by Shirley Jump
“I’m assuming it’s not because the senior prom is coming up and you’re dateless.” He leaned in again. “And for the record, I totally would have asked you to the prom if I’d had the guts.”
Was he being sincere, or was that just empty flattery? The man before her practically oozed confidence and strength, but maybe in high school he hadn’t. She barely remembered him, or any of the other guys in her class. How might things have been different if he had asked her? Didn’t matter. Those days were so far in the past, they weren’t even in her rearview mirror anymore. “Well, if you’d asked, maybe I would have gone instead of staying home and watching reruns of Happy Days.”
“Why didn’t you go to prom?”
“I was...busy.” Sitting at home, worried about her father, who was supposed to be in South Dakota for a fight, but was instead out with the guys, pretending he wasn’t grieving. Losing his wife had sent him spiraling worse and worse every month. For about five minutes that May in senior year, Beth had considered saying “to hell with it” and going to the prom, but every single time she’d debated doing so, she’d heard her mother’s words. Take care of Dad for me, Beth. Please?
And so Beth had stayed, because that, apparently, was what she did. Stay and help, even when she wanted to be somewhere else.
“Well, maybe someday we can remedy that missed prom situation,” Grady said.
“Are you going to rent a pale blue tux that’s too big for you and slap a giant corsage on my wrist?”
“Only if you promise to wear one of those dresses with the giant hoop under it and put those little white flowers in your hair.” He winked.
She tapped a finger on her chin. “I think I have one of those in my closet. Leftover bridesmaid hell.”
“I believe I have an ill-fitting tux for the same reason. We would make quite the pair.”
For a second, she pictured herself next to him, striding into some overdecorated banquet hall with a DJ in one corner and a bowl of secretly spiked punch in the other. How different would her high school years have been if she’d noticed Grady, and he’d asked her out? Would she have had those experiences everyone else had had? The make-out sessions at the top of the hill that overlooked Stone Gap, the middle-of-the-night diner runs after a party, the ridiculousness of prom, followed by a kiss under the stars?
She shook off the thoughts. She was well past the age where she should care about making out with a boy or slow dancing to some Mariah Carey ballad. She had a business to run and a father to worry about. A father whose one wish was to see his daughter happily paired with a good man. Grady could fit that bill for one night, couldn’t he?
It would make her father happy, and from there, maybe the rest of a bridge between them could be built, resulting in conversations about something deeper than what happened on a Survivor rerun.
“I know this sounds like a crazy idea,” she said. “But it can work out for both of us. You need someone to help you train Monster, right? And you need to sell your grandmother’s house. My best friend is a Realtor, and she’s fantastic at it. I’ll connect you with her, if you pretend to be my boyfriend in front of my dad. Just for one night, I swear.”
He cocked his head and studied her. “Why me? You’re a beautiful woman, Beth. I’m sure you have dozens of men lining up at your door.”
She scoffed, but inside a part of her whispered, He thinks I’m beautiful? “For one, I haven’t dated in so long, I don’t think I remember how. For another, this is a small town, in case you forgot, and I know pretty much every man who lives here. And third, I don’t want a relationship or some kind of entanglement. I want an agreement.”
“A business arrangement? That’s my specialty. Or...used to be.”
She wanted to ask about that last part, but doing that would feel invasive after what she’d just said about entanglement. Keep it professional, not personal. That would be the smartest course of action. “Yes. A business arrangement only.”
Monster leaped against Grady’s legs, begging for attention. Grady brushed him off, his gaze on Beth. Assessing. Considering. She felt as if he was running an assets-and-debts check. “I have done a lot of business over the course of my life, and I have to say I have never had an offer like this one.”
“It is unique, I agree with you on that.” She opened the back door to the shop and ushered Grady and a still-rambunctious Monster inside. She put the box of treats into the cabinet, and then leaned against the counter in the grooming salon. “But it’s a win-win for you, because you get the shoe chewer there under control.”
