by McBain, Mara
Grady cut through the lake with sure strokes, his movements smooth and minimalistic. He loved how the water lent grace even to someone his size. Reaching the pier, he hooked his fingers over the end, treading water while he caught his breath. Finally levering his 6-foot-7 inch frame from the water, he shook like a dog and headed for the cottage. His step slowed, brow knitting as a flash of color in the trees caught his eye. He blinked as a stunning blonde parted the willows and stepped out into the morning sunlight. The tiny turquoise bikini she wore did nothing to hide her smoking hot body. She waded through the shallows like she was strolling down a catwalk.
Dragging his fingers through his long blond hair, he self-consciously adjusted his simple teal and white board shorts. His eyes darted to the private lake and the woods surrounding it. Where the hell had she came from? A giggle cut the air and he watched her do a cute little pirouette before dancing a couple of steps closer to the beach. He snorted. Did lakes have mermaids? With her long, shapely legs, firm breasts, and a pert ass that begged for his big hands, she was a fantasy come true.
Running a hand over his face, he left the pavestone path and walked across the grass toward the beach. It wasn’t hard to tell the moment she spotted him. She froze like a deer caught in the headlights, and then she kicked it into reverse, backing toward the willows. He offered an awkward smile.
“Good morning.”
She hesitated, long fingers twirling one of the willow’s slender boughs. She bit the full swell of her bottom lip, watching him through the branches. He caught his breath. Her eyes were a luminous blue-green that he wanted to drown in. He wet his lips, trying to find his voice again. He’d seen beautiful women before, but this one was a knockout. There was something about her. She exuded an unexpected vulnerability that called to the cave man in him. That thought made him chuckle and she smiled shyly back.
“I’m Ty O’Grady. Everyone just calls me Grady,” he said, moving a little closer and offering his hand.
“I’m Eden,” she said, hesitating and then just leaving it at that as she timidly shook his hand.
Her hand trembled in his. Grady frowned and took a step back when he released her hand. She looked relieved and stepped back herself. He was used to his size intimidating people, but women didn’t usually shake.
“Are you friends with the Sampsons?” she asked, continuing the alluring game of peek-a-boo with him among the willow branches.
“I bought the property from them a couple of years ago.”
The look on her face was one of dismay as her eyes darted to the cottage before settling back on his face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she whispered, her gaze sweeping the property again. “I apologize for trespassing.”
“It’s no problem. Did you used to stay here?” he asked, trying to get a read on her.
“My aunt lives around the end of the lake. I used to cut through the woods down to the water and I’ve always loved this place. They were seldom here and didn’t mind my making myself at home,” she explained, color flooding her cheeks as she gave a little laugh. “It was like my own private getaway.”
“I know what you mean. I loved this place the first time I saw it,” Grady said, looking around his property with pride. “I just finished my morning swim. Would you like some breakfast or coffee?”
“I’ve already imposed enough.”
“Not at all, and the company would be nice. I’d love to hear about your summers here. I have tea if you’d prefer.”
Indecision stamped her delicate features and he held his breath. Never had he wanted to be a normal size human being more. He flinched as something rubbed against his leg. He rolled his eyes as a grey tabby wound her way between his ankles in a lazy figure eight. Her rumbling purr made his visitor giggle. It was adorable.
“What’s your cat’s name?”
He closed his eyes and chuckled. “Miss Kitty, and I call the big ugly tomcat that hangs around, Marshall.”
She cleared her throat delicately and he opened his eyes to see hers sparkling in amusement at him over the top of her hand. She shrugged her shoulders when he met her eyes.
“I’m not really dressed for breakfast, but it sounds wonderful if you’re sure.”
“Lucky for you the dress code at O’Grady’s is very casual. I think I can even find us a table on the patio if you’d like to enjoy the sun.”
“That sounds wonderful,” she said, stepping out of the water and smiling at his teasing as they started across the lawn to the house.
