by Toni Aleo
I hold my breath. I feel it coming.
Thirty-seven passes it hard to Welch, who doesn’t even keep it on his stick for more than two seconds before passing it to Shea. He rears back, putting his whole body into the motion before he slams his stick into the puck. I don’t know why people try to stand in front of that frozen piece of rubber. I know they want to stop it, but I, for one, would run and hide when I saw that sucker coming off Shea Adler’s stick. When the puck slams into the back of the net, everyone in the building loses their shit. Especially my family. Dad hugs me, while Mom hugs us from the back. The music blares, the crowd screams, and there is a sense of euphoria bubbling inside me. I know Shea was nervous, and to see him score, man, I’m proud as hell of that guy.
It’s his first goal as an Assassin, and Mom and Dad were here for it!
What a rush!
When a hand comes to my shoulder, I turn around to find James. His hair is brushed to the side, and he’s wearing a purple button-down with an Assassins pin on the pocket. His gray dress pants hug his legs and ass, and when our eyes meet, my heart starts to race.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” he says softly, a grin pulling at his lips. “Funny seeing you here.”
I smile. “Yeah, a friend had a box he offered to my family and me tonight.”
He nods slowly. “Yeah, heard Shea Adler might buy this box off him.”
“No way.”
“Yup, wants a place for his family. But I hear the guy who owns it now gets to come in anytime he wants.”
“Well, that’s good,” I say as my mom and dad both stand. I hold my hand out to James. “Mom, Dad, this is James Justice. This is his box. James, these are my parents, Jenna and Mark.”
James shakes both of their hands. “It’s wonderful to meet y’all.”
“You too,” Mom says, and I don’t miss the way she’s checking him out. Knowing her, she’s already planning our wedding and how many kids we’ll have.
“The real estate guy, right? Owns most of Nashville?” Dad asks, shaking James’s hand.
With a modest smile, James laughs. “Maybe half of most.”
We all laugh at that.
Mom locks her hand with mine. “And how do you know Grace?”
James isn’t stupid and catches on to what my mom is saying right off the bat. “She’s done stagings for some properties of mine. Plus, Shea and I are good friends.”
Mom isn’t derailed at all. “Oh, that’s all?”
James flashes her a swoon-worthy grin. “I’m also trying to get her to be mine, but she’s a tough one.”
Whoa. Where the hell did that come from?
Dad snorts as I glare. “Yup. Hope you’re a patient guy.”
“Mark!”
“Dad!”
“What? It’s the truth,” Dad says with a shrug before sitting down to watch the game.
An awkward silence falls between us, and I can’t believe James said that. He hasn’t made any moves toward making me his. What the crap?
Mom looks to me and then James before she flashes that Adler smile. Shea looks so much more like her than I do. She squeezes James’s arm before winking. “You can come sit right next to me.”
“I’d love that.” James holds his arm out, and Mom takes it for the very short walk back to our seats. I’m left standing there like an idiot as I gawk at him. Where does he get off saying that?
Once Mom is sitting, James looks back at me. “Hey, Grace.” I just stare at him, but apparently he finds this all hilarious. “You look really pretty, like always.”
“Isn’t she gorgeous? She gets that from my side of the family.”
Dad chortles. “Ha. Isn’t that the damn truth.”
Mom wiggles happily in her seat as James says, “I have to say, the man who gets to love Grace for the rest of his life will be one lucky guy if she ages even half as well as you have.”
Mom swoons. Hell, I may swoon a bit. “I think I love him,” she says.
Everyone laughs. Even I do as I go around Dad, lowering myself into my seat. I honestly don’t know why I sit between Mom and Dad, though, because for the rest of the first period, neither of my parents is watching the game. Nope, they’re too busy talking with James. He’s so animated when he speaks with them. It’s a new side of him I haven’t seen. I like it. A lot.
I get up to get a drink and make a plate of food once intermission starts. As I’m loading up my plate with the yummy pasta salad and ribs, I pause when a hand comes to my waist. I glance up to find James looking down at me with those devastating brown eyes. “Hey, you.”
“You,” I say with my eyes in little slits.
“You’re annoyed?”
“Somewhat.”
“For what I said?”
“Yup.”
“It’s true.”
“It is not,” I say, turning to face him. “We’ve been talking for the last two weeks. Nothing more. You haven’t made any advances at all, so I don’t know why you said that. You haven’t even acted like you want to date me.”
His face doesn’t change, but his eyes do. Exasperation flashes in his eyes as his voice drops down an octave. “Well, that’s a lie. I think my intentions are pretty straightforward. You just choose to ignore them.”
“That’s not true.”
“Grace, I tell you every day how gorgeous you are. When I’m with you, I’m basically worshiping you. When I do get a chance to see you, touch you, I’m so scared I’ll mess it up that I’m beyond cautious. I try to seduce you with my awkwardness because you make me so nervous, I don’t know how to be any other way. I get it. I’m not humping your leg and grabbing your boobs at every turn, which maybe is how most guys get your attention, but Grace, that’s not how I work. I think of you constantly. I enjoy talking to you more than I do working, and man, I want you. Desperately.”
