by Codi Gary
“Well, damn,” Ken said.
Eric had no idea what he meant until Gracie’s mother flushed a violent shade of red and lit into him.
“Who the hell do you think you are telling me how to talk to my daughter? You’ve been dating all of a couple of weeks, and you think you know her better than us?”
Anger flashed through Eric’s body, and he tried to tamp it down, but damn, it was hard. Even if this was Gracie’s mom, Eric didn’t take shit from anyone.
Which is probably the main reason why parents didn’t like him.
“You didn’t even know how she was spending her Thanksgiving or what she’s been going through the last few weeks. You all moved to Florida and left her here. You see her maybe twice a year? I see her damn near every day, and she has grown and changed a lot. She is amazing. Strong and independent, with a stubborn streak a mile long. Her heart is huge, though, and the way she cares, the way she puts her feelings into all her friends and the two of you is a beautiful sight. You should be proud of her for following her dream. She’s successful, and it makes her happy. You should see the cute aprons she wears to work. They make everyone laugh, and the people in town love her. That place is always hopping. It seems like if you cared more for your daughter and less about what you think she should be doing, you would see that she’s a beautiful, successful businesswoman making it in this economy. That’s amazing in itself.”
“How dare you! We know that about her!” Franny snapped. “Just because she chooses to keep things from us doesn’t give you the right to dictate—”
“Am I interrupting something?” Gracie asked from the doorway.
They all turned toward where she stood, starring at them with flushed cheeks and wide eyes. She must have come in sometime between Franny’s initial attack and his monologue. As it was, Eric’s heart was slamming in aggravation, and before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet and stalking over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her, claiming her in front of her dad and her disapproving mother, and it might have been a dick move, but he didn’t care.
Not when she tasted of sugar and sweet cream and the warmth of her body was calling to him, calming him in a way only a fifth of whisky ever had.
She had a hold of his biceps when he pulled away and was looking a little dazed, which shot a bolt of white-hot desire right to his groin. Making Gracie dreamy was just about the best feeling in the world.
He realized he was breathing hard when his voice came out raspy. “Nope, you’re just in time to catch your parents up on what you’ve been up to.”
Gracie finally seemed to come out of her stupor and cleared her throat. “Like?”
“Your mother found some of Pip’s things in the bathroom.”
Gracie’s lips thinned. “Great.”
“Yep.”
“So, considering my mother was just yelling at you, Operation Win Parents Over isn’t going so well, huh?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Your dad said he’d like me as long as I make you happy.”
Gracie quirked a perfectly arched brow at him. “And you think you’re succeeding there?”
“What are you two whispering about?” her mother called.
Eric leaned over until his lips brushed her ear. “If we survive this dinner, I have something planned that’s going to make you incredibly happy.”
* * *
Gracie would have laughed out loud at the absurdity of how her plan had backfired if it wasn’t quite so frustrating. She’d thought having a boyfriend would make her mother happy, but it turned out only the right boyfriend would do.
As she gathered up the containers of food after dinner, a dinner during which Eric and her dad had carried the conversation, she debated just coming out and admitting that she and Eric were faking it.
After the kiss he laid on me when I walked in? They’d never believe it, and if they did, they’d be pissed I lied.
She tossed the food into a trash bag, and when she spotted her mother coming her way, decided that a glass of wine was very much needed.
“I think we have a lot to discuss, don’t you?” her mother asked.
“Like?” she called from inside her glassware cupboard. Where in the hell was her giant wineglass? She moved several of her tumblers out of the way and finally discovered it next to the fancy stemware she kept for company.
“Well, for starters, why didn’t you tell me you were a foster mother?”
Gracie set the glasses down on the counter and bit back the groan ready to gurgle up her throat. She did not like talking about this kind of stuff with her mom. Not because she didn’t love or trust her, but because she always had an opinion. She couldn’t just let Gracie talk or vent, she always had to try to fix things.
And there was nothing she could do to make losing Pip better.
Gracie popped the cork on the wine Eric had bought, and filled her giant glass to the Don’t Even Ask line.
“Are you sure you want to have that much after such a greasy meal?” her mother asked.
Gracie took a large gulp in response.
“Fine, fine, I drive you to drink, obviously. I just don’t understand why you would keep something like that from me!”
“Because I knew it was temporary and didn’t want to hear any lectures,” Gracie said.
Her mother scoffed. “Why do you automatically think I would lecture you?”
Gracie topped off her wineglass again. “Um, maybe because it’s all I ever seem to get from you?”
“Pour me some of that,” her mother demanded. “As far as your accusations go, that is just not true, Gracie Louise McAllister. I might not agree with your life choices, but we have always supported you.”
Gracie almost spilled the wine she was pouring onto the counter, she was laughing so hard. “Supported me? Are you nuts? You question every decision I make!” Gracie’s voice grew shrill as she mimicked her mother. “Gracie, are you sure you want to open up a coffee shop? You could go back to school and get your masters. Really, Gracie, pink lipstick? Why did you break up with your boyfriend this time?”
