by Cara North
Chapter 4
“Hazel. Don’t dodge the question, honest answers remember?” Her eyes flickered green. Her heart began to race as her whole body was hanging on his every word. She was inching closer to him unaware of it.
“Well, Min, the chef, had invited me there. I told her I didn’t care for sushi.” So they do change colors, probably with clothing as well as her mood. Is she getting closer or is that my imagination? “She then invited me to dinner anywhere. I told her I wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone.”
Grace nodded and stared.
Her eyes were getting greener by the word. He took a deep breath. “She said she didn’t want to get involved either. She just wanted dinner. That seemed fair enough, right?” Fair, let me tell you about fair. It’s not fair that you’re Megan’s cousin, and I can’t just grab you and kiss you like your lips are begging me to.
Grace nodded. His voice is deep not Barry White deep but solid, thick, long. Pay attention, Grace! He seemed to be getting closer.
Why doesn’t he just kiss me? No, you can’t initiate this first. He is going to be Megan’s brother-in-law. Grace smiled and tried to focus on his words. She really was a good listener, but she couldn’t seem to hear anything he said.
“So, against my better judgment, I go to dinner with her. After dinner, I suggest we go our separate ways since we lived in opposite directions, right. Wrong. Min was mad. She thought that during the course of dinner, she had changed my mind somehow. So basically, I had made her eat at some Italian restaurant when apparently she hates Italian food, and expected her to go home alone.”
“That was enough to get you sick?” Grace didn’t understand, but she wasn’t really listening either. She was swimming in sweet chocolate eyes that were enthralling. Her ears were soaking in the sounds of his voice, but her mind didn’t comprehend a word he said. Probably because all she could think about were his lips. Don’t stop talking.
“It is when you brag to everyone about a date that doesn’t go as you plan.” He shrugged.
“I’ve given up on what constitutes the rights for revenge when it comes to women, but reputations are apparently fragile. Just ask your PR cousin sometime.” Cousin, she is Megan’s cousin. You will see her at the wedding. She will be there for dinners on holidays. Do not touch.
“No, I know firsthand.” She actually processed that last one.
Reputations are impossible to live down. Like hers, the prudish school teacher, who will die a lonely old maid. She sure didn’t feel like a prude right now. Instead, she found herself within inches of making contact with him. Had he moved closer while he talked?
“How so?”
“I’m the prudish school teacher, who will die a lonely old maid, can’t you tell?” Grace forced a smile and inched again unknowingly closer to him.
Ethan couldn’t process her words. It was utterly ridiculous what she had just said. She couldn’t possibly be serious.
“So, how many colors do your eyes turn exactly?” His smile came with a lick of his lips. She had slowly moved within inches of where he sat.
She wanted it just as much as he did. He could feel the heat rolling off her body, and a hunger in her eyes that needed to be satisfied. She was kidding about the prude routine; she had to be. What nut job would leave this woman at the altar?
“Oh my God.” Grace caught a glimpse of the television in her peripheral vision. The movie had ended. She broke her gaze and looked at the clock. “It’s one in the morning.”
Suddenly, she was aware that she, not he, had moved across the couch. What is going on with me? This was not old Grace, or self-conscious Grace. No, no, this was a new Grace, a carnal Grace. Where the hell did she come from?
“Shit!” Ethan cursed low not because of the time but because the moment was lost. She had all but climbed into his lap. Oh well. “What now?”
“Ethan ... you wanna do something ... dirty?” Grace lifted her brow and bit her lower lip. It was against her nature. It was against everything she ever imagined, but something else had taken her over. Determination, adventure, she wasn’t sure. She was very sure that she really wanted to kiss him though.
“Yes,” he said immediately. Down boy, he said to himself again. Be cool. “Well, what did you have in mind I mean?”
“Well, it’s no secret that the two of them are trying to hook up the two of us for the wedding.”
He nodded. Though it was news to him, he thought he was just fulfilling an obligation to his brother and doing a favor for his cousin.
