No Limos Allowed

No More Faking It

Maisie

I giggled against his shirt. "We should stop."

Into my hair, he murmured, "Probably."

We were hiding out in the back room, locked in a tight embrace while Trevor handled the customers out front.

He had returned just in time to help us finish fourteen bike rentals and a couple of drop-offs – people returning bikes from earlier in the day.

In all the commotion, Griff and I hadn't found even a moment alone to talk. And now that we were alone, I couldn't decide whether to kiss him again or ask some of the questions that were still piling up.

But just as I pulled back to gaze up at him, Griff beat me to the punch by asking, "So, you wrote me a letter, huh?" He smiled. "Was it a good letter? Or a 'screw you' letter?"

"Well…I guess you'd call it a thank-you letter." A lump rose in my throat as I remembered everything I'd poured out onto the page. "And some other stuff."

He looked intrigued. "Like what?"

With an awkward laugh, I said, "But if I tell you now, it'll ruin the letter."

His tone grew teasing. "But if you don't tell me now, I'll have my mom get it out of you." He lowered his voice. "Trust me. She can ferret out anything."

I stifled a laugh. "Are you seriously threatening to sic your mom on me?"

He grinned. "Hell, yeah." He leaned his forehead against mine. "So if I were you, I'd get talking."

I swallowed a snicker. "Okay, fine." Once again, I pulled back to look at him. In a quieter voice, I said, "I know what you did."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"Aside from sending me Trevor? With a bonus? And getting me a security system? And refusing to let me pay you?"

"If you're talking about that check, I couldn’t take it. And you wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you already paid me."

I made a sound of disbelief. "What, with sandwiches?"

He smiled. "No, with everything else."

I couldn't help but smile back. "But you saved my business. That whole loan thing…I know it was you." Warmth bloomed in my chest. "Did you seriously buy that loan company just to make sure I got financing?"

He shrugged. "Call it a smart investment."

"I'm serious."

"Me, too." He reached between us and stroked my cheek. "Want to hear a secret?"

Leaning into his touch, I gave a silent nod.

His voice was quiet. "I would've given you the money, but I didn't think you'd take it."

He was right. Even now, I felt like I'd taken far too much. "Yeah, well…I hate to take advantage."

"And I hate to see you in trouble." His gaze met mine. "And you deserved a break."

I smiled up at him. "You gave me more than a break. You saved everything. And you didn't even tell me."

"Yeah, well…maybe I liked being a regular guy."

"Is that why you didn't tell me who you were?"

His mouth twitched at the corners. "No. I didn't tell you because I was an ass."

"Oh, stop it," I laughed. "You were not. If anyone was the ass, it was me. I should've given us more of a chance." My voice filled with tenderness as I confessed, "That's the other thing I put in the letter."

A grin tugged at his lips. "So it was a two-parter?"

"I guess so – half apology, half...well, crazy hope that you'd come back."

His fingers trailed along my back. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "So when I saw you walk into the shop, I was so sure you'd gotten it." I winced at the recollection of everything I'd said and done, especially near the end. "Anyway…I'm really sorry."

"Hey…"

"Hey what?"

"I owe you an apology, too."

Not the way I saw it. "After everything you've done for me and the shop? You don't owe me anything."

"Wanna bet?" He gave a slow shake of his head. "I should've been straight with you – maybe not at first, but once I got to know you, really know you, I should've laid it all out there."

I hesitated. "Even the thing with your dad?"

He stiffened for a half a beat before his shoulders finally relaxed. And yet, his voice was far from warm as he said, "Him." He said it like the single word held a lifetime of baggage.

But I couldn't let it drop now . "Yeah. Him."

"I never lied to you, not outright." He drew in a slow breath. "But yeah, I left out the things I didn't like. And he's definitely one of them."

"So you really didn't know him? Growing up, I mean?"

Griff shook his head. "Nope. And neither did Mom. He was just a guy she met in a hotel bar – a smooth talking rich guy named Montgomery."

"So you were named after him?"

Griff let out a scoff. "Yeah. Except she thought Montgomery was his first name, not his last. Or at least, that's the way she tells it." A smile ghosted across his face. "She was a lot wilder back in the day."

He'd said so before. And now that I'd met her, I could totally see it. "She seems really awesome."

With a boyish smile, Griff said, "Yeah. She is."

"So what happened?" I asked. "I mean…you found him eventually, right?"

"More like he found me. If you ever saw us together, you'd see the resemblance."

"I did see." I bit my lip. "I mean, I saw a picture."

He gave me a wry look. "Yeah, I can guess which one."

"You mean the one after you guys partnered up?"

This made him grimace. "Partnered…that's a funny word for it."

"How so?"

