Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor)

by Jill Shalvis

  And something else was blooming too.

  Worry.

  This was unlike him, very much so. He never blew off anything that anyone needed, but especially Toby. His son came first with him. Family always came first. So this bothered her.

  She hadn’t expected to feel worry for the man who appeared to have it all. Hell, she hadn’t meant to feel anything for him at all, but she did.

  Far too much.

  The waiting room was empty, the front office lit but also empty. And her worry amped up a notch. “Josh?” she called, walking down the hallway.

  She came to a large office decorated in masculine dark wood, the huge mahogany desk loaded with paperwork and files. The lamp was lit. There was a mug of something on the corner and an open laptop in the middle.

  Behind the desk was a large executive chair. In it was one Dr. Josh Scott, leaning back, feet up.

  Fast asleep.

  Chapter 15

  Forget roses, send chocolate.

  Josh hated falling asleep in his office chair. It never failed to give him a kink in his neck and make him grumpy as hell. So when he leaned back and let his eyes drift shut, he told himself he was merely resting his eyelids.

  “Josh?”

  Her voice, Grace’s voice, came to him on a breath of air, and he relaxed into the leather chair.

  “I have a case for you, Dr. Scott.” Grace stood in his office doorway in a nurse’s uniform, but not any uniform that Dee might wear. Nope, this one had come right out of the Victoria Secret catalog, complete with stilettos.

  Looking holy-shit-hot, she sauntered into his office and slid between his legs, leaning over him in the chair, blocking him in with her body. His hands went to her hips to pull her in even closer, needing her so badly he was shaking but he refused to rush. If this was all they were going to have, this erotic dream, then he wanted it to last. He kissed her neck, then traced his tongue over the spot, eliciting the sweetest, most sensuous sigh he’d ever heard. This fueled a bone-deep desire to mark her as his, and he sucked the patch of skin into his mouth.

  “Josh…”

  No. No talking, or he’d wake up. He kissed the spot, slipping his hands beneath the short hem of her uniform, and groaned. No panties. God, he was a goner…

  “Josh.”

  He grabbed her wrist and tugged so that she fell into his lap with a gasp that had him opening his eyes.

  No nurse’s uniform. Damn. It really was just a dream…

  “Sorry,” Grace said, wriggling, trying to free herself. “I didn’t mean to startle you awake. You were really out.”

  Med school and residency had taught Josh how to sleep light and come awake fast, but apparently he’d forgotten the art of both. Then again, certain parts of him were very awake, getting more so by the second thanks to the squirming Grace was doing.

  She wore another of her sundresses, this one sky blue, the color of her eyes. It’d risen high on her thighs, and he decided to help it along, sliding a hand up her leg, pushing the material as he went.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, nice and breathless.

  “Seeing if I should salute the flag on your panties,” he said. “I’m patriotic, Grace.”

  “These don’t have a flag on them.”

  Aw, now see, that was just a challenge, and he’d never been able to resist a challenge. His fingers tangled with hers, trying to work the hem while she rocked around some more.

  That had enough of a noticeable effect on him that her eyes widened at the feel of him hard beneath him. “Um…”

  He met her gaze.

  “You’re…”

  “Yeah,” he said thickly. “I’ve been like this all week.”

  Okay, so not really. It was hard to maintain a boner while treating the flu or putting in stitches, but he’d given it the old college try.

  And it had been a hell of a week. “I was dreaming about you. You were modeling for me.”

  “In the bikini T-shirt?” she asked.

  “Try again.”

  She met his gaze and blushed gorgeously at whatever she saw on his face. “I…”

  “Go ahead, guess,” he said. “It’s from your sexual fantasy list.”

  The air crackled around them.

  “And not that I’m not completely enjoying this lap dance of yours,” he said, “but what are you doing here and where’s Toby?”

  She looked at him as if maybe he wasn’t as awake as he’d thought. “You’re late for Back to School night. You weren’t answering your cell. I came to check on you.”

  “Ah, shit.” He stood up and let her slide down his body, but not before he caught a quick flash of peach silk. He loved peach silk.

