. “Your fake girlfriend is ready.”
“You look lovely,” I say politely as I hold out an elbow for her. I see her stare at my arm for a long moment. She bites her lip as if she’s unsure if she should touch me. I move my elbow a bit. “Your chariot awaits,” I add, motioning to my car that’s parked just a few buildings past ours.
“Oh, right,” she answers as she cautiously loops her arm in mine. We walk silently down a half block, and I unlock the car with my fob and open the passenger door for her.
“Wow. Such service for not being a real boyfriend,” she says.
I put a hand on my chest. “I’ve been demoted! I thought we were married.”
She blushes and I fight a smirk because I love teasing her.
“Shush. We’re going to forget you ever heard that, starting right now,” she says as she places her long legs inside my car.
“I’ll try,” I say with a grin, shutting her door and walking around to the driver’s side.
I slide into my seat and pull out onto Hearts Lane. I put on some classical music.
“How far is it?” she asks.
I glance over and see her hands fidgeting with the strap of a small purse. She’s nervous. That surprises me a little. Roxy is an outgoing woman. I would have expected this to be an easy thing, dinner with some people, but maybe I’ve misjudged her.
“So…” I trail off as I choose my words carefully. “I may have told some people about our…agreement.”
Her whole head swivels when she looks at me. “You what? Who?”
I glance her way. “Hutch and Bray know.”
“Jocelyn knows too,” she says on a sigh.
“OK, so do we tell anyone else? Because those two won’t talk unless I tell them otherwise.”
Shrugging, she stares at me for a long moment. “Let’s just get through this dinner and we can decide after that.”
“Fair enough. We need to go over some basics,” I start.
“OK, like where and when we met?” she suggests.
Nodding, I contemplate the answer. “Let’s say we met when you started leasing the property. We can keep it simple and like how we actually met and just bump it back a few months,” I suggest.
“Oh, so when you came pounding on my door saying I was noisy?” she asks. I steal another glance and find her smirking.
“Yep. Just like that,” I manage as I fight a smile. Damn, she’s sassy.
“OK, so we met three months ago, the same way we actually met. When did you ask me out or did I ask you out?” she asks.
“I asked you out,” I state.
She crosses her arms, which only makes my eyes focus on her pert breasts.
“Eyes up here, hubby ,” she says with a sarcasm-laced voice.
I chuckle. “I can’t help it. That dress is…anyhow, let’s just keep it similar to what happened.”
“You mean we went on a blind date?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Let’s say we each confided crushes with Al and he set us up and we hit it off,” I suggest.
“Or I could have asked you out?” she offers.
“Let’s stick with the real story, Roxy,” I growl.
Sighing again, she pushes some hair away from her cheek. “Fine,” she mutters. “What else do I need to know about you?”
I feel my heart pick up speed. Shit. How much do I tell her?
“Well, uh, my parents own an investment firm and live just outside of the city. I have a younger sister, Adriana. She works with my parents, doing communications for the company. I double majored in finance and music studies at Princeton. Worked for my parents’ company for a few years, and then decided to pursue music full-time. I felt like working in finance was slowly killing me. I hated everything about it and I hated working for my parents. I currently play as a guest musician in the local orchestra. I do some recording stuff with a friend who has a recording studio near our building. And I’ve been trying to break into film…” I pause and look at her. “I want to be like John Williams.”
She smiles. “Good aspiration. What about your dating life?”
I swallow. Keep it short, Gray. “I had a long-term high school girlfriend, another in college, and a third later. I broke up with her a little less than a year ago.”
“Oh, how come?” she asks.
I feel my jaw clenching. “Difference of opinions on life.”
“Wow. Sounds intense,” she says as she curls a leg beneath her.
“It was. What about you?” I ask, trying to take her attention away from my past love life.
“Well, I have dated a bunch of guys, but only got super serious with one of them,” she admits with a shrug. I want to ask questions, but she continues. “You know about my three siblings. They are all a bunch of overachievers. My parents are just normal high-achieving parents. They live in the ’burbs. I went to college locally and studied literature. And then tried to have one serious boyfriend who I lived with for a bit and that backfired almost immediately. I ended back up at my parents’ house and then my grandmother died, left me money, and I decided to try opening my bookstore. That’s about it.”
“I’m sorry. Were you close with your grandmother?” I ask.
She nods and looks away from me. “Yeah.”
“So you lived with a boyfriend,” I state.
She laughs bitterly. “Rich was a dick. I mean, the sex was great. He said I should move in way too early in our relationship. I was an idiot and said yes. It lasted a whopping four weeks before I found out he was already cheating on me.” I feel my jaw clench again. “Anyhow, I packed up my things and moved home.”
