Aaron hadn’t seen Grace in an hour and he’d felt every. Passing. Minute. How he’d forced himself to wait the full sixty minutes before going after her, he couldn’t fathom. The necessary delay might have had something to do with addressing problems, big and small, organizing a press junket for the senator, appointing a new social media manager, and checking on his family, who were currently off-site completing something he’d envisioned himself, but to which he couldn’t devote a damn minute.
Sure. But he could ignore everything and traipse through the woods after Grace to the infirmary, couldn’t he? It appeared so. In fact, by the time the squat, log building came into view, he was all but salivating for the sight of her.
This morning had been a misunderstanding and it had been unlike him to let it go unresolved. To let her walk away under the misconception he thought of their night wrapped around each other in the sleeping bag as a mistake. He’d been on a verge of clearing that bullshit right up when she’d hit him with those green eyes. I want my name added to the list of campers who were there that day, when the fire happened. I don’t want it covered up anymore.
After Aaron’s last phone call with the senator, it was clear he’d become open to the idea and the advantages it might provide. The public not only perceiving him as a caring father, but one who had brought his child through a tragedy with hard work. Aaron could actually give Grace what she wanted, to write her back into the history of that day. But now…now it would be done with an ulterior motive, whether or not it was Aaron’s. He knew about the motive. That alone would be enough to sicken him if they let Grace’s story play out in the media.
Christ. He used to take pride in this job. He’d felt invincible, watching the cause and effect of his ideas, watching them take root and flourish. But this morning, with beautiful Grace standing there, witnessing his act, listening to him spit out buzzwords and making subtle, yet influential hints that could have monumental effect? Yeah, he’d felt like an imposter. He’d never thought himself capable of anything else. Politics was the only place where being himself wasn’t a bad thing.
Was it possible there was more to him, though? Grace might have had her doubts at the outset, but she’d lain with him last night, all curled up and trusting, her breath coasting over his chest. She wouldn’t do that with a monster, would she? Once, she’d come close to being devoured by one, but she’d survived and learned. Hadn’t she?
Certain his anxiety would stabilize once they were in the same place, Aaron opened the infirmary door, frowning over what he saw. And heard. Grace was on one side of the space, holding a box of bandages—and she was laughing. Not a hint of reservation in the musical sound, just unabashed joy. The cause was a man. That man was not Aaron. Jealousy reached into his stomach and rearranged everything with a merciless twist of its fist. “What the hell is going on here?”
Grace jumped, dropping the box onto the floor and sending bandages scattering in every direction. When the man—who was watching Aaron with confusion—crouched down to help, Aaron got himself to Grace’s side first. She analyzed him with a quick look before gesturing to the other man. “Aaron, this is John. He’s the doctor.”
Recognition dawned—Jesus, he’d only met the guy this morning—but none of the green, cloying mist went away. “I can assist Grace from here,” Aaron said, not giving a flying shit about the stiffness in his voice. If you don’t stop looking at her, I’m going to be your worst nightmare. Part of Aaron was actually disappointed when John backed off with a self-deprecating headshake. He would rather the guy mouthed off instead of being mature. Aaron was simply not capable of the same, knowing Grace had been alone with a man other than himself.
Before John reached the door, he turned around, scratching the back of his neck. “Uh…think about what I said, Grace. I’ll be around.”
As soon as the door closed, Aaron found Grace’s eyes and locked in. “What does he want you to think about?”
Her disapproval was clear. “You were very rude to him, Aaron.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
She knelt down in one quick blur, shoveling bandages back into the empty box. He’d only seen Grace irritated once before—in the Suburban last night—and just like then, his body quite enjoyed the sight. Wanted the chance to lull her, appease her, any way he could. He had only one option now, however, which was to join her on the floor, gathering up medical supplies. After a few heavy beats passed, she stopped, lifting her chin. “He asked me on a date. I said no. So he asked me to think about it.”
Was it too late to go after the fucker? “Well, you’ve thought about it. The answer is hell no.”
She got in his face. “I know it’s hell no.”
“Why?”
Grace wanted to shove him. He could tell. She lifted her hands to push, but made them into shaking fists instead. “Because I only want to go on dates with you.” She plopped onto the floor, drawing her knees up. “God, you are such a…douchebag.”
