Chapter Eighteen
“Just remember folks…all those romance novels that tell you your body warms up just being around someone you like? It’s all bullsquirt.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.
Gracie and Eric took separate cars, but both stopped at Hall’s Market so Gracie could grab a toothbrush. Sure, she might have bit her nose off to spite her face by not at least grabbing a change of clothes, but it was the principle of the thing, and her mother had pissed her off beyond rational thought.
It seemed that no matter how old she got, she reverted to a sullen teenager in the presence of her mother.
As they stood in the checkout line, Gracie felt eyes on them and turned to find Jenny Andrews and Ellie Willis with a cart full of junk food, watching them. Once their eyes met hers, there wasn’t any way she could pretend she hadn’t noticed them, so she greeted them with a smile.
“Hello, girls.”
“Hey, Gracie,” they said together.
They seemed to be glancing between her and Eric, and since they were supposed to be a couple for all to see, Gracie slid her freehand into Eric’s. He didn’t look at her, just squeezed her hand, and she smiled. Despite the shit storm with her parents, she had to admit that having Eric in her corner wasn’t such a bad thing. It had actually been nice hearing him defend her.
Hope Weathers, who was checking, did a double take at their clasped hands. “Are you together? I mean, your purchases.”
“Yeah, we’re together,” Eric said, setting his items on the belt and then grabbing Gracie’s toothbrush.
She had no idea if it was his words or the way her pink toothbrush looked sitting on top of his nacho cheese and chips, but she shivered.
Hope gave her a meaningful look, and Gracie knew she was going to get a call or a text from her friend demanding some answers. It seemed not everyone had believed the gossip in this town without visual proof.
They walked out of the store hand in hand, and she liked it. More than she should for something that would be over in just a few short weeks.
When the cold air hit her face like a wake-up call, she sucked in a breath and dropped his hand to cover her nose. “Man, did it drop twenty degrees while we were inside?”
“I think so.” He unlocked his passenger-side door and put their grocery bag in the front seat of his car. Then he turned and, to her surprise, pulled her into his body. Her feet slid a bit as they hit a patch of ice, which only made her lean harder against his muscular from.
Well, that’s one way to heat things up.
“What do you say we drop your car at my place and go on an adventure?” he murmured.
The seductive tone made her heart skip, and she tried to hide how affected she was by him. “But you didn’t win the bet!”
He smirked at her in the parking lot light. “So? Aren’t you at all curious what I have planned?”
Actually, she was more than curious. She was practically tingling with excitement.
“Fine. Let’s go out. It’s not as though I’m tired after all the stress anyway.”
He kissed the top of her head, shocking her to her toes, and released her. “That’s the spirit.”
Gracie was bereft without his warmth, watching him head toward the back of his car. Finally, she climbed inside, and they drove out of the parking lot toward the canyon.
Gracie’s thoughts strayed to her mother. It wasn’t like them to start fighting right off the bat. Usually, it took a few days for tensions to build, but for some reason, this trip had been strained since the airport. Was it her? Had she given off the vibe that she didn’t want them here?
Regardless of why they were fighting, she couldn’t do this for two weeks. Tomorrow, she was going to have to smooth things over.
Tonight, though, she was just stoked not to get stuck on her uncomfortable couch. She was staying the night at Eric’s, in one of his guest rooms, just a few doors down from where he’d be sleeping.
Why wasn’t she freaking out?
Because Eric isn’t going to try anything when he knows I don’t want it.
Except that kiss earlier had her thinking maybe she did want it. And if people already thought they were doing the nasty, why not get a little enjoyment out of it?
Have I lost my mind? I was the one that told him no hanky-panky, and now I want to change the rules again?
She shook her head as she pulled in next to Eric in his garage. As much as she was enjoying messing with people and pretending she and Eric were actually a couple, they weren’t. And once they got back from his book party in New York, their deal would be over and everything would go back to the way it was. There was no point in complicating their already messy truce with sex.
Right?
* * *
Eric led Gracie into his house and flipped on the light. The last time she’d come by, he hadn’t given her the grand tour, but now he figured it was only fair if she was going to crash there.
“You’ve already seen the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Down this way—” he flipped on the light in the room to his right, “—is the spare bedroom. You can stay here.”
If this had been two months ago, he would have made a crack about her sleeping with him instead, but it just didn’t feel right. Not with the way things were between them now. He’d always admired Gracie for her spirit and her body, but tonight he’d been protective. And besides the pretty hot kiss he’d laid on her, he’d been respectful. It was a unique experience, one he didn’t want to cheapen with a teenaged come-on.
The room was simple—white walls with a couple of black-and-white classic car photos he’d bought at a few thrift stores, and a black-and-white checkered comforter he’d picked up in Twin Falls. There was a white dresser against the wall and two matching nightstands on either side of the queen bed.
“This is really nice,” Gracie said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t get company sleeping over much. Mostly Grant, but he sleeps in the other one, and I have to bleach the sheets after.”
Gracie laughed, and the sound traveled straight to his groin. It was part of the reason he’d put her down a way instead of right next to him. He didn’t think he could sleep at all, knowing how close she was and not touching her.
“The bathroom is that door there.” Eric pointed to a door on the left. “It’s Jack-and-Jill style, so you go straight through and you’ll be in the other room.”
“That’s a nice setup for kids,” Gracie mused. He jerked toward her and caught the blush that had overcome her cheeks. “Not that I’m thinking about you having kids, I was just saying…”
“Yeah, okay.” He cleared his throat and walked out of the room, heading toward his room. “Down here is the master bed and bath. On the other end of the house is the washer and dryer, so we can throw your clothes in there.”
“Awesome.”
He opened the door to his room. Should he be embarrassed by the mess? The bed was unmade, and there were a couple of empty beer bottles on the nightstand. A pair of boxers that had missed the hamper were on the floor, and for some reason, he found himself rushing forward to grab them.
“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting company.”
“Oh, wow. Check out your bathroom,” she said, seeming unaffected by his dirty drawers.
She stood in front of his tile shower, her mouth gaping. Eric smiled and leaned against the wall next to it, and popped the door open with one hand. “You like?”
He’d done the whole thing mostly on his own. It was big enough for four people, with two showerheads and glossy blue tiles across the floor and walls.
“It’s gorgeous. You did this?”
He nodded.
“You write books. Make a mean drink. Fix houses. Anything you don’t do?”
“Relationships.”
Well, why in the fuck had he said that?
She closed the door without responding and went around the corner.
“Holy effing shit balls! Screw the guest bathroom, this baby is mine!”
Eric grinned, glad that his stupidity hadn’t ruined her mood. He leaned around in time to watch her climbing into his giant Jacuzzi bathtub. He’d had it custom-made to accommodate him and…guests.
“If you’re done plotting to steal my bathtub, how about we head out?”
She leaned her head back, closing her eyes. “Why would I ever want to leave this spot?”
Eric’s gaze traveled the length of her throat and over the deep V of her sweater neckline, picturing her naked and under bubbling suds in his tub.
Damn, I have to get her out of here.
“Because what I have planned is better than that tub.”
Her eyes popped open, and she climbed out. “Not sure that’s possible, but tell me more.”
“I’d rather show you.”