Desperately.
My jaw drops open slightly as I gaze up at him. I swallow hard before I whisper, “Oh.”
“Yeah.” He takes a step forward before clasping my waist in his hands. “I want you.”
“Oh.”
“To be mine. But also in a very dirty way,” he whispers, and my lips curve a bit.
“Well, that’s nice to know.”
His eyes search mine. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. Why?”
“Can I take you on a date?”
I blink, and damn it, my heart sings. “Yes. Where are we going?”
He shakes his head. “Just wear a pretty dress, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
Just wear a pretty dress, and he’ll take care of the rest.
Sounds like an awesome R&B song…
But apparently it’s the start of something I’m not sure I want.
April 14th
I thought Shea’s place was ritzy when I first saw it, but it doesn’t come close to James’s. I thought when he told me to wear a pretty dress that we would be going out to a fancy dinner and maybe back to the club where we first hung out. I assumed that to be true even more when he got out of the car in a stylish and expensive suit that hugged his body in the most mouthwatering way. To my surprise, though, James took me back to his condo.
“This is snazzy.”
James rests his hand on my back, leading me in through the door the doorman had opened for us. “Mr. Justice.”
“Hey, Reggie.” He kisses my temple. “I’ve only lived here a year, but I love it. I showed it to Shea, and he said it was out of his price range. I was like, dude, you make millions. You can afford it. He declined, so I bought it for myself.”
I snort. “I know you’re loaded, James. You don’t need to remind me,” I tease, and he grins.
“How else can I get you to stay when I know you were expecting some luxurious dinner and clubbing?”
I feign surprise. “I was not. I thought maybe we’d go to McDonald’s.”
“In that dress and those shoes? Please.” I giggle as he kisses my temple
once more before we ride up in the elevator. “By the way…”
I glance up at him. “Yeah?”
“You look really, really hot tonight.”
My face warms as my heart races at full speed in my chest. I’m glad he noticed the skintight, spicy-red dress I’m wearing. It hugs my ass impeccably, and my breasts look twice their cup size. My hair is up, showing my neck and giving him the perfect access. I did a dark smoky eye and bright-red lips. I might have spent most of the afternoon getting ready. For him. Not reading into that either.
“You do too.”
Heat surrounds us, and the air crackles. I feel it on every nerve ending in my body. His eyes are so dark, and I feel a flush burning my skin under his gaze. God, I hope he’s ready to get some sexy time going tonight. Because I sure as hell am. He leans in, his lips coming for mine, and I close my eyes as I meet him in the middle. I melt into the kiss as his fingers tangle in my hair. He pulls me closer, his lips like velvet against mine, and I can feel our hearts beating out of control. When the ding of the elevator sounds, we pull apart, both of us breathing hard.
“Okay, you,” he says with a pointed finger.
“Me?”
“You. Trouble,” he says on an exhale. “Come on. I have a surprise for you.”
My grin is wide as he takes my hand, leading me off the elevator. “You never did tell me where you were today. I called you three times to bitch about Jackie. She told me the blue I picked you’d hate, and I was like, um, no, he loved it.”
He smirks. “We all know I like what you like. She just says that because she doesn’t like us dating.”
I perk my brow. “She doesn’t?”
“No, she’s jealous. She wanted to date me when we first met. But yeah, no way.”
I smirk. “Why not? Not attracted to her?”
His gaze darkens as it meets mine. “I’m only attracted to a stunning, blue-eyed beauty with dark hair and a sharp tongue.”
“Well then, I’m not your type,” I tease, and he laughs. Loudly with a bit of exaggeration. I giggle as we reach his door. As he unlocks it, I ask, “But really, where were you?”
“You’ll see,” he says, pushing the door open. He holds it open for me, and I walk in. I want to say I had time to take in the majestic floor-to-ceiling glass windows or even the amazing tile or the fantastic marble backsplash in his kitchen, but I was too awestruck by the hundreds of roses filling the whole penthouse condo. On the table are lit pillar candles, covering most of the surface. In the middle of the table is a large pizza that I’m pretty sure is ham and pineapple. Two wineglasses sit next to two large silver domes, but around the domes are little KitKats.
My favorite things.
I blink a few times before I look at him. His face is handsome, so bright with excitement. “I know what you’re thinking. Wow, James is amazing. But you just wait,” he says in a teasing tone. He takes my hand, pulling me with him to the table. He reaches for the dome and lifts it to reveal a bowl of what I assume is chowder.
“Chowda?”
His eyes fill with excitement. “I was hoping the Boston would come out full force when you asked,” he says happily. “But yes, I flew to Boston, went to the Summer Shack since you said it was your favorite, and brought it back.”
Shit, am I about to cry?
“You flew to Boston? To the Summer Shack?”
“You said the other day you were missing it.”
He remembered that? I blink back the tears as I take in everything once more. “You did all this for me?”
When I look back to him, his eyes are so certain as he lifts his shoulder, and a small, shy smile covers his lips. “I’ll do pretty much anything for you.”