Aaron’s ire plummeted, the bandages slipping out of his fingers. “Dates are at night, right?” His gaze cut down to the ground, his pulse doing pole vaults. “Does that mean…are you definitely on the fence now about having only one night with me?”
Say yes. Say you’ve reconsidered and I can sleep with my arms around you again.
When she stayed silent, he assumed she was debating the pros and cons, so what she said next was like jumping into a cool lake after escaping a fire. “I was never, ever on the fence. I just didn’t know how else you’d let me sleep beside you.”
“Oh,” he croaked, wondering if bones could actually melt. Let her? If she’d tried to leave the tent last night, there was zero doubt he would have gotten whiplash going after her. “So you want to go on a date with me,” he repeated dumbly. “I don’t really know what that looks like.”
“I don’t, either. I’ve never really been on a proper one. I thought it would be nice with John—he’s just a nice man in nice khakis—but then I realized it would make you jealous. And how I kind of wouldn’t exactly mind that. Which made me wonder who I am anymore.” She shoved at her hair, which Aaron noticed absently had made progress toward being as wild as the night they met, but his focus was on her words. Every shiny, revealing one of them. “I know that was a lot. I know sometimes I say things that make people uncomfortable, so I have to hold back a little.”
“Don’t,” he choked out.
She pulled her bent legs closer, giving him an uncomfortable twist in the dead center of his chest. “I would like to go on a date with you. I want to run my hands all over your back and into your hair, just because. I want you to sit me on your lap to talk about bears. And your dog. You know, Old Man likes you best, that’s why he’s ignoring you. He’s basically made for you. I would tell you things like that. You could tell me things back. That’s a date, right?”
“No, Grace.” Aaron crawled across the floor toward her huddled form. “That would be our date. No one would ever duplicate it.”
Her eyes smiled, but she didn’t respond. No, she actually seemed nervous about what Aaron would think of her outburst. Truthfully, he was shocked at everything she’d been thinking while he’d been clueless. Wasn’t he supposed to be some kind of mental mastermind? Not with Grace.
“Do you hold back a lot around me, Grace?” He sat down in a cross-legged position, so close her feet were beneath his calves. “From touching, I mean.”
“Yeah. From everyone, really. But mostly you.” She lifted one hand, scrutinizing it. “When I was younger, I found it hard to communicate with words. I mean, I could talk a blue streak, but people didn’t seem to understand right away. Or they would debate among themselves over what I’d meant. So I learned to…accompany words with touches and my point got across better.” She let the hand fall. “When I got older, it wasn’t appropriate anymore.”
“Said who?”
“Everyone.” Her gaze flickered. “But mostly it was the way people stiffened up every time I tried.”
Aaron ached. Oh Christ, he ached all over. Not with lust, although there would always be a steady beat of that with Grace so close. No, her pain had climbed over and sucked him into its dark fold. “Since we’re being honest, Grace, I don’t like the idea of your hands touching a lot of people. Especially men. Especially doctors.” Her lips jumped at that. “But if we’re alone…and you want to slide your hands up my back or put them in my hair, I’m all fucking yours. I’m not happy that I’ve been missing out.”
“We’re alone now,” she whispered, sending blood racing south to his cock, threatening to steal his patience, even though the moment required forbearance against his desire. He sensed that, somehow, but couldn’t explain it.
“We’ll be alone on our date, too,” he said gruffly. “Tonight.”
If the heavens had opened and shined a ray of sunshine onto her face, it couldn’t have been any more brilliant. Whatever magic was taking place inside him matched the intensity of it, but not the beauty. Nothing could come close. “Tonight,” she repeated. “Does that mean I should wait to touch you?”
“No, Grace. It doesn’t.”
It seemed like hours were passing as Grace came to her knees, fluid fingers reaching out to grasp the knot of Aaron’s tie. As the silk material slithered together, loosening around his neck, Aaron commanded his breath to remain steady, not that it did him much good. Every inhale treated him to sweet, earthy woman, and with her breasts right beneath his nose, sex tried to capture his mind. Fill it with images of his mouth sucking on her nipples while she rode his cock, but Aaron focused. Focused on her eyes and the pleasure she derived from removing his tie. “Are you going to make ribbons out of it?” he rasped.