She looked around the airy cottage while he inventoried the refrigerator. Miss Kitty purred in her arms. He didn’t blame the cat. He’d purr if she held him too.
“You didn’t change much,” she said, a smile in her voice. “It’s so warm and natural here, the kind of place where kids can track sand in or sit on furniture with damp bottoms.”
“Adults too,” he said with a chuckle, swiping sand from one foot with the other. “I have eggs and bacon or if you prefer a lighter menu, bagels, cream cheese and a half a quart of leftover strawberries that still look pretty good.”
She tore her eyes from a hodgepodge of pictures on the driftwood mantle. She was chewing on that delectable bottom lip again. She had the face of an angel. He swallowed hard and looked back down at the bacon in his hand.
“I haven’t had bacon in forever.”
“Bacon and eggs it is then. You can repent later,” he said with a low chuckle.
She laughed, turning back to the pictures. “Did you grow up around here or how did you find my refuge?”
Grady carefully laid out strips of bacon in the hot pan, mulling over her choice of words while he answered her questions. What was she seeking sanctuary from?
“I grew up in Texas and Louisiana. I came to Tennessee to go to college and really liked it here. As far as this place goes, I got lucky. A college buddy’s wife is a real estate agent, and she was always trying to sell me a house. So I told her to find me some property where I could get away and build my own place. I told her what I wanted and forgot about it. Then one day she called me and said she’d found the perfect place. She wasn’t kidding.”
She turned, her nose burrowed against the top of the cat’s head. His gaze ran over her high cheekbones, but it was the longing in her eyes that held him.
“No, she wasn’t. It’s like a little slice of heaven.”
Grady shook his head at the bawdy biblical references that popped to mind regarding his pretty house guest and turned to pour a cup of coffee.
“What would you like to drink? I’ve got coffee, tea, maybe some cocoa, and”—he paused to open the refrigerator again.—“sweet tea, orange juice, or bottled water.”
“Iced tea would be wonderful. Thank you,” she said, letting Miss Kitty back out the patio door.
Deciding to play it safe, and because they needed to be used up anyway, Grady sliced the strawberries while he kept an eye on the stove. He could feel her eyes on him as she leaned on the breakfast bar and sipped her tea. He wondered what she was thinking. She caught him stealing a glance at her and smiled shyly.
“Who taught you to cook?”
“My mama I guess,” he said, amused by the question.
“I’m hopeless in the kitchen,” she confessed, giving an embarrassed flutter of her hand.
“No one is hopeless. You just have to have the desire and motivation. A good teacher doesn’t hurt.”
“What was your motivation?”
“I love to eat,” he said, giving her a wink and grabbing plates out of the cupboard.
She helped him carry things out and they settled on the sunny patio to enjoy their breakfast. He nearly laughed as her aquamarine eyes drifted shut and a soft hum of pleasure escaped her throat at the first nibble of bacon. His eyes slid over her sculpted body and he shook his head. Temple or not, you had to enjoy the little things in life.
“You said you’re visiting your aunt. Where’re you from?”
Those eyes flew ope
n at his question and he tried to track the emotions that flickered through them. Finally she shrugged, focusing on puncturing her egg yolk with the tip of a piece of toast.
“Manhattan, originally, and now I split my time between there and Los Angeles.”
“That’s quite the commute.”
“Great for frequent flyer miles,” she murmured around a bite.
“No wonder you like it here.”
Eden looked up and smiled. There was yolk in the corner of her lips and he tamped down the instant desire to wipe it off, or kiss it away if he were brave enough. He could feel the stupid smile spreading across his face and was powerless to stop it. There was no way in hell a woman that looked like her would be interested in a lug like him, but whoo-wee was she sweet. He almost laughed out loud as he could hear his best friend Gunner teasing him that his inner hillbilly was showing again. Damn, Eden was even out of the playboy quarterback’s league.
“Where are you planning on building your house?” she asked, her tongue slipping out to swipe away the yolk.
