Always (The Protectors Book 3)

by Leeanna Morgan

  Mallory almost leapt out of her skin. She turned to Grant and frowned. “You’re supposed to be sitting down.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He pulled out a blue plastic chair and stared at the cookies.

  She handed him his drink. “Mrs. Redfern gave me a thank you gift. Help yourself, but be warned—one won’t be enough.”

  Grant bit into a cookie and sighed. “You’re right. These are good.”

  Mallory poured herself a hot drink and sat opposite him. “Why have you been wandering around in sub-zero temperatures?”

  “Walking helps me think.”

  Mallory frowned. Grant had told her his ranch was an hour and a half out of town. He must have been walking around Bozeman. “Is everything okay?”

  He nodded, but something definitely wasn’t right.

  “I want to learn how to figure skate.”

  “Skate?”

  “With you. You said you’d teach me.”

  “I don’t have a class tonight.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Grant needed a friend and for whatever reason, he’d chosen to spend time with her.

  “Okay,” she said before she could change her mind.

  “Okay?”

  She picked up a cookie. “But I’m warning you—I’m a tough coach.”

  “I can handle tough.”

  “That’s what everyone says.” She bit into her cookie and watched Grant slowly relax. “Have you had figure skating lessons before?”

  “No.”

  “What about ballet or gymnastics?”

  His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Do I look as though I’ve done ballet classes?”

  Mallory tilted her head to the side and pretended to assess his dancing potential. “Well, you’ve got broad shoulders. I suppose there might be a muscle or two hidden under all that denim and flannel.”

  He sat a little taller in his seat. “You don’t think I could learn how to figure skate?”

  “It’s not easy.” She leaned forward and grinned. “You’ll have to spin in circles.”

  “Is that a dare?”

  “It can be whatever you want it to be.” Mallory took another bite of her cookie.

  “Tell me the name of a fancy move you don’t think I’ll be able to do after two lessons.”

  Mallory thought about the program her students were working through. “A one-foot spin with three rotations.”

  “Sounds impressive.”

  “It is—especially when it’s done correctly.”

  Grant held his coffee cup between his hands. “How about we make a small bet?”

  “How small are we talking?”

  “If I do a one-foot spin with three rotations, you spend the day with me on my ranch. If I can’t do it, you choose your reward.”

  “You need to know that no one I’ve taught has been able to do a one-foot spin after two lessons.”

  Grant smiled. “And you need to know that I’m not one of your usual students.”

  “You’re right—I’ve never taught a cattle rancher how to figure skate. I also know there’s a strong possibility that you’ve got hidden talents.”

  Grant blushed at the teasing note in her voice. “What would you say if I told you I’ve also got a hidden agenda?”

  “Let me guess—you want to wear a pink leotard and join Bella and her friends in the Winter Festival.”

  The smile on Grant’s face was good to see.

  “Not quite.”

  “You want to skate in the Nationals and wow the judges with your one-foot spin?”

  “I like the way your mind works, but no, that’s not it.”

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  Grant leaned forward. The slow, seductive grin on his face made her toes curl. “It wouldn’t be a hidden agenda if you knew what it was.”

  “What if I don’t like surprises?”

  “I’ll tell you after my second lesson.”

  Mallory held out her hand. “You’ve got a deal.” She didn’t know what devious plan Grant was hatching, but he seemed happier than when he’d arrived.

  He wrapped his hand around hers. “I’m looking forward to giving you a tour of my ranch.”

  “You know what they say—don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. I’ve got a good chance of winning our bet.”

  “We’ll see.” Grant picked up their empty coffee mugs and walked across to the dishwasher. “It’s time for our first lesson. I hope you’re ready to be impressed.”

  Mallory sighed. She already was.

  ***

  Grant was having a hard time focusing on what Mallory was saying. Before they’d left the hospital, she’d changed into a pair of purple leggings and a matching sweatshirt. The color made her eyes sparkle and appear bluer than they normally were.

  If her eyes were the window to her soul—he was a goner.

  She moved forward, skating in a circle to show him the difference between the inside and outside edges. “Good edge control is really important for balance and precision, especially when you start doing more complicated moves.”

  Grant nodded, more focused on her face than on what her feet were doing. The soft blush on her cheeks and the smile tilting the corners of her mouth made him glad he’d driven into Bozeman to see her.

  Mallory turned in the opposite direction. “See—your legs are more stable and you don’t wobble as much.”

  He could watch her for hours. Apart from being the most incredible woman he’d ever met, she had a natural grace that made everything seem effortless.

  “Grant?”

  “Mmm?”

  “Are you listening to me?”

  A grin spread across his face. “I’m trying to. When am I going to skate?”

  Mallory rolled her eyes. “Okay, hotshot. Show me what you’ve got.”

  Grant laughed and grabbed hold of her hand. “You might be surprised.”

  “I doubt it,” Mallory muttered as he pulled her into the middle of the rink.