  But Toby was waiting, and Josh had indeed known about tonight. Damn, he couldn’t believe he’d fallen asleep like that. Or maybe after eighty hours at the job this week so far, he could believe it. He shut his laptop, grabbed his keys and his phone, and keeping his fingers wrapped around Grace’s wrist, began to tug her to the door. But then he stopped and looked down into her concerned face. She’d come to get him because she cared about Toby.

  And because she cared about him too?

  He thought maybe she was getting there. More than she planned to, and that did something to him.

  People had cared about him before, of course. Toby loved him, unconditionally. His patients liked him. Ty, Matt…his staff. Hell, even his sister, though he wouldn’t bet against the house on that one. But how often could he say that any of those people had put him first?

  “Josh?” Grace murmured. “You okay?”

  “I will be.” Letting go of her, he moved back to his desk, opening his laptop again. He didn’t have to bring up the hospital’s contract offer; it’d been up for weeks. Months. His dad no longer needed him, but Toby did. Anna did. And Josh needed to do what was right for him too. He’d loved his dad, loved the memory of his dad right here in this office, helping people.

  But it was no longer as relevant as making his own life work. Josh scrolled to the end, electronically signed on the bottom line, and hit SEND.

  Done. Carrot bitten. Hell, carrot swallowed.

  Just like that—though there were no trumpets, no fat ladies singing—Josh’s life was irrevocably changed. He moved back to Grace at the door.

  She was staring at him very solemnly. “What did I just miss?” she asked.

  Josh didn’t really have words. He felt a little off his center of gravity, like he was standing at the edge of a cliff with one foot in the air already. It was a new feeling for him. “Nothing yet,” he said, and because she was standing so close, looking so cute and yet utterly, effortlessly sexy, he backed her to the door.

  “Josh,” she said. Just that, just his name as her hands went to his chest.

  Not to push him away, he noticed with some satisfaction. Though she wasn’t exactly sold on this, on them, not yet. Not even close. But the way her pulse beat at the base of her throat told him the move had excited her.

  “You feel warm,” she said, and gave him a worried frown.

  He pressed into her a little. Yeah, he was feeling warm. He was starting to feel a bunch of things. “Don’t worry, it’s not contagious.”

  Her brow creased more tightly in that adorable expression of concern. “You’re sick?”

  “Probably.” He slid a hand down her back to her very nice ass and rocked her into him. “Definitely.”

  She blinked, then caught onto his light, teasing tone. She relaxed, letting out a little sigh that went straight through him. “You poor man. All work and no play.”

  Yeah. But that was going to change.

  Or so he hoped.

  Too bad that by the time it did, she’d probably be long gone, having taken a job and a life that suited her far more than his. Leaning in, he kissed her, soft and light, then pulled back. “Let’s go get Toby.”

  They made it to the school in time to see Toby get his Student of the Week award. Grace watched Toby beam with happiness at his fa
ther’s presence and felt her heart clutch. Josh’s expression was much more subdued but no less genuine, and Grace’s heart kicked again.

  After, she left to give them some alone time, heading to the diner to meet Amy and Mallory. Jan, the diner’s owner, stopped her at the door. Jan was short and round and appeared to cut her dark hair by putting a bowl over her head to use as a guideline. She wasn’t big on customer service, rarely speaking to her customers unless it was to yell at them to pipe down because American Idol was on the TV. “Got something for you,” she said.

  This took Grace by surprise. In all the time she’d known Jan, the woman had never spoken directly to her.

  Jan held out a memory stick.

  “What’s this?” Grace asked.

  “My laptop died. This is my backup bookkeeping. I need you to get on it ASAP. I’m a little behind.”

  “Okay…”

  Jan was looking impatient to be back in front of her TV. “You’re a number cruncher, yes?”

  “Well, actually,” Grace said, “I’m in banking—”

  “You’re doing Amy’s books,” Jan said.

  “Yes, because she’s my friend.”