“I am not questioning you, I am trying to help you make the best decisions for your future! And it is still no excuse for not telling us that Gemma was having a hard time in her pregnancy.”
“I just figured I’d tell you when you got here!”
“Girls!” her father shouted from the living room, startling them both. Eric and her dad were standing by the TV, and her father’s face was screwed up in a dark scowl. “Now I’m not going to listen to the two of you bicker the whole time we’re here. If you can’t get along, we’ll just get a hotel—”
Gracie cut him off, ready to get the hell out of there. “No, that’s okay, Dad, you guys are welcome here. Eric already offered to let me stay with him, and since we’ve been crashing with each other most nights anyway, I said why not.”
The words were out of her mouth before she even processed what they meant.
And then her parents started talking at once.
“We’re not chasing you out of your house!” her dad exclaimed.
“You are not going to live with a man you’ve barely been dating!” her mother shrieked.
Gracie downed her wine and set her glass next to the sink. “You are not chasing me out, and honestly, Mom, I’ve stayed with guys I’ve known for less time than I’ve known Eric.”
“Not something you had to mention, Gracie Lou,” Eric said, finally chiming in.
She shot him a sour look that he just shrugged off. “Besides, we’d already discussed this before you got here. He’s got plenty of room for me, and you don’t have to worry about the expense of a hotel.” Before either of them protested, she held up her hand, “No. No. I think we’re all tired, and we should just say good night. I have to be at work early, but I’ll be over tomorrow afternoon, and we’ll go grab some dinner and pick out a Christmas tree. Okay?”
Her mother started in again. “No, it’s not okay—”
“Franny, shut up,” her dad said.
Her mother’s mouth dropped open before she squealed, “Ken!”
He ran a hand over his face with a groan. “For God’s sake, woman, I am tired, and our daughter has kindly opened her home to us, given up her bed, and I, for one, am going to take full advantage of it.”
Her dad reached out for Eric’s hand and shook it. “Eric, it was good to see you. You are welcome to join us tomorrow, if you can get over our rudeness tonight.”
“Honestly, it’s like Monday night dinner with my family. And while I appreciate the invitation, I have to work, sir.”
“Maybe we’ll postpone it till you can join us, then.” Her dad came into the kitchen, and kissed Gracie’s cheek. “Good night, baby.”
Still thrown by her father’s shouting, she could only whisper, “Night, Dad.”
Lastly, he kissed his wife briefly, then headed into Gracie’s room, shutting the door behind him.
Her mother shot her a bitter look before she hissed, “Now, look! You’ve upset your father!”
Gracie was about to lose her shit. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she reached out and hugged her mother. “I’ll see you tomorrow, and we’ll talk.”
She pulled away and headed to where Eric was now standing by the door.
“Don’t you need to pack a bag?” her mother asked.
Gracie pulled the door open and gave her mother a smirk. “Naw, I’ll wash my clothes at his place. We sleep naked anyway.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Just remember folks…all those romance novels that tell you your body warms up just being around someone you like? It’s all bullsquirt.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.
Gracie and Eric took separate cars, but both stopped at Hall’s Market so Gracie could grab a toothbrush. Sure, she might have bit her nose off to spite her face by not at least grabbing a change of clothes, but it was the principle of the thing, and her mother had pissed her off beyond rational thought.
It seemed that no matter how old she got, she reverted to a sullen teenager in the presence of her mother.
As they stood in the checkout line, Gracie felt eyes on them and turned to find Jenny Andrews and Ellie Willis with a cart full of junk food, watching them. Once their eyes met hers, there wasn’t any way she could pretend she hadn’t noticed them, so she greeted them with a smile.
“Hello, girls.”
“Hey, Gracie,” they said together.
They seemed to be glancing between her and Eric, and since they were supposed to be a couple for all to see, Gracie slid her freehand into Eric’s. He didn’t look at her, just squeezed her hand, and she smiled. Despite the shit storm with her parents, she had to admit that having Eric in her corner wasn’t such a bad thing. It had actually been nice hearing him defend her.
Hope Weathers, who was checking, did a double take at their clasped hands. “Are you together? I mean, your purchases.”
“Yeah, we’re together,” Eric said, setting his items on the belt and then grabbing Gracie’s toothbrush.
She had no idea if it was his words or the way her pink toothbrush looked sitting on top of his nacho cheese and chips, but she shivered.
Hope gave her a meaningful look, and Gracie knew she was going to get a call or a text from her friend demanding some answers. It seemed not everyone had believed the gossip in this town without visual proof.
They walked out of the store hand in hand, and she liked it. More than she should for something that would be over in just a few short weeks.
When the cold air hit her face like a wake-up call, she sucked in a breath and dropped his hand to cover her nose. “Man, did it drop twenty degrees while we were inside?”
“I think so.” He unlocked his passenger-side door and put their grocery bag in the front seat of his car. Then he turned and, to her surprise, pulled her into his body. Her feet slid a bit as they hit a patch of ice, which only made her lean harder against his muscular from.