A second passes, maybe three, as we stare into each other’s eyes. I look away, unsure how to react to this. Who does this? I resort to my playful self to hide the fact that I am swooning inside, and also, that I may cry. “James! Don’t say that. Don’t you know that if I ever commit murder, I know I have someone to take the blame?”
His lips quirk at the side. “I’ll take the blame, any and every day.” He sets down the dome before taking a step closer to me, reaching his hand out to hold mine. “Grace, I want you to be mine.”
“Yours.”
“Mine.”
My heart is beating out of my chest as his eyes bore into mine. No one has ever talked to me like this without getting in my pants first. I don’t know what to say or even what to do. I swallow hard as I gaze up at him. “Are we talking in a girlfriend/boyfriend kind of way or a BDSM kind of way?”
He tries not to laugh, but his eyes give him away. “I want the first option, but I’m pretty open to the second one too.”
I bite my lip. I don’t know what I am doing. I thought we were just hanging out, getting it on, but this has morphed into something more. Do I even want this? Before I can question myself anymore, my mouth is moving without my brain’s consent. “Okay.”
Damn it, heart! We gotta stay locked down!
James blinks, swallowing hard. “Okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be yours.”
The most glorious smile comes over his face before he gathers me in his arms and presses his lips to mine. I fall into the kiss, feeling every single inch of him against me as his heart pounds with mine. He holds my face, drinking from my mouth, and I feel consumed by him. When he pulls back, his eyes are glittering with excitement, and I hope mine mirror his.
“James.”
“Yeah, baby?”
Be still, heart. We’re in uncharted waters, and let’s be honest, this won’t last. He’s too good, and you’re too unlovable. He’ll see it. He’ll find your flaws and hate you for them.
I close my eyes as I lean my forehead into his chin. I hate thinking like that, but I know it to be true. No one has ever loved me, outside of my family. When I open my eyes, he’s watching me with that hooded look, his eyes dark and beautiful. “Is everything reheatable?”
His eyes dance. “I didn’t add the biscuits yet. I wasn’t sure how many you wanted.”
“Three is the norm.”
“Come on, Grace. You’re anything but the norm. I guessed you’d want five, but I figured I’d let you decide. I bought an extra bag just in case.”
I gotta lock down my heart, or it will fly out of my chest and into his. “You aren’t wrong.”
“I figured,” he says with a small smile. “Why? What’s wrong?”
My heart is in my throat as I gaze up into his sweet eyes. “I want you to take me to bed.”
Something flashes in his eyes, maybe lust, as a small, slow smile curves his lips. “I would really love that.”
“I would too.”
He moves his hands up my back as he drops his mouth to mine, his lips only a whisper from mine. “But first…”
I’m breathless as I press my body to his. “Yes?”
“What’s the safe word?”
It’s easy to say we don’t make it to bed for a solid five minutes.
Because we can’t stop laughing.
May 3rd
“I cannot believe he brought Jackie or that he is still with her.”
James’s lips move along my ear tantalizingly with each word he says. It makes my skin break out into gooseflesh. He knows my hot spot. He’s a fast learner, so it’s only reasonable that I want nothing more than to find the nearest spot to get him naked. I happen to really, really enjoy sex with him. Since that first night together when we ate chowder between sexcapades, I haven’t stopped wanting him. We spend more time in the bedroom than we do out of it, and I’m not complaining.
As long as we’re doing it, I don’t have to think about any of these feelings that are trying to blossom inside me. I can keep this strictly physical. Now, James, he’s a sweet talker, but I know guys like that. They get what they want and leave. James is very passionate, in and out of bed. But deep down inside, I know it’s not real. It can’t be. Guys like him don’t exist. So my heart has to stay in its box, while my b
ody enjoys everything James does.
I stroke my fingers along the lapels of his tux as I roll my eyes. “I can’t either. I mean, it’s been like two months. That’s so unusual.”
James nods. “You think they’ll stay together?”
I shake my head. “No, but I’m pretty sure she sucks the skin off his dick, which is why he hasn’t dumped her yet.”
“Wow, vivid image.” James shakes his head as if to clear it, and I grin.
“I’ll show you once we get home,” I say against his lips.
He presses his nose to mine, running his hands down the sparkly black evening gown I’m wearing. My hair is in a side bun with little tendrils falling around my face. My makeup is dark with winged eyeliner that James has said he likes a lot on me. My lips are glossed—well, they were until James got ahold of me. “I am counting down the seconds,” he whispers.
I smile against his lips before he kisses me thoroughly and sweetly. When we part, he holds me close as we dance to slow country music.
“Thanks for coming to this with me,” he says as we sway. “I know these charity things can be a little boring. With all the stuck-up rich people—”
“You’re rich—”
“I’m not stuck-up.”
“You aren’t. Continue.”
He gives me a dry look, but he’s holding back his laughter. “As I was saying until I was interrupted—”
“You aren’t surprised.”
“I’m not,” he chuckles, nipping at my chin. He grins as he moves a tendril behind my ear. “Last time, I came alone, and I was so bored.”
“Please. I don’t believe for a second you came alone. All the girls want a piece of you.”
He scoffs. “No. Remember, I’m awkward? Girls don’t dig it.”
