by Jenn Windrow
That didn’t mean I was changing my stance on wanting a Grayson-free-existence, but from this point forward I needed to focus on being less harsh.
Even with Grayson’s help, it took an hour to sort through the magazines. One pile for those that weren’t damaged, and another for those that were a lost cause. The lost cause pile grew at an alarming rate. I stared at it knowing I was going to have to cover the cost. We stood up from the piles and fixed the toppled building. Once the structure was upright, the owner came over.
He looked at the pile of ruined magazines and held out his palm. “You owe me money.”
Grayson reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He produced three one hundred dollar bills and held them out. “This should cover your losses.”
I pushed his hand away before the man could take his money. “I can’t let you do that. This whole thing is my fault, I deserve to pay.” I didn’t know how I was going to pay, but I’d figure that out later.
He shoved the money into the guy’s palm, grabbed my arm, and dragged me away.
“I’ll pay you back.”
“Yes, you will. But I don’t want your money.” He smiled and chucked me under the chin. “Just give me your heart, body, and soul, and we’ll call it even.” His gentle teasing helped loosen the tension building behind my eyes.
“You already get my body, and I’m not sure my heart and soul are worth the three hundred dollars you just paid.”
Grayson stopped, stepped in front of me, and placed his hands on my upper arms. “You’re worth more than a measly three hundred dollars.” There was tenderness to his words, a softness that melted my iceberg heart.
He walked me to Doris and I climbed behind the wheel. Grayson leaned against the edge of the driver’s door. I didn’t have anything left to say. Len had left. Grayson had saved the day. And I felt confused about the multitude of feelings churning their way through my body. Hurt and anger and embarrassment, all topped off with a heavy dose of confusion.
I turned the key.
Pain shot through my head, sharp, fast, incapacitating. Pressure built behind my eyes, bile backed up my throat, making it impossible to breathe. My head flopped and hit the steering wheel. Cupid’s punishment shook my core, like a shock collar, and he held the remote.
With one hand on each side of my head, I squeezed, hoping to alleviate the pain. “Shit.” My teeth so tightly clenched I was going to need to see a dentist the next day.
“Are you okay?” Grayson laid his hand on my forehead, and the pain faded. I moaned at the absence of agony. “You’re burning up. Let’s get you home.”
He opened the driver’s side door and lifted me out of the car, carrying me to the passenger seat. He slid behind the wheel, and placed his hand over mine.
When we got to my house, Grayson did the chivalrous thing again and carried me in, up the stairs, and placed me on my bed. After settling me in, he rolled up the sleeves of his navy blue dress shirt and disappeared into the bathroom. A few moments later the water started, and then he came back in.
“We need to get your fever down. Are you undressing yourself?” He sounded hopeful my answer would be no.
“Yes.” I sat up and grabbed the edge of my shirt, but the pain rose to unbearable, and I fell back on the bed.
Grayson came over to assist, sliding my skirt over my hips and letting it fall to the floor, then removing my blouse. He reached for my undergarments, but I stopped his hand. “Leave them on, please.”
He did as I asked and picked me up. The physical contact raised my slut-o-meter to horny-as-hell, but the pain made it possible to ignore those urges. He carried me into the bathroom where my claw-footed tub waited, half full, and lowered me into the water. Grayson pulled the chair to my dressing table up next to the tub, took one of the washcloths off the sink, and then sat next to me.
He dipped the cloth into the water, rung it out, and put it on my forehead. Then he started rubbing my shoulders, sending waves of relief mixed with bits of pleasure crashing through my body. “I don’t want to have sex.”
“We don’t have to.”
“If you keep touching me like that we won’t have a choice.” I laid my head against the back of the tub and reveled in the healing magic of his touch.
Grayson tweaked the tip of my nose. “Then you’ll have to control your horn dog tendencies.”
My brain got the message, but someone needed to send my body the memo.
Fourteen
Whoever Invented Jogging Should Go to Hell. Seriously.