  He’d never been the type of person to show off, but with Mallory it was different. He was different. As soon as he let go of her hand, he skated around the edge of the rink.

  There were only a handful of people on the ice so he increased his speed, twisting and turning until he’d run out of moves to show her.

  It felt great to be on the ice, to let go of some of the grief that had settled inside him. He’d been so busy building the ranch into a profitable business that he’d forgotten what it was like to have fun, to find the part of himself he thought he’d lost forever.

  He smiled as he passed Mallory. She had her hands on her hips and a stunned expression on her face. It didn’t look as though she was used to surprises.

  With three feet to spare, he stopped in front of her.

  “You forgot to tell me you’ve skated before.”

  He moved in a slow, close circle, around her. “I haven’t figure skated before. If you’d asked about ice hockey—that would have been a different story.”

  “You’re a good skater.”

  He lifted her hands into his and skated backward, pulling her forward. “I played junior hockey before I joined the military. I was good.”

  “I bet you were.”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  Mallory’s slow smile warmed his heart. “I wasn’t wrong when I said you had hidden talents.”

  He stopped moving backward and pulled her close. “That isn’t my only hidden talent.” His heart thumped against his chest as her big blue eyes swallowed him whole.

  “You’re a terrible flirt, Grant Byers.”

  “Only if I don’t intend following through. I’m not flirting with you, Mallory.”

  She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

  He held her waist and waited for a sign, a single word, anything that would tell him she felt the same pull of attraction.

  Instead of making him the happiest man alive, she spun away, darting across the
rink. “Follow me...”

  And before he knew it, she was showing him how to do some of the most complicated moves he’d ever seen.

  “Chin up,” she yelled. “Your balance is off.”

  Grant’s skates wobbled, and he landed butt first on the ice.

  “Are you all right?”

  The laughter in Mallory’s eyes made him smile. “You’re enjoying this.”

  “Only a little bit.” She held out her hand and helped him to his feet. “How does it feel to be on the ice?”

  “As if a ten-ton weight has lifted off my shoulders.”

  “That’s good.”

  Grant followed her as she slowly skated around the rink. “If you don’t have anything else planned, I could buy you dinner.”

  “As in two people eating a meal together or a date?”

  “Aren’t they the same thing?”

  Mallory stopped skating. “I haven’t been on a date in so long that I wouldn’t know what to do.”

  Grant stuck his hands in his pockets. “You aren’t the only one.”

  “You too?”

  He cleared his throat. “It doesn’t have to be a date. We could go with the table sharing thing.”

  Mallory took a deep breath. “Okay. I can do that. Do you want to leave now?”

  He was about to say yes when he remembered why they were here. “What about the one-foot spin?”

  The grin on Mallory’s face made him frown.

  “You’ve already started to learn it.”

  “I have?”

  “That’s what you were practicing when you fell over.” She held her arms either side of her. “You started with the two-foot spin, then transfered your weight to your spinning leg and lifted your other foot off the ground. That’s the one-foot spin.”

  “That wasn’t what I was doing when I fell over.”

  “You were doing a more advanced one leg spin. It’s just bigger and faster. The only thing you need to do is make sure your weight is completely over your spinning leg.”

  Grant pushed off with his left foot, used his right arm to increase his momentum and lifted his right leg straight away.

  “Upright. Keep your core strong,” Mallory said. “That’s it.”

  Before he could stop himself, he leaned too far to the left and fell on the ice.

  “Ouch.” Mallory held out her hand. “You’re doing really well. Not many people make it as far as you have on their first lesson.”

  He rubbed his hip. “I feel ancient.”

  “That’s the trouble with getting old,” she whispered. “When you’re as young as I am, you bounce back a lot faster.”

  “You’re not that much younger than me,” Grant protested.

  “Eleven years makes a huge difference.”

  He couldn’t have returned her smile if he tried. “Is it too big an age difference?”

  The smile on Mallory’s face disappeared. “Not for sharing a meal.”

  “What about for anything else?”

  “I don’t know. I guess we’re about to find out.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Last one to the gate buys dessert!” Mallory threw herself forward, skating as fast as she could toward the edge of the rink.

  Grant dug his toe pick into the ice and followed her, more content to watch her move across the ice than overtake her.

  She stopped in front of the gate, frowning as he glided to a stop beside her. “You let me win.”

  He leaned forward and tapped the end of her nose. “We’ve both won. Let’s get something to eat.”

  ***

  Mallory waved her spoon in the air. “What’s your favorite movie of all time?”

  “Casablanca.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s a classic.”

  “It’s black and white.”

  Grant dropped his head into his hands. “I’m sitting with a movie philistine. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are two of the most influential actors of all times.”

  Mallory smiled. “But there’s no color, and the special effects are really basic.”

  “It was made in 1942. There were no computers, no cell phones, and no digital anything. I don’t even know if they had television back then.”

  “What about Tarzan?” she asked. “That’s a classic.”