Well, that’s one way to heat things up.
“What do you say we drop your car at my place and go on an adventure?” he murmured.
The seductive tone made her heart skip, and she tried to hide how affected she was by him. “But you didn’t win the bet!”
He smirked at her in the parking lot light. “So? Aren’t you at all curious what I have planned?”
Actually, she was more than curious. She was practically tingling with excitement.
“Fine. Let’s go out. It’s not as though I’m tired after all the stress anyway.”
He kissed the top of her head, shocking her to her toes, and released her. “That’s the spirit.”
Gracie was bereft without his warmth, watching him head toward the back of his car. Finally, she climbed inside, and they drove out of the parking lot toward the canyon.
Gracie’s thoughts strayed to her mother. It wasn’t like them to start fighting right off the bat. Usually, it took a few days for tensions to build, but for some reason, this trip had been strained since the airport. Was it her? Had she given off the vibe that she didn’t want them here?
Regardless of why they were fighting, she couldn’t do this for two weeks. Tomorrow, she was going to have to smooth things over.
Tonight, though, she was just stoked not to get stuck on her uncomfortable couch. She was staying the night at Eric’s, in one of his guest rooms, just a few doors down from where he’d be sleeping.
Why wasn’t she freaking out?
Because Eric isn’t going to try anything when he knows I don’t want it.
Except that kiss earlier had her thinking maybe she did want it. And if people already thought they were doing the nasty, why not get a little enjoyment out of it?
Have I lost my mind? I was the one that told him no hanky-panky, and now I want to change the rules again?
She shook her head as she pulled in next to Eric in his garage. As much as she was enjoying messing with people and pretending she and Eric were actually a couple, they weren’t. And once they got back from his book party in New York, their deal would be over and everything would go back to the way it was. There was no point in complicating their already messy truce with sex.
Right?
* * *
Eric led Gracie into his house and flipped on the light. The last time she’d come by, he hadn’t given her the grand tour, but now he figured it was only fair if she was going to crash there.
“You’ve already seen the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Down this way—” he flipped on the light in the room to his right, “—is the spare bedroom. You can stay here.”
If this had been two months ago, he would have made a crack about her sleeping with him instead, but it just didn’t feel right. Not with the way things were between them now. He’d always admired Gracie for her spirit and her body, but tonight he’d been protective. And besides the pretty hot kiss he’d laid on her, he’d been respectful. It was a unique experience, one he didn’t want to cheapen with a teenaged come-on.
The room was simple—white walls with a couple of black-and-white classic car photos he’d bought at a few thrift stores, and a black-and-white checkered comforter he’d picked up in Twin Falls. There was a white dresser against the wall and two matching nightstands on either side of the queen bed.
“This is really nice,” Gracie said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t get company sleeping over much. Mostly Grant, but he sleeps in the other one, and I have to bleach the sheets after.”
Gracie laughed, and the sound traveled straight to his groin. It was part of the reason he’d put her down a way instead of right next to him. He didn’t think he could sleep at all, knowing how close she was and not touching her.
“The bathroom is that door there.” Eric pointed to a door on the left. “It’s Jack-and-Jill style, so you go straight through and you’ll be in the other room.”
“That’s a nice setup for kids,” Gracie mused. He jerked toward her and caught the blush that had ove
rcome her cheeks. “Not that I’m thinking about you having kids, I was just saying…”
“Yeah, okay.” He cleared his throat and walked out of the room, heading toward his room. “Down here is the master bed and bath. On the other end of the house is the washer and dryer, so we can throw your clothes in there.”
“Awesome.”
He opened the door to his room. Should he be embarrassed by the mess? The bed was unmade, and there were a couple of empty beer bottles on the nightstand. A pair of boxers that had missed the hamper were on the floor, and for some reason, he found himself rushing forward to grab them.
“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting company.”
“Oh, wow. Check out your bathroom,” she said, seeming unaffected by his dirty drawers.
She stood in front of his tile shower, her mouth gaping. Eric smiled and leaned against the wall next to it, and popped the door open with one hand. “You like?”
He’d done the whole thing mostly on his own. It was big enough for four people, with two showerheads and glossy blue tiles across the floor and walls.
“It’s gorgeous. You did this?”
He nodded.
“You write books. Make a mean drink. Fix houses. Anything you don’t do?”
“Relationships.”
Well, why in the fuck had he said that?
She closed the door without responding and went around the corner.
“Holy effing shit balls! Screw the guest bathroom, this baby is mine!”
Eric grinned, glad that his stupidity hadn’t ruined her mood. He leaned around in time to watch her climbing into his giant Jacuzzi bathtub. He’d had it custom-made to accommodate him and…guests.
“If you’re done plotting to steal my bathtub, how about we head out?”
She leaned her head back, closing her eyes. “Why would I ever want to leave this spot?”
Eric’s gaze traveled the length of her throat and over the deep V of her sweater neckline, picturing her naked and under bubbling suds in his tub.
