Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
“I leave you alone for a few hours and you confess everything to my mother,” Sam hollered into the bathroom where Grace was getting ready for their night out.
He continued to pace the hotel room and squeezed his neck.
At least he wouldn’t have to pretend around his mom.
Not that they were doing much pretending anymore.
He could see himself and Grace as a couple. He silently wondered if she could too.
“She was hot and wanted to sit in the shade. What was I supposed to do, tell the woman no? I’m not like your ex.
Rude and disrespectful doesn’t come natural to me, and she didn’t introduce herself as your mom.
I have to admit, I didn’t expect to tell her my life story.
She’s got that motherly personality that makes a person want to confess everything. ”
“Of course I didn’t want you to be rude,” Sam said and turned toward the bathroom door as it opened.
Grace stepped out. Her dark hair was curled in a sultry pile on her head.
The black silk dress landed mid-thigh and showed a good amount of cleavage…
but it was the boots, more specifically, visions of her naked wearing nothing but the boots that made him downright hard.
The cowboy boots made her look…local. Every cowboy’s wet dream. “Where did you get those boots?”
“The dress shop in the lobby.” Grace twisted in place. “Do you like? I should wear my new hat, but they don’t really go with my dress.”
“Those scream fuck me.”
Grace wiggled her brows. “Then they’re working and I should buy an extra pair.”
Grace twirled, giving Sam a look at the back of her dress.
He swallowed around the lump in his throat when he noticed the dip in the back of the dress that landed just above her ass.
A silver chain lay down her bare spine. Sam crossed the room and rested his hands on her arms. “The strippers aren’t going to stand a chance with you in the room. ”
“Is the dress too much?”
“God no.” He shook his head. “Although I’m going to have to fight some of the groomsmen. Someone’s going to have a black eye in the wedding pictures.”
“Oh, you’re the psychic now, are you? What else do you see?”
“Me, undressing you, slowly, and figuring out exactly how that necklace is attached.”
Grace laughed. “If you’re good, I’ll show you.”
“And if I’m bad?”
“Then you’ll see for yourself.”
Sam lowered his lips to her shoulder and pressed a sensual kiss on her creamy skin. He didn’t want to stop there, but he knew once he got her undressed, he’d never want to leave the room. “I should have done that the day you walked into my office.”
“No.” Grace ran her fingers up behind his neck. “You should have done this.”
Grace lowered his head and met his lips in a special kiss that wasn’t meant for anyone else’s eyes.
Just them. Her tongue dueled in a sensual dance.
Her hands clutched his neck as he drank her in.
Taking and tasting and enjoying the fact that they didn’t have an audience.
This was only for them. He could get lost in her taste.
The way her soft curves pressed against his body.
One hand rested on her hip as he moved the other to touch the bare skin of her back.
There was no hiding his desire. The bulge in his dress pants was evident.
He wanted her, and if people weren’t waiting on them, he might have talked her into staying in the room the rest of the night and exploring exactly what made her tick.
He slowed the kiss, nibbling on her bottom lip as he opened his eyes.
Heat and humor sparkled in her eyes. A unique combination that was completely Grace.
“Kissing clients is bad for business.”
“I’m not a client.” She smiled brightly and stepped out of his hold to grab her purse. “I’m just a girl who thinks you’re cute.”
“Cute,” Sam asked, holding an invisible knife to his chest. “Kids are cute. First crushes are cute. I’m not cute.”
“Handsome?” she asked, trying to hold back her smile.
“If you were my mom, maybe, but you wouldn’t be kissing me.”
“Ah.” She nodded in understanding. “Sexy, doable… sausage? Am I getting closer?”
“Yep. Just consider me your personal smorgasbord of meat.” He linked their hands and led her out of the hotel room. If he’d kept her in there any longer, they might not leave.
The draw of the country music drifted out into the busy parking lot. The neon green sign of a cowgirl leaning on a post lit the night sky. Sam had grown up around the cowboy hat and boot wearing good ole country boy crowd. They worked hard and played harder.
