16. Dane
SIXTEEN
Dane
We talked to Chief Landry for a few more minutes. After we finished up with the call, Grace went back to the living room. Ashford shut the door behind her.
Then he turned to me, arms crossed over his chest. “Look, I appreciate you looking out for Grace, if that’s all this is. But she’s my sister.”
“I’m aware.”
“So I’m obligated to ask. Can I trust you with her?”
Hell, I didn’t want to have this conversation. Because the answer was probably, No, you shouldn’t. I’m planning to take her back to New York with me, get her naked, and do whatever filthy things she lets me do to her .
That probably wouldn’t go over well.
“You’ve known me a long time,” I said.
“I have. I’ve trusted you with my life, and I think you would say the same.”
“I would.”
Laughter came from the living room, Grace rejoining whatever Emma and Maisie were up to, and the expression on Ashford’s face tightened. “That’s why this is awkward.”
“You’re asking for my intentions toward your sister?”
“Yeah, I am, and it’s making me fucking uncomfortable. But Grace and Callum and I have had too many people in our lives let us down. I almost lost Emma last year to someone I trusted.”
“I know, man. That was terrible.”
“And now this break-in? A woman going missing, and Grace being mixed up in it? She acts like nothing gets to her, but she’s in a vulnerable place. I appreciate you watching over her. Being her friend. But I will not allow anyone else to hurt the women in my family.”
I kept my calm, but it wasn’t easy. “You think I would harm Grace?”
“Of course I don’t. If I did, this interaction would be going very differently.”
I knew how much Ashford’s family meant to him. I’d seen this coming. That was why I’d told myself I wouldn’t go after Grace unless I had serious intentions.
I wasn’t planning to stay in Silver Ridge forever. My work was elsewhere. My family, such as it was. And Ashford’s friendship meant the world to me. The smarter, more cautious thing to do would be to set aside my interest in his sister. To refuse to risk the closest friend that I had.
But if I had met Grace some other way, would I have agreed to stop pursuing her based on what anyone else said?
No, I wouldn’t. That wasn’t in my DNA.
“When I first met Grace,” I said, “I didn’t realize she was your sister. Would it have made a difference if I had known? Honestly, I can’t say. But I like her.”
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
Fuck, he wasn’t letting up, was he?
Ashford and I had the kind of friendship where we could tell each other uncomfortable things. Was I disrespecting him by pursuing his sister? Maybe. But I would be disrespecting him a hell of a lot more if I couldn’t be honest about it.
“I invited her to come to New York with me for Kip’s wedding, and I’m hoping she says yes. What else happens between us is up to her. If you’re going to ask me to back off, then we might be at an impasse. Because I don’t intend to.”
Ashford held my gaze for a long moment. Staring me down.
Then he shook his head. “That’s exactly the kind of thing I figured you would say.”
“At least I’m consistent.”
He scrubbed both hands over his face. “Have you ever dated a woman for longer than a month?”
“No.” But Grace wasn’t like anyone else. In the last couple of years since Mom’s diagnosis, I had been drifting. Grace made me feel grounded.
“Just be careful with her. Please.”
“So you’re okay with this?” I asked.
“I didn’t say that,” he growled. “But I know you, and I know Grace. I realize that I can’t stop this. But I will track you down if you hurt her.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
Ashford rubbed a hand over his beard. “If Grace is in some kind of danger in Silver Ridge, a trip out of state isn’t the worst idea. I’ll keep pressing Teller on his investigation into the break-in and this Nina Jamison person. But I have to know Grace is safe.”
Ashford wasn’t an effusive guy. He kept his feelings close, like I usually did. But his concern was obvious on his face. That of a man who had lost his mom. Lost the mother of his child. And last year, almost lost the woman he loved.
No matter what we disagreed on, this was a point where we saw eye to eye.
“Regardless of what happens between me and Grace, as long as I’m around, I swear I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe and sound.”
I kept the rest of what I was thinking to myself.
Now that I’d acknowledged how much I wanted her, I also knew I’d do whatever it took to make her mine .
* * *
We joined the others in the living room until it was time for them to head home. After my suite had been so full of life with Ashford and his family, it would be hard to see them go.
Especially since Grace would be leaving with them.
Aside from when I was in the Army, I had lived alone for nearly all of my adult life. The thought of an empty, echoing apartment didn’t bother me. Until now. Didn’t help that Grace seemed to be having trouble holding eye contact with me, which irked me after we’d made so much progress this morning.
When Grace went to pack up her few belongings in the extra bedroom, I got up and followed her, stopping in the doorway. She’d made the bed and set everything exactly as it had been when she arrived. As if the hotel staff wouldn’t have taken care of it.
“Not still mad at me, are you?” I asked.