Thank God Joshua didn’t come on this trip. He would have wooed her by now for sure. Ethan needed to get away from Chloe while his lawyer handled the pregnancy thing and a restraining order. That’s why he agreed to come. Not to ... why was he arguing it? If they wanted them to hook up, hell that took a lot of stress off. Grace was talking. Something changed after dinner, and she was open. Hell yeah, he wanted to do something dirty!
“What if they wake up in the morning and find us in bed together?” She was desperate. Grace desperately needed him to play along in public. Deep down, she felt a little pang of desperation she wasn’t expecting. She desperately needed to touch him.
“I like where this is going.” He nodded.
Grace was full of surprises, the little minx. All this innocent, caring, prudish school teacher business was an act. It lured a man in. Ha! I got your game now.
“Stop playing around, I’m serious.”
“Me, too.”
“Ethan, listen to me. You may not want to do this.”
“Oh, I’m sure I do.”
“Ugh, we can stay in my bed. In the morning, we’ll sleep in and let them come find us.” Grace smiled, her hazel eyes turning in a kaleidoscope of brown and green as she plotted. She was excited and nervous. He teased at every turn.
“Why do you want to do this, Grace?” Ethan looked at her green eyes and saw a pang of desperation. He didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t want her to be desperate. Not unless she was desperate to get him inside her.
“Because I need to shake things up around here. People saw us together today. I can break the old maid curse, and well, I thought it might be fun to give Megan a taste of her own sugar sweet medicine.” Grace lowered her head. She was horrible. Selfish and mean, she wanted to use him, and she barely knew him.
“So, it’s not because you find me irresistible?”
YES! “No, please. You’re a nice guy and all, but I barely know you.” Grace felt the blood rushing to her face. Ethan was very irresistible.
No. Did she just say no? “Okay, say I sleep with you, they will expect us to ... you know be more together after.”
He gathered the glasses and the empty bag of cookies. This plan could work. After all, even a pretend affair would give him the rights to kiss her lips, play with her hair. He watched as Grace bent over and placed the DVD back in the cabinet below the television. It would give me the chance to grab that ass. No sex, just flirting. At least until she admits I am irresistible. And I am.
Besides, dethroning Megan was a damn good reason. Chase and Megan were always on display. He liked that Grace wanted to knock them off their lily white pedestal as bad as he did.
“So, we will act more together. I mean even a brief affair leaves a couple intimate, right?” Grace followed Ethan to the sink. The farther he was from her, the more she could think clearly, and clear thinking would tell her this was a bad plan.
She was inviting a man she barely knew into bed, with her. Asking him to pretend that they were lovers, yet she had never kissed him. Could she kiss him?
“We’re both grown-ups, and besides it’s only a couple days then you go back to New York, and we have something to laugh about at the wedding.” Yes, she could definitely kiss him, now. Now, would be a good time. God, she must be crazy.
Ethan turned to face her. She was right there within his reach, but he was not going to grab her and lift her on that counter like her body was telling him to. No, this was
now his game. Two can play hard to get. He chased her all day, and that was more chasing than he ever had to do in his life. She wanted to sleep with him in more ways than one he just knew it. “So, after they find us, we give up the hoax, right?”
“No way!” She couldn’t afford to give up the hoax. She needed to be seen as a couple. They needed to go out for lunch and dinner, walk around the neighborhood, something, anything to make the old maid jokes go away.
“So, what do you say, you want to sleep with me or not?” Grace stood in front of him then pulled out a Megan stand by, her lashes fluttered. Please say yes.
“Well, when you put it that way, how can a guy refuse?” He looked down at her batting those lashes. He wanted to laugh.
This could be trouble, but somehow he didn’t see any malice in her. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t want to tell a groveling woman no. She needed him. “Is there something in your eye?”
“No, I was giving you the blinking eye thing.” Shit, I overplayed my hand.
