And to be honest, when I turned and saw him standing in my kitchen, a part of me was so happy that he hasn’t given up.
I hated that even more.
Stupid female hormones.
“Okay. I could have dinner with your parents,” he shrugs as if it’s all the same to him, popping another grape into his mouth. I watch with fascination as it moves and I’m ashamed to admit that I am turned on by watching the Belton Police Chief eating a grape.
So shameful.
“No. You have to leave.”
“Babe.” He looks at me with a patient expression.
“Grayson, you have to stop this!” I stomp my foot, my control slipping into Ree Hissy Fit Mode. “What the hell is the matter with you!? Seriously, I really want to know. Just let it go and please leave.” I gesture my hand towards the door.
He looks at me silently for so long that I’m about to ignore him and finish making dinner. Then he stands up and walks around close to me. I back up into the counter and he follows me, placing his hands on either side of me on the counter.
“Honestly?” he asks quietly.
“Please,” I say just as quiet, staring into his eyes that are shining with some emotion that I don’t understand.
“Ree,” he closes his eyes slowly. My stomach and ‘gina clench with the way he says my name; full of desire, sadness and a request for understanding. His eyes open back up and he looks at me, “I don’t know what is the matter with me.” Well, that’s helpful, Chief. “What I do know,” he moves his hand up and cups it against my neck, “is that ever since I met you at that bar, I’ve felt something different in me. I only feel it when I’m around you. I know that it feels amazing, but I also can’t explain it.” His hand squeezes my neck and I take in a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “I want that feeling. I’ve never had something that made me feel like smiling just from a memory.”
“What…” I breathe out in shock.
My heart melts. What has happened that he feels the need to cling to something like that? And why me?
And why the fuck do those stupid girlie emotions have to kick in that make me want to hold him tight and keep him safe and happy?
“That night when you fell asleep in the car, you curled against me and something settled into place for me.” Oh, my God. “I don’t know what is happening, but I know something is. And I only want to know you better. Even if that means that we can only ever be,” he swallows hard, “friends.”
At that moment, something settles deep in me. I hate it and I love it. I may not know a lot about actually dating guys, but I do know that guys like Grayson Cole don’t just admit shit like that. They don’t make themselves vulnerable for anything. And in this moment, I don’t care what it costs me. I want him, and I want to give him anything he wants… needs.
“Grayson…” I whisper, my hand going up and touching his beautiful face. Those hazel eyes burning brightly into mine with his honesty. “We could never be friends.”
He closes his eyes slowly again, but there is something painful about the action. I raise up on my toes and press my lips to his. His hand grips my neck tighter and he pulls me close. Both my hands rise up into his hair and hold on as he deepens the kiss. I part my lips and his tongue slides in, seeking out mine. A quiet moan escapes from my throat and he growls into my mouth, causing me to flood with warmth, everywhere. I hold on even tighter, pulling him closer.
He breaks his mouth from mine, causing me to mewl in protest.
“Fuck, Ree…” he says as he kisses along my jaw and down my neck.
“Grayson…” I breathe out which causes him to growl again and his mouth comes back to mine.
This kiss is more passionate and I realize he was just building a slow burn before. Now, he means business.
I jump and wrap my legs around his waist, his hands immediately go to my ass to support me, then he sets me on the counter. His hands remain on me and he pulls me close against his erection. I let out a long and loud moan, holding on for dear life.
God this is going to be so good.
I hear a throat clear and we both freeze.
No.
No, no, no, no.
Oh dear sweet baby Jesus, please fuck no…
I open my eyes to see Grayson staring at me. The message in his eyes is loud and clear: ‘Tell me that isn’t your parents watching us basically hump like horny teenagers on your kitchen counter, while you moan like a dog in heat and I do everything but physically mount you… Though… that would have been next.’
Okay, I may have improvised a bit there, but he’s not happy about the interruption, I can tell you that.
I pull away a bit and look over his shoulder at the doorway. My dad has his arms crossed, eyebrows raised in a ‘Are you going to explain this, young lady?’ gesture and I can also tell he is trying to hold back laughter.
Great.
Mom just looks pleased as punch. Her nutty daughter has come to her senses and is going to marry the town’s Chief. I’m sure she is picking out wedding colors and china patterns at this moment.
I try to disengage my legs from Grayson, but he pulls me tighter against him, reminding me that he is very hard and probably doesn’t want my parents honing in on his erection.
Hmm…
“Hey guys,” I wave stupidly at them. “Grayson is going to have dinner with us,” I tell them like he’s about to arrive any minute, not currently wrapped up in all four of my extremities.
My dad chokes on his laughter at the same time Grayson’s head drops into my neck and he begins to shake with silent laughter.
“No shit, sis?” my dad says sarcastically, making Grayson’s body shake even more.
Well!
“Oh, how wonderful!” my mother says. “Grayson, Mike, why don’t you two go out on the deck and see if you can check out the wonky step that Ree’s got and fix it.”
“Wonky step? Mom, I don’t-”
“Go on,” she shoos Dad out. “You too, Chief. I’ll help Ree with supper.” Grayson moves away and smiles at me, causing those damn flutters to come back in my stomach. “Here’s a couple of beers for you both,” my mom continues to ramble, handing them both a beer then proceeds to shove them out of the door, “We’ll holler once we have everything in here ready.”