  “And Lance’s and Tucker’s. And Anderson’s. And Jeanine’s.”

  Yeah, okay, so she’d gotten shystered into doing a lot of bookkeeping. She was good at it. And as it turned out, she also liked it. She liked the way numbers balanced at the end of the day, how she didn’t have to take her work home with her to stress about at night. “These are all one-time things,” she said to Jan. “Really. I’m just sort of setting them up.”

  “I’ll pay you,” Jan said. “And also give you free food. As much as you can eat.”

  Grace had her mouth open to refuse but she closed it, inexcusably drawn in by this. “As much as I want?”

  “As much as your skinny ass can take,” Jan said, waving the memory stick enticingly.

  Grace sighed and took it. Skinny? Not even close. “How long ago did your laptop die?”

  “A month.”

  Great…

  She made her way to the back booth. “Sucker,” a waiting Mallory said.

  Amy came out from the kitchen, making a big deal about setting the tray of cupcakes down just right, twisting the tray and nearly blinding Grace and Mallory with…

  “Oh my God,” Mallory said, and screamed.

  Grace put her fingers in her ears but grinned wide.

  Amy was wearing a rock on her ring finger.

  Mallory jumped up and down and screamed some more, and then wore herself out and sank into the booth for a cupcake.

  “I actually don’t even need chocolate,” Amy said, staring at her ring in dazed marvel. “Never thought I’d say that.”

  Mallory laughed and took a second cupcake. “I’ll eat it for you.”

  “I’m getting married,” Amy said softly. She looked up at the two of them, her eyes shiny. “Can you believe it?”

  Grace knew that Amy hadn’t had much luck in love before coming to Lucky Harbor. But Matt Bowers, a very sexy forest ranger and all-around great guy, had changed that for her.

  Mallory’s life was changing too.

  Everyone’s life was changing.

  Except for Grace’s.

  Mallory squeezed her hand, making her realize she’d gone quiet. “You okay?”

  “Oh, I’m good, and very happy for both of you.” And she meant that, from the bottom of her heart. “I love how you’ve both figured out what was missing in your lives and went out and got it for yourselves.”

  “You know that what was missing wasn’t a man, right?” Amy asked. “Because I didn’t need a man to make me whole. I just needed to open myself up to new experiences. The man part sort of fell in my lap.”

  Mallory grinned. “Ditto.”

  “Well, thankfully, I don’t need a man to make me whole,” Grace said. “Because there’s a definite man shortage in my life.”

  “Liar,” Amy said.

  “Hey,” Grace said. “I’m just his dog walker and part-time nanny. It’s temporary. Very temporary.”

  Amy turned to Mallory. “Time for the big guns.”

  Mallory pulled out her phone, thumbed to Lucky Harbor’s Facebook page, and showed it to Grace. The latest entry read:

  Ladies, our favorite doc, Josh Scott, is actively seeking a new nanny. Many have applied, and all have been turned down by his interim nanny, Grace Brooks.

  Is she just being extraordinarily careful?

  Or is she saving the position for herself?

  A picture is worth a thousand words…

  Accompanying this was indeed a picture, taken from inside the elementary school’s kindergarten classroom. Toby was up on the makeshift stage, accepting his award.

  The class was full of proud, smiling parents.

  And in the back of the room stood Grace, beaming at the stage, a flush on her cheeks.

  That wasn’t the most damning part. Nope, that honor went to Josh, standing just behind her, his arms around her, his shoulders much broader than hers, his jaw pressed to her temple as he also looked toward the stage. There was something about the stance, the body language, the way the air practically shimmered between them. Not that there was any air between them. He was so tight to her that a sheet of paper wouldn’t have fit.

  “Well that’s just…” Grace trailed off. Sexy.

  Hot.

  In fact, she was getting a hot flash right now.

  “Standing a little close, aren’t you, for nanny and the professor?” Amy asked dryly.

  “Doctor,” Grace said absently. “He’s a doctor.”

  “So is that why he’s close enough to take your body temperature without a thermometer?”

