Worth Every Cent

by Lexy Timms

  I felt his hands on my hips, guiding me down to my feet before he spun me around.

  “Thought maybe you’d fallen or something,” he said.

  He brushed my hair from my face while his eyes danced between mine. But all I could see were those bruises. The anger in that little boy’s eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Gray asked.

  I didn’t know if it was something I should mention, so instead, I slid my arms around his neck and held him close.

  “You know you’re a spectacular man, right?” I asked.

  He kissed my neck, sending a warmth down my spine as he held me close.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get these lamps set up.”

  We got everything looking nice, including the lamps that illuminated the library. Then, it was time for me to get to work. Gray offered for me to take a shower before my shift, and I gladly took him up on it. And there, I unleashed all the silent tears that ached to fall. I covered my mouth and sobbed into it. I cried for Gray’s childhood and the horrors he had been privy to. I ached for the little boy covered in those bruises and scars. I leaned against the shower and pressed my hand against my chest, trying to keep my heart from pounding its way out of my sternum.

  Then I cleaned myself up, got myself dressed, and let Gray drive me to the diner.

  “So, I was thinking,” Gray said.

  “Don’t hurt yourself,” I said with a grin.

  He tossed me a look before he reached for my hand.

  “I was thinking if Anton’s house sells, we could go out for a nice dinner to celebrate,” he said.

  “That’s fine with me, if you want to,” I said.

  “It’s taken me a lot longer than I figured to settle his estate, so I thought we could cap off the venture with a nice meal in one of the surrounding cities.”

  “Then you better hope that house sells.”

  I honestly wasn’t as happy that the house was being sold, however. Though I smiled and agreed to the dinner, I felt sad inside. Mr. Anton had helped me, and so many people in this town, in ways none of us could ever understand. Gray included. I missed him, and selling off his house left an ache in the pit of my gut I couldn’t shake. I held his hand tightly while we drove through town, then we pulled up to the entryway of the diner.

  I looked over at Gray and wondered if he had ever opened up about his childhood to anyone.

  “Here we are,” Gray said. “Time for the working gal to get to it.”

  But I took a second to study him. To really take him in.

  The journey Gray had been on was astounding. An angry, beaten, abused little boy had been set on a path that had turned him into a billionaire. A football player the masses embraced. Into a man the world loved and a man countries welcomed into their arms. My eyes danced across his face as my lips grew closer to his, encompassing his warmth within mine for a sweet, decadent kiss. I gripped his hand. I swirled my thumb on top of his skin. I wanted him to know I was there if he wanted to talk. There if he wanted to open up.

  And as I stepped out of the car and walked into the diner, I found myself hoping one day he would share it with me. If only so I could hold him to let him know he was finally okay.

  Chapter 19

  Grayson

  The realtor told me the buyer would be at Anton’s around six, so I headed back to make sure everything looked perfect for them. But I had to admit that I felt slightly regretful about having to sell the old place. I had a lot of good memories within those walls. And I found myself forming new ones with Michelle. It seemed a shame to unload the house so soon after Anton’s death, but I didn’t really know what else to do with it. I couldn’t keep it. I’d never come back to it. And giving it away to someone seemed almost cheap. This had been the only place I really called home until I moved to Napa Valley. I couldn’t give it away to just anyone.

  I ran my fingertips along the back of the leather couch. The house felt like a link between me and Michelle. I felt like the house kept bringing us back together, and if I sold it off then that link would dissolve and we would no longer be. I’d have to excuse to stay and no rational reason to come back to Stillsville.

  What would become of the connection between us?

  The doorbell rang and it ripped me from my trance. I drew in a deep breath, preparing myself to show the house. Or at least get out of the way so they could see it for themselves. I headed for the door and opened it up, and the second I took a look at who was standing there my jaw dropped.

  “Cecily?” I asked. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Is that any way to talk to a prospective buyer?” she asked.

  The smile on her face was positively devilish. I furrowed my brow while taking her in, looking at the cheap fur coat she had wrapped around her body. It had definitely seen better days.

  She couldn’t possibly be the client. She worked as a waitress, and Anton’s estate was on the market for almost three hundred thousand dollars. So why was Michelle’s—whatever she was—pretending to be interested in the place?

  After our last encounter, I was on my guard.

  “Aren’t you going to let me in?” Cecily asked.

  I frowned, but stepped off to the side and let her walk through a threshold she didn’t belong in.

  “So, where does our journey begin?” she asked.

  “You’re seriously here to look at the place,” I said.

  “I seriously am,” she said.

  “Then follow me. Down the hallway to your right are two of the five bedrooms. The one on your left has an ensuite bathroom, and the one on your right goes to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. It dumps into a living room with plush carpets and many windows to let in the natural light, and as you turn and walk through the archway you come to the dining space attached to a kitchen with stainless steel appliances.”

  I guided Cecily through the house, watching as she ran her hands along every surface she came across. It made me cringe, watching her muddy everything up with her fingers. And the fact that she kept that damn fur coat on made me curious. It was over eighty degrees outside. Why the hell was she wearing it?

