by A. C. Arthur
Nothing.
The engine didn’t turn over. In fact, it didn’t make a sound. Cursing, Morgan tried again, and then once more, before she finally slapped her palms on the steering wheel.
She jumped at the knock on her window and closed her eyes to the sight of Gray standing there.
* * *
“Is there a mechanic’s shop around here?” Gray asked after they’d driven in silence for more than five minutes.
She hadn’t wanted to get into his car. In fact, she’d gone as far as pulling out her cell phone and attempting to call her sister to come and pick her up. But her sister did not answer, which had only irritated her more as the children were supposed to be with Wendy at their grandmother’s house. She’d said as much in between ranting about her car being undependable. When he’d finally heard enough, Gray had simply led her to his car, opened the door and had been about to ease her inside when she looked at him with a serious glare.
“I can take care of myself,” she’d stated.
“But can you fix your car?” he’d asked.
When she didn’t reply, but simply slipped inside the car and stared straight ahead, Gray had counted it as a victory. She could have replied yes and he would have been more defeated than shocked. He absolutely believed that this woman could do anything she put her mind to. Still, there was no doubt that Morgan Hill was one stubborn woman.
“Yes,” she finally said in response to his current question.
Gray noticed how far she’d moved in her seat. It was a good thing he’d made sure the passenger side door was locked, or she may have fallen out as he drove.
“If you know the name of the place I can call them while you run in and get your kids,” he told her when he turned down the street where her grandmother lived.
“That’s not necessary,” she told him. “I can call in the morning.”
Gray nodded, having momentarily forgotten where he was. In Miami and most major cities, he guessed, leaving a car abandoned was like an invitation for vandals, the car to be stolen or towed. But this was Temptation, and while she was parked in front of an empty house and people would definitely notice her car there in the morning, Gray doubted anyone would bother it. They were probably more likely to call her and ask her why she’d left it parked there, or worse, come up with their own reason and spread it throughout the town. Just as someone had obviously done when he’d returned.
“I was just thinking about your car possibly being stolen, but I guess that’s not an issue here,” he told her.
“No,” she said when he pulled into the driveway. “We don’t do that here.”
As soon as he stopped the car, she pushed the button to unlock her door and opened it to get out. Gray reached out and touched her arm.
“I’m just trying to help, Morgan. I’m sorry if what happened back there made you uncomfortable.”
She pulled her arm slowly from his grasp. “I’m not uncomfortable,” she said. “At least not the way you think. I mean...” She sighed and then turned to face him.
“I’ll get Wendy to take me home.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m here, just go get your kids and I’ll drive you home.”
“I don’t want to impose and I don’t want...whatever this is...or what you think you might be doing with me. It’s just not going to work and I don’t want to give you the wrong idea,” she told him.
Gray was just about to tell her that it wasn’t her. It was totally him. He couldn’t take back the kiss, nor did he want to. Still, he knew the moment she’d pulled away from him that she’d regretted it.
“Who’s that?” an older woman’s voice asked outside the car, just before she began tapping on the windshield.
“Who is this coming to my house unannounced? You better not be selling anything!” the woman continued.
Gray could see her using a cane to tap on the window again. She either didn’t know the act could break the glass, or simply didn’t care.
“I’ll call the sheriff and...wait a minute, Morgan? Is that you?” the woman asked.
Morgan simply shook her head and stepped out of the car. “Yes, it’s me, Granny.”
This was her grandmother.
Gray opened his door gingerly. The older woman was leaning over his side of the car. She backed up a little, still holding her cane out in front of her like a weapon. She was a little taller than Morgan, with a slimmer frame. It was dark, but the motion lights affixed to the top of the garage had come on so Gray could see the woman’s very light complexion. Her glasses were large framed and black, her gray hair pulled back from her face.
“Ida Mae Bonet, meet Grayson Taylor,” Morgan said as she’d come to stand beside the woman. “Gray, this is my grandmother.”
Gray immediately stepped forward and extended his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” he said.
She grabbed his hand, pulling him closer as she looked up at him. That must not have been good enough because then she hooked her cane on her other arm and used her free hand to pull her glasses down her nose so she could look over them.
“Hot damn! You sure are Grayson. The oldest boy. You used to wet the bed, too. Olivia didn’t know what to do about that. I told her to put a hand to your bottom and you’d stop that nonsense,” she said before laughing like she’d told the best joke ever.
If she wasn’t still holding tight to Gray’s arm, he may have tried to leave at that moment. Embarrassment didn’t even seem to describe what he was feeling at this moment.
“Granny, where are the children?” Morgan asked as if she sensed Gray’s discomfort.
“Oh, they’re in the house fast asleep. I made my famous beef stew tonight. Let them run around and play until the bread finished baking, then I fed ’em. Before I could get the dishes washed they were asleep,” Ida Mae said.
“It’s not quite their bedtime, but I guess that’s okay. I’ll just go on inside and Wendy can take us home.”