Grady glanced down at Monster, who had clearly gotten bored with all the human conversation and was now gnawing on a shoelace.
To another person, the puppy’s constant need for attention and amusement—and an interesting texture between his teeth—might have been a little cute and a bit irritating. But Grady glanced at the dog, then his watch, and a line pinched between his brows. Stress tensed his shoulders and jaw.
“Hey, Monster, no. Leave it.” Beth shooed him away. The puppy backed up a few steps, slid onto the floor, and had the sense to look contrite. “Good boy.”
Grady cleared his throat and the tension in his features lessened. “You still haven’t told me why you need a pretend boyfriend to meet your father. Either that’s one hell of a pickup line or you have some ulterior motive I can’t see.”
“My father is very sick,” she said, because that was so much easier than speaking the word dying, “and he worries about me a lot. He wants to make sure I’m okay. Part of his recipe for my happiness is a man in my life. And I...sort of told him I have one.”
“So you’re lying to a man who is sick?”
She winced. “Yes, but...” Her eyes welled. “My dad just wants to know I’ll be okay after he...well, when he’s gone. I can’t give him the diagnosis he wants, but I can give him peace of mind.”
“That, I think, is very sweet. Even if it’s a bit of a lie, it sounds like you’re doing it to ease his stress.”
“I know it sounds terrible, but I don’t want worrying about me to be added to all my father has to deal with. So if you can just help me out with this little thing, I’d be forever grateful.”
“I don’t know many people who are like you. You’re...refreshing, Beth.”
She flushed at the compliment, even though she knew he’d misjudged her reasons. This wasn’t about being sweet. It was, deep down inside, about a need to establish a connection with her father before she lost that chance. For him to say, just once, I’m proud of you, kid. “I’m just trying to make things easier for him. He doesn’t need to worry about me, but every time I tell him that, he just worries more. Hence, the pretend boyfriend. Only for one night, I swear.” She’d now said that twice. Desperate much?
“I can do one night, but we should kind of hash out a story line for how we met first. In the meantime...” Grady shifted closer to her. The puppy wandered around them, twining his leash around their legs. Beth tugged him back into a sitting position, but every ounce of her attention remained on Grady. The two of them didn’t speak for a moment. “If I’m pretending to be your boyfriend...does that mean I get to kiss you?”
Her heart stuttered. Her face heated even more. “Well... I—I don’t think my dad is going to need...”
“You want it to be believable, right? And if a man is dating a beautiful woman like you, he’s going to kiss her every chance he gets.”
Grady was closer now, so close she could feel the warmth of his skin, catch the scent of his cologne, feel the temptation to put her hands on his hard chest, or the broad muscles of his back. “He might, but it’s really not necessary.”
“Maybe not, but I don’t think we can accurately portray a dating relationship without demonstrating obvious attraction between us.”
She parked a fist on her hip. “And who says I’m attracted to you?”
“Who says you’re not?”
“I told you, this is business only.” Except nothing in this moment felt businesslike or professional. She’d crossed some lines here, mixing her livelihood with...whatever was happening between them.
“That you did,” he said. “More than once. However, if this is a business-only deal, then us kissing shouldn’t affect you. Or me.”
“It won’t.” If she said it out loud, that would make it true, right? Because at the moment, with Grady only inches away, and the shop quiet and still and intimate, she was pretty sure she would melt if he kissed her.
His mouth curved into a wide smile. “Care to put a wager on that?”
