Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Grace stood in front of the window looking down at the glistening pool twinkling beneath the night stars. A few guests were sitting in the chairs drinking beers. A couple was in the pool making out.
Sam stood next to her and glanced down. “I didn’t peg you for a voyeur.”
“Look, she has her own flotation devices.” Grace grinned. The woman’s fake breasts were about the size of two oversized melons. “Maybe that’s what I’m lacking.” Grace cupped her breasts and squeezed.
“You have plenty,” Sam said, crossing the room and unzipping his suitcase.
She moved to hers and pulled out her black gel-filled Tomb Raider-style pushup bra. “I know how to fake it.”
“Lesson number one. Men like real women, not the plastic kind. A handful is all that’s needed, and judging by your top, I’d say you have more than enough to satisfy any man.”
“You must be a leg man.”
“I don’t discriminate. All parts of a woman are beautiful. Would you like me to demonstrate?”
“You want to fill me up, don’t you, big guy?”
He took her hand and moved her to look at herself in front of a mirror.
“Your eyes are the windows to your soul. Any man worth a damn will compliment how beautiful they are.” He cleared his throat and rested his palms on her shoulders.
“Your skin is silky smooth. Men should be begging to kiss every inch of it.”
Her heart skipped a beat as he gestured to her breasts in the reflection, being a gentleman, he rested his palms on her ribcage just beneath her breasts without touching. Damn it if she didn’t want to move grab them and put them where she’d hoped he would touch.
“Those are plenty big enough. More than a handful and just right.”
She wiggled her ass against him and felt his arousal. He’d be in need of a cold shower soon. For that matter, so would she.
He moved his hands down over her hips, sending shivers down her spine. Her mouth went dry as she thought about those hands roaming her body sans clothing. “Your curves are womanly and perfect, in all the right places.”
“You’re good for my ego. Will you come over and remind me every morning? I could make it worth your while.” She chuckled as he gave her a little squeeze.
“You know what I like best about you, Grace Thatcher?” he asked, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
“Your mind. The way you find humor in everything, and the way you’ll help people you barely know.
There is absolutely no reason you should still be single, and I have every intention of helping you rectify that. ”
“I’d look like your ex if I started man-hunting when I already suggested I was here with you.”
“You’re nothing like my ex,” he said before releasing her. He grabbed his clothes and walked into the bathroom.
Holy mother of guacamole. He’d left her body tingly, and she stared after him long after he had shut the door.
This man was bad. So very bad. This vacation was going to be fun.
Women probably ate that shit up, and she’d been one of them.
He was a living, breathing Casanova. He’d been going to give her pointers in how to spot the players in a bunch of available men.
Maybe she should have been asking for tips on the art of seduction.
She was already taking mental notes. Only women would find a way to flunk, just so they could take the class again. She would.
Grace grabbed her clothes and slipped into a pair of boy shorts and a tank top before grabbing her toothbrush. She wrapped her knuckles on the door and waited for him to answer.
“Come in.” He hollered out.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I’d really like to brush my teeth.”
“You don’t strike me as a prude, Grace, and I’m sure you’ve seen your share of naked men.”
“You’d be right.” She chuckled. “You know, your talents are going to waste sitting behind a desk.”
“What talents are those?” he asked from the steam fogging the glass shower door. Pity.
“Seduction 101.”
He chuckled as she wet her toothbrush and slathered on the toothpaste.
“That wasn’t a seduction, Grace. That was me complimenting your assets.”
“Assets, right.” She had plenty of those.
Just ask her sister. The seams in her favorite jeans would never be the same because of the size of Grace’s assets.
She brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth as the shower water cut off.
She hopped up on the sink counter. “Why are you still single? Are you afraid of getting burned again?”
“I’m busy helping others.”
The door opened, and Sam stood there, in all his manliness, as he grabbed a towel and wiped his face. The biggest, thickest sausage she’d ever seen was standing fully erect.
“You should register that thing as a choking hazard.”
Sam secured the towel around his waist. “I’ve never had any complaints.”
“You must date porn stars.” That would explain a lot. Maybe he’d starred in one she hadn’t seen. She’d be checking her collection when she got home.
“Foreplay is a must.” He winked as he moved to the counter and grabbed his own toothbrush.
“You’re a very secure guy. If I were you, I’d join a nudist camp and be walking around naked like Tarzan. Screw the leaf covering your junk. You’d probably make the average nudist feel a bit insecure. You could be king.”
The creases around his eyes deepened as he smiled around his toothbrush. The heat in the bathroom was smoldering as she jumped down from the counter. Another minute and she’d be asking him if she could make a mold or take pictures. No way would her sisters take her at her word.
“You must be a native Texan.” Everything was bigger in Texas. He was proof.
She left him in the bathroom and slid into bed.
He was practically a stranger, yet oddly, she didn’t feel any awkwardness.
Maybe it was the lack of expectations on both their parts, or the fact he’d already felt her up and she’d seen his meat.
Either way, her heart sped up at the thought of what else the week would bring.
Grace had dreamt of Sam’s wanker the entire night.
It had been like a monster, the size of buildings, as it trampled through the city pounding everything in its path.
She’d slipped out of the bed and changed into a pair of yoga pants, a tank top, and her running shoes.
There was only one way to ease her sexual frustration that didn’t include taming the one-eyed monster.
She had to run, long and hard, to the point of exhaustion, and that was exactly what she planned to do.