“How long has it been since you put the moves on a guy?” Ethan said in a low deep voice with a wink. He will play along. This little game could prove to be handy for the wedding. Indeed, he plays now, she plays later.
“Over a year, is it obvious?” His eyes were concentrating on her. Grace could tell he was in deep thought. Hopefully, he was thinking about kissing her. It felt strange to look up at him. Mitchell was an inch shorter than she was. At five-six, a girl doesn’t feel overwhelmed by many men, but almost any woman would feel overwhelmed by Ethan.
“We have some work to do, yes.” There she goes again, a year. There is no way that body has been untouched in a year. “I can teach you some new moves if you want me to.”
“Moves? When you leave, I will be fine on my own thank you. This is a hoax. I’m not interested in putting the moves on any other man.” Grace wasn’t being very successful in putting the moves on him.
“Then, I’ll teach you how to put the right moves on me.” He tapped her on the nose and started toward the stairs. Grace stood there shocked for a moment and started behind him. Ethan had to get up the stairs first. You are not actually sleeping with this woman and can’t follow that lush behind up another flight of stairs today without biting it.
* * * *
Grace changed into her pajamas when she got out of the shower. Ethan had showered down the hall and, of course, was already in bed when she emerged from the bathroom. She wasn’t having sex with him. She hadn’t even kissed him, yet seeing him and his bare naked body from head to waist where the sheet began to cover him, she felt nervous.
Conscious of her body and the pounds she had put on since school let out, she looked at the cotton pajamas she bought at Wal-Mart. This will not do.
She re-emerged in a Victoria Secret silk gown. The tag was still on it when she pulled it from her dresser. Grace thought of when she bought it, attempting to spice things up over a year ago with Mitchell. She never got the chance to use it. Then, she packed it on the rush weekend to Vegas, and again, the gown was useless. Mitchell spent more time at school than at home. When he was home, he was too tired for sex.
Ethan was asleep, so it wouldn’t matter to him anyway. His brown hair looked black since it was wet, and his eyes were closed. His chest rose and fell in slow, heavy breaths. Bare of hair, it seemed smooth, yet the muscles were hard and defined. His body seemed perfect. His color was even. He must get out in the sun enough to tan or maybe he had Italian or Greek in him. He sure looked like a statue to her.
Grace looked at her own tan, which was sprayed on. Typically, she would look white as paper and freckled all over. The tan didn’t hide the freckles, but it blended them in better. He said he liked her freckles. No man had ever said that before. She was tormented for them as a child.
Maybe she would let the fake tan wear off. It only lasted a few days anyway. Finally, she slipped in the bed next to him, turned out the light, and said a silent prayer.
* * * *
It didn’t take long for Megan to storm the castle. She noticed Ethan’s door open and Grace’s door shut when she woke up. After her shower, she noticed the same, but when she got downstairs, only Chase was waiting at the breakfast table.
“Where is your brother?” Megan stared at him.
“I don’t know, probably sleeping?” Chase went back to his paper and coffee.
“No, he’s not in his room,” she stated frankly.
“So maybe he went for a jog or something.” He didn’t look up.
“Chase!” Megan stomped. “Your brother is missing, and my cousin is still in her room at ten a.m. Don’t you think something is funny here?”
He pulled a corner of the paper down and glanced at her. “Nah.” He lifted the paper up and continued reading.
“Well I do, and I’m going to find out what it is.” She spun on her heel and marched back up the stairs.
“I’m sure you will, babe.” Chase continued reading.
Chase knew his brother. If Ethan wasn’t awake at six sharp and running on the pavement, he was in bed with Grace. Megan’s plan had worked. Though all they had originally hoped for was that they would hit it off and become friends. This, however, could complicate things, especially if it didn’t stay friendly. Women never stayed friendly when it came to Ethan.
At Grace’s door, Megan knocked like she was a police officer serving a warrant. “Grace McPherson, you get out of that bed and open this door right now!” she shouted. When she shook the door knob, she realized it wasn’t locked. She pushed the door open and felt a sense of shock, joy, and jealousy all at once. “A-HA!”
