Sexy Six

by Ahren Sanders

  “Shhh—” He slides his hand from my scalp around to my face, his thumb caressing my cheek. “I know why you left, and I understand. But I wish we’d had more time to get to know each other back then. I would have been there for you.”

  “You know?” I ask, surprised.

  “I know your grandma died, and you went home to be with family, which seems like a logical decision. What I don’t know is why you didn’t think you could talk to me, tell me what was happening. We may have only known each other a few days, but I’m pretty sure we’d established we were friends, maybe headed for more.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. It’s over.”

  I nod and suck in a deep breath then lean back and raise my eyes to his. “I’d like to tell you now if you’re interested.”

  “I’m interested.”

  I release my hold on his chest and take his hand in mine, leading him to the sofa. Once he’s settled, I sit close, facing him. He puts our joined hands on his thigh, giving me an expectant look.

  “First, can I ask how you know about Grandma?”

  His expression turns to shame, and he tosses his head back, keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

  “Would it make me a complete tool if I told you I’d Googled you?”

  “You Googled me?”

  “It wasn’t my intention. After you left school, I tried a few times to find you, but realized quickly I didn’t know much about your life outside of college, so all my attempts were a dead end. But when I came to the gallery last week to see you and finally learned more about where you were from, I tried again.”

  He turns to face me, and I hold back my giggles. He resembles a boy about to be scolded. If only he knew how many times I’d actually looked him up throughout the years.

  “Well, what did you learn?”

  He explains briefly the articles he read, and I remember them word for word, mostly because I co-wrote some of them. My mom and I agreed we wanted to try to control what was printed following the death and the accident. Then he tells me about discovering my dad is the Mayor.

  “Is that it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, first of all, I need to explain a few things. It’s a bit of a story, but when I get to the more recent events, I think you’ll understand.”

  “Take your time. I’ve been waiting a long time to hear this.”

  “My family is very established in the town of Thomasville. Our roots are planted deep. The Monroes go back generations. It wasn’t always the orchards or the pecan trees either. We’ve had almost every area of agriculture in our family. In 1942, a family from a neighboring county came to town. They bought some of the abandoned land the town had written off as useless. This was the Rae family.

  “For years, The Raes worked their fingers to the bone to get the land cultivated and pretty soon became recognized as elite tobacco farmers in the area. The Monroes didn’t like this at all and started a petition to take back the land and run the family out of town. It became an all-out war, but what they didn’t count on was Kayla Rae and Roy Monroe falling in love. An even bigger surprise was when Kayla and Roy showed up one night, married. They eloped the minute Grandma turned eighteen.

  “It was the talk of the town for quite a while, with rumors flying that Grandma was knocked up. That wasn’t true. Well, things were rough for my grandparents. All their lives, they’d lived under their parents’ rule, but they were determined to make a life for themselves. Both sets of my great-grandparents were livid and tried everything just short of disowning them to break up the marriage. Nothing worked. The only saving grace was that my great-grandpa Monroe was a stubborn son of a bitch and wouldn’t have his son working for anyone but the family. So my grandpa was able to keep his job on the farm and moved them into the loft over a barn.”

  Nick squeezes my hand gently. “It sounds exactly like those movies my mom and Bizzy love watching.”

  “Oh, yes, it was the love story of the ages. Eventually, everyone came around. During that time, the boys were enlisting in the service to serve their country, but Grandpa decided to stay behind and tend to the land. He’ll tell you to this day that it was the best decision he ever made because he was scared Kayla’s dad would convince her that Roy Monroe wasn’t good enough for her. So he stayed to prove him wrong.

  “The feud between the families died the instant Grandma was pregnant with my dad. All the rifts went out the window. As the story is told, it was a miracle. Suddenly, the Monroes and Raes were a joined unit and unstoppable. Together, my great-grandparents invested and brought the newest and best agricultural practices to Thomasville. Peace was finally found.”

  “It’s a really cool story, Grace. Sounds like you’re part of an aristocracy.”

  I let out a little giggle and nod. “You have no idea. But it’s not as grand as you’d think. My mom and dad raised Logan and me normally. I’ve never had a silver spoon in my mouth. As a matter of fact, when I refused to be a debutante, I thought Great-Grandma Rae was going to have a stroke. But Grandma Kayla openly applauded my decision. She was my partner in crime. I had girlfriends, but Grandma was truly the best. Mom may have had some jealousy of our relationship, but she never spoke up because she loved her equally as much.”

  “Sounds like an incredible woman.”

  “She was so much more than incredible. That’s why her death turned our world upside down.”

  “Grace, you don’t have to explain any more. I get it. It sounds like she was an exceptional woman. I can see how her death would make you re-evaluate your priorities for a while.”

  “You have no idea. She may have been exceptional, but she was a stubborn nut! Her death could have been avoided, but she was a Rae to her bones and no one was going to tell her what to do.”

  He squints his eyes, clearly confused at the change in my tone. This is the part of the story where I always get fired up—and usually emotional. I suck in a deep breath and continue.