“I thought you said we were going to a strip club,” Grace whispered as Sam led her toward the door.
“We are, but Sarah insisted Richard dance with her first. So, we’re here for an hour or two before we can ditch her.”
“I’m going to need a stiff drink or two if you don’t want the bride to have black eyes in the pictures tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll ever understand what you saw in her.”
“I’m beginning to wonder myself.”
“First round is on me. We’ll toast to you dodging the bullet and to your brother’s bad luck.”
Sam’s smile grew by the minute. Bringing Grace as his date had been a stroke of genius. She was funny and feisty. Her beauty was just a bonus.
Grace walked into the bar as if she’d grown up in this town and everyone knew her name. There wasn’t a person she’d met yet she hadn’t made to feel comfortable in some way or another, except the bride, of course.
Sam watched Grace as she moved through the crowd and straight to the bar. She wasn’t even aware that the groomsmen were undressing her with their eyes, or the way the men naturally gravitated toward her, or how the bartender dropped what he was doing just to serve her.
Why was she still single? He’d spent less than a week with her so far, and he could see what a catch she’d be.
The thought of dropping the charade to help her find the type of man she wanted weighed heavy on his mind.
Here she was helping him, and what was he doing in return?
The opposite of helping her. She thought she’d ruin his chance with the bridesmaids when, in reality, he was ruining her chances at finding the right guy.
Did that make him selfish? Would she consider letting him really date her instead?
Sam and Grace downed a shot of whiskey before grabbing their beers and heading toward the wedding party. Sarah was sitting in Richard’s lap, even as she watched Sam approach. He’d seen that look in her eyes before. The kind where the claws were itching below the surface. Her gaze was predatory.
Sarah smirked before she turned in Richard’s arms and pressed her lips to his in a heated kiss. He’d expected that jab to hurt, but he felt nothing. No hatred or anger or jealousy. Just…nothing. Interesting.
Sam pulled out Grace’s chair and took the one next to her. He laid his hand along the back of the chair and took a sip of his beer, doing his best to look happy for his brother.
“So, Sam, how did you two meet?” Sarah asked, as if she was genuinely interested.
Grace raised her brow, as if she was interested in knowing herself. He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “She works in the office building directly across from mine, and I asked her out.”
“I thought you were going to say she’d come to your office in need of your services helping her find a date,” Sarah said with a challenging look.
No one knew that was exactly what had happened.
“Does she look like she needs help finding a date?” Sam asked, raising a brow.
“Hell no,” Mike answered. “Grace, do you have any single sisters?”
Grace smiled. “As a matter of fact, one is still single.”
“Perfect.” Mike rose and held out his hand when a slow song started to play. “Come dance with me and tell me all about her.”
Grace rose from her seat and kissed Sam on the lips in a slow, tantalizing kiss that was more heated than the one Sarah had given her groom. “You okay with this?”
“Of course.” Sam gave a slow nod. “I trust you explicitly.” He said it loud enough for Sarah to hear. His words earned him a bright smile from Grace.
He watched Grace and Mike on the dance floor, unable to look away.
Grace spoke as she swayed. She laughed at something Mike said, and Sam forced himself not to cut in.
He was watching her for the first time with another man.
She seemed confident and in control. The way she smiled and her eyes sparkled held her dance partner a bit mesmerized.
Other bridesmaids and groomsmen took to the floor as Richard walked to the bar to get Sarah a drink. She moved into Grace’s empty chair.
“You look like you’re ready to devour her. You never used to look at me that way. If you had, I might not have found comfort with your brother.”
“Yes, you would have. If you’ll excuse me.” Sam rose from his chair with his gaze locked with Grace’s. She licked her lips and winked. More than enough of an invitation for Sam to cut in.
The crowd and people between them parted as if they, too, could feel the building heat that was stirring between Grace and him. With every turn, Grace found his gaze. The look in her eyes turned downright hungry until Sam tapped Mike on the shoulder.
“My turn.”