She closed her bag, zipping it more vigorously than was probably necessary. “Not really. No.”
“You feel okay about heading home?”
Grace shrugged. “Callum has the security system and cameras installed. The firefighters will know all my comings and goings. If I thought my roommates were overbearing already…”
At least Callum lived there too. Otherwise, I would’ve talked her into staying with me for longer. Didn’t love the idea of her living with three other single guys.
If it proved necessary, I could make a trip to the firehouse to have a friendly chat with her roommates.
“Are you free for lunch tomorrow?” I asked. “I’d appreciate the lowdown on the Silver Ridge Business Association members.”
“Didn’t get enough of me between yesterday and today?”
“Are you kidding?” I dropped my voice an octave. “Not nearly enough of you. But you already know that.”
A rosy glow crept into her cheeks. My fingers twitched with the urge to touch her.
“I thought some more about your invitation to New York. Your brother’s wedding.”
“And?”
“I’m still slightly annoyed that you and Ashford were deciding things behind my back. But …”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to go with you.”
I grinned slowly, reaching to link our fingers. “I thought it would take more convincing.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t make me regret it already.” I mimed zipping my lips, and Grace laughed quietly. “Can you give me a list of where we’re going, so I can plan what to wear?” she asked.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll take you shopping when we arrive. And just so we’re clear, I’m buying.”
“Dane…”
“You would be just as gorgeous if you wear jeans and a sweater to Kip’s stuffy wedding events, but I’m guessing you don’t agree. I want you to feel good. So I’ll pay for whatever you feel like wearing. I’m paying for everything else on the trip too, just so we’re clear. That’s non-negotiable.”
“Fine. But there’s something else I want.”
“Name it.”
Grace’s amber eyes lifted, and there was pure fire in them. “I want you to kiss me,” she whispered.
Oh, now we were talking.
I prowled several steps forward into the room, forcing her to back up. Ashford, Emma, and Maisie were still in the living room, so they couldn’t see us. But they weren’t that far away. We could hear their voices.
My thumb traced along her jawline to her bottom lip. “At the grand-opening party, I waited to kiss you because I didn’t want to have to stop. I’ve been kicking myself for that ever since. You said I wouldn’t get another chance.”
Her eyes glinted again, this time with humor. “I’m right most of the time. But not always.”
“I’ll remember that.”
I lowered my mouth to hers, anticipating those last few seconds before contact. Three, two, one.
Damn .
The first taste of her shocked my senses. Like a pure hit of oxygen mixed with caffeine, lighting up my insides.
Her plush lips molded to mine, then moved in sync with me as I deepened the kiss and nudged my tongue into her mouth. She whimpered and grabbed hold of my shirt.
Fuck me, I wished we were alone. I’d pick her up, lay her on that bed, and kiss the hell out of her before undressing her and kissing my way down her body.
Then Maisie said something in the living room, and Emma laughed. Reluctantly, I pulled away by an inch. “They’re going to hear us.” I didn’t care that much if Ashford or Emma caught us, but Grace would mind. Also, I didn’t want Maisie to stumble upon us having an inappropriate moment.
She whimpered again. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“Was that the sort of kiss you wanted?” I asked quietly.
Grace nodded, her eyelids hooded. Her fists released their grip on my shirt. “Good enough.”
“I thought it was slightly better than good enough .”
“Good enough for me to know I want more.”
Ah. I liked the sound of that. I reached out to squeeze her hip. “Plenty more where that came from.”
“Next weekend? While we’re on the trip?”
“Absolutely.”
Grace licked her lips, the deep pink fading from her cheeks. She shivered like she was shaking off the haze our kiss had induced. “But there’s something that’s non-negotiable for me. Whatever this thing is between us, it ends when we get back from New York.”
I couldn’t help the scowl that darkened my face. “Hell no. The trip will only be five days.” I already knew five days wouldn’t be enough with her.
Her brows lifted in a challenge. “Non-negotiable,” she said again. “We have fun together in New York, and then we end it as friends. I go back to my regular life. And you go back to yours.”
I exhaled, considering. Ashford wouldn’t appreciate me bedding his sister and then dropping her. Nor did I want to. I wanted to see where this could go. More of that spark between us. Of the way I felt around her. Just more .
So…I would have to convince her she wanted more with me, too.
“All right,” I said. “If that’s really what you want.”
“It’s for the best.” She went onto her toes to peck me on the cheek. Then she grabbed her bag.
“I’ll be counting the days until our trip,” I said.
“Me too.” She smiled, and it took all my willpower not to crush my mouth to hers again, slam her bedroom door closed, and lock it.
Patience , I told myself.
Grace didn’t take me seriously yet. Didn’t really trust me. So I would have to earn it.
She had no idea just how persuasive I could be.