by Lea Hart
Before she could escape, he tugged her back into bed. “Then I’ve done my job.” Burying his face in her neck, he kissed her right behind her ear. “There’s nothing better than waking up to you.”
Running her hand along his jaw, she saw how sincere he was. “Beneath your hard exterior beats the heart of a true romantic.”
“Only with you, honey.” Moving his hand down her back, he cupped her ass and whispered into her ear, “Now this is mine.”
Mimicking his moves, she responded, “And this, sir, is mine.”
“Works for me.” He rocked his hips and started to laugh. “Damn, you’re fun.”
Tipping away, she smiled. “I wasn’t sure that I was capable of having it anymore. Thank you for reminding me it’s still possible.”
The way his thumb grazed over her cheek almost made her dissolve into a mushy lump of feelings. Apparently all it took to crack her shell was one kind gesture. What a sap. Where was the woman who had held it together for the last year? Before she embarrassed herself, she scooched away. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Moving off the bed quickly, she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door. Tears threatened to erupt, and she did everything she could to make them stop. Taking several big breaths, she walked over to the shower and turned on the water full blast. If she was going to lose it, there was no reason for Grady to hear. Sweet Lord, let me keep it together. Damn those pesky emotions…now wasn’t the time. They needed to stay where they had been shoved and stay quiet.
All that intimacy with Grady had opened up a small crack, and it wasn’t something she could afford. There wasn’t an end in sight, and the only way to carry on was to keep everything locked in a tight box. Shaking, she tried to shrug off the feelings that were starting to bubble up. She grabbed her toothbrush and vigorously brushed her teeth, while giving herself a stern lecture about holding it together. Once she felt sufficiently under control, she nodded at her reflection. “That’s more like it.”
Throwing her head back, she stepped into the shower and repeated her control mantra in her head. Before it started to work, Grady stepped into the shower. Opening her eyes, she stared into his smiling face and then let her eyes roam over his body. So much for control. “What are you doing in here?”
Grabbing the soap, he turned her around. “I’m washing your back and making sure you don’t have a chance to throw up any walls.” He lathered his hands and then ran them slowly over her skin. “I know you’re spooked, so I came in here to kiss your fears away.” Bending over, he ran his mouth over her shoulder and up her neck. “We are milk and cookies. We go together.”
She let out a breath and smiled. “I prefer pie.”
“Okay, we’re pie and coffee. We go together.”
Twirling around, she rested her hands on his massive muscles. “This whole thing scares me to pieces. The only way I’ve survived is by locking everything away. Being with you is making that difficult.”
“Makes sense. I know you’ve been operating a certain way to survive the threats against you. But you have me now, so it’s time to try something new. When I say new, I mean opening up to me and trusting me to protect you. Once you start to believe that, then what’s happening between us won’t scare you. It will just make you happy.”
“Not only are you sexy, handsome, and brave…you’re smart too. How in the world did I get so lucky?” When he tightened his hold, she rested her head against his chest and felt the steady beat of his heart.
“I’m fairly certain that I’m the lucky one.”
Holding him tightly, she tried to believe that she was going to live long enough to show him how much he meant to her. “Thank you.”
***
Sara sat at her computer and read the email again. It still said the same thing, and she couldn’t believe it. Was this even possible?
Jumping up, she ran to the window to see if Grady’s truck was still in the driveway. After she confirmed it was, she flew out the door and across his lawn. Skidding to a stop at the front door, she pressed the bell. Hopping from one foot to another, she was about to burst. When she heard his heavy footsteps, she tried to keep it together. The door swung open and she started to cry. The excitement was too much.
Grady pulled her into the house and closed the door. “Are you okay?”
“They want me,” she yelled. Twirling around, she let out a loud whoop. “They really want me. It’s hard to believe.”
“Who wants you, and what do they want to do with you?”
Flapping her arms, she tried to take a breath. “I just received an email from Top Shelf Productions. They’re interested in my graphic novel.”
Opening his arms, he picked her up. “That’s amazing. I’m so proud of you.”
Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she squeezed. “I self-published the first one and I thought it was doing okay, but to get an email like this is amazing. I never thought a traditional publisher was an option.”
“When and where do they want to meet you?”
“Next week in San Diego at Comic-Con.” Giving him one last kiss, she slid down his body. “I’m going to go look up flights right now.”
“Give me the days so that I can let Ruby know that I’ll be out of the office.”
“You’re not coming with me. You have work to do.”
“You’re not traveling by yourself. No way, Sara.”
Stepping back, she crossed her arms. “Funny, that didn’t sound like a request. It sounded more like an order, which I’m sure isn’t what you meant.” The mulish expression that crossed his face almost made her laugh.
“I’m not letting you go alone. So please invite me, and if you could pretend that you want to be with me, that would be great.”
“I do want you. But you have work, and I’m sure you can’t just take time off whenever you want.” When he stepped forward and wrapped his hands around her waist, she shivered. To have this man want her the way he did was overwhelming. Amazing, but overwhelming. “Are you sure?”