With those perfectly imperfect teeth sinking into her bottom lip, she shook her head, before regaining that concentrated look. A few seconds later, Grace had finally loosened the knot enough to draw the tie over his head. But the progress of her task stopped short with the silk banded around his forehead. She twisted it to the side and tightened the knot once more, leaving the material dangling down one side of his head. “Perfect,” she breathed with a straight face.
It was a weird thing, the mix of triumphant and…silly. In fact, he was sure he’d never once experienced that combination. Ever. And they packed a hell of a power punch. One that moved through him with such strength, there was no other option but to snatch Grace around the waist and drag her onto his lap, her thighs opening to straddle him in a smooth, natural movement. Their mouths met, but they didn’t kiss. They laughed. Sexual need and humor, at the same time. Another foreign tag team of emotions that nearly knocked him dead. “There I was, thinking Grace was making one of her moments and she’s just having a laugh at my expense.”
Her warm hands cupped his face, thumbs tracing along his shaved jaw. “Oh, laughing makes the best moments. That was a ten.”
“How am I going to top a ten?”
She tipped her head back, humming up at the ceiling. “Maybe we have to come up with a new rating scale.”
Aaron leaned in and ran his tongue up the side of her neck, breathing into her ear. “See, now you’re talking my language.” Planning, as he always did. But different. Good different. “Let’s split the scale into three. One for Grace’s good deeds. One for laughing…” He gave a subtle tilt of his hips that made her lips part. “One for fucking.”
The hands cupping his face dropped, clinging to his shoulders. “But last n-night was a fifteen. Already, we can’t top it.”
He took hold of Grace’s hoodie zipper, lowered the bit of metal, pushing open the well-worn material. “Not right now we can’t. No matter how tempted I am to take you into that closet to let my cock deal with you.” Against his better judgment, Aaron lifted the hem of her T-shirt, baring her tits. “Your nipples are hard. You like the idea of a rough quickie, baby?”
“Yes.”
With a groan, Aaron leaned in and sucked her nipples in turn, leaving them shiny and puckered. “No, I’m giving you a fifteen every time. And you love the foreplay, don’t you?” Another long pull of her nipples, his hands finding her ass, gripping the taut flesh. “The way you rubbed your pussy on me last night told me all about you. So I’m not taking what I know about your needs and banging you in a closet. That would be for me. Oh fuck, would it be for me. I’d knock every last item off those goddamn shelves because I want to ruin any progress you made over the last hour with someone else. I guess I’m a selfish bastard in every way, except when it comes to fucking you. I won’t be selfish with your body.”
Grace’s breath came in quick pants against his forehead, little whimpers escaping when he curled his tongue around her nipples one by one, lapping at them, flattening his tongue to rub them in slow circles. “What if I want to be selfish with your body?”
Aaron’s head lifted. “That’s a different story. I told you not to hold back when it comes to touching me. I meant it, Grace.” His voice sounded abnormally thick. “But your father is going to be here any minute. There are things to talk about before I…before we take a risk like that.”
Yeah, he’d actually just said that. That they needed to have a discussion. About…them. About taking this crazy pairing of a type-A asshole and a genuine bleeding heart who only wanted to bring good into the world. Talk about selfish. But there it was. He needed their relationship to be aboveboard, and whatever she had in mind was the polar opposite. Because holy shit, the excitement and…relief dancing in her eyes were breathtaking. And determined.
“Grace…”
She scooted back in his lap, hands falling to Aaron’s belt buckle, the clumsy movements to get it open and unzip his pants making his cock thicken along with his thoughts. “I’ve been wondering what you taste like since that day you went running.” Her hand flattened on his abdomen and slid down the front of his briefs, her thighs tightening the same time as her grip around his erection—Christ. A telling sign that she needed the filthy aforementioned fuck against the wall. “When you were sweating and…so mad at me. Is it wrong that I wanted you to take out your anger on me?”
Aaron groaned as her thumb circled his crown. “Depends how y’mean.”
“I love that you slur your words when I touch you.” She jerked him harder, making his middle quicken and shake. Until she brought his flesh between her legs, rubbing him against the seam of her leggings, and everything twisted violently. “I meant, I wanted you to take out your anger between my legs.”
Oh my God. “Not wrong. No…that’s not wrong.”
With a slow, deliberate smile, Grace eased off his lap and lay down on her belly, compelling Aaron to close his eyes or else lose his shit. Because Grace’s bow-shaped mouth being level with his cock, worshiping it with a hungry expression of longing…fuuuuck, it was too much to bear. Too much.
