Stiff_A Graves Family Romance

by Kim Linwood

  It looks so good I’m almost afraid to try it and be disappointed. Turns out, it’s even better than it looks. The sauce tastes like fresh raspberries, sweet with a burst of tart berry flavor that complements the freshness of the sorbet perfectly.

  I’ll admit it, having it all melt on my tongue pulls a little moan out of me.

  “Good?” Carter takes a bite of his own, pulling the spoon out slowly to get every drop before licking his lips. “Fuck, that’s good. I’d lick this sauce off anyone.”

  Strong, sweet wine catches in my throat at his words, burning as it goes down. It’s nowhere near as bad as the Becherovka, but I see why the servings are so small. I raise my glass in toast, taking one last sip before putting it down. “To alcohol. The cause of—and solution to—all of life’s problems.”

  “Who said that?”

  “Homer.” I pop a sorbet ball in my mouth and smile.

  “Painting and classic literature. Impressive.”

  “Simpson.”

  Carter snorts wine and I grin as he grabs his napkin to keep from making a mess. Payback’s a bitch.

  After dinner, we linger on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. I’m not quite ready to call for a ride, but there’s no way I’m asking him home for coffee. I don’t trust myself around him. It’ll start out with something about business and end with him critiquing the little good luck bunny over my left butt cheek.

  Although…

  No. Bad idea.

  “Take a walk with me?” Carter asks, solving my problem nicely. He gestures towards Coyote Lake. “I could use some fresh air.”

  “Sure.” My response is too quick, because his face takes on a distinctly wolfish cast as he looks me over. He’s got me and he knows it.

  At this late hour, we have the sidewalk to ourselves. Carter holds out his arm, and I take it, crowding closer than strictly necessary, which is totally not an excuse to feel his body next to mine.

  We cross the street to a park. Soft overhead lights line the path to the water, enough to keep us from having to walk in total darkness, but not bright enough to dim the stars that peek out from between breaks in the clouds. I stumble in the low light and Carter steadies me, bringing me even closer. It feels nice.

  Too nice.

  I pull away. “Easy, tiger. Not on the first date.”

  “Hah!” He stops in his tracks.

  “Wait… I didn’t mean date. I meant—”

  “You said exactly what you meant. It’s a date. It just didn’t count until you admitted it. Which you did. Which means I win.”

  “Oh my God. Are you twelve? I just misspoke.”

  Very much not twelve, Carter still manages to look gleefully boyish when he grins at me. “Nope. Sorry. This is like winning the Olympics, so give me my moment.”

  I keep walking to hide my smile. “You’re ridiculous.”

  Strong arms wrap around my shoulders from behind. “Not one of the big ticket sports, though. I need something bigger to aim for on our second date. This is like shot put. Strangely entertaining but not the main event.”

  “I’m honestly not sure if I should be offended by that or not.” I turn around, immediately forgetting what I was going to say, because Carter’s right there, watching me with a mixture of amusement and heavy-lidded desire.

  I shiver as his hand glides softly from my shoulder and down my arm. His touch leaves a burning trail behind his fingers. “You haven’t won yet,” I say defiantly, but it’s hard to believe my own words as I stand there in my nicest dress feeling incredibly vulnerable.

  “Are you sure?”

  No.

  “Yes.”

  Maybe?

  “But you admit there’s something to win.” He smiles, and with his right hand puts a curled finger under my chin. With only the slightest of pressure, he guides me closer, and I take the step without an ounce of resistance. “I told you I would be good tonight, and I won’t push, but I’d like to prove that you can trust me.”

  Staring up into his eyes, I want to believe him. “And how do you intend to do that?”

  “Like this.”

  He leans in and presses his lips against mine, warm, soft and still tasting sweetly of wine and fruit. I melt into him, closing my eyes and shedding my preconceptions about how this night was supposed to go while excited shivers race up and down my back. Tomorrow. I can remember all of that tomorrow, because right now there’s nothing but him, the rustle of the leaves and the soft murmur of the calm water.