She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a room key before slipping out the door.
The hotel was quiet as she made her way down the steps, slipping the room key inside her sports bra.
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon.
The animals, secure behind a gate, stared at her and inched closer as she took off down the dirt road.
With each pounding step, Grace’s heart raced while the animals kept the pace running with her.
There was something about her that attracted the wild beasts, as if she were their catnip or sent out some crazy, horny animal pheromone.
If she could bottle it up and sell it to those people who bred stallions or bulls, she be a billionaire.
Men on horseback in the distance watched as sheep took off toward the fence. They looked stunned as they sat atop their horses. A few of the horses bucked as if wanting to join in on the chase.
Two miles away, with an audience of animals, she turned around and headed back toward the hotel. Her lungs burned with her strides. Neither the run nor the animals did anything to help her forget the view of male perfection Sam had gifted to her. Damn him for teasing her.
Sam woke up as the sunrise glinted in through the curtains. He rolled into his pillow to cover his eyes and hugged the one next to him. He inhaled her strawberry scent. Grace.
He absentmindedly reached across the bed. His palm landed on the empty cool sheets. He opened his eyes and sat up. Grace wasn’t in the room. “Where the hell did she go?”
Sam got dressed, grabbed the room key and headed downstairs in search of strong coffee and his missing date. The coffee came first, and he stepped outside, where two cowboy-hat-wearing groomsmen were standing on the veranda along with a few of Sarah’s bridesmaids.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Mike, one of the groomsman, muttered and tipped his hat back farther on his head as if removing it from his blocking his view
“Who’s she here with?” Stan, another groomsman, asked.
“Who cares? Do you see her tight little body? I could bury myself in that for days and never come up for air,” another replied.
“She’s no one special,” Mary, one of the bridesmaids, said while taking a seat in one of the chairs with the other bridesmaids. She’d been the one in the pool the night before with Stan.
The guys were too mesmerized to even respond.
Sam glanced in the direction they were staring and found Grace running.
Inside the fence, every farm animal in close proximity was keeping up with her and jostling to be closer to the fence.
He set his coffee down and planted his hands on his hips as she neared.
When she’d said animals liked her, that had been the understatement of the century.
She jogged up the steps. Her gaze slid across each face before landing on his.
Her lips twisted into a smile as she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He had to brace himself against falling backward.
“Good, you’re up.” She smiled down at him and planted a hard kiss on his lips.
Her hands slid into his hair as she tilted her head, deepening the kiss.
If he hadn’t realized it was just for show, he might have pinned her to the wall and taken her right there.
She smelled of sweet sweat and strawberries.
Her hair was slicked back, and her clothes clung to her body.
The move did more than draw the attention of the onlookers.
It woke his body up in a way the coffee hadn’t.
Too soon she broke the kiss. “I’ve had my workout. Are you ready for yours?” She winked. Damn, she was good.
“Absolutely,” he said, turning to carry her back into the hotel. He stopped just beneath the doorframe. “Mike, could you tell my brother I’ll catch him after breakfast?”
“Sure.”
“Better make it lunch,” she called out and giggled as the doors shut behind them.
She slid down his body and walked with him back to the elevators, not saying a word until they were nestled inside.
“Sorry about the stink. I smell like I’ve been wrestling with the hogs. I could tell those women were the bridesmaids just by their looks. They looked ready to jump me.”
“They weren’t the only ones. The guys are groomsmen, and I can tell you that you’ve made several fans.”
“Good to know.” She smiled and rubbed at her aching calves. “Did you know this place is haunted? And by haunted, I mean crowded with spirits. In the fields, on the porch, and there was even one in our room.”
“Why didn’t you say something before now?”
She shrugged as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to their floor. “I normally ignore it, but running is like my meditation. All kinds of things smack me in the face, and I’m not talking about the jet-sized bugs.”
That was out of the blue. For a while, he’d forgotten her profession.
He opened the door to their room and let her pass. Before she made it to the bathroom, she was wrestling with her sports bra, trying to peel the thing from her body. Her arms got twisted in the fabric as it caught on her head.
He grinned as he took in her struggle while flashing him her breasts. “You need help?”
“Nah, I’m taking a page from your book, learning how to be more confident and comfortable in my own skin.”
“There’s nothing shy about you, is there?”
“You think I’m bad, my sister, Quinn, is worse.”
From the looks of her struggle, she was failing miserably.
She was dancing like a blind chicken while trying to kick off her shoes at the same time her face was still covered.
Her breasts bounced as she jumped before she tripped on her shoe.
He was quick to catch her before she cracked her head on the dresser.
His arms encased her as he pulled her flush against his body.
“Stop moving.”
She stood motionless, only tugging twice more, unsuccessfully, at the top.
He slipped the fabric free from beneath her chin and tugged it off. “You need lessons on the art of stripping.”
“I’ll look for a class when we get home. Maybe pole dancing, too. That sounds like fun.”
Her cheeks were a pretty shade of pink, and her chest heaved. It took every ounce of willpower not to take her breast into his mouth. Sam squatted in front of her and peeled off her other shoe and both socks.
He slowly rose and stood in front of her. His fingers toyed with the waistband of her yoga pants. “Do you need help with these?”
She slipped his fingers free. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that lesson.” She nibbled her lip between her teeth. “You’d end up missing the entire week of wedding festivities.”
“It would be worth it,” he whispered in her ear.