Butler, Vermont Series: Boxed Set, Books 1-3

by Force, Marie

  Emma’s smile faded at that, only slightly, but Grayson noticed just the same. He noticed everything about her.

  “New places are always more fun than home,” he said, “but there’s no place like home.”

  “I guess,” Simone said.

  They disembarked and walked through the airport on the way to baggage claim, Simone keeping up a steady stream of chatter about the trip, her plans for the weekend, the book report she needed to finish before school resumed next week and what they were having for dinner.

  “We need to make an appointment to have that elbow looked at,” Emma said.

  “Aw, Mom, it’s fine! I don’t need a doctor.”

  “Yes, you do. We want to make sure it’s healing properly so you don’t have trouble with it later.”

  “Your mom is right,” Grayson said. “You don’t want an elbow that doesn’t work the way it should.”

  Simone scowled, but she didn’t argue the point.

  Thank you, Emma mouthed silently.

  He winked at her and went with Simone to get the bags off the belt. Within minutes, they were in the backseat of a cab on the way to Emma’s apartment on the Lower East Side. Simone sat between them and pointed out landmarks to Grayson, who didn’t tell her he’d been to New York many times. This time, he wanted to see the city through her eyes.

  When the cab pulled up to Emma’s building, Grayson ran his card through the credit card machine before Emma could do it.

  “You don’t have to pay for us,” she said when the cab had departed.

  “It’s no biggie.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Let’s have that argument later.”

  “Fine, but we will have it.”

  “I look forward to that,” he said, patting her on the ass as he sent her up the stairs ahead of him.

  She tossed him a saucy look over her shoulder that set his blood to boiling. How many hours until bedtime, he wondered. They lived on the second floor of a walk-up. Emma disengaged three locks to get them inside an apartment that was small but cozy. Right away, Grayson noticed that the place was all about the child who lived here. Her framed artwork adorned the walls, her dollhouse took up an entire corner of the living room, and her umbrella hung from a hook on the coat tree right inside the door.

  “Make yourself at home,” Emma said with a shy smile that made him want to kiss her so badly, he burned from the need.

  “Grayson, come see my room!” Simone said as she took off down a short hallway.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, hanging his coat on the tree and following her into a bedroom with pink walls, a princess comforter, dolls, stuffed animals and other toys. “Wow, that’s a whole lot of pink.”

  “I know! It’s my favorite color.”

  “I can see that. Who are these ladies?” he asked, sitting on the bed next to several lifelike dolls.

  “Those are the American Girls that Auntie Lu got me last Christmas. She says they’re more expensive than college, but I think she’s exaggerating.”

  “Possibly, but those are some rather amazing dolls.”

  “I know! See this one? She looks like me, doesn’t she?”

  “She certainly does. What’s her name?”

  “Valerie. She even has green eyes like mine.”

  “I see that. Will the clothes you bought at the store earlier fit her?”

  “I think so. Let me go get them, and we can see.” She bolted from the room, leaving Grayson sitting on a princess comforter with a doll named Valerie in his arms. His brothers and cousins would have had a field day with this if they’d seen him now.

  “You’re a trouper,” Emma said from the doorway where she leaned against the doorframe, watching him.

  “We’re going to see if the new stuff we bought this morning fits Valerie.”

  “Don’t let me interrupt.”

  “Yeah, Mom, we’re really busy,” Simone said when she returned with the bag from the store. “Can I take this stupid sling off? I can’t dress Valerie with one hand.”

  “I can help,” Grayson said. “I’ve dressed a few little girls in my time.”

  “I thought you didn’t have kids.”

  “I don’t. I have baby sisters.”

  “You can take it off for a little while,” Emma said in response to Simone’s question, “but don’t overdo it.”

  She removed the sling and tossed it across the room. “I won’t.”

  “And don’t drive poor Grayson crazy. He just got here.”

  “He doesn’t mind. Do you, Grayson?” She looked up at him with big green eyes full of trust and affection.

  The most curious feeling struck him in that moment, something he could neither define nor explain. “I don’t mind,” he said gruffly.

  Emma went through the motions of unpacking their suitcase while listening to the steady flow of chatter coming from Simone’s bedroom. The last time she’d looked in there, Grayson had been stretched out on the floor while Simone dragged out everything she owned to show him.

  He had the patience of a saint and was earning a permanent place in her daughter’s loving heart whether he wanted to be there or not. The thought of Simone being hurt if their relationship didn’t work out made her ache over something that hadn’t even happened yet.

  One of her New Year’s resolutions was to try to live more in the moment and to not fear the future. Over the last ten years as a single mom, she’d learned that the future tends to take care of itself no matter how you try to affect the outcome. Her relationship with Grayson would work out or it wouldn’t. Either way, she and Simone would be fine—or so she told herself.

  Emma was folding laundry she hadn’t gotten to before their trip when Grayson emerged from Simone’s room after an hour. “You’re so good with her,” Emma said, smiling at him as he sat next to her on the sofa.

  “She’s fun to be with.”

  “I think so, too.”

