Alexis struggled to get ahold of herself once again. She pulled away from him and rubbed the moisture from her cheeks. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today,” she murmured, averting her gaze.
He studied her closely. “It’s because of last night. Something the speakers said…”
What had been meant to be uplifting had brought up everything she wished never to think about again. Suddenly, she couldn’t hold it all in anymore.
In a choked voice, she cried, “I just wish it had never happened!” She looked in Grady’s eyes and saw understanding. Like it or not, they were both in a club no one ever wanted to join. “I wish that Scott had never gotten sick or suffered the way he did, or had his life taken away from him.”
Knowing Grady had lost a spouse, too, gave her the courage to admit, “I wish we’d had a chance to have the children we wanted. Although…” Alexis’s lips curved ruefully “…seeing Savannah deal with the loss of a parent makes me realize how selfish that is.”
“It’s okay to want kids,” he said compassionately. “It’s okay to want things to be different. But at the same time…” he shrugged “…you’ve got to know our lives are what they are….”
And nothing they said or did would change that.
Alexis relaxed slightly. “Usually, I can deal.”
“Then what was different about yesterday?” Grady asked, edging closer.
She reveled in the warmth of his nearness. “It was the anniversary of Scott’s diagnosis.”
Grady nodded, as if knowing firsthand that the date life as you knew it had screeched to a halt was always hard to bear. It didn’t matter how much time passed.
Alexis gulped. “I thought by being involved in the fund-raiser this year I would be able to turn the day our lives went all to hell into something good, really start moving on…instead of being stuck in what was….”
Grady stroked a hand through her hair. He looked as if he approved of her decision to move on—and why not, since he was attempting to do the same thing? “You could start by taking a day off every now and then.”
Alexis scoffed. “You’re one to talk!”
He favored her with a sexy half smile. “I took yesterday off.”
“So did I.”
“You worked a benefit—I wouldn’t call that time off. I’m talking about time to just be.”
He had no idea how good that sounded.
Alexis focused on the strong column of Grady’s throat. She splayed her hands across his chest and felt the steady beat of his heart beneath her fingertips. “I wish it was that simple.” But it wasn’t. For starters, the two of them, though wildly attracted to each other, did not want the same things. She had to keep remembering that.
As for the rest…
Alexis sighed.
Grady sifted his hands through her hair, lifted her face up to his. “Why isn’t it that easy?”
He wouldn’t understand unless she told him. And suddenly she wanted him to know at least this much about her. “I need to work every second I can because I’m up to my neck in debt.” It was why she lived in a less-than-ideal apartment instead of a house, and drove a company-leased car. When his brow furrowed, she explained, “Insurance only funded a portion of the cancer treatment, and Scott battled leukemia for two years. Luckily, his co-pays were capped at twenty-one thousand a year, but that’s still forty-two thousand dollars, plus another twelve thousand for his funeral, and countless other expenses, like hospital parking fees and lost wages.”
She took in a quavering breath. “Suffice it to say, I’ll be paying off that debt for a very long time. Unless I get the job running the new Galveston office, and the increase in salary that comes with it. Then it will happen a lot sooner, of course.”
Grady was silent, looking down at her with compassion. “I wish I could help.”
She knew he was rich. Did he think she was asking him for money…?
Oh God, no.
Embarrassed she had told him so much about the private details of her life, Alexis stepped back abruptly. “It’s not your problem.” And it wouldn’t be.
Suddenly, she needed to get out of there as soon as possible, and head back to work. She grabbed her carryall, slung it over her shoulder. “Let me know what you think about the candidates so I can set something up as soon as possible.”
He studied her closely. “Meet me at the Reata Restaurant at seven o’clock,” he said. “We’ll go over it, and I’ll tell you what I think then.”
NOT SURE WHY she’d agreed to have dinner with Grady when she could just as easily gotten the information from him over the phone, Alexis went back to her own office. She spent the rest of the afternoon tending to several other clients, and pulling up another half dozen files, just in case Grady did not like any of the six women she had profiled for him. She went straight to the restaurant from work.
He was there, waiting for her. Dressed in a sage-green dress shirt, khaki pants and boots. He had shaved since she had seen him last, and put on aftershave. Suddenly, this felt like a date.
It shouldn’t.
Marshalling her defenses, she slid into the chair he held out for her. “Well?” she said brightly, reminding herself she had handled much tougher situations than seeing a guy she was secretly attracted to pick someone else, at her urging. “What did you decide?”
“The kindergarten teacher, Pauline Emory. On paper, she sounds perfect.”
That was depressingly easy. Alexis kept her hurt feelings to herself. “That’s what I thought, too,” she agreed cordially, rummaging through her notebook so she wouldn’t have to look Grady in the eye. “I would have recommended her sooner, but she just signed on Friday, so her information wasn’t in the system yet. Anyway, I’ll call her and set something up.” Unable to help but feel disappointed that their business had been concluded so swiftly—she’d been looking forward to having dinner with Grady, even if it was strictly business—she reached for her carryall and started to rise.