  Grant’s eyebrows rose. “Are you joking? A half-dressed man swinging from a tree does nothing for me—and it’s still black and white.”

  Mallory dipped her spoon into her ice cream sundae. “Not the original—the 2016 remake. It was unbelievable.”

  “I take it the cinematography wasn’t the main attraction?”

  “I’m not shallow. However, I will say that I like a man with bulging biceps. I couldn’t think of anything more romantic than being carried through the jungle by Tarzan.”

  “Talk about putting pressure on a guy. What if my biceps are less than incredible?”

  Heat hit Mallory’s face. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  The grin on his face made her blush even more.

  “Carrying you through the jungle with my bulging biceps might sound romantic, but what about the mosquitoes and snakes?”

  “We’re talking fantasy dates, not real life. Mosquitoes and snakes are banned from my dreams.” She held her drink toward Grant. “We like different movies and have different views on romance, but here’s looking at you, kid.”

  Grant tapped his soda against her glass and mimicked a quiet rendition of Tarzan’s jungle call.

  The couple at the table beside them stopped talking and turned around.

  “We’re discussing our favorite movies,” Grant explained.

  Mallory grinned as the couple started eating their meal. “Maybe we should stick to books and TV shows.”

  “I don’t think it will make much difference.”

  “You’re probably right. We could talk about the weather. That’s a nice safe topic.”

  The smile on Grant’s face dimmed. “I need to tell you something.”

  Mallory didn’t have a clue what he was about to say, but it seemed important.

  “I went to Sonia’s funeral this morning.”

  “I wondered why you were upset when you came into the hospital.”

  “It was hard. Losing a friend puts your life into perspective. It makes you think about what you want and what you’re doing.”

  She wasn’t going to ask Grant what conclusions he’d come to. His life was his to live, and she didn’t know him well enough to intrude.

  “Sonia helped me through a rough patch. I left the Navy because I had post-traumatic stress disorder. I’d known her for a long time—she was a good friend.”

  “I’m glad she was there for you. Everyone needs someone they can talk to. Are you feeling better?”

  “Thanks to you, I am. Who do you talk to when something’s worrying you?”

  “I’ve always been close to Tess. Even when she was modeling, we called each other at least twice a month. After I moved to Bozeman, I met Rachel and Kelly. They’ve become good friends.”

  “What about in Florida?”

  “I didn’t have a lot of time to make friends.”

  “Why not?”

  “I was busy training.”

  “All the time? What about the weekends?”

  Mallory shrugged. Grant didn’t know about her past and she wasn’t ready to tell him. “I entered a lot of figure skating competitions. When I wasn’t competing, I was at the gym.”

  “You must have been lonely.”

  “Sometimes, but I was used to it. I knew the other skaters, and that was enough.”

  “What happened after the car accident?”

  She stared at her bowl of ice cream. The months following her accident had been some of the worst in her life.

  “I fell to pieces.” She looked at Grant, hoping he would understand how hard it was to say those words.

  “How are you now?” he asked softly.

  “
Better. If I could get a good night’s sleep, I’d be fabulous.”

  Grant smiled. “You’re good at changing the subject.”

  “Not really.” Mallory sighed. “My lack of sleep is because of the accident. I keep having bad dreams about what happened.”

  “How bad?”

  She left her spoon in her ice cream. “Nightmare bad. Cold sweats, shaking, and screaming. I’m surprised my neighbors haven’t called the police. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get a good night’s sleep.”

  “Have you talked to someone?”

  “I’ve talked to Tess, Kelly, and Rachel, but not a doctor, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Were you offered counseling after the accident?”

  “I was, but I didn’t want to go.”

  “It’s not too late.”

  Mallory frowned. “I’ve come to terms with not skating competitively again. The car accident is different. Up until a few months ago I couldn’t remember what happened. Sometimes I thought I heard the screech of metal as the two vehicles collided. I’d see images of a cracked windshield and feel the sting of the airbags. But other than that, it was a big black void of nothingness.”

  “And now?”

  “Last night I remembered a lot more.”

  “Did it help?”

  “No. It created more questions than answers.” She tried pushing the image of Simon out of her head, but it stayed there, hovering on the edge of her mind.

  Grant reached across the table and held her hand. “I’m a good listener.”

  She squeezed his fingers, wanting him to know how much their new friendship meant to her. “Thank you, but I’ll be okay.”

  “That’s what I used to say. It doesn’t help.”

  “What does help?”

  Grant frowned. “You have to want to find what works for you. For me, I focused on one thing at a time. If I tried to understand everything, it was too much.”

  She thought about Simon, about why they were in his car. “Simon, my boyfriend, was driving us to a dinner party. Halfway there a truck hit his side of the vehicle. It was...” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  Grant moved around the table until he was sitting beside her. “Focus on one thing.”

  Her mind moved at lightning speed, fast-forwarding to Simon’s last words. “He didn’t die straight away. He told me something that doesn’t make sense.”

  “What did he say?”