  Grace shook her head. “This picture couldn’t have been taken even an hour ago.” And that wasn’t all. She looked happy in that picture.

  “The good stuff travels fast in Lucky Harbor,” Amy said. “You know that.”

  “And that’s not the only fast thing,” Mallory said. “You guys have moved pretty fast.”

  “Says the woman who slept with her fiancé on the first night she met him,” Amy said dryly.

  “Second night,” Mallory said primly.

  “This picture was taken out of context,” Grace complained. “Completely.”

  “Of course,” Mallory agreed, nodding. Then she shook her head. “Um, so how do you take a picture out of context?”

  Amy snorted.

  “The classroom was packed,” Grace said. “Standing room only. We were forced to be so squished.”

  “Interesting how his arms look quite comfortable around her,” Mallory noted to Amy.

  “And notice the postcoital look about her,” Amy offered back.

  Grace bit her lower lip and stared at the picture. She did seem to have a certain orgasmic glow. Jeez, how long did such a thing last anyway?

  Josh didn’t have the glow. Even though technically he’d been the last one to, um, have an orgasm, he was looking a little edgy, a little rough and tumble. Like maybe he needed another reason to glow. Grace bit her lip harder at the thought. “We haven’t been together. Not exactly.”

  “Not exactly?” Amy asked, brows up. “Is that what you kids call it these days?”

  Mallory cracked up at this, and Grace sighed. “It’s more like coitus interruptus. Twice. Once because he was called into work and another because he fell asleep.”

  Amy grinned. “Anyone ever tell you you’re supposed to keep them awake for the good stuff?”

  Mallory was smiling but her question was serious. “So are you two going to be a real thing, then, not just a fun thing?”

  Something clenched deep inside Grace at the thought, but she couldn’t decide if it was a good clench or a bad one. Liar, liar… “I’ve run the numbers,” she said. “It wouldn’t work. First of all, he’s a doctor. He gets a lot of points taken off for that.”

  “People usually add points for doctors,” Mallory said.

  “Not me,” Grace
said. “I was raised by a few of them, remember? Trust me, they don’t make good relationship material.”

  Mallory squeezed her hand. “Honey, Josh isn’t like your family. He’s warm and loving.”

  “Not to mention hot as hell,” Amy added.

  Grace shook her head. “Sorry, the points are already deducted. And taking into account his schedule, and then the standard deviation from the average man’s schedule, I figure ninety percent of his time would go elsewhere. I’d never get uninterrupted coitus.”

  “Penis math,” Amy said. “Impressive.” She looked at Mallory. “See, this is why a guy shouldn’t date an accountant.”

  “I’m not an accountant,” Grace corrected. “I’m a floral-delivery-girl-slash-model-slash-babysitter.”

  “Slash doctor’s sort-of girlfriend?” Amy asked.

  Both she and Mallory cracked up.

  Grace grabbed a cupcake, stood, and headed to the door.

  “Aw,” Amy called after her. “At least grab a second one for Josh. Chocolate is the next best thing to sex…”

  Chapter 16

  If at first you don’t succeed,

  have chocolate and try again.

  Much later that night, Grace was lying in the bed of the guesthouse. The sheets were soft, and she could tell they’d been washed in the same detergent as Josh’s because her nipples got hard at the scent. When she found herself pressing her face to them instead of sleeping, she got out of bed and strode to the windows.

  The night was hot. Muggy. The lights in the big house had been off when she’d gotten back from the diner. She knew Toby had gone to a friend’s house to sleep for the night. She had no idea where Josh was; either he was out or he was sleeping.

  Anna could be anywhere.

  Just in front of her, the pool gleamed, the water looking dark and inviting. Grace stripped out of her camisole and panties and pulled on a bathing suit. She’d just go cool off, and maybe then she could sleep. To help with that, she grabbed the bottle of wine Lucille had given her the other day. She found a corkscrew in the kitchen but couldn’t locate a wineglass. No problem. She simply took the entire bottle with her and headed outside, where she sat on the edge of the pool and let her feet dangle in the water.