“I don’t gamble.” She raised her chin, tried her best to look determined and strong and unaffected. “I operate on facts. And the fact is—”
Grady kissed her—cut off her words, cut off her breath and kissed her. Beth’s heart skipped a beat, and before she could think twice, she kissed him back. His mouth slid over hers, slow and gentle, a whisper of a kiss. One hand came up to gently cup the back of her head, fingers dipping into that sensitive hollow at the base of her neck. Damn. He’d found that spot that got her every time, and she let out a soft mew, then leaned into him. Grady deepened his kiss, a little hungrier and harder now, his body shifting into place against hers, and any common sense Beth had evaporated. She clutched at his back, feeling hard, dense muscles, imagining for a fleeting second what he would look like naked and on top of her—
And Grady stepped back, breaking the kiss. She heard the jingle of his phone, and just like that, the warm, teasing man became the stressed, steely one again.
He pulled the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “I have to take this.” He turned to go, then pivoted back. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry. Sometimes my impulses get ahead of my smarter thinking.”
Then he picked up his dog and walked out of her shop. Leaving Beth wondering if she’d just made a smart trade—or a huge mistake.
One thing was for certain—that man definitely understood the use of positive reinforcement.
Chapter Four
The world was dark and quiet, the moon a silent guard over Stone Gap, and Grady lay in a bed that he’d spent a good chunk of his childhood in, halfway to sleep. It was in that twilight space between waking and dreaming that the regrets and doubts plagued his thoughts, catapulting on top of each other, until a sharp catch in his breath jerked him fully awake. His heart thudded so loudly he could hear it, and his breath became a panicked rush.
He kicked off the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, his chest tight and his breath wheezing. He stared at the dappled white specks of moonlight on the wood floor as he drew in a breath, let it out. Drew another in, let it out. His heart kept galloping, and he pressed his hand to his chest, as if that would slow the rapid beats.
What had he been thinking yesterday, kissing Beth and agreeing to be her fake boyfriend? For a second, he’d been his old self, leaping ahead, heedless of the risks of his decisions, allowing his instincts and desires to pull him around like a bull with a ring in its nose. Then Dan had called, and splashed him with an icy reminder of Grady’s entire reason for being in Stone Gap. A reason that had nothing to do with a pretty groomer who smelled like spring flowers.
Jackson Properties had become a ghost of the multimillion-dollar company he’d built. The offices were still there, empty and silent, the lights off. Dan, the only employee left, had taken to working mostly from home to save the few dollars on electricity bills. An hour ago, he had texted and asked if there was any possibility of a paycheck advance. My doctor won’t see me again unless I catch up on some of the overdue bills, Dan had written. I don’t want to add to your stress but I don’t know what else to do.
Grady didn’t know, either—but he had no option but to try to figure it out.
Somehow, he managed to get back to sleep. The next morning, he got started bright and early, spending the day culling his list of contacts, trying to broker a deal to flip the medical-device company’s property as soon as he bought it, or even better, before he bought it, saving him the scary prospect of floating the loan in between purchase and sale. A few people returned his calls and emails, but gave him nothing more than platitudes and vague promises. Most ignored him. No one, it seemed, wanted to be near a failure.
Now he stood on Beth Cooper’s father’s doorstep, clutching a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bottle of white wine in the other, and tried not to break a sweat. A few hours at her dinner table, then he’d get the name of the Realtor, get Ida Mae’s house sold and get the hell out of town. Monster pranced in as much of a circle as the leash would allow, then stopped to paw at the front door, as if saying, Come on, ring the bell and get it over with.
Grady pressed the button, then waited. He’d opted for a button-down shirt and khakis. No tie, no sport jacket. Something casual that said boyfriend. Not guy pretending to be a boyfriend who is actually in it to get rid of a dog and a house because he doesn’t have time for a relationship with a woman who deserves more. Last he checked, Macy’s didn’t stock that outfit.
Beth pulled open the door. Her eyes widened and a smile fluttered across her face. Apparently, his choice of attire met with her approval. He loved the way she looked—always had, ever since she’d sat across from him in high school. But the adult Beth had a sexy, girl-next-door edge to her that he liked even more. She had her hair down, long blond tendrils skating along her shoulders, curving across the top of her breasts. She’d put on a simple pale yellow sundress that left her arms bare and belled below her narrow waist.