“Mom,” I jump off the counter, “what the hell?”
“Oh please. I was saving you from trying to explain that situation.” She grabs the bowl of pasta salad I was working on when Grayson walked in and begins to stir it a couple more times. “Which you don’t need to. It’s pretty self-explanatory. But you would’ve tried and just made us all uncomfortable. Where’s the carrots?” she asks looking around the counter.
I go to the fridge and pull out the carrots I cut up earlier and place them on the counter. I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her from behind, “You really do love me, don’t you?”
She laughs, “Yes, dear. And you’re not gonna screw this up. That man is hot for you.”
“Mother!”
“And you for him. Just shut your trap and go with it,” she adds the carrots to the salad.
“Hrmph.”
“Are the steaks ready to go?” she asks me.
“Yeah.”
“Well, take them out to your father so he can get started.
“Fine.” I grab them from the fridge and head to the door.
“Oh and Ree?” I turn around to look at her.
“Yeah?”
“I really do love you,” she smiles at me.
“Love you, too, Mom,” I smile back.
ChapterSeven
Panty Melting Trifecta
We all sit down at the table on the deck. Grayson put the umbrella up to shade us from the hot evening sun, while Mom and I set the table. Dad and Grayson stood at the grill and talked some kind of ‘man topics’ that I didn’t want to be involved in.
Probably to do with me.
I go in and grab a refill of drinks for everyone just as Grayson sets
the steaks on the table. I set Mom’s margarita in front of her, give Dad his beer and Grayson his, then I sit down next to Mom with my own margarita. Grayson sits right beside me and drapes his arm over the back of my chair.
I glare at him with wide eyes, making it clear that we should tone it down since my parents already saw us practically having sex on the kitchen fucking counter. He smiles at me and his eyes get soft in a way that shows he really doesn’t care what they saw.
Hrmph.
“Any leads on that McGee woman from Keokuk?” my dad asks.
“McGee woman?” I ask, putting pasta salad on my plate and passing it to Grayson, who I notice, clenches his jaw and looks at my dad, then takes his arm from off the back of my chair to grab the bowl and set it down in front of us. Neither of them answer me. “Dad?” I look at him, figuring he’ll cave before Grayson.
He lets out a long breath, “They found a woman off the highway just outside of town. She was dead.” He adds the last part quietly.
“Oh my God,” I breathe out, while my mother says, “Let’s not discuss this at dinner.”
I ignore my mom, of course, “When?” I look at Grayson.
“Two weeks ago, babe,” he answers softly, communicating to me with his eyes.
“The night…” I trail off.
“Yeah, Ree. The night I called to reschedule,” he answers, putting his arm back on my chair, his hand going to my neck where he begins to massage.
God. I am such an asshole.
Though, I was never mad at him for having to work. I was only mad at myself.
But still, he’s been dealing with a dead woman being found in our town. A town where the most exciting thing for the past fifty years were the escapades of my youth.
And I’ve been avoiding him. Something, I’m sure he really didn’t need to deal with at the same time.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, genuinely. He smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “What happened?” I ask him placing my hand on his leg.
“Ree,” my mother scolds.
“What?” I ask her. “You can’t drop a bomb like that and not explain. Is there some mad-chainsaw-wielding-axe-murderer out there? Was it an accident? Was it a suicide? What the hell is going on?”
“Why on earth would some crazed man be carrying around a chainsaw and an axe hacking people up, Ree?” my dad asks me shaking his head.
“Duh. Because he’s crazy,” I explain, what I think is, needlessly to him.
“No, Ree,” Grayson smiles at me, “There is no man wielding both a chainsaw and an axe killing people.”
“Well, that’s good,” I breathe out. “So what happened?” I ask picking up a steak from the platter.
“I can’t discuss the investigation,” he answers me and picks up the pasta salad bowl.
Well that sucks. Although that kind of makes sense, I guess.
“Oh. Okay,” I tell him and watch in shocked fascination as he piles three large spoonful’s of pasta on his plate. “Hungry?” I ask him.
“Yeah,” his lip twitches and he passes the bowl to Dad.
“Good thing I made so much then,” I cut up my steak.
“Sis, you always make too much,” my dad laughs and I smile at him.
“Well, it’s a good thing you do. Grayson needs to keep his strength up,” my mom informs me.
“Yes, Mother. Because all these years I’ve been practicing my skills of making extra pasta salad for the day Grayson Cole walked into my life,” I reply dryly. “It couldn’t possibly be because I can’t get the portions right so I always have to add more of everything until I get it evened out.”
“Don’t sass your mother,” Dad scolds me.
“Oh sweet Jesus. Can we just drop it?” I ask. I slide my eyes to my right to see Grayson shaking with silent laughter. “Shut it,” I tell him which makes his laughter audible.
“Azaria, don’t say that to him,” Mom is now the one scolding me.
“Okay, okay! Jeez. Let’s change the subject. What did you guys get done today?” I ask my parents.