“Megan come back in an hour,” Ethan grumbled. He nuzzled his chin at the top of Grace’s head then opened his eyes wide remembering last night, but not expecting to wake up with her literally in his arms. Somehow during the night, they had snuggled in together his arms around her, her back pressed into him, her hair in his face. Stay calm. This was the plan or at least part of the plan.
Grace had been awake since Megan got in the shower, but she was enjoying the weight of Ethan’s arm across her, the way his chin felt lightly touching her head, the heat of his body along her back, the way his chest rose and fell with his breath. He smelled delicious. His body was overwhelming—large, powerful. She felt dainty and ladylike. She was not about to move.
Grace was in a fantasy, and since he couldn’t see her face, she could just lay there and appreciate him. He would never have to know.
“Morning, Megan.” Grace tried to sound sleepy.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Megan rested her hands on her cute little hips and tapped her manicured toes on the floor.
Grace tried to hold back a laugh, and Ethan could feel her pulling up and away from him. He held her firmly in place.
“What the hell does it look like? We’re sleeping,” Ethan answered in a rough voice. His fingers stroked over a lock of hair as he inhaled her deeply. Now, this was a vacation.
“It looks like my plan worked.” Maybe too well. This was not like Grace at all.
“Get dressed lovebirds we’re going to the beach.” Megan closed the door.
Megan wanted them to meet, hit it off, and have each other to hang out with at the wedding. She didn’t want him pawing her cousin and breaking her heart like every other woman he had met. She wanted her to meet Joshua. He was gentle and more like Grace. Joshua wanted to leave New York. He was ready to settle down. Ethan ... there was nothing she could do about it now. Yet, something didn’t seem right.
“How’s the surf here?” Ethan spoke into her hair. The curls were all over him. He could feel them on his neck, down his chest, soft tendrils everywhere. He was in a sea of jasmine. The siren had lured him out to his doom. He just knew it.
“I don’t know. I never go to the beach.” Grace rolled over to face him. His morning erection had all but caused her to catch fire as it pressed against her. She had to get distance between their bodies.
“We should jus
t stay here in bed awhile.” Ethan peaked one eye open and caught her gaze firmly on his mouth. He licked his lips and could have sworn her breath hitched.
“Come on sunshine,” she said trying to regain herself. “Time to face the music.” She wanted to kiss those lips so desperately but was insistent that he make the first move. She may have invited a strange man in her bed, but she was still a lady. Every minute she was with Ethan, the more she felt like a sex crazed lunatic instead.
He groaned, rolled over, and pushed the blankets back. Finally, he sat up in the bed for a moment, watching Grace continue on her morning routine. What the hell was she sleeping in? Not the cotton pajamas he had seen the morning before.
Ethan was glad he had fallen asleep before he could see that nightgown, or it would have been a restless night. Instead, he slept like a baby. It must have been due to exhaustion. Taking that run yesterday, he had no idea he wouldn’t see sleep till nearly three am. He had wanted to talk to her, but as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out.
Grace tried to stay focused. After seeing him this morning with his hair disheveled, his body naked from the waist up, her temperature was rising. That man packed a lot of heat. She could feel it, all of it pressing into her when he woke up.
As long as she didn’t see him stand, nothing was confirmed. Grace grabbed her clothes and was in the bathroom in a flash, leaving him stretching and yawning in her bedroom.
Ethan shook his head in delight as she bounded into the bathroom. Grace was still running from him though she had invited him into her bed. When he woke up this morning, his body reacted and nestled right there between her soft round buttocks. It was all he could do not to press against her and groan.
Chapter 5
The guys grabbed their new surfboards and hit the water. Grace had agreed to keep the boards at her house for when they visited. Like that was ever going to happen again. She watched as they paddled out. Looking at Ethan’s body made her tingle all over, so she focused on her book instead. Megan, however, wanted to know everything. And so, the inquisition began.