  “Grandma shouldn’t have died the way she did, and to this day, we’ve been successful in keeping her entire story from anyone but immediate family. For a few months, she was acting off. Grandpa finally insisted she see a doctor and then a specialist. They found several spots on her brain that were pressing on her sensory nerves. Her speech problems and vision were the most affected. Instead of sharing with the family, she made my grandpa promise to keep it quiet until they could get a full diagnosis and make decisions on treatment. Logan was finishing his own MBA. He wasn’t the farming type, and my parents were supporting his quest to start a business. I was close to graduation with my own plans to attend graduate school. That was an expectation Logan and I never argued. We knew our education was non-negotiable, and we respected it. So her reasoning was to keep on with life as normal until they had a plan of action. One evening, she took off to the back of the farm to check out something. Stubborn ass wouldn’t wait for Grandpa to get out of the shower. On her way, she blacked out and ran her car into a tree. She was killed instantly.”

  “Jesus!” He lurches forward and twists into me, folding our hands to his chest. “I didn’t see that coming. That was her accident?”

  “Yes, but it was what happened next that changed the course of my life. I got the call about ten minutes after you left that night. My mom had someone come for me and would only give me basic details until I arrived at home. It was my grandpa… he was inconsolable. She was his life. My time was no longer my own. Every moment I was awake, I was with him. It became obvious I couldn’t return to school for the near future, so we made arrangements to finish school while staying in Thomasville. Being a Monroe has certain advantages, and one of them was the influence my dad had in making it so I didn’t have to withdraw. Then by the time things settled down, you were gone. Hell, almost everyone I knew from school was gone.”

  “God, Grace, that’s a lot of pressure on you.”

  “No, Nick, no one pressured me but myself. You can’t understand this, but Grandma Kayla and
I were so much alike, and Rae-Monroe women have a characteristic. We excel in the face of adversity. Grandpa needed me, and I wouldn’t change a thing in the world. He’s much better now. Hell, he was better within two months. He’s the one who kicked my ass back into gear with graduate school, and he’s the one who helped Logan and I follow our business plan through. It was he that backed our gallery. The only caveat was I had to promise to finish my MFA. Once again, non-negotiable. So I worked my ass off and did it then got down here to help Logan.”

  “I wish you would have told me. If anything, I could have been a friend during that dark time. But what’s done is done, and I’m really fucking glad you’re here now.”

  “Me too.” I give him a small smile. “Miami has been good to me. It’s a dream come true.”

  Suddenly, in one quick motion, he has me transferred from my spot next to him to directly in his lap. I let out a little squeak that dies in my throat when he releases my hand and frames my face. Gently, his thumbs rub my cheeks as his eyes lock with mine.

  “Glad to hear it, but I was more or less referring to right now. You and me, here in your apartment at this ungodly hour of the morning. I’m not lying when I tell you that I thought of you often, more than one person should admit. Seeing you again was a jolt to my system. I’m pretty sure I’m getting a second chance here.”

  Oh my God! My heart starts to pound so fast that I know he can feel it. He watches for my reaction, which would probably be to leap in the air screaming if I wasn’t anchored to his lap. Without words, I lean in slowly and stop only inches from his mouth. Taking a page from his book earlier, I whisper against his lips.

  “I’m suddenly a huge fan of second chances.”

  My intentions to kiss him sweetly are gone when he crashes his mouth to mine. Unlike earlier, this isn’t sweet and slow, where he takes his time to explore. Now, he’s kissing me like a man kisses a woman he hasn’t seen in two years, six months, and seventeen days. The same woman he just admitted to thinking about often.

  His hands glide around my neck and tangle in my hair as he folds my body flush against him. My own hands are trapped between us, so all I can do is grip his t-shirt.

  I let him control this, hoping he can feel my range of emotions as our tongues swirl together in perfect rhythm. He shifts us, bracing me with one arm as he lays us on our side, him partially on top. The kiss continues, and I’m internally begging for it never to end. Being in his arms is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. He starts to slow and break away, nibbling lightly on my bottom lip.

  “Grace, remember when I mentioned I was tempted to kick my own ass for not kissing you sooner?” He lays his forehead against mine and captures me again with his eyes. They are burning with the same desire searing through my body. “This afternoon at practice, I am willingly going to get my ass kicked. I deserve it for being a dipshit.”

  I start to giggle, shaking against him, and feel his own chest vibrating.

  The connection from all those years ago just exploded, and one thought crosses my mind.

  Logan was wrong. So, so, so wrong. This isn’t a crush on Nick Bennett. In this instant, it becomes so much more.

  There’s no hiding my dreamy mood when Logan walks into the gallery mid-afternoon. He takes one look at me and rolls his eyes then glances around, taking in all the work Nick and I accomplished.

  “I hardly recognize this place,” he says approvingly.

  “It’s turned out gorgeous.”

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “You can help me with more of the staging, and then you can take pictures for the website.”

  “We’re that close to being done? We scheduled three days for this.”

  “Yes, and thanks to Nick and Rodney’s help yesterday, and Nick’s help this morning, we’re way ahead of schedule.”

  “Where is Nick?” He glimpses toward the back.

  “He had to get to the stadium. We were here by seven thirty this morning.”

  “That was cool of him, especially coming off such an aggressive game on Sunday. He’s got to be exhausted.”