The next couple of hours are spent talking about my dad’s garden and Mom’s endeavor to perfecting her chili even more for the Fourth of July Cook-off.
Mom and I clean up while Dad and Grayson sit on the deck and have another beer. Just as I’m wiping down the counters and Mom is bagging up the trash to be taken out, the guys walk in.
“Well, Sandra. We’d better go. It’s getting late,” my dad tells her, setting the empty beer bottles on the island. I look at the clock to see it is already nine thirty. I move to pick up the bottles, but Grayson beats me to it and puts them in the cabinet.
“Okay,” my mom says. “Ree, we’ll take the trash out on the way.”
“Okay, Mom. Thanks for coming.” I give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Of course. We had a great time.”
I walk to dad and give him a hug, “Love you, Dad.”
“Love you, too, sis,” he says then turns to Grayson. “Talk to you later, Chief.” He shakes his hand.
“Yep,” Grayson replies then turns to my mom and gives her a kiss on the cheek that makes her swoon. Pathetic. “Sandra.”
“Chief,” she says. I roll my eyes.
I walk them to the door, Grayson next to me with his hand on the small of my back. I silently freak out at how very domesticated this situation is. Me and my… whatever walking my parents to the door after having them over for dinner.
Good God. What’s happening to me?
“Talk to you later,” my mom calls.
“Bye! Love you!” I call back, standing on the deck until after they dump the trash in the container at the end of the driveway and get into their car, pull out and take off.
Grayson leads me back into the house, I turn off the porch light and lock the door.
“So you do know how to lock doors?” he asks me.
I look up at him a bit confused, “Yeah… why?”
“Because it was unlocked when I came,” he answers.
“I left it unlocked because my parents were coming. I’m not going to make them wait for me to get the door,” I point out. “That’s rude. They’re my parents.”
“And you wouldn’t have heard it anyway,” he states walking back into the house.
I follow him, “What? I would have heard someone ringing the bell.”
“With as loud as that music was? I don’t think so, Ree.”
He sits down on the sofa and I stand there with my hands on my hips, staring him down.
“I would have,” I argue.
“Babe,” he looks at me for a moment. I wait, but he doesn’t continue.
“Am I supposed to understand the meaning behind that one word, because I’ve gotta tell ya, Chief, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
“You were dancing around your damn kitchen singing at the top of your lungs about limes and coconuts,” he explains further.
“So?” I tilt my head.
“So?” he asks, eyes wide.
“Yeah.” He looks at me like I’m mentally deranged. Hmm… he wears that look a lot. Maybe I should explain. “Chief. Sometimes you’ve just gotta put the lime in the coconut.”
His expression doesn’t change. “Jesus you are such a goof,” he shakes his head.
“Whatever,” I tell him. “Want a beer?” I ask heading into the kitchen to get a bottle of water.
“Nah, I’m good, babe,” I can hear the smile in his voice and I roll my eyes. I hear the TV come on and walk back with my bottle of water and sit on the sofa, a few cushions down from him.
“Babe,” he calls me. I look from the crime drama on the television to him.
“Yeah?”
“Come here,” he says.
“I am.”
“No. Here.” He points to the space right next to him. I roll my eyes and ignore him, looking back at the TV. I’m not even going to dignify that demand with a response, that’s how absurd it is.
“What the…!” I scr
eam as I’m hooked around my waist and dragged across the couch in less time than it takes to blink. Grayson tucks me into his side, his arm around me. I push against him, but he holds me tight. “Would you stop?” It’s not really a request.
“Like you here,” is his answer.
“What?”
“Like you here,” his arm around me tightens. “Feels good. I know you like it,” he finally looks at me, “so quit arguing and get comfortable.”
“Well,” I huff. I bring my legs up under me, figuring I may as well get comfortable and curl into his side, resting my head on his shoulder.
Damn, this feels good. I sigh quietly and contently and I know he hears it when I feel his mouth against my hair.
“Feels good,” he repeats.
“Yeah,” I admit, because, well, it does.
Fuck, shit, dammit.
His arm tightens again and then his hand, that is around me, begins to trail lazy circles along my hip and waist. That feels good so I nuzzle closer and close my eyes.
***
I wake with a start in my bed and realize immediately what woke me.
I passed out on the couch and I woke when Grayson picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. He set me on my feet and I stumbled into the bathroom, washing my face, combing my hair and brushing my teeth. When I came out Grayson went in, his shirt already off, causing me to stare in a stupefied sleepy daze as he walked away from me. I saw his shirt on the ottoman at the foot of the bed and decided, fuck it. I stripped out of my clothes and slipped his shirt on, loving the smell and the feel of the worn blue fabric against my skin. I climbed into bed and stretched out, my face in the pillow.
I heard Grayson finish in the bathroom, but I conked out before he made it to the bed I was so tired.
I look at the clock and see it is three thirty in the morning and Grayson is what woke me.
His arm is around me, his body behind me twitching. I roll over and look at him, the moon shining through the patio door illuminating the side of his face.
He looks in pain.
“Grayson,” I call quietly. He doesn’t wake. “Grayson,” I repeat louder, this time squeezing his waist.
My Coyote Ugly Life Page 10