“Oh, she’s not here,” Ida Mae said quickly, stopping Morgan from walking away.
“What do you mean she’s not here? She said they were going to get pizza and watch movies while I was meeting with Gray at the Taylor house,” Morgan insisted.
Ida Mae shook her head, looking up to Gray once more. “You went back home, did ya? How’d you like that?”
“Granny, where’s Wendy?” Morgan interrupted, clearly not interested in Gray’s feelings on his family home at the moment.
That was just fine with Gray.
“Oh, she had to go in to work,” Ida Mae said, waving a hand at her granddaughter. “Let’s all go in and you both can get the babies. I’ll bet Grayson has room in this shiny little car to fit them. He can take you home. That’s what a gentleman would do after a date,” she said and hooked her arm in Gray’s.
He smiled. It came naturally to him, without having to think or wonder if it was the right thing to do. In the last two days, two women had linked their arm in his. In his entire life he had lost count of how many other women had done this. But none of them compared one bit to these women in Temptation.
Gray tried not to pay attention to the look of frustration on Morgan’s face as he and Ida Mae moved into the house.
Old colonial was the style of Ida Mae’s house, and Gray got a homey and welcoming feeling the second he was inside. The floors were covered in dark brown carpet and the walls had pictures of family members, no doubt. Some were old, in black and white, while others were in color and most likely more recent. There was furniture everywhere, which was a contrast to his more minimal decor back in Miami. A sofa, love seat and two recliners filled the living room. There was a coffee table with magazines neatly stacked, end tables with lamps, ashtrays and pictures in frames. Across the back of the sofa was a colorful quilt that looked old and precious. When he inhaled, he smel
led the faint scent of Ida Mae’s beef stew and homemade bread.
“They’re lying back here in the den,” Ida Mae said as she continued walking through the living room and into a smaller room. In the adjoining room there was a big-screen television that looked totally out of place with another old sofa and rocking chair across from it.
“Little darlins, aren’t they?” Ida Mae asked Gray when he entered the room behind her.
“Yes,” he replied because he wasn’t certain what else to say.
Gray also wasn’t sure what was going on. How did he end up in this house, which distinctly reminded him of his grandfather’s house—the one he’d had here in Temptation before he’d died? And why was he thinking of the Sunday dinners his mother used to cook for them, the ones that she made them get dressed up for and had used her best dishes to set the table?
“They won’t have their booster seats in your car, but I guess it’ll be okay this one time. If you could just take Jack to the car, I’ll get Lily,” Morgan said as she moved past him. “I really appreciate your offer to take us home, Gray.”
She did appreciate it, Gray thought. But she definitely did not like it.
He picked up Jack and the little boy instantly wrapped his arms around Gray’s neck.
“Kids know,” Ida Mae said, looking at Gray with a smile. “They know before grown folk do.”
Gray didn’t wait to hear an explanation and instead said a quick good-night as Morgan headed for the door. She’d yelled back to her grandmother that she’d call her in the morning, but Ida Mae was still talking to Gray as she walked with him to the door.
“Your mother was a strong woman. She did what was best for her children. That’s what a good woman does. And a good man, well, he walks his own path,” she said.
Gray turned to her then and said what came first to his mind. “I’m not like my father.”
Ida Mae stared at him for a few moments before nodding. “You know, I don’t think you are. Nope, I sure don’t think you are.”
He thought about Ida’s words as he drove down more quiet streets. The houses were not equally spread apart and did not look the same, but all had a quaintness that Gray didn’t see in Miami. He tried to ignore that, too. Morgan was quiet. Gray suspected she was trying to ignore him. He figured that made them two of a kind.
Her house was long, almost like a trailer, but Gray knew it was one of those prefab homes. He’d seen a few in Miami and had once entertained the idea of investing in a company that specialized in them. He had thought that the dwellings didn’t feel like real houses. But when he walked into Morgan’s, he felt differently. This was her home.
It was neat, with a homey feel. There was a corner full of the children’s toys in the small living room. Going back farther there was a neat table that seated four and beyond that was a kitchen with cheery yellow paint. The bedrooms were past a bathroom and what Gray thought might be a closet. There were only two. The one to the left belonged to the children. The one to the right, he deduced, was Morgan’s bedroom.
“Jack’s bed is over there,” she told him as she entered the room.
She hadn’t turned on the light but the one in the hallway partially lit the room. Gray moved to the bed and laid Jack down easily. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Morgan was slipping off Lily’s shoes. He did the same with Jack.
Gray stared down at the sleeping boy and felt something shift inside. Jack was a good-looking kid. His complexion was just a shade lighter than his mother’s creamy brown. His hair was darker, his eyebrows thick, lips partially open as he slept.
“Thank you,” he heard Morgan say from behind.
Gray turned to her. “You’re welcome.”
They stood there, staring at each other for what felt like a lifetime, before Morgan moved.
“I’ll walk you out,” she said after closing the bedroom door.