  He took hold of her hand and brought it to his mouth, running his lips over her knuckles and setting off a wildfire inside her. How did he do that so easily? “Her mom is fun to be with, too.”

  Unnerved by her overwhelming desire for him, she said, “What do you feel like doing tonight?”

  “What would you guys normally do?”

  “Probably get takeout and watch Frozen for the two thousandth time.”

  “That sounds good to me.”

  “You don’t want to go out?”

  “I don’t want you to feel like you have to entertain me. I’m totally happy to hang here with you guys and do nothing. Besides, don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

  “I do,” she said, frowning. The first day back from vacation was always so depressing, especially after a vacation as great as this one had been.

  “What’s the plan for Simone tomorrow?”

  “Her sitter is taking her to get a gift for her friend and delivering her to the birthday party. I’ll pick her up there after work.”

  “Could I maybe do that?”

  Emma stared at him, still trying to decide if he was for real or if she’d dreamed him.

  “What? Too much too soon?”

  “No,” she said. “I just can’t believe you’re really here and offering to help with Simone and playing dolls with her for an hour and—”

  He leaned across the pile of laundry to kiss her. “I’m here, and there’s nowhere else in this world I’d rather be.”

  “You’ve got my heart doing backflips in my chest.”

  “That sounds uncomfortable.”

  “It’s actually far more comfortable than you’d think.”

  Smiling, he kissed her again, seeming to pull back reluctantly. “Can I help fold?” He hooked a finger around a pair of her panties from the basket of clean clothes and lifted them for a closer look.

  Emma grabbed them. “No, you may not help.”

  Grayson laughed. “You’re no fun.”

  “Be a typical man and watch football or something, will you?” She hande
d him the remote.

  “Don’t mind if I do.”

  While she finished folding, he clicked through the channels until he found a college football bowl to watch.

  Emma caught him taking surreptitious glances at her instead of watching the game. “Do you really want to help out with Simone tomorrow?”

  “I really do, or I wouldn’t have offered.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll text the sitter.”

  “Anything I can do to help while I’m here, just let me know.”

  “You’ll tell me if it gets to be too much for you?”

  “It won’t.”

  “Grayson…”

  “Emma… It’s fine. I like being with her.”

  She folded Simone’s favorite fuzzy pink sweater and added it to her pile, which was twice the size of Emma’s. “Could I ask you something?”

  “Anything you want.”

  “Do you want kids of your own someday?”

  “Depends.”

  “On?”

  “Who their mother would be, for one thing. How far into the future we’re talking, for another. I’m thirty-six. I don’t want to be a senior citizen sending them off to college.”

  “That’s a good point. You are getting kind of old.”

  “Hey!”

  Emma dissolved into laughter. “Sorry, that was a softball.”

  “I had no idea you were so mean.”

  “I feel your pain. I’m going to be thirty in March.”

  “You feel my pain,” he said with a scoff. “You’re a baby compared to me. I’m probably way too old for a young girl like you.”

  “You’re not too old. I was only kidding.”

  “I know, babe. What about you? Do you want more kids?”

  “I used to when Simone was younger. For years, I half expected to meet a single dad and blend our families so she wouldn’t have to grow up alone.”

  “No single dads in the play group?”

  “None I wanted to date.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” he said with a meaningful look. “I’d have hated to find out you had someone else.”

  “Me, too,” she said softly.

  “So more kids? Yes or no?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve already been a mom for ten years. If I have another one, I’ll be bringing up kids for thirty years. That’s a lot of years of parenthood.”

  “You wouldn’t be doing it alone the next time.”

  There went her heart doing backflips again as his meaning registered with her. “True.”

  “Before I met you and Simone, I would’ve answered the kid question very differently.”

  “How would you have answered it?”

  “I would’ve said my life was fine the way it was, and I didn’t think kids were in the cards for me.”

  Emma licked lips suddenly gone dry. “And now?”

  “The cards have dealt me a whole new hand to play, and anything is possible.”

  The way he looked at her, as if he could see everything with her, was unnerving to say the least. “Things like this…”

  He picked up the piles of laundry and transferred them to the coffee table so he could move closer to her, putting his arm around her. “What, sweetheart?”

  “This sort of thing doesn’t happen to me.”

  With his finger on her chin, he compelled her to look at him. “It does now. You’ve turned my whole life upside down this week, Emma. I had a plan. And now… Now, I just want you—and Simone.”

  Emma leaned in to kiss him.

  “I’m afraid we’re going to get caught doing that,” he said, glancing toward Simone’s room.

  “I don’t think she’d mind. She likes you as much as I do.”

  “Maybe you should talk to her to make sure she doesn’t mind before she catches us.”

  “I will.”

  “Mom! What’s for dinner?” Simone came bounding into the room, stopping short at the sight of Grayson sitting close to her mom on the sofa.

  “Come here, hon.” Emma held out a hand to Simone and encouraged her to sit between them. When she was settled, Emma said, “I wanted to ask if you mind if Grayson is my boyfriend.”