Mike frowned. Yeah, Sam knew why. He finally understood what Grace had meant when she said she wanted the heated gaze from across the room.
Sam took her into his arms and twirled her once before pulling her tight against his chest. His lips hovered near her ear, his words a whisper. “Did you feel the heated gaze?”
Goosebumps rose on her arms, telling him what her words didn’t.
“What about the butterflies? Are you feeling those yet?”
She leaned out of his hold to glance up at him. “And the pitter-patter,” she said as though confused. “It wasn’t supposed to happen with you.”
Sam rested his fingers in her hair and pulled her flush with his body. “I’m exactly the person you were supposed to experience it with.”
He kissed her like a man claiming the last kiss before being shipped off to war. Only things weren’t about to end. They were just beginning.
She broke free and shook her head.
“I don’t want to help you find another guy,” he said, feeling that she was about to run scared.
“Sam—”
He cut her off by kissing her again. The slow sway of their bodies stopped as he broke the kiss and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Let me date you, for real, Grace.”
“I can’t.” She took his hand and pulled him from the dance floor and out the front door of the bar.
She waited until they were on the side of the building before she explained.
“I’m not on a rebound and don’t need help finding a date.
You were right to question the real reason I was in your office. I’m not your typical client.”
Sam maneuvered her until her back was pressed against the wall. He lowered his lips to the creamy length of her neck and kissed a path up to her ear. “I know,” he whispered between kisses.
“No, you don’t,” she said, trying to move him away.
“Yes, I do.” He leaned back to look into her eyes. “If I tell you the real reason you were in my office, will you let me date you?”
“You can’t possibly know.”
He went back to kissing her neck on the other side, starting where her neck met her shoulder. His hands slowly moved up her sides. “Chloe McKenzie is your best friend, and my competition.”
Her body went rigid beneath his touch, but that didn’t deter him.
“It’s only natural we do background checks on our clients to make sure we don’t have any psychos or stalkers.
She’s your best friend. You were checking out the competition, although you haven’t been on a date in a while.
My detective was pretty clear that you weren’t even looking. ”
“How did he know?” she asked, leaning her head against the building, giving Sam better access to continue his assault.
“Good-looking men would try to talk to you, and you weren’t interested. Men would try and catch your gaze, and you never took the bait. You have a focused life. Work, family, and friends.”
“You think you know me?” she asked on a moan as his lips sucked on her ear.
“I don’t think, Grace. I know. So, tell me I’m right so we can move past that.”
“You knew this whole time and didn’t say anything?” she asked, resting her hand on his chest to stop his advances.
Just that slight touch was enough to send his heart racing. Everything about her was enough to bring him to his knees, and he would gladly worship at her feet. His lips and hands wanted to caress every inch of her.
He stopped kissing her long enough to answer. “What kind of matchmaker would I be if I couldn’t read people?”
“Your mom overheard my conversation.”
“Yes, but I’d already figured it out, and besides, she likes you.”
“You aren’t mad that I pretended to be a client?”
“I knew it.” The familiar voice came from the corner of the building. The bride stood with her arms crossed over her chest. “Your relationship is fake. Why did you bring her, Sam?”
“She’s not a client. She’s my new—”
“Uh-uh,” Grace said, cutting him off. “He doesn’t have to explain anything to you. Let me clue you in, Sarah. He’s here for his brother, not out of some misguided illusion that you think he’s still got a thing for you. Trust me…he doesn’t.”
“What’s going on?” Richard asked as he and the others rounded the building.
“She’s horrible,” Sarah said as she stormed off with her bridesmaids following behind her.
“What happened?” Richard asked, his gaze questioning as he stared between Sam and Grace.
“Your soon-to-be bride doesn’t like my choice of dates,” Sam said as he took Grace’s hand. “Don’t ask me to choose, Richard. You won’t like my answer.”
“Fair enough. I deserve that.”
“Lighten up, people. There’s nothing a little bit more alcohol can’t cure. Besides, we’ve got strippers waiting to give a certain groom a lap dance,” Stan, one of the groomsmen, added with a playful grin.