Light peeked in through the blinds in the bedroom, small little rays that fell across Grayson’s features. Reminding me that something close to a Greek god lay sacked out beside me.
I didn’t need the reminder.
For the past half an hour, I lay and watched him sleep. The way his eyes twitched under their lids, the relaxed curve of his lips, the way his hair framed his shoulders. I shifted onto my side and leaned close, not touching him, but tempted to. Could I lower my guard long enough to fall in love with him? Cupid thought so. Grayson did, too, but my battered heart was afraid to try.
Something other than physical attraction fluttered through my stomach, kicking up dust bunnies of confusion. I swept those dust bunnies back into the dark recesses where they belonged.
Grayson had spent most of the prior evening taking care of me. No sex involved, just watching over me, until the pain disappeared and we fell asleep side-by-side, fingers entwined. He hadn’t cared about anything but being there for me.
Grayson doubted my heart beat for Len the way it did for him. I know my blood pumped into my private parts faster for Grayson, but I wasn’t sure if it had made it to the smarter parts of my anatomy.
Len had been my reward for a series of bad choices. The man who wouldn’t hurt me, wouldn’t leave me, and wouldn’t betray me. Like I hurt and betrayed him. Somehow I ended up treating Len the way the long list of “Brads” treated me. Guess that’s what they call kick in the ass.
Cupid’s ring tone played from yesterday’s pile of clothes, and Grayson’s phone chirped from his pocket. He woke up, felt around, and pulled it out, read the display, and then checked the clock on the nightstand.
“Morning, Sunshine.” He gave me a killer smile that sent a bullet straight to my heart. “We have twenty minutes to make it to our connection.” He checked the read out again. “A park not far from here. Let’s go for a jog.” He slapped me on the backside, hand lingering a little longer on my round butt.
A hint that I had some junk in the trunk and needed to jog? Or an excuse to touch me? Either way, I slid out from under the warmth of his touch. “Give me five minutes.” I wandered into the bathroom.
“I’ve got some workout clothes in the car.” His voice faded as he walked out the door.
I turned on the water, ran my hands under until it warmed, then splashed the liquid on my face, washing away last night’s leftover makeup. My ring sparkled at me in the mirror, a reprimand to do the right thing in the form of diamonds and platinum. I slipped the ring off my finger, went into my closet, lifted the metal stopper off the sage-green perfume bottle, and dropped my ring into it with a clink.
Once I placed the stopper on the bottle, I’d be letting Len go. Admitting defeat. Proving Cupid right, and my heart wrong. I’d be giving up on my relationship, rocking my world. My broken heart should heal. Let’s hope Len’s deteriorating soul would too.
With a heavy sigh, I placed the stopper into the opening, sealing the ring inside a crystal prison.
The front door slammed, announcing Grayson’s return. I adjusted the waist of my yoga pants, arranged my breasts in my sports bra, and zipped up my hoodie, then hurried down the stairs.
Grayson stood in the foyer, a neatly folded pile of sweats in his arms. He turned to the downstairs guest bathroom, but before he closed the door I called to him. He poked his head past the jamb.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” His eyes danced with mischief
and I had a feeling he already knew what I meant, but wanted me to say the words out loud.
“For yesterday. Last night.” I paused to swallow past the words lodged in my throat. “For helping me, for sticking by me even when I’m doing the wrong thing.”
He gave me an odd look, a big question mark written in the tilt of his brows. “I’m not going anywhere, so get used to it.” Then he stepped into the powder room and closed the door behind him.
Before the past few days, his vow to not go anywhere would have had me clawing and scratching liked a caged kitten to break free. Today, it cuddled and purred and warmed my heart.
I wandered to the kitchen and grabbed a couple bottles of orange juice, two breakfast bars, and then leaned against the counter to wait for him. He walked in wearing a pair of black jogging pants and a white tank top, his muscular shoulders and upper arms on display, making it difficult to remember why I hadn’t wanted him in my life.