Grady caught her wrist. It was his turn to look flustered. “Where are you going?” he asked in surprise.
“Well…” Alexis tried not to focus on the intimate feel of his skin on hers. “We don’t need to have dinner,” she said, feeling as if her heart would bolt right out of her chest. “Our business is concluded.”
His grasp tightened protectively. “Not quite.” Grady caught the eye of a man sitting at the bar.
Alexis’s eyes widened. Why was Grady’s father here?
Wade McCabe strolled over to join them. “Hello, Alexis.”
Completely dumbfounded, she nodded. “Mr. McCabe.” Alexis turned back to Grady. “What’s going on?” His father couldn’t want the services of a matchmaker! He was already married. Why hadn’t Grady mentioned that his father would be joining them?
“Grady told me about your situation,” he stated affably, as he pulled up a chair.
“You already indicated you didn’t want my help,” Grady explained.
Wade nodded and flashed her a genial grin. “So we were hoping you’d accept mine.”
Chapter Seven
“C’mon, Alexis! Talk to me!” Grady called through the closed apartment door a short time later.
He could hear her stomping around the small space, obviously angry and insulted. “Go away, Grady!” she shouted back.
The door behind him opened, and Alexis’s neighbor, a short and burly Latino man, stared ominously at him.
“This guy bothering you?” he shouted.
The door to Alexis’s flat swung open. Jaw working, she planted her hands on her slender hips and stared at them both. “No,” she told her neighbor. Her face softened in appreciation. “Thanks, Augusto.”
The man surveyed her a moment longer. “Then keep it down, will you?” he said gruffly at last. “The baby is asleep.”
“Right.” Alexis nodded, contritely. “Sorry.”
He then glared at Grady, as if expecting him to leave.
Grady looked at Alexis.
“You call me if you need me,” Augusto stated.
“Thank you.” Alexis looked warningly at Grady. “But it won’t be necessary.”
He followed her inside.
The first thing he noticed was how small her place was. Located in an area known for housing young families, the efficiency rented—according to the sign outside—for six hundred a month, utilities not included. She had a window unit air conditioner, which, although noisy, seemed to be putting out plenty of cool air. A worn tweed sofa bed was unfolded for sleeping, and there was a table with one chair for eating, a small desk with the other chair for working. The door to a tiny bathroom was ajar, and he glimpsed an ancient pedestal sink inside. The kitchen held an under-counter dorm-style refrigerator, microwave and hot plate. No dishwasher or disposal.
One entire wall of the flat was taken up with books, another with racks of neatly maintained and organized clothes and shoes. He wasn’t surprised about that. Her line of business demanded she dress nicely, when interacting with clients.
The portable TV in the corner was tuned to a popular home decorating show. She snapped it off. “You’ve got one minute and a half,” she said.
The clock was ticking. “Why did you walk out of the restaurant like that?” he asked.
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Because the meeting was over.”
They faced off in silence. “Obviously, I offended you.”
“Duh.” She glowered at him, letting him know with a searing glance how humiliated and embarrassed she had been. “You think?”
It was a good thing he liked a challenge. “I was trying to help.”
She propped her fists on her hips, her feet planted slightly apart. “I do not need you or anyone in your family to loan me money to consolidate my debts.”
“My dad wasn’t going to loan you the money himself,” Grady told Alexis calmly. “He was simply going to underwrite it, the same way he does for any business or person he’s interested in investing in, so the bank would issue you one at a premium interest rate.”
Grady was disappointed to see that the distinction did not win him any points with her.
“I’m sure your father’s heart was in the right place, Grady,” Alexis stated carefully, “but I don’t need his help any more than I need yours.”
Grady thought about the crushing debt she had described. “This—” he gestured to the five-hundred-square-foot living area, which seemed in many ways as joyless as his own life had been after his wife’s death “—tells me otherwise.”
“I’m fine.”
Was she? “You deserve better.”
Alexis angled her chin. “And I’ll get it without anyone’s help or interference, when I’ve paid off my debts.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re stubborn to a fault?”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re clueless to a fault?”
His parents had tried. They’d both felt it was a bad idea to make the offer. Grady had convinced them otherwise. And because they liked Alexis, they’d agreed to go along with it…even as they shook their heads and predicted disaster.
“I was just trying to help you out, one friend to another.”
“Really.” She shoved a hand through her hair. “And how many other ‘friends’ of one week have you offered to loan upwards of seventy-five thousand dollars to even through a third party?”
Silence fell between them again.
He noticed she had taken off her thin sweater. The sundress she was wearing had a figure-hugging bodice and spaghetti straps, one of which had fallen down her shoulder.
Reluctantly, he tore his eyes from the expanse of bare, silky skin.
The relationship that only hours before had seemed so full of possibilities now seemed like a metaphor for the confused state of his life.
“That’s not the kind of thing a guy does for a female friend—it’s the kind of thing a man does for his mistress or potential mistress.”
That woke Grady up. He stared at her. “Excuse me!”