  Wrapping his arms around me, he holds me so there’s nothing between us but our clothes. His touch at the small of my back holds me flush against his chest and hips, giving me ample proof that he’s as excited about this kiss as I am. God, it has me thinking and feeling emotions I promised myself I wouldn’t tonight.

  Carter Graves might have gotten a lot of things wrong, but he was right about one. He does have an extremely talented mouth.

  12

  Sadie

  Swirling some white paint into red, I mix together a nice deep pink to add the right highlights to my current masterpiece.

  Lips.

  Big, red, lips.

  Sitting back to get some perspective, I carefully add a few strokes to give them some very kissable highlights.

  The landscape I was working on the other day lies abandoned next to my desk. I tried to finish it, I really did, but one look at unfinished autumn fields and my inner muse rolled over and went back to sleep. Nope, today my inspiration comes from a very different source. I can only imagine what I’d be painting if I’d invited Carter inside last night.

  We’d shared a cab, and then another kiss on my doorstep. It’d been tempting, oh so tempting to open my door a little wider and see where the evening would take us. If I close my eyes, I can still nearly feel the warm press of his mouth against mine.

  “Looks like someone got laid last night,” Zoe teases, walking into my office with a knowing smirk.

  “No-o-o,” I draw out, feeling as guilty as a kid caught up to their elbow in the cookie jar, but it’s true. Unfortunately.

  She looks at my painting and then back at me, clearly skeptical. “Right. So I’m supposed to believe this sudden veer from pastoral to pop art is totally unrelated to your business dinner?”

  I clean off my brush and sigh. “It’s possible there might’ve been a little contact in the facial region. Maybe.”

  “Specifically the lips?” She grins and slides a few papers out of the way to make room to perch on the edge of my desk. “So much for keeping things professional.”

  “Hey! Who said it was with Carter? Maybe I went out after our meeting and met Mr. Right.”

  Zoe snorts. “In Coyote Creek this time of year? The only Mr. Rights are Mr. Right About to Retire and Mr. Right About to Kick the Bucket.”

  “Oh, fine, yeah it was—”

  Our front door barely manages to chime before we both wince at the sound of it slamming into the wall. The bang is followed by a deep voice, telling someone, “Okay, we’ll get started in here and then move down the building to see what we’re working with.”

  I know that voice.

  Zoe and I both peek out of my office to see what the hell’s going on. To my surprise, Carter’s in the front room holding the door open for two guys in overalls. He’s dressed down today, and I take a moment to appreciate the side view of him in jeans before deciding exactly how annoyed I should be. Knowing him, whatever he’s up to, it’s going to piss me off.

  With big cardboard boxes in their arms and tool belts at their waists, the two start stacking stuff up in my nice, neat parlor. What the…? I haven’t formally agreed to anything yet, and I’m pretty sure I’d remember asking him to move in with me last night.

  “Good job, guys. Get everything in and then we’ll start the walkthrough.” Carter turns, spots us and smiles in greeting, as if showing up with a work crew is nothing out of the ordinary. “Morning, Sadie. And you must be Zoe?”

  “Why does he know who I a
m?” she hisses in my ear. “Quick, distract him with some more lip magic while I interrogate those guys.”

  I grab her elbow before she can move. “You work here, Nancy Drew. There are only five of us and you don’t exactly look like a Kenny, Frank or Arthur. And no, I’m going to talk to him and figure this out like a rational adult. Go downstairs. I’ll talk to you later.” She doesn’t look happy about it, but she goes.

  Carter ignores us, checking the boxes against a sheet of paper he’s holding. I stand up straight, trying to walk with authority, and go to investigate exactly how bad this is. Whatever it is. Since Carter’s not paying attention to me, I return the favor and look over the boxes. “Jättetorsk, Guleböj…” I don’t even know how to start to pronounce the words on the side of the box. Some of those can’t even be real letters, right? “What the heck is this?” The next box has a picture on the top, giving me a better idea. “A desk? Why did you bring… wait. No.”