“I’m a partner, so I manage my own schedule. Also, I can meet with Max in the San Diego office. I’ll make it into a working vacation.”
Tugging him down, she kissed him soundly. “Thank you for coming with me. Just think, we can join the mile-high club. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.”
He picked her up, took her over to the couch, and was about to sit down. She scrambled out of his hold and stepped away. “I can’t sit on that couch.”
“Why?”
Because you and Angelina were on that couch.” Shaking her head, she started to move toward the door. Before she got too far, he caught her hand. “It feels weird to be in here. I think of this house as hers.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” he roared. “I’ve lived here for two years and only dated her for six months. This is my house, and you should feel comfortable here.”
Wringing her hands, she glanced around. “I know it sounds weird. But I feel like it has bad juju. We watched her lose her mind for a month, and I unfortunately heard a lot of your relationship.” Stepping backward, she moved toward the door. “I should get home.”
“We are milk and cookies, Sara.”
Before she moved outside, she gave him a small smile. “I know. I just want to do it at my house.”
“Okay. For now.” He stalked over and gathered her in his arms. “We can paint the house or do whatever you want so that you feel comfortable.”
“Or we could just hang out at my house. Thus avoiding the bad juju.”
Leaning down, he kissed her soundly. “I have to get to the office. But we’ll be talking about this later.”
“Have a good day.” He pressed another kiss on her and then released her. “We’re watching The Bachelorette tonight. We missed it yesterday because of the Fourth of July. So come by if you want.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She blew him a kiss and skipped down the walkway. Before she made
it to her house, she heard her phone. Hopefully Sammy didn’t have any more bad news.
***
Grady sat in his office and finished the initial analysis for the refinery in Bolivia. Word was getting out about their success, and they were starting to receive regular inquiries. Lance and Kyle were taking the assignment along with Harris. What they experienced in Ecuador would help them be more efficient for the next op. Also, Bolivia had fewer refineries, so it should only take them a little over two weeks. Just as he was about to finish, Ruby waddled in. Standing quickly, he went around the desk and helped her into the chair. “Are you sure you’re supposed to be here?”
“I still have seven weeks. Don’t worry. I won’t go into labor in your office.”
“Maybe you’ve forgotten that I’m a trained SOF medic. Yours would not be the first one I delivered.”
“I didn’t forget. I just never really considered it an option.” Placing her tablet on her stomach, she opened a document. “I want to give you an update on what’s going to be happening in the next couple of weeks.”
“Before I forget, I want to let you know that I’m going to San Diego next week with Sara for Comic-Con. She’s going to give me the dates, so once I have them, I’ll pass them on.”
“I like her, Grady. I got a chance to visit with her yesterday at the party, and she’s a doll.”
“Yeah, I think she’s pretty special.”
Snorting, she gave him a get-real look. “You are smitten. The way you look at her tells everyone how hard you’re falling. I hope you don’t do that denial thing and miss an opportunity at a terrific girl.”
“No denial on my part. I have to solve some things for her, and then we’re all systems go.”
“Are you talking about the mafia being after her and wanting her dead?”
“Uh…yeah.” Scratching his head, he wondered why Sara told them. “I’m surprised that she said anything. She’s been very circumspect about the whole thing. I had to get Lance to do a full check on her before she told me anything.”
Waving a hand in dismissal, she laughed. “Nana Boo and Aunt Lolly pried it out of her. They’ve always gotten people to open up and spill their secrets. As they get older, they’ve only gotten better. Sara was telling them everything within thirty minutes.”
“Damn, I thought everything I heard about those two was overblown. Apparently not.”
“Believe it.” She stretched her legs out in front of her and then sat up. “I wanted to let you know that Rory has hired a second-in-command. She is four months pregnant and Max won’t let her travel because he’s paranoid and over-protective. So she’s found someone to run operations for all of the offices. Her name is Ivy Bellows and she has a ton of experience. Our office is on her schedule for the end of summer. Her goal is to streamline operations and improve communications. Also, she will act as the contact point for new hires. Every office has different needs, so she’s going to make sure that the right people get to the right office. I spoke with her on the phone, and she seems terrific.”
“Sounds good to me. The more support we have, the better we operate. Everything Rory has put in place has only made our lives easier.”
“I agree.”
“What else is going on?”
“I will be going out on maternity leave in three weeks, and TT is going to come in and run the office while I’m out.”
“How did you talk her into that?”
“Vivi pulled the sister card and told her that we really needed her help. Also, she doesn’t start grad school until the spring. So she has some down time.”
Running his hand over his face, he let out a small laugh. “Does Kyle know yet?”
“Yes, he does. He’s trying to act really cool about it, which only tells me that he’s darn happy about having TT around on a regular basis. As long as Joel doesn’t kill him for going after his sister-in-law, things should work out.”
“I guess it won’t be boring watching the two of them together.”
“I told Ben that he has to tell me everything that happens while I’m at home. I expect it to be pretty interesting. I’ve known TT since she was born, and she is a firecracker. Always has been, always will be. She makes Ronnie and Vivi seem calm.”