Aaron fell back on his elbows. “Come on, show me what selfish feels like coming from a saint.”
Her tongue zigzagged up the underside of his length. “I’m not a saint.”
She took Aaron halfway to his root, drawing up slowly with a purr, sending every muscle below his waist into a near-painful contraction. “No holding back, right?” His hands flew to her hair, gripping, tangling. “Come on, baby. That’s twice now you’ve talked about liking me sweaty. So get me there. Make me fucking sweat. Just like I’m going to sweat getting you off tonight.” He growled in his throat as both of her fists started pumping him, in time with that mouth. “I’m going to work for your come. You like knowing that? Show me. Suck your way down to my sack and make me feel guilty when you choke a little. But not guilty enough to stop asking for it.”
Just like the night before, the dirtier his mind went, the more enthusiastic the response from Grace. She fell on him, mouth suctioning tight and working overtime, up and down, until he nearly begged for her to slow down. So he could savor the snug heat of her mouth and throat, savor the knowledge that Grace was the one bringing on his climax. No one else. No one else. Never again.
And fuck if that scary and beautiful mental commitment and her green, half-mast eyes drifting up his stomach to mingle with his gaze didn’t propel him past the finish line, ripping the orgasm from a deep, untapped area of his body. He threw an arm over his face, roaring her name into the crook of his elbow, his eyes wide open, but seeing nothing except pitch-black. Back arched, stomach clenching, his legs shook violently as wet desire rippled out of him, painting the inside of Grace’s exquisite mouth. “Jesus, baby. Ohhhh, you’re so fucking hot. I needed this. I’ve needed you.” His voice cracked. “Thank you. Suck it down. Oh my God, thank you.”
Aaron didn’t come back to himself until Grace crawled up his prone body, tucking her head beneath his chin, her tits heaving against his shuddering stomach. “I needed that, too.”
His lethargic laugh was rife with disbelief, but he sobered quickly, the feel of Grace in his arms too important to make light of. “They broke every rating scale when they made you, Grace.”
For a moment, they were both still, until Grace tilted her head to press kisses along his neck, assuring him as she always did when he spoke outside his comfort zone. “I think about you almost every minute of the day. I want that to be okay.”
Invisible hands closed around his heart, making the pumps feel labored. “You’re not alone.”
Grace sat up, a blush decorating her cheeks, and she went about the task of arranging his clothing back the way it had been. With delicate fingers, she zipped his pants, smoothing a hand up his fly to refasten his belt. And he let her. He watched her through a dreamlike haze and…let her. Allowing someone else to perform such an intimate process would have been beyond him a matter of days ago, but now it was just something inside recognizing the needs of another. Grace. The consuming responsibility of allowing that need to be met. Being fulfilled in return.
“Hey.” Aaron sat up when she was finished, taking her chin between his finger and thumb. “I would go to sleep with you right now, if I could.”
“I know.” She rocked forward on her hands and kissed him, sliding their damp lips together. “Now, get back to work. You have a date tonight.”
I’m in love. I’m in love with you, Grace. I’m…“Fucking right I have a date,” he managed. “You think I could forget?”
A few minutes later, with a final look at Grace over his shoulder, Aaron walked out into the cold, allowing a smile to form on his face.
* * *
Grace’s influence must have caused Aaron to grow a conscience, or unearthed the one he’d buried, because conversing with the senator after having Grace’s mouth working between his thighs wasn’t easy. Not by any stretch. He schooled his features and recited the Gettysburg Address in the back of his mind while they went over poll numbers and Aaron updated Pendleton on the camp’s progress, which the influx of college student volunteers had actually put ahead of schedule. Deliveries had been made, checked against receipts, and unloaded. Local restaurants had donated food and beverages for the workers, the news media was having a field day with not only the senator’s involvement, but human interest stories about some of the volunteers who’d actually attended the camp as youths.
As anticipated, the media was quick to sink their teeth into the story of four—not five—girls who’d been victims of Ray Solomon and the fire that had taken their lives. Aaron was grateful to have Grace removed from the public eye while the questions were fired at him and the senator, and he hoped the story would take a backseat to the rebuild sooner rather than later. To be on the safe side, he took Peggy and Sage off the project he’d designated for them to work with Grace and keep her away from the cameras. The Pendletons might have kept Grace out of the spotlight, but Aaron’s number one rule was never underestimate the media. He wouldn’t start now when Grace’s comfort was at stake.
