Chapter 7 #3
She let her eyes wander over the muscular chest with the perfect amount of silky dark hair that played a starring role in her fantasies.
As he did most nights, he’d showered and shaved before bed so his rough whiskers wouldn’t mark her skin when they made love.
He’d unofficially moved in with her in the loft above the pharmacy, and she loved having him and his guitars, surfboard and size-twelve sneakers underfoot.
But watching him suffer was making her suffer, too. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice when she approached the bed—until she reached for the hem of her T-shirt and drew it up and over her head. That got his attention.
Grace couldn’t get over how uninhibited she’d become since they’d been together. In the past, when she’d been extremely overweight, she’d hated being naked. Now she pranced around frequently in the all-together and had a man in her life who preferred her that way.
Evan extended his arm, inviting her to snuggle up to him.
Sometimes Grace still wanted to pinch herself because she got to sleep with him every night.
She got to laugh and talk with him and make crazy love.
The only things standing between her and total happiness were his unresolved career issues and her parents making noise about wanting to come visit.
The thought of that filled Grace with anxiety, especially since she’d failed to mention she was seeing someone or that he was living with her.
“Best part of the whole day,” Evan said with a sigh as she snuggled into his embrace.
“I was just thinking the same thing. You’ve spoiled me forever for sleeping alone.”
“That was my goal.”
Grace left a trail of kisses on his chest as she made her way to his lips.
“Who was on the phone?” he asked.
“Stephanie. Apparently, she caught Owen and Laura in the middle of a big-time make-out session earlier.”
“Well, it’s about damned time. They’ve been on simmer for weeks now. I wondered when they’d boil over.”
“According to Stephanie, they’ve definitely reached boil.”
“I’m glad for them. I want everyone to be as happy as we are.”
She brushed the hair back from his forehead. “That’s sweet of you to say, but you haven’t seemed too happy lately.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a drag.”
“You’re not. Not at all. I only wish the situation would be resolved one way or the other so you’re not stuck in this horrible purgatory.”
“It’s weird—I’m not even sure anymore what I want to happen.”
“What do you mean?”
After a long pause, he said, “Whenever I think about the tour, I break into a cold sweat.”
“Because of the stage fright.”
“Yeah. It’s so screwed up. Here I am on the brink of everything I’ve ever wanted, and when I heard about the bankruptcy, my first thought was, maybe I won’t have to do the tour.”
Grace propped her chin on his chest so she could see his face. “That’s your gut talking. If the idea of being on stage in a big venue makes you break into a cold sweat, perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it.”
“Once I get past the initial panic, I love performing, but moving past it gets harder all the time.”
“The bankruptcy could be a sign that you’re supposed to be doing something else.”
“But what? I’ll have to do something soon. I don’t want to burn through my savings, and there’s not a lot I can do here, especially this time of year.”
His words sent Grace’s stomach plummeting.
Of course she knew he’d have to leave the island at some point, but she liked to think that point was way off in the future.
“I can take care of things until you decide what you want to do.” Even though she’d sunk most of her money into the purchase of the pharmacy, she’d held some back in an emergency fund.
“That’s very sweet of you, babe, but I’m not going to sponge off you any more than I already am by crashing here.”
“It’s not sponging. We’re in a committed relationship, aren’t we?”
“You bet your ass we are.”
She loved his possessiveness, even if she’d never tell him that. “If I take care of you now, you can take care of me later. What does it matter? We take care of each other.”
“I love you for that, Grace. I really do. But I need to make a plan—soon. I can’t sit around and do nothing all winter.”
“You’re not doing nothing. You’re writing songs—lots of them.”
“That may or may not sell. I need something more solid than that.”
“I have complete faith that you’ll figure it out.”
“You have to say that,” he said with a small smile. “You love me.”
“Yes, I do.”
He curled a shank of her hair around his hand and gave a gentle tug to bring her close enough to kiss. “That’s the only thing that’s gotten me through these last couple of weeks. I hope you know that.”
“We can get through anything as long as we have each other.”
“I love you so much, Grace.” He kissed her again and then hugged her. “So damned much.”
She closed her eyes tight against the now-familiar rush of emotion she experienced every time he professed his love. Wanting to take his mind off his troubles, Grace wiggled out of his embrace and kissed her way down the front of him.
“Grace, babe, you don’t have to—” When she took him in hand and ran her tongue over the head of his cock, he sucked in a sharp, deep breath.
As she loved him with her hand, lips and tongue, she knew the second he stopped thinking about his career crisis and gave himself over to the pleasure.