“I’d warn Kyle, but I don’t think it would make any difference.”
“I suspect he knows what he’s getting into.” Checking her tablet, she read through a couple of items. “I think that’s all I have for you. Do you need anything else from me?”
“Is it possible for a house to have bad juju if a crazy person spent some time there?”
“Absolutely. Sara doesn’t want to go in your house because of crazy Ang…right?”
“Jeez, how did you figure that out?”
“Easy. And yes, it’s totally possible. I don’t think you have traiteurs down here, but maybe we could find someone else to come over and cleanse the space. Then you need to change all of the furniture and maybe paint. After that, she may be willing to come over.”
“Or I could just go over to her house and avoid the whole thing.”
“Or you could do that. Maybe you should just sell it and be done with it.”
“I’m not going to sell a perfectly good house because I happened to spend some time with someone who turned out to be crazy. That’s insane.”
Heaving herself out of the chair, she gave him a hard glare. “Suit yourself. But don’t expect Sara ever to spend any time there.”
“She wouldn’t even sit on the couch today.”
Slowly moving toward the door, Ruby shrugged. “I can’t blame her. When I moved into Ben’s house, we changed everything around. We bought all new bedroom furniture because we wanted a fresh start to our relationship.” Before she walked out, she smiled. “Never underestimate the power of bad juju. From what I’ve heard, she let her crazy out all over that house. One way or another, you should definitely get rid of it.”
Leaning back in his chair, he thought about what Ruby had said. Maybe it was time to get rid of the bad energy that Ang had left. He just didn’t know where to start looking for a traiteur in Miami Beach.
Before he could think about it further, his phone rang. “Merrick.”
“Hi, honey.”
Hearing Sara’s voice sent a happy buzz through his body. “Hi there. How’s your day going? Any more publishers contact you?”
“As a matter of fact, I received another email. I have two appointments at Comic-Con. But that’s not why I’m calling. Sammy showed up today.”
“Sam Barton from the FBI?”
“Yes, he surprised me and he’s staying for a couple of days. I was wondering if you could pick up some beer on the way home. I don’t have any, and I don’t even know what kind you like. We’re going to eat around six, so make sure that you’re home before that.”
“Okay, anything else?”
“No, that’s it.”
“All right, I’ll see you around five-thirty. Call me if you need anything else. Lo…”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. I’ll see you later.” He ended the call and let out a huge breath. He’d almost told her he loved her. He wasn’t even conscious of what was coming out of his mouth. “Shit.” The conversation seemed so natural, like they’d been a couple forever and this was just the conversation they had at the end of the day. He knew it was too soon to be feeling it, but damn if his heart hadn’t gotten the message.
***
Grady walked into the house and heard Gladys and Agnes talking away. They sat on the couch with a large man sitting between them. He was fairly certain that their hair color was a lot brighter than last week. They also had on a lot of lipstick. Sam the Fed must have been the reason for all of the excitement. He caught a glimpse of Sara and his heart stuttered. She had her back to him and was stirring something on the stove. It seemed that Gladys and Agnes were not the only ones who had made an effort today with their appearance. She wore a dress that hugged her curves, and her hair w
as curled against her shoulders. Before he allowed himself to become jealous, he called out a greeting to everyone. Gladys and Agnes barely gave him a wave, but Sara turned and beamed so much affection at him that he almost tripped. She made him feel like the most important person on the planet. “Hi, honey.” He set the beer on the counter and opened his arms. When she walked into them, he felt connected. His heart, his brain, his soul had finally found what mattered most. Before he fell all over himself and confessed his new feelings, a booming voice interrupted them.
Sam the Fed stood with arms crossed and studied them. “This must be the man who’s responsible for that stupid grin you’ve been walking around with all day.”
Grady released Sara and then draped his arm around her shoulders. Standing tall, he gave Sam a hard glare and waited.
“Sammy, I would like you to meet Grady Merrick.”
A huge grin broke across Sam’s face, and he thrust out his hand. “Happy to meet you. Hank can’t say enough good things about you. It’s a relief to know that Sara has someone in her corner.”
Gladys and Agnes strolled up and sat on the stools at the island. “She’s had us in her corner for a year,” Agnes responded.
“And I couldn’t be more grateful. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you two,” Sara said.
Grady exchanged a knowing glance with Sam and laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, Sam. Hank gave you a strong recommendation, and I know Sara has been fortunate to have you.”
Clapping her hands, Sara gained everyone’s attention. “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Grady, make sure that everyone has something to drink.” Turning, she went back to the stove and worked on dinner.
Gladys leaned over to Agnes and said loud enough for the neighbors to hear, “It seems that Grady has moved up in the world. I bet it has something to do with the fact that he walked back to his house in a towel at six this morning.”
Grady was handing Sam a beer and almost dropped it when he heard that comment. “Ladies, why don’t I get you more wine, and let’s try those snacks Sara made.”