  He looks at me in surprise. “What? Did you already have extra furniture? I figured I was going to need to bring in some of my own so we can get this started. Is your office big enough to share? We seemed to get along well enough last night, but if you’d rather I find somewhere else I don’t mind. It’s nice to have your own space to work.”

  My own space? The whole freaking place is my space. Deep breath. “Excuse me?”

  “I’m used to having my own office, but I have to admit the idea of sharing with you does have its merits.” His grin makes both my lady bits and my head throb, but in very different ways.

  I cross my arms over my chest. “And would you like to remind me again why you need space in here at all?”

  With a quick glance at the workmen, he leans in and whispers, “So my chances at a little naughty secretary role play are…?”

  Oh God. “In your dreams.”

  He winks. “Mmm. Definitely.”

  “I admit that last night went better than expected, but I didn’t actually agree to anything, remember? Get this junk out of here. Now. Until I sign that contract, I don’t want a single piece of Graves in here.”

  He doesn’t move. “How about a little piece of Graves in—”

  “Stop.” I put my finger up, covering his lips before he can finish. “Don’t even go there.”

  “Can’t be here. Can’t go there. Work with me, Sadie. I really thought we made some progress last night.”

  “We did,” I admit. “But that doesn’t mean you can just waltz in and set up shop without finalizing the contract.” Maybe last night was a mistake, but I’m not going to stand here and argue with him about it while he takes over my parlor. “Tell them to move everything out before I do.” Hopefully he listens to me, since those boxes look heavy.

  Carter’s expression doesn’t really change, but something shifts. His smile is just as sexy, but it seems harder now, and we’ve lost whatever was left of the easy going feeling between us. “Alright, then let’s go do it.”

  I start to laugh, but it dies in my throat when I don’t see an ounce of humor after that obvious opening for innuendo. “I’m… I’m not ready right now.”

  “Then what’s it going to take? I’m trying to be patient here, but at some point we are going to go over your head, and if we do, I don’t think you’re going to be nearly as happy with the outcome.”

  This Carter is new, and I’m not sure how to feel. Seeing him shut down on me and threaten to push me out of the process makes me wonder again who the real Carter Graves is. Was last night just an act to get me to warm up to him? “That sounds almost like a threat.”

  “It’s not a threat, Ms. Williams. It’s business.” He turns to the workmen who are standing around waiting on us to make a decision. “Leave the boxes where they are for now and get going with the walkthrough. If that’s alright with you,” he asks coolly.

  “What are they going to do?”

  “Just a visual check to make sure the building matches the plans we were given and to see if there are any obvious issues.”

  The door to the basement opens, and Zoe pops her head out. I’m actually surprised it’s taken her this long. “What’s going on? It’s loud enough to wake the dead up here, and I just got them down for their naps. Nothing worse than a cranky corpse, am I right?”

  Carter and I put aside our differences for as long as it takes to give Zoe a pair of disturbed looks. I point to Carter. “He’s trying to move in. Don’t worry, everyone should be gone soon.”

  She frowns at the guys who are measuring the door frames. “I didn’t know you made it official already.”

  “I didn’t.” I target the older of the two workmen, assuming he’s the one in charge. “You. Take those boxes out. Mr. Graves doesn’t have the right or permission to move in here, and if you damage my walls, I’ll call the police.”

  “Sadie,” Carter sighs, “this is ridiculous. Do you want to pay for these guys to have to come back?”

  “Of course not, and I won’t. This whole thing wasn’t my idea, remember? I don’t have to do anything and if you keep acting like this, there’s no way I’m selling.”

  “It’s not—” Carter snaps, then reels himself in, starting over. “I’m trying to be understanding here because I empathize with how difficult transitions like this can be. If you need more assurances, I can work with you, but if you need more time, there’s only so much left to give before it’s out of our hands. At that point either your parents will overrule your choice, or Graves will move on to another home and the deal’s off the table.”