  She kept a tight hold on it until we came to the smaller hallway.

  The hallway that held Anton’s room.

  “This is the master suite,” I said, as I pushed open the door.”

  “Oh, I love the windows in this one. Floor length, almost,” Cecily said.

  “With its own private bathroom. It’s got a double-vanity, a jet tub, a walk in—”

  I looked back at Cecily to see if she was still listening, and I stopped. She stood in the doorway of the bedroom, the fur coat piled at her feet. My eyes raked up her body as she stood there in nothing but some flimsy lingerie and some heels.

  I raked my eyes all the way back up to hers before she took a step towards me.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  But her eyes only held mine as she kept moving closer.

  “Stop it, Cecily. This is absurd.”

  She pressed her hands against my chest and backed me into the wall. I gazed down at her, watching as her eyes came alight with fire. She raised up onto her tiptoes to bring her lips to mine, but I slipped against the wall and heard her crash into it. I strode over to the entryway and picked up her coat between my fingers, slinging it at her like the piece of garbage it was.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked.

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about you, that’s what I’m doing,” Cecily said.

  “No, what are you doing in Anton’s house wearing nothing but that dusty fabric? Put your damn coat back on.”

  “Or what?” she asked.

  “Really? Or what? That’s all you’ve got?”

  “I’m sorry, Gray,” she said. “I’m sorry for what happened in high school. I never should’ve stood you up the way I did. It was wrong, and I was nothing but a spoiled, selfish little brat.”

  “Glad we got that cleared up. I won’t be sell
ing you Anton’s house today. You can put your coat on and leave,” I said.

  “I never stopped loving you.”

  I paused at her words as my face fell.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I never stopped loving you, Gray. All those years, passing one another in the hallway. The lingering looks. The small touches. What I did to you at prom was wrong, but it didn’t mean I didn’t love you. I should have gone with you and then made love to you afterwards. Showed you how much you really meant to me.”

  “Sorry. Not interested,” I said flatly.

  “That because you’re banging Michelle? Or because you don’t want to bang me in Anton’s bedroom.”

  “None of that is any of your damn business,” I said.

  “You should be careful with her,” she said, as she slipped her coat back on. “She seems innocent, but it’s a ruse. She’s still screwing Andy, and she always will. I’ve tried to talk that girl several times into leaving him for good, but she always goes back to him. Every single time.”

  “Cut the bullshit, Cecily. Michelle isn’t that type of girl.”

  I watched her roll her eyes as she traveled towards me again.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, MacDonald. I’d hate to see you end up hurt if you decide to keep her around.”

  “Like you give a damn about hurting people, Cecily.”

  She stopped in front of me, her hand sliding up my torso before settling against my heart.

  “I never should’ve done what I did,” she said breathlessly. “And I don’t know how I’ll ever apologize for it. But if you think Michelle isn’t playing you, you’re wrong.”

  Her eyes fluttered up to mine as I wrapped my hand around her wrist.

  “If you ever want to find yourself dating a mature, classy woman, then you know where to find me.”

  Tossing her wrist off to the side, I backed out of Anton’s room.

  I watched her walk down the hallway, listening to her heels clacking against the hardwood floors. I didn’t stop holding my breath until I heard the door shut behind her, then I fell against the doorway. What the hell was that? Was she being serious?

  That unsure little voice in the back of my head began to chirp, and before I could get it settled out I had my phone out texting Michelle.

  I needed to talk with her.

  And fast.

  Chapter 20

  Michelle

  My phone chimed for the third time in a row, so I took a break and headed to the bathroom. I pulled my phone from my back pocket and opened it up, my eyes widening at the text messages from Gray.

  When do you get off work tonight?

  Michelle, I needed to see you as soon as possible.

  Michelle, are you there?

  Another text message came rip-roaring through before I could even begin to respond.

  I’m headed to the diner. I can get coffee at the bar and we can talk.

  My fingers had never moved so fast to try and send him a message back.

  What’s wrong? Did the showing not go well?

  Answer my question, Michelle. What time do you get off?

  I furrowed my brow deeply as I sat down onto the toilet.

  Pick me up at 9:15. What’s wrong? Did something happen with the showing?

  I’ll see you then. Come outside and get into the car once you’re done.

  “Michelle!” Brad exclaimed. “Your customers are out of drinks. Pinch it off and get out here.”

  I rolled my eyes as I shoved my phone into my pocket. I spent the entire rest of my shift wondering what in the world had happened. When I left, things were fine. But things didn’t seem fine any longer. Had the showing gone wrong? Had Gray gotten into another fight or something? I ran around, collecting tips and filling up everyone’s drinks as I watched the minutes slowly countdown. The shift was brutal. Not once did the crowd let up, and by the time nine fifteen rolled around I thought my feet were going to explode they were so swollen. I cashed out my tips and rushed outside, my head on a swivel for Gray’s convertible.