As I listened, Griff went on to tell me that his dad had come across a news story featuring Griff and his business. The family resemblance and the location where Griff was born had piqued his curiosity.

He'd reached out, played the charming long-lost father card, and once the DNA test came back, he shifted straight into business mode – offering to broker a deal that would earn Griff a fortune.

Griff finished the story by saying, "And dumbass that I was, I jumped all over it."

Dumbass? I hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"You wanna hear what that vulture did?"

"What?"

Griff's mouth tightened. "He destroyed it."

I sucked in a breath. "You don't mean your company?"

"That's exactly what I mean. He gutted the whole thing, sold it off for parts."

I considered what I knew. "But that can't be true. I mean, it's still a brand, right?"

"Yeah, and that's all it is. He stripped out everything that made it good."

"Wait… he stripped out everything? As in he did it personally?"

"Yup. Turns out the buyer was him, working through a shell company."

I was horrified. "You're kidding."

"Nope. And by the time he got done, he made twice the money I did – and put some good people out of work." Under his breath, Griff added, "Asshole."

I was still reeling. "So you had no clue he was the buyer?"

"Not a one. He made damn sure of it."

"Wow," I breathed. "No wonder you don't like to talk about it."

"Yeah. But I should've…with you." His voice grew quiet. "I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "No, I'm the one who's sorry. I should've given you time." I gave him an embarrassed smile. "But for what it's worth, I did try to knock on your door – except, well, by the time I got there, the door was gone." In a near whisper, I added, "And so were you."

Once again, he leaned his forehead against mine. "But not for long."

"But it felt like forever," I laughed. "Why didn't you answer my text?"

"Can I blame the bet?"

I tried to look stern. "No."

"Alright," he said. "You wanna know why?

" He stepped back, giving me a full view of the billionaire hotshot he'd become.

"Because I wanted to come back as the real me – meaning the guy I am now.

No stories. No faking it. No more hiding behind a toolbox or half a name.

I wanted you to see it all – and still want me anyway. "

I was just starting to reply when he added with a smile, " And I wanted you to meet Mom so you'd know I’m serious." His expression turned sheepish. "So I had to wait."

"You mean…for the end of the bet?"

"Not just that," he said with a laugh. "For Mom to get back from her cruise."

It was so wonderful and old-fashioned, I hardly knew what to say. There was something so small-town nice about the way Griff had approached all of this, like he was folding his life into mine.

Even so, a tiny knot of uncertainty settled in my stomach. "So…I'm guessing you're looking to return to Chicago?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that's who you are, right?" I tried to laugh. "A hotshot billionaire?"

"I'm no billionaire." But then he winked. "I checked the markets. As of two hours ago, I'm still a few dollars shy."

I gave him a playful swat to the chest. "Oh, come on. You know what I mean."

"So, you wanna know where home is?" He pulled me close and spoke into my hair. "It's wherever you are, Maisie Pickett."

I gave a choked little laugh. "Seriously?"

"And hey, if you want me to work at the shop, that's fine by me."

About this, he had to be joking, so I pulled back with a laugh, eyeing the back room. "Well, at least you wouldn't need to sleep here."

He looked confused. "I'm not following."

"I just mean…now that the bet's over, you won't need to bunk in the back room to escape that godawful fish smell."

But already, Griff was shaking his head. With a hint of amusement, he asked, "You think that's why I was staying here? To escape the smell?"

"Not just the smell," I said with a wrinkle of my nose. "That whole boathouse, it really was awful."

He gave me a look so warm, it curled around my heart. "Yeah, but that wasn't the reason I was bunking in the shop."

"Oh." I tried to think but came up empty. "So, what was the reason?"

"I was keeping an eye out."

"For what?" But instantly, I knew. "Wait, you mean for those two guys?"

His gaze locked on mine. "Or anyone who would hurt you."

"So that's why you were staying here?" And now, I could hardly breathe. "Seriously?"

"No joke." He drew me back in, close and warm. "Someone had to watch your back."

Something swelled in my chest – huge and warm and terrifying. "So…you stayed here…to protect me? And the shop?"

"Damn straight I did."

My heart squeezed so tight I almost couldn't speak. "You didn't have to do that."

"I didn't have to. I wanted to." A smile crept into his voice. "Call it selfish."

I laughed against him. "Why selfish?"

Once again, he pulled back to look me straight in the eyes. "Because if anything ever happened to you, I wouldn't survive it." And then, his lips found mine, giving me a kiss so sweet and sincere, I was lost to everything but him – until yelling from the front made us pull apart to look.

The door to the front was shut, but the voices carried loud and clear. I gave Griff a confused look. "Is that…?"

He sighed. "Yeah. My mom."

I gave the door another wary glance. "And…Sierra?"