Holy hell. Maybe he should have gone for the tie. Because Beth looked like the kind of woman a man should spoil. Whisk off to dinner in Paris or a candlelit dinner on a beach at sunset.
Just a year ago, Grady could have done that. Now, the best he could offer was a bouquet and a charade. He thrust the flowers at her. “These are for you.”
She buried her nose in the daisies and inhaled, then lifted her gaze and smiled at him. “Nice touch. Thanks.”
He held up the bottle of wine. “And I’m hoping this will take the edge off.” For him, mostly, because the last time he’d had this much riding on a date had been, well, never.
“Good thinking.” She laughed, then bent down to greet a wildly enthusiastic Monster. The puppy pawed at Beth’s legs, but she gently reprimanded him and told him to sit. Monster listened to her, his big brown eyes filled with the same rapt attention Grady suspected his own eyes showed.
Beth glanced up at Grady. “I take it you’re as nervous as I am?” she said softly. “For the record, I’ve never done anything remotely close to this.”
He nodded. At least he wasn’t the only one with jitters in his gut. “I’ve never exchanged dinner for dog training and a business card.”
Hell, he’d never gone out with someone like Beth. There was just something wholesome and sweet and enticing about her that had Grady off-kilter and wondering if it would be better for both of them if he bailed on the whole thing.
“I really appreciate this, Grady.” She rose, took a look over her shoulder, then turned her attention back to him. When she spoke, her voice dropped to a whisper. “Remember the story we worked out by text earlier today. I don’t think my dad will be suspicious, but just be prepared. My father gets tired easily so you only have to stay for a little while. My dad is also very protective of me, so be prepared for an inquisition. He won’t go easy on you.”
“You make it sound like dating you is a hardship,” Grady said. “I find that difficult to believe.”
“Not a hardship. Just...complicated.”
Complicated. What did she mean by that? Because everything about Beth read simple and easy to him, like floating down a lazy river.
Behind her, a male voice called out, “Am I going to meet this young man or are you just gonna leave him standing o
n the porch like a wet newspaper?”
Beth drew in a breath, then opened the door wider. “Come on in,” she said. “And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Grady entered the Cape Cod–style house, with Monster at his feet, all gangly puppy paws on the smooth wood floors. Beth led the way down a short hallway, flanked by a dining room on the left and a guest bath on the right. The hall spilled into the living room, a crowded space dominated by a massive TV and a recliner. Dozens of pictures hung on the dark wood paneled walls, above a pair of floral sofas and a set of end tables filled with more pictures. In the corner sat an upright piano, the lid closed, bench tucked underneath.
In the recliner sat a man whose body held the echoes of a hearty frame. His cheeks were sunken, his eyes darkened by circles from sleepless nights. An oxygen tube draped over his ears and into his nose, connected to a dark green canister at his feet. He gripped the arms of the chair and shoved himself to his feet, his face pinching with the effort. He stuck out a shaky hand. “Reggie Cooper.”
The name immediately struck a bell. A former fighter with a pretty damned good record. Grady stepped forward. “Grady Jackson. Pleased to meet you, sir.”
“And what are your intentions toward my daughter?”
“Dad!” Beth’s face reddened.
“I don’t want you thinking my only daughter’s heart isn’t worth a little hard work.” Reggie leaned forward and gave Grady a glare.
He couldn’t blame her father for starting off with that question. If he had a daughter like Beth, he’d be keeping a loaded shotgun by the front door to scare off every man who got within ten feet. “Your daughter is an incredible woman.”
“You better not forget that, son.” Reggie wagged a finger in his direction and Beth’s face turned a shade darker.
“Dad, why don’t you sit down?” Beth didn’t wait for an answer, but helped ease him back into his chair. Her touch was easy, loving, tender, and some weird part of Grady felt envy. “Can I get you anything to drink, Dad?”