Yes, he should leave, Gray thought as he followed her. He should leave this house because he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to ask how she liked living there alone with her kids. When he was at her grandmother’s he’d wanted to know if they had Sunday dinners there. Morgan, the twins, her sister and Ida Mae. Did they spend Christmas Eve together and wake up on Christmas morning to a huge tree and lots of gifts? How did the children react? Did they try to defy sleep and wait for Santa? What was on their Christmas list this year?
No, he shook his head as he came closer to her front door. Those weren’t questions he needed answers to. That wasn’t why he was here.
“About earlier,” Morgan began.
Her back was to him as she let one hand rest on the doorknob.
Gray cleared his throat and tried to do the same with his mind. She’d taken off her jacket and he could now see that the shirt she wore was fitted to her compact body. His hands itched to touch her pert breasts, his body heating with each breath he took because it was full of her scent.
What the hell was wrong with him?
“What about it?” he asked gruffly.
“I don’t know why it happened,” she told him as she turned to face him. “I—I mean, not since my husband.” She cleared her throat this time. “I’m not that type of woman. I don’t sleep with guys I’ve just met. I don’t sleep around. Sex is not casual for me. I just—”
“You just want me as badly as I want you, that’s all,” he said and removed his jacket.
“If you’re asking yourself why, I don’t know the answer.” Gray tossed his coat to the floor and immediately began undoing the buttons of his shirt. Her gaze followed his movements but she did not speak.
“I didn’t come here for this,” he said, a part of him still feeling totally confused.
Her children weren’t that far away. Sure they were asleep and they’d closed the bedroom door, but she had children. That fact alone should have curtailed his actions, but they did not. He undid the belt and buckle of his pants.
“But just like in business I know when to act and when to retreat,” he told her, his hand resting over his erection.
She licked her lips and Gray thought he would come right then and there.
“This isn’t business,” she whispered.
“No,” he told her before lifting a hand to crook a finger at her, beckoning her to come closer. “This is definitely not business.”
Chapter 7
She wasn’t going to stop him.
Even though her children weren’t that far away. They were asleep in their bedroom and rarely ever woke during the night.
No, she wasn’t going to stop him, or this.
It was an impulsive decision and that was not her style. This was more like something Wendy would do. Taking a chance, walking on the wild side. When had her normally cautious demeanor changed? Maybe it was when she’d taken that first step toward him. Or, perhaps it was the second his strong hands grabbed hold of her shirt, yanking it out of her pants, up and over her head without saying a word. It could have been the moment his gaze dropped to her breasts and rested there.
It didn’t really matter because the sigh she’d just released was one of total surrender.
He’d carried her over to the couch, lifting her right off her feet in one swift motion. When he laid her down it was with a gentleness that she hadn’t expected. Her body hummed with desire, her hands shaking with the urge to reach out and touch him. His shirt hung on his shoulders, the white tank he wore beneath melded to his chest and abs. She wanted him naked. That was the first thought she had as she lay back on the couch.
She’d turned on a lamp across the room when they had come in, so there was a soft golden glow around them. He looked like a bronzed god as he seemed to read her mind and stripped off his shirt and tank top. He looked like a bodybuilder, she thought. Or a professional athlete of some sort. Morgan knew Gray looked good in a suit. That
’s all she’d ever seen him in. But she had no idea that without clothes he would be this...gorgeous.
When she sat up and lifted a hand to him, he stepped closer and allowed her to push his pants over his hips. She was shaking, Morgan thought as her hands clumsily moved over the bulge in his boxers. It had been so long. He cupped her face in his hands then, tilting her head until she looked up at him. He didn’t speak and Morgan didn’t really think he needed to. She knew what he wanted, because it was what she wanted, too.
She let her hands fall from him and slipped them behind her back to unclasp her bra. He took off his shoes. She unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down her legs until she realized they weren’t going to move past her ankle boots. He unzipped the boots and slipped them from her feet. She then pushed her pants off completely. He had already stepped out of his pants and was now rubbing one hand from her ankle up to her thigh. His touch was soft and tantalizing. It was a simple one and yet undeniably sexy as tendrils of desire shot through her body. He stroked her other leg, spreading them apart slightly, and Morgan gasped. He cupped a hand over her juncture and she felt her arousal seeping through the cotton material of her panties. For a second she thought that perhaps she should be embarrassed that she wasn’t wearing something sexier. The look of pure pleasure on Gray’s face when his gaze locked on hers had that feeling dissipating. Her panties were removed next before Gray came over her, his lips immediately finding hers.
Again his kiss was hungry, hot and everything she’d come to expect from him. Her hands rubbed along his strong back, her legs wrapping around his waist. The first touch of his hot length against her damp center sent another spike of lust vibrating through her. She jumped and gasped and he whispered in her ear, “I’ve got you, baby.”
Morgan liked the sound of his voice. He’d called her baby and she’d shivered. He kissed along the line of her jaw and she trembled.
“You don’t understand,” she said, but he didn’t stop kissing her.