“Do you think we’ll be meeting up with Len again?” Grayson sat in a kitchen chair putting on his running shoes.
I walked over and handed him one of the OJs. “Almost positive.”
He finished with his laces and shook his juice before opening it. “Maybe you should skip today. It might make things easier.” The softness in his eyes told me he understood what I was going through.
“Contrary to what we believed the first time we tried to match Len, he isn’t a Scenario Eight. It’s going to take both of us to get him matched.”
He pushed out of the chair and played with the strap of my sports bra, his touch sending bolts of electricity into my flesh. “With you around, no other woman stands a chance.” His fingers fell away, but lingered at my waist. “I thought maybe it would be better if he didn’t see you.”
“You’re right, it would be better if he didn’t see me. It would be an easier connection, less distraction…” My chin quivered causing the final words to tremble out. “I have to be there.”
Grayson played with the lid of his juice. “Are you ready to let go?” His voice so low I needed a hearing aid to make out the words.
I looked at my ring-less finger, glanced up the stairs to where I had hidden it, and waited for the heaviness in my chest to lighten, but the weight grew. Fear drove me to spew the word “no” from its pearly white barrier. Fear had to stop stealing my happiness.
I nodded.
Grayson grabbed my keys off the counter. “Then I’ll drive.”
In the past two years, Len had never even sat in Doris, so seeing Grayson climb into the driver’s seat warmed my heart. He appreciated my car and what it meant to me.
A gravel jogging path circled a small pond, where ducks and geese swam through the water, little broken V's following behind. It didn’t surprise me that we were at this particular park, at this particular time, because we were here for a particular pair of soul mates.
Len came to this park every day for his morning run. I assumed Lauren did too.
Grayson bent over and stretched out his back, his legs, then his arms. He shook everything out and jogged in place. “Try to keep up.” He winked and then took off at a slow pace down the path.
I enjoyed running as much as I enjoyed Cupid’s sense of humor, but I didn’t want Grayson to think I was a wimp. I kept my pace slow, eyes on the lookout for my ex-fiancé, his match, or a strategically placed stone.
One lap in I decided that I only needed to run if something was chasing me. Grabbing my side, I fell onto one of the green metal benches sitting near the water. Len, or Lauren were nowhere in sight. Five minutes in, Grayson had become a blur.
I sat, staring at the water, watching the ducks bob under the surface for food, then come floating back to the top. The bench wiggled and someone sat next to me.
“Are you following me?” It wasn’t the masculine voice I expected.
Lauren sat next to me, the large, red arrow over her head, faded and flickering, like a florescent light bulb gone bad. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair lay limp on her head. Another day without her soul mate and she resembled a newly turned zombie.
“What makes you think that?” I said in my best who-me? voice.
Her shaky hand played with the thin gold chain around her neck, moving the small charm from side-to-side. “I’ve seen you everywhere the past three or four days.” Her crinkled nose made me feel like I was scum from the bottom of the duck-filled pond. “It’s like you’re stalking me.”
Grayson jogged by the bench and stopped when he saw Lauren. He approached slowly. “Everything okay, Noel?”
Lauren looked from me to Grayson. She stood up, finger-pointed at Grayson’s chest. “You too. You’ve both been following me.” She backed away from the bench and tripped over her feet, falling to the ground.
Lauren was freaked with a capital everything.
Grayson held out his hand, but she didn’t accept it. She scrambled to her feet, and Grayson helped her settle. She brushed off the butt of her running shorts, her face flaming.
But Cupid, never content with the current uncomfortable situation, added another level of awkward.
Down the path, not more than ten feet away, came Len. His warm-up pants and baggy T-shirt drenched in sweat. His once soft, boyish features jaw-clenching hard. Lauren stopped fussing with the dirt on her clothes when she saw him coming toward us, and stared. Her gaze traveled up and down his lithe body, a smile lifted her lips, her hand moved to her hair to smooth it down. Lauren alone would be a Scenario Eight.
Len’s scenario was five hundred plus complicated.