  Lights flashed at me so I ran over, sliding quickly into the seat beside him.

  “What in the world is wrong?” I asked.

  He rolled up the top before he looked over at me, his eyes stoic and his face stern.

  “Cecily was the buyer,” he said.

  “Wait, what?” I asked.

  “Cecily was the buyer. She showed up in nothing but a damn fur coat, and the second we got to Anton’s suite, she dropped it and had on nothing but heels and some ratty flimsy fabric she tried to pass as lingerie.”

  My jaw dropped to the floorboard of the car as Gray held my gaze.

  “You’re joking with me.”

  “I’m not,” he said flatly.

  “You have to be. That doesn’t sound like Cecily at all.”

  “Then you better believe it. She came, she tried to kiss me, she backed me into a corner, and when I rejected her, she left.”

  “She tried to kiss you?” I asked.

  “We didn’t. But she tried.”

  “Do Cecily and you have a history or something?”

  “A brief one. I asked her to my junior prom and she stood me up. That’s it. She apologized for it, like that would make any sort of a difference now, as to the fact that she cornered me in Anton’s bedroom of all places.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But I could tell by the look on Gray’s face that he was dead serious.

  “I have no idea what in the world has gotten into her,” I said. “She’s practically been ignoring me for days. She’s switching her shifts so we don’t work together. What’s going on? What is she doing?”

  “She’s trying to manipulate a situation so she can hook up with me,” he said. “And she knows the two of us are enjoying one another’s company. She’s jealous.”

  “How do you know all this?” I asked.

  “Because I know Cecily. I know everyone in this damn town. Underneath the kind exterior is a conniving, manipulative little girl. She was that way in high school, and she’s still that way now. Whatever the hell’s going on in her mind, you can’t stay with her any longer. I won’t take you back there.”

  “For once, I agree with you. But where am I going to go? I haven’t heard back on the house yet from the landlord and I’m not sure if I could negotiate my agreement with the motel again,” I said.

  “You’re being crazy, Michelle. You can come—”

  “Leave Stillsville, asshole!”

  I jumped as something shattered against the windshield of the convertible.

  “Fucking bastard child! You’re worth less than your pathetic daddy!”

  My jaw dropped as Gray stared blankly at the eggs pummeling his rental car.

  “Looks like the villagers are restless again,” he said flatly.

  I felt tears rush my eyes as a truck barreled past us and squealed back out onto the main road, flipping us off and shouting things I’d never say to another person in my wildest dreams.

  “What the hell is wrong with everyone!?”

  I shrieked the statement in the car as Gray whipped his head towards me.

  “Why is everyone losing their damn minds!?”

  I put my head in my hands and began to sob, fed up with the situation swirling around us. But soon, my back was thrown back to the seat as Gray sped away from the parking space. He ripped his way onto the road and squealed down Main Street, tearing past buildings and leaving wondering pedestrians in his wake.

  “Gray, what the hell has—”

  “I have an idea,” he said, “and you’re going to go along with it. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.”

  My eyes widened as we blazed past Anton’s house. I watched it recede in the mirror out the window before I turned my gaze to Gray’s profile. He gripped the steering wheel with all his might, pressing down on the gas pedal as hard as he could. We got up to one hundred miles an hour at one point, leaving Stillsville in our dust as we traveled along the
deserted highway.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  But Gray remained tight-lipped on the notion. And it wasn’t until we drove into the city limits of Chicago that he finally began to speak.

  “We need a break from that damn town,” he said. “We need to clear our heads. We need to remind ourselves that there’s a whole wide world out here. One that isn’t as dysfunctional and as angry and toxic as Stillsville.”

  “So we’re just spending the night in Chicago?” I asked.

  “No,” he said. “We’re going to experience a five-star night in Chicago. There’s a very big difference.”

  He looked over at me with a wild grin on his face that sent adrenaline pumping through my veins. The vague reminder of how spontaneous my life used to be came flooding back to my memory. I’d never actually been to Chicago. I’d only seen it from a distance while passing beside it. Andy had driven by it on our way into Stillsville after he’d lost his job, promising me that one day he’d take me to the city for a weekend and show me off to the world.

  But it looked like Gray would end up fulfilling that promise.

  I settled back into the seat and watched as the city passed us by. Tall buildings and neon signs illuminated with all sorts of letters and offerings for food. I gawked at the numerous stores and the people walking along the sideways laughing with their friends. I was completely taken by the life and happiness that bled through the veins of the Windy City.

  Then, Gray pulled into the poshest hotel I’d ever seen.

  He rolled down the hood of the convertible and jumped out, tossing his keys to a valet. He came around to my side and opened my door, then offered me his hand. I smiled up at him as he helped me out, then he threaded our fingers together.

  “Make sure to get the car washed as well,” he said to the man. “And keep it out of the sun.”

  It felt weird going into a hotel with no luggage, but Gray marched us right in there like it was completely normal. I followed closely on his heels, feeling his strong, confident hand threaded with mine as we made our way to the main desk.