“Just there at the top of the hill, straight up from the new pier I put in,” he said, leaning back to point. “You can see the stakes there. The basement is poured. After the house is in, my thought is to break the slope up by terracing down the hill and landscaping with some wide slate steps leading down to the lake.”
“That sounds beautiful,” she said, shading her eyes to follow his finger. “Will you tear the cottage down then?”
“I didn’t think so. I thought it would be nice to use as a guest house or just if there’s a bunch of us down here at the lake. The kitchen and bathroom would be more convenient than going up the steps to the main house.”
Her smile sealed that deal. The cottage was staying.
“Besides, you never know when a hot looking mermaid is going to stroll out of the willows and need someplace to get away.”
“A mermaid?” she asked, her golden eyebrow arching at him as she bit her lip on a laugh.
“It was one of the explanations my poor caffeine-starved brain came up with for how the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen suddenly appeared here in the middle of nowhere,” he admitted with a sheepish chuckle.
She stared at him for a moment, disbelief clear on her face. She tucked her hair behind her ear and fussed with a strawberry on her plate. Peeking back up at him, a little blush crept across her flawless skin.
“You really thought that?”
“As humiliating as it is to admit it, darlin’, that was what popped into my head,” he said, not bothering to hold back a laugh. “And I can’t even blame alcohol for that one.”
She laughed. The sound made him understand the old adage, music to my ears, and the joy that spilled over her face was breathtaking. She took a deep breath, shaking her head like the laughter had surprised her.
“That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Are you always this honest?”
“Afraid so.”
She stared at him, searching his face. There was a hint of wonder in her eyes. Finally she smiled and whispered like she was sharing a secret, “You have no idea how…attractive that is.”
“It’s just me, darlin’; the way I was raised.”
“It’s rare.”
Grady didn’t know what to say to that. Polishing off his breakfast, he leaned back in his chair, tilting his face to the sun. Her words chased around in his brain. She’d said it was rare and maybe she was right. How many people actually said what they were thinking anymore? Everyone was afraid of offending or overstepping. No one was just honest. He speared his fingers through the long mop of his hair and gave it a shake. Life was just too damn short not to lay it on the line, and he didn’t want her to leave.
“At the risk of sounding like the country boy I am, I was thinking about taking the boat out and spending the afternoon on the water. We could kick back, have a few drinks, listen to some tunes, and just get to know one another.”
Her lips pursed in thought and he ached to kiss them. She nodded slowly and his heart soared.
“If you wouldn’t mind dropping me off over there, I could run up and grab my sunglasses and a beach bag.”
“I don’t mind at all, darlin’,” he said, a huge grin spreading across his face. “I’ll pack a cooler. What’s your favorite poison?”
“Truthfully? Crystal Light Lemonade and flavored vodka,” she admitted with a shy smile.
“That, I’ll have to jet into town to get, but can do,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll grab stuff for lunch too. Why don’t I drop you off at your aunt’s, run to the store, and then I’ll pick you up on the way back?”
She put a hand over his as he stood to clear the table.
“You don’t have to do that. I’m not that big of a diva,” she said with a little eye-roll. “That looked like a pretty well stocked bar in there. I’m sure we can mix something you have on hand.”
“It’s not a problem. I really don’t mind. Like I said, it’ll give me a chance to pick up something for lunch too and get a bag of ice,” he reassured her. “Just let me grab a shirt, shoes and keys.”
Eden watched the big, black truck back out of the drive before hurrying inside. She felt like a teenager. As funny as his mermaid fantasy was, he had looked like a Viking coming down the beach with his daunting size and long, blond hair. She shook her head. The gentle giant was like no one she had ever met. He was so sweet and, she couldn’t deny, sexy. His solid muscles didn’t look like they’d been honed in front of a mirror at Gold’s, and even in her most wicked stilettos, he would still tower over her five-ten frame.