  Why does he do this to me? Make me feel off balance and out of my depth. His words ring true, but there’s no warmth in them at all. I thought it was what I wanted, but on second thought, I don’t like professional Carter.

  Zoe looks at me and speaks as if he’s not even there. “You were right. He is a jerk, isn’t he? Why did you kiss him again?”

  “Trust me, I won’t make that mistake again.” The glance that passes between the workmen at that doesn’t escape me, but I’m too pissed at Carter to care.

  She moves to my side, providing a much needed united front. “Do you want me to call 911 so we can get them out of here?”

  I love her so hard.

  “I don’t think that will be necessary.” I push down my insecurities and give the men a cool, professional glare to match Carter’s. “So, gentlemen. What’s it going to be?”

  Carter steps forward. “Why don’t you guys go outside? I can handle this.” He smiles warmly enough that I’d almost be fooled if I hadn’t just been threatened.

  Grabbing the first thing I see off the tools on top of the boxes, I press it against Carter’s chest. “Stop.”

  “Nope. Not finding anything.” Zoe snorts behind me.

  I blink in confusion, before noticing that I’m holding a stud finder. The situation isn’t funny at all, but I can’t stop the laugh that bursts out.

  Carter doesn’t look amused. “Real funny, Sadie.”

  I smile sweetly. “Don’t blame me, the tool has spoken.”

  “He sure has,” Zoe mumbles beside me.

  I elbow her in the arm before returning my attention to Carter. “Look, we might end up selling regardless of how I feel. We both know that, but can you do us both a favor and stop wasting time by pretending to be charming and care about my opinions? I’m sure with your looks, there are plenty of girls lining up to buy what you’re selling, but I’m not going to be one of them. Not now, not ever. So pack up your toys and we can arrange a real meeting to talk this out.”

  “Really?” Carter doesn’t look like he believes me. “That’s what you think?”

  “It’s what I know.”

  Carter smiles, looking every bit as devastatingly handsome in jeans as he did in a suit. “Fine. I’ll be back, and just so you know, I won’t let the fact that you’re by far the sexiest woman I’ve had the pleasure of doing business with change the fact that this place will be mine, with or without your approval.”

  We stare at each other, ne
ither willing to back down or look away first. I’m pretty sure we both just roundabout admitted to wanting to hate fuck each other over the negotiation table, but that’s a thought I’m going to have to put aside to deal with later.

  Carter moves first “Keep tomorrow open. There are only so many days I’m willing to hang around in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Fine.” Bring it on, businessman.

  He slams the door behind him on the way out.

  “God, that was fun.” Zoe laughs behind me as soon as everyone’s gone. “Do you have any other butt kicking that needs doing? Parking tickets? Open box returns? We’re on a roll today.”

  “I’m good for now, but I’ll let you know if I think of anything. Thanks.” I flash her a quick smile, before heading into my office.

  Door closed, I sit down at my desk with a stomach full of knots. After a showdown like that, I’m shaking with adrenaline, and it takes several long moments before I can lower my shoulders and think. I stood up to him, but I can’t help wonder what the consequences will be. The uncomfortable truth is that Carter is right. Mom and Dad are ready to sell. He can go around me, and with the added expense of the RV disaster, there’s no guarantee they won’t sign on the dotted line even if they know I’m against it. Heck, I more or less told them it was a done deal already. God knows it would make things easier financially. It might even end up being necessary.

  So most likely, even if Carter doesn’t go over my head, I’ll still need to sign that stupid contract. But as far as I’m concerned, the jerk deserves to stew in it for as long as possible.

  13

  Carter

  Alright, I’ll admit it. Yesterday, I fucked up.

  I moved too quickly and sent her running again. Much as I threatened to go over Sadie’s head, that’s my last resort. Her parents have already agreed, really, but doing that would not only make working with Sadie a nightmare, it would also likely kill any chance of taking the relationship beyond work. The Graves Corporation only cares about the bottom line so it shouldn’t matter, but it does.