I waited for my green-eyed monster to lunge and rip Lauren’s throat out for the way she stared at Len. Urge me to step forward and scratch and claw and fight, but it stayed docile and tame.
Grayson pulled me off to the side and held my arm tight. “Let’s see if they connect on their own.” His fingers relaxed, but stayed put. Did he expect me to bolt? Interfere? He knew me so well.
Lauren stood in the center of the path, pushed the edge of her sports bra making the girls stand out, a smile on her lips, waiting for Len to notice her.
He jogged right past.
Her shoulders slumped, her girls going with them. She took one last look at him, then turned in the opposite direction and ran down the path. Ignored and rebuffed and unconnected.
The man had to be blind not to notice her.
I expected Len to keep going, but instead he stopped where Grayson and I stood. He pulled the collar of his T-shirt up, wiped the sweat off his nose and mouth, let it fall, and then rolled his shoulders.
“Do you delight in rubbing my nose in your relationship?” He crossed his arms over his chest and pinched his lips shut.
“Don’t you see her?” I pointed at Lauren’s retreating form.
“All I see is a lying, cheating, sorry excuse for an individual. Someone I used to love.”
Grayson stepped in front of me and put his arm across my mid-section. “Watch the words you use.” His vow to protect me evident in his actions and words.
Len placed his hand over his heart, clutching his shirt in his fingers. “How sweet, you’re defending her. I’m sure you’ve screwed over your fair share of women in your life as well. Were they all as easy as Noel?” His gaze wandered up and down my body making me feel filthy and cheap.
My cheeks burned, my legs shook, and I wanted to act like Dig Dug and hide in a hole. I grabbed onto Grayson’s arm and pulled. “Let’s get out of here. The connections are not going to happen today.”
Grayson removed my hand and took a step closer to Len. “First, you’re going to apologize. Second, you’re going to walk away. Cool off. Look around, enjoy the view. Stop being so focused on Noel, and maybe you’ll find the woman that’s best for you.”
Imaginary steam rolled off the heads of the two men in front of me. Little puffs of anger and testosterone.
“Noel was the woman for me.” Len moved to step closer to me, but Grayson stepped between us again, and their chests bumped.
“Until you came into the picture.” He shoved Grayson, knocking him into me. Grayson reached around and steadied me “Why did you have to interfere?” His words carried a heavy dose of pleading.
Grayson held his hands high in the universal sign of I surrender, took a deep breath, then stuffed them in the pockets of his warm up pants. “There’s more to Noel and me than you know. A connection that we can’t even begin to explain.”
Len scoffed. “Next you’re going to tell me that you’re soul mates or something.”
“If only you knew,” Grayson mumbled low enough that only I could hear.
The morning sun reflected off something on the ground by the tip of my shoe. I bent and picked it up. It was a thin, gold chain with a small charm in the shape of the Scales of Justice. Lauren’s necklace.
A small distraction before Grayson and Len turned the park into a boxing arena. One last chance to connect Len with his true mate. A bit of hope that this would put an end to the drama. A lifeline from Cupid?
I dusted off the delicate gold and held it out to Len. “Would you jog after that lady who left when you walked up and give this back to her? I’m sure she would be really grateful.”
He looked down at the still-dusty chain. “If it’s so important to you, take it to her yourself.”
Len turned on the heel of his beat up tennis shoes and jogged back down the path. Away from me. Away from Grayson. But most importantly, away from his soul mate.
“I’ll follow him. Maybe we can still get them together.” Grayson chucked me under the chin before jogging away.
I sat down on the hard bench, gold chain dangling from my hand. Who would be Cupid’s victim this time for another messed up connection? Grayson? Me? Either way, one of us would spend the evening praying to the porcelain god.
I stood, imitating Grayson’s stretch from earlier, trying to look like I knew what I was doing. When I felt like I could make it farther than two hundred feet, I took off down the path. If I didn’t accomplish anything else today, I would at least find Lauren and return her property.