“Wow, sounds like an asshole,” I manage through gritted teeth.
“If it talks like one and walks like one,” she sighs.
“What else should I know?” I ask as I pull up to a wealthy part of the city with giant homes.
“Oh, uh…my name,” she says in a low voice.
“I’m sorry, what about it?”
“It’s Roxbury,” she whispers.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Roxbury!” she says loudly.
I frown trying to make sense of the name.
She turns back to me and rolls her eyes. And I know there’s a story.
“I was…conceived at my parents’ old house on Roxbury Street. My full name is Roxbury Anne Benedict,” she mutters.
I laugh. “Wow. Well, good to know. Anything else I should know?”
“I like yoga, cats, obviously books, music, and going to planetariums,” she says in rapid fire. “You?”
“Uh, I like books, mostly fantasy and spy novels, obviously music, and I’ve never had a pet,” I say.
“What? Like never, never?”
“Yep. Never,” I reply. We drive a few blocks in silence as I feel her glance at me every few seconds as if she’s trying to see inside my brain.
“We’re here,” I announce as I pull over and park on the street. I turn to look at her. “What?”
“I’m still processing that you’ve never had a pet,” she admits as she opens the car door and gets out.
I shake my head as I follow her up the path to a well-kept mansion. It’s a stately English Tudor-style home. I take Roxy’s hand in mine as we reach the front porch.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
She nods as she presses the doorbell.
A minute later an older woman answers the door. “Mr. Porter?”
I nod.
“Right this way. Mr. Pointer is waiting.”
Roxy stifles a giggle and I give her a curious look. “Porter and Pointer? And Gray and Bray? What’s up with that?”
I chuckle and shrug. But before I can think of a response, the woman leads us into a two-story room with a fireplace and large oversized leather furniture. Pierce and Haven both stand from where they are seated and walk over to greet us.
“Lovely to see you, Roxy,” Pierce says as he leans and kisses her cheek.
She blushes. “Nice to see you too.”
“Grayson’s been telling me all about your bookstore. I need to hear more,” Haven says excitedly as she pulls Roxy into a hug and then loops her arm through hers and escorts her to a sofa.
“Well, uh, that’s a conversation that could take a while, you want to get a drink, while our ladies chat?” Pierce asks.
“I’d love that,” I say as I glance over at Roxy. She gives me a reassuring look and I mouth, “Thank you,” again. She nods and smiles at me.
* * *
Dinner went surprisingly well. Apparently, the film’s director, Hubert Cushner, wasn’t able to attend, but it was almost better that way. I got a chance to talk with Pierce one-on-one and he assured me that the music I had written was perfect. Roxy and Haven hit it off and spent the entire night discussing books. Haven even joined Roxy’s book club.
We get in the car after dinner, and I glance at the time. An idea had popped into my head around nine and I couldn’t shake it, so I made up an excuse for us to leave.
“Why the rush to leave?” Roxy asks with curiosity as I pull out onto the street.
“I want to take you somewhere,” I say to her. “And we need to get there before ten.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Trust me…please,” I say as I glance over at her.
She shrugs and sits back in the seat. “OK.”
“OK? Like you aren’t going to fight me on it?”
She glares at me. “Don’t push it, Porter.”
Chuckling, I turn on the music and drive us downtown. I park in the garage next door to a theater. It’s a smaller, historical theater, but it has something I know she’ll love. Well, a few things, I hope she’ll love.
“This way,” I say as I hurry us to a side door and punch in the code.
“What is this place?” she asks.
“It’s the Townsend Theater,” I explain. The sound of Mozart fills the air as we step through the threshold.
“What…” She trails off as I lead her up a flight of stairs to a private box. I seat her along the front and sit down next to her. Her eyes go to the stage where a quartet of strings is practicing.
My friend Yosef waves up at me as he goes to pluck a string on his double bass.
“I’ll be right back,” I say as I release Roxy’s hand. She glances my way but then goes back to watching my friends practice. I head to the side stage and lower the house lights and then turn on the little lights in the ceiling.
I walk back up to the box and smile as I watch Roxy staring at the ceiling in awe. I’m enjoying watching her so much, I don’t move. I just stand there for long minutes as her eyes track the glittering constellations overhead and her foot taps to the beat of the music. Her hair sways gently and her lips are parted. She looks stunning, a true natural beauty. How is it possible this woman thinks she’s a failure compared to her siblings? She’s perfect and smart and a fucking badass business owner.
Shaking my head, I finally step up next to her and sit.
“How have I never been here before? This is beautiful,” she whispers as she looks up at the ceiling.
“I agree. Beautiful,” I repeat only I don’t mean the ceiling. I mean Roxy.