She hummed to herself as she hurried through the cottage. Her reaction to Grady had surprised her. When his hand had engulfed hers, current had rippled through her, leaving tantalizing warmth in its wake. Prone to being jaded and over-cautious when it came to the opposite sex, her acceptance of his breakfast offer had been uncharacteristic. The light blush that had colored his cheeks and the way he’d stroked the cat with the top of his foot had just been so sweet. His wide grin was infectious and there was something in his easy-going manner that chased all the worries aside.
Pulling out her bag, she riffled through, checking off sunblock, another bikini, iPod, book, wrap, and towel. Pulling on cut-offs, she rolled a pair of jeans, under things, and a t-shirt and shoved them in the bottom of the bag. It couldn’t hurt to be prepared. With that thought in mind, she stepped into the attached bath to grab her toiletry bag. She felt warmth creeping across her cheeks, but shrugged it off. She’d come to Tennessee to get away and relax. What better way to blow off a little steam? She was a twenty-eight-year-old woman, not a blushing virgin. She snorted. That was probably a good thing. Loose-fitting or not, Grady’s wet swim trunks had left very little to the imagination, and that was a lot of man.
Chiding herself, Eden shouldered her bag and wandered through the rustic confines of her aunt’s cottage. The space was clean, but cluttered with easels, palettes, and canvases boasting paintings in various stages of completion. She ran her fingers over one on her way to the back door, tracing the tumultuous, frothy waves of the ocean breaking against the shore. It was beautiful.
A soft summer breeze stirred outside, rustling the trees as she pushed open the rickety screen door. The hinges creaked, and in places the screen was torn. She found her Aunt Starr seated on a stool near the back corner of the patio. Her graying honeyed hair was pulled up in a sloppy upsweep. Several loose strands lifted in the breeze and danced around the paintbrush securing the twist. Her sheer paisley shirt billowed on her rail-thin frame. Eden studied her for a moment, watching as she lifted a coffee mug with one hand and strove to recapture the dense tree line with her other. She looked so at peace, both with the moment and who she was.
“Did you have a nice swim?” she asked, without looking back.
Smiling, Eden approached and peered over her shoulder. A quiet murmur of appreciation left her upon seeing the vivid painting up close. How could her family ever shun
someone who had such a raw, natural talent? The canvas was a stunning reflection of the yard, every detail coming to life in colors that took her breath away.
“I did. You didn’t tell me they sold the cottage,” she said quietly.
Starr shrugged. “I don’t keep up much with the people around here.”
Eden nodded. Even here, her aunt was a lone wolf, an outsider who preferred her art over the company of people. Her golden brows knitted as she wondered if that was true. Did she really prefer the solitude, or was that just what life had pushed on her? For some reason, she found the thought troubling. She bit her lip and tamped the unwelcome questions down. She didn’t want to think about that on a day like this.
“I’m heading out to the lake for a while. I just thought I’d let you know so you don’t worry. I don’t know what time I’ll be back,” she said, planting an affectionate kiss on her aunt’s tanned cheek.
“He must be something special to put such a smile in your voice. Be careful, but enjoy yourself, honey.”
The words made Eden hesitate at the gate. She looked back, but her aunt didn’t turn. She was so perceptive. Smiling, Eden just nodded and slipped through the rough hewn gate to the front yard.
Lost in thought, he missed the road. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Grady brought the big diesel to a halt and slammed it into reverse. He rolled his eyes as he took the turn. Eden had his brain in a complete fog. It probably didn’t help that his blood seemed determined to head south of his belt buckle at the mere thought of her. He shook his head. He was still trying to figure out what a woman that looked like that was doing giving him the time of day. He’d gone out with some good looking girls in college and in his time in the NFL, but none of them came close to Eden.
He blew out a breath and sent up a little prayer as he slowed to find her aunt’s drive. She was waiting on the porch steps. Daisy Dukes, simple sandals, and a pair of Ray-Ban aviators had joined the turquoise bikini. She stood up, brushing off her ass, and snatched up a battered leather backpack. Caught gawking, he had to scramble to beat her around the front of the truck. She looked startled when he reached around her to open the door, but then her face lit up.