Goddamn, he could barely concentrate under the newfound need to protect her. Maybe because he’d never experienced the urge, but there was no ignoring it now. It had been brought on by the flood of admitting how he felt. Love. What the fuck was he supposed to do with it? He’d barely gotten through asking her out on a date, knowing it could breed commitment. When it came to his job, Aaron knew what was expected of him. Success. He didn’t know how to achieve that with another person. Everyone in his life, his parents, siblings, knew he could be counted on for logistics, but sure as shit not affection. Grace…she needed more than the plan man. She deserved everything.
Okay, asshole. Regroup. First step was getting used to loving someone. That was enough of a feat for now. After tonight, after their date, he would go from there. No decisions needed to be made while the ground beneath his feet was still quaking.
The senator’s hand clapped him on the shoulder, bringing Aaron out of his boiling mental stew. They were sitting in the makeshift office Aaron had set up in the mess hall, going over his upcoming statement to the press, taking what the speech writer had written and putting Aaron’s specialized spin on it. “Okay,” Pendleton boomed. “I’ve got my marching orders. Let’s go make the evening news.”
“Better yet, let’s get your name trending,” Aaron said, his words sounding empty and insignificant when they should have filled him with adrenaline.
“Sure,” Pendleton said absently, gathering the numbered notecards. “I have to hand it to you, Clarkson, you’re worth your weight in gold. You talk a big game and you back it up. Not a lot of people in this field can deliver on both.”
Aaron stood, shaking the senator’s hand. “Thank you, I appreciate—”
“That’s why I’m sending you to New York.” The silence from hell ensued while the quaking under Aaron’s feet turned into an eight on the Richter Scale, the destruction of buildings blaring in his ears. “You’ve gotten the ball rolling at YouthAspire, put the plans in place, and my team can take it from here. We need you at headquarters, where you’ll be more valuable, not in the mountains of Iowa.”
This was everything he’d wanted. Hell, his family was staying in Iowa to help him, but the master plan was to meet in New York anyway. Nothing had changed…except Grace. But she was a whole motherfucker of a game changer, wasn’t she? Grace wouldn’t be in New York. She would be here, out of his reach. Saying words he wouldn’t hear, needing to touch him and not having the option.
He was going to be sick. His stomach was curling in on itself, preparing to expel the contents of his breakfast, and perspiration was forming on his brow.
“Have to say, Clarkson, I thought you’d be over the moon about this.”
And that’s when he knew the senator had an ulterior motive for sending his ass out of the state, away from his daughter. God, he couldn’t even fault the man. Fathers didn’t allow their daughters to attach themselves to men with Aaron’s reputation. Especially men who aspired to the presidency. There might have been a sliver of a chance for him and Grace if he hadn’t done something so unforgivable in California. Something that had meant exactly nothing to him could keep him away from the person…who meant everything.
It would have been so easy to say no when he’d answered that knock on his apartment door. So easy to rebuff the polished proposition. But he hadn’t. He’d let a woman use him as punishment for her unavailable husband. Now he and Grace were going to be separated by half a continent because of something he’d done without any emotion or thought of the consequences.
“I know this is about Grace.” He barely got the words past numb lips. “But you don’t understand—” I love her. I would die before hurting her.
“Oh, I understand how men like you operate. You won’t be operating with my daughter.” With concise movements, Pendleton tucked the notecards into his coat pocket and strode for the door. “I want her home by tonight, sleeping in her own bed, instead of God knows where, with you. And I want you on the road in the morning. Those two things don’t happen, you don’t keep your job. Are we clear?”
Aaron’s eventual nod could have come from a stone statue for its stiff reluctance, but he had no choice. Not when he knew the chances of him giving her the healthy, loving relationship she deserved were slim to none. What would he offer her anyway without a job to his name?
As soon as the door closed behind the senator, Aaron dropped like a boulder into a folding chair, staring at the wall but seeing only Grace. He’d promised her a date, and he wouldn’t let her down. He wouldn’t hide the fact that he was leaving Iowa prematurely, but the revelation could wait until the end of the night. Until then, he would savor every moment.