“You heard me! That’s the kind of move that typically comes with strings attached—if not sooner, then later.”
The idea that she could even for one red-hot second imagine him that calculating and crass, rankled. “You think I went to all that trouble because I wanted to sleep with you?” he asked incredulously, watching the play of emotions across her face.
Alexis swallowed, looking almost sorry she’d brought it up. But now that she had, she was obviously not about to back away from the rash statement. “Maybe not consciously…but yeah,” she blurted. “I think romancing me is in the back of your mind!”
Grady stepped closer, purposely invading her physical space. “Then I guess you missed the part where I told you, when you interviewed me about my revised requirements in a potential wife, that I had no interest in having a romantic relationship!”
Alexis scoffed. “Oh, no! I got that!” She thrust her index finger at him. “And I have to tell you, it hasn’t exactly made my job of matching you with a woman any easier! I also got the part where you kissed me like there was no tomorrow. The part where I realized that although you may want a mother for Savannah, what you’re really looking for here—for yourself—is a friend with benefits! And I have to tell you, you’re not the first to present me with that option!”
The idea of Alexis being treated as anything less than the wonderful woman she was filled Grady with fury. He stared at her in shock. “You’ve been propositioned before?”
She didn’t answer right away, but then she didn’t have to, as a mixture of rueful recollection and bitterness filled her eyes. “What is it about guys and heartbroken widows, huh? What makes them think that we’re all just begging to be bedded? That being crazy with grief equates to being crazy with lust? Because I have to tell you that hasn’t been the case with me.”
The same as it was with him. When it came to him and her…It was a very different story. He wasn’t going to let her pretend otherwise, and group him with every other selfish jerk who had tried to make a move on her.
Alexis wasn’t just a conquest to him. She was a person. Flesh and blood, with the heart and soul of a woman, who was every bit as lonely—and in need of companionship—as he was.
“I don’t want to be intimately involved with anyone right now,” she declared. “Casually or otherwise.”
He wasn’t just anyone. He was someone who had suffered the same kind of crushing loss she had. Like it or not, that gave them a unique bond. Drawing on that rapport, he said softly, “I thought you said you wanted to marry again someday.”
She flinched, for a moment looking as vulnerable as she had that afternoon in his office. “Someday being the operative word,” she answered quietly.
Grady would have accepted that declaration had the present not been filled with such incredible chemistry.
“And you know why?” she added. Her eyes glimmered as she glanced at him. “Because I haven’t given up on having it all.”
Grady figured he had—and with good reason. The odds were stacked against either of them ever finding that kind of love again. But he also realized life was too short to let the passion they were experiencing—even here and now as they argued—slide by. He knew better than most that life could change in an instant. All anyone ever really had was the present. And in this moment of time, there was only one thing…only one person…he wanted.
He gave in to a whim and lifted the strap that had fallen down her arm back onto her shoulder, then let his hand slide beneath her hair to the nape of her neck. Luxuriating in the silky feel of her skin, he tilted her face up to his. The way she looked at him then, all soft and wanting, prodded him to risk even more. “The kiss you gave me the other night said otherwise.”
Alexis’s lips compressed. She lowered her lashes and retorted
in a low, unsteady voice, “That kiss was ill-advised.”
“Sometimes ill-advised is what’s called for,” Grady said, aware that his heart was suddenly slamming against his ribs. And then he did what he’d been wanting to do ever since the first time they’d embraced. He guided Alexis closer and slanted his lips over hers, taking everything she had to give.
Grady hadn’t come here for this, but he couldn’t say he was sorry it was happening. Instinct told him she needed this—needed him—as much as he needed her. Something about feeling her pressed against him, reaching for him, made him come alive. Made him want to connect with her in the most intimate of ways.
Basking in the gentle surrender of her body, he kissed her deeply. As he inhaled the sweet scent of her skin and the lingering fragrance of her perfume, he knew he’d been resurrected at long last. No longer moving numbly through his days, he was totally immersed in the here and now. The warmth of her touch. The womanly taste of her tongue. The softness of her breasts brushing up against his chest. Blood thundered through his body.
She was on tiptoe now, wrapping her arms around his neck, threading her hands through his hair. Her hips pressed against his, and still it wasn’t enough….
“Alexis…” It was an effort to get the words out. “If I stay…” he warned, retaining control with effort.
“I know what will happen, Grady,” she whispered back, looking deep into his eyes. Every emotion was stripped bare, yet her gaze never wavered. “I want this, too.”
And tonight, wanting was all it took….
With the intoxicating scent of her filling his senses, he guided her backward to the sofa bed. “Then show me,” he demanded gruffly.
And that, as it turned out, was all the encouragement she needed.
Alexis ran her hands across his shoulders, down his spine. Fused her mouth to his, stroking his tongue with hers. Until all he could think about, all he could feel, was the way her firm body fitted against him. Through the thin fabric of her sundress, her nipples beaded against the muscles of his chest.
Mommy for Hire Page 9