  “I know. We owe him for helping us. It was completely unnecessary.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think he’ll agree that we owe him something. Just being around him for those few hours, I could tell he wanted to be here.”

  The gooey feelings return as I picture Nick’s face when he kissed me goodbye earlier. He was hesitant to leave, but after the third call he received and the incessant beeping of his phone with messages, I practically had to force him out the door. I can almost still feel his lips on mine.

  Memories of the morning come flooding back. Each time he hung a picture, he took the opportunity to pull me to him and kiss me. Every time our mouths touched, desire scorched inside me. It’s hard to believe it’s been less than a week since he walked into the gallery to find me.

  “Hey! Get out of Grace Space.” Logan snaps his fingers, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “Sorry.” I shrug unapologetically.

  “Did you hear anything I said?”

  “Nope.”

  “Mom called this morning.”

  “And?”

  “She’ll call you tonight. She’s making sure we’re coming home in October.”

  The Fall Festival! I completely forgot. “Logan, did you mention we have a business to run? Now that I’m here full-time, it’s going to be really hard for us both to travel at the same time.”

  “Yeah, I mentioned it, the same way I’ve mentioned it the twenty times before. But that’s the beauty of being a business owner. We can set our own schedule. I did tell her the holidays are going to be tricky. She agreed to compromise.”

  “What kind of compromise?” My suspicions rise.

  “We’ll have to see. I’ve already signed up to participate in the Small Business Saturday street event on Thanksgiving weekend. So maybe they’ll come here.”

  “Seems reasonable.”

  “I’m going to do a few things in the office, and I’ll be ready to finish this up. Fifteen minutes, okay?”

  “Sure.” As if on cue, my phone rings, and I can’t help my grin when I see it’s Nick.

  “Better yet, come get me when you’re off the phone.” Logan walks away.

  “Hello,” I answer a little too chirpy. Cool it, Grace!

  “Hey, Sweet Peach.”

  “Sweet Peach?”

  “I came up with it on the way to the stadium. It’s a combination of Sweet Grace and Peach Princess.”

  My chest spasms. “You gave me a nickname?”

  “Oh yeah, and considering you always smell like peaches, I think it’s perfect.”

  “I like it,” I mostly whisper.

  “Are you planning another late night?”

  “Actually, I think we’ll be through in a few hours. Logan just arrived, and if everything goes as planned, I’ll have all day tomorrow to crate and ship the old pieces to their owners. It’ll be a great reset, thanks to you. They’ve never gone this smoothly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “In the past, we’ve worked until the last minute to get this place ready.”

  “You’ve done this before?” he asks, his tone switching.

  “A few times over the last year.”

  He’s quiet, too quiet, the entire mood changing.

  “Nick?”

  “I’m here, trying to figure out how you could have been in Miami and not called.”

  There’s nothing I can say. How do I explain that I was sure he wouldn’t remember me? Or, after the way I ignored his calls after Grandma died, I was ashamed?

  “You know what? Don’t answer that. It’s over. What’s done is done.” He may speak the words, but he’s not very convincing.

  “I’m sorry, Nick, really sorry.”

  “Two years, six months, and seventeen days, Grace, and this morning you changed all that so let’s not go back there. We’re moving forward. I’m taking my second chance.”

&n
bsp; “I’d like that.”

  “I’ll be here a while longer, and then I’ll come back by the gallery. Anything not done, I can help. Then I’ll drive you home.”

  “You don’t have to. Logan will take me home. You have to be exhausted.”

  He sighs into the phone, then repeats what is becoming my favorite phrase. “Two years, six months,—”

  “Okay, okay! I get it,” I break in. “I’ll see you when you get here.”

  “That’s better, Sweet Peach. See you soon.”

  He hangs up right as Logan walks over with an expression of excitement.

  “Guess what came in my email this morning?” He waves his phone at me.

  “I have no idea, but it obviously made you happy.”

  “A reference request for Grace Rae Monroe from the Art Institute.”

  My heart starts to race as I rush to him and snatch the phone out of his hand. “How can this be? It’s been less than a week since I sent in the application.”

  “You’ve impressed someone, which I knew you would.” He gives me a one-armed hug. “Good job!”

  “It’s not an invitation, but it shows they may have interest.”

  “Of course they’re interested. I had no doubt.”

  I dance around, waving my hands in the air. After all this time of feeling like my life was on hold, I finally feel like it’s really starting.

  Chapter 8

  Nick

  “I LOVE it! This is absolutely the most brilliant display we’ve ever created!” Grace’s overly excited voice fills the gallery as soon as I walk in.

  Logan’s back is to me, snapping pictures as she wiggles excitedly behind him. I stop in my tracks and take the split second to admire her before she turns to face me.

  Her face grows brighter as her smile widens. “Nick!”

  My feet move fast with one goal in mind. Her eyes grow wide when she realizes my intentions. As soon as she’s close enough, I tag her to my side and drop my mouth to hers in a gentle yet firm kiss on the lips. Too quickly, I pull away, aware her brother is watching.

  “Sweet Peach,” is my greeting, and I like the way her face grows soft at my new term.