  He grimaced playfully at the word boyfriend.

  “You might see us holding hands and maybe kissing each other,” Emma continued, her face heating with embarrassment. “Would that be okay with you?”

  “Kissing is kind of gross.”

  “Well, no, not really,” Emma said, noticing his attempt to withhold laughter. “It’s actually very nice when you like the person you’re kissing.”

  “What about germs?” Simone asked. “You’re always telling me not to share drinks with my friends, but when you kiss someone, you get their germs.”

  Grayson shook with silent laughter.

  He and Simone watched Emma expectantly as she tried to formulate a response.

  “I, um, if you and the person you’re kissing are both healthy, you don’t need to worry about germs. Now go take a shower and make sure you actually wash your hair.”

  “Because I don’t want to have germs.”

  “Exactly. Do you need help with your arm?”

  “No, I can do it.” She took off toward the bathroom, and Emma collapsed into the couch.

  “That… was awesome,” Grayson said, laughing out loud now.

  Emma sighed dramatically. “She kills me.”

  “I love her. She’s the best.”

  Glancing at him, she said, “I guess we’re official now.”

  “I guess so.” He gathered her into his embrace. “How about you share some of your germs with me?”

  “I’d love to share my germs with you.”

  “If we’re going to get all germy, we may as well really go for it,” he said, running his tongue over her bottom lip.

  “I couldn’t agree more. Infect me.”

  He laughed as he kissed her with all the desire they’d been forced to contain during the long day of travel. Laughter turned to moans as they feasted on each other with the kind of ravenous hunger Emma had come to expect when they were together this way.

  “God, you make me crazy,” he whispered gruffly.

  “Same.” She ran her fingers through his hair and gazed up at him, drinking in every detail of his handsome face. She’d never get tired of looking at him, especially when he stared at her with such dazzled affection.

  “How many hours until Simone’s bedtime?” he asked.

  “Three.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll make it.”

  “Me either.”

  He drew in a deep breath and appeared to be summoning patience as well as control.

  “So dinner. Takeout is okay?”

  “Whatever you want is fine with me.”

  “This has been the best day ever. Thank you for coming home with us.”

  “Thank you for having me.”

  Emma brought him in close enough to whisper in his ear, “I can’t wait to have you.”

  * * *

  Chapter 22

  A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

  —Charles Dickens

  He was crazy about her, and then she said that and took him right over the edge into utter insanity. He’d never felt this way about any woman ever. He’d never wanted to spend every waking second with anyone before her, and he was counting the minutes until he could be alone with her.

  They ate Italian from their favorite local restaurant and watched Frozen, listening to Simone sing every word of every song at the top of her lungs.

  While Emma tucked Simone in after the movie, Grayson found himself humming “Let It Go” while he washed the popcorn bowl and tidied up the living room.

  As Emma walked back into the room, the buzzer to the door sounded. “Wonder who that is at this hour.” She went to the intercom.

  “Hey, it’s me,” a male voice said. “I saw your lights on.”

  “Come on up.” She buzzed him in. “My friend Troy,” she said for Grayson’s benefit. She
opened the door and welcomed her handsome visitor with a big hug.

  He returned her hug, lifting her right off her feet. “So glad you’re back! It’s been so boring around here this week.”

  Grayson watched the scene unfold with an uneasy feeling unfurling inside him. Who was this guy who was so familiar with her?

  Troy put her down and came to a halt when he saw Grayson sitting on one of the barstools at the counter that divided her kitchen and living room. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”

  “Come meet Grayson,” Emma said. “Grayson Coleman, this is Troy Kennedy.”

  Grayson shook Troy’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” He took in the other man’s dark hair and intense brown eyes, which quickly moved from him to Emma.

  “You, too.”

  “Gray is Colton’s cousin,” Emma added, her cheeks flushing with color.

  Troy looked at her and then at him before returning his incredulous gaze to her. “Not you, too! Emma! Are you serious?”

  His heated words had Grayson standing to put a possessive arm around her.

  “I can’t even believe this,” Troy said, hands in his hair as he spun around to head for the door.

  “Troy! Wait. Let me explain!”

  “What’s there to explain? First Cameron, then Lucy and now you. I wish I knew what the hell was so special about these guys in Vermont.” He pulled open the door.

  Emma went after him, grabbing his arm. “Don’t leave. Let’s talk about it.”

  “What’s there to talk about, Emma? Are you going to assure me that you’re not going to move away, too? Remember how Lucy was going to ‘divide her time’ between here and Vermont? We both know how that’s worked out.” He pulled his arm free of her grasp. “I gotta go before I say something that can’t be unsaid—or unheard.”

  “Will you call me tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, whatever.” He went through the door and bounded down the stairs.

  She closed the door, turned the locks and leaned her forehead against it. “Sorry about that.”

  “You don’t need to apologize.”

  “I feel like I need to explain his reaction.”

  “Only if you want to.”

  “The four of us were like a little family, always together, until Cam left and then Lucy. He’s afraid I’m going to go, too, and he’ll be alone here.”