Chapter Fourteen

 

“Did you drive yourself here?”

Grant looked up to see Mary Ellen standing over him. She had her arms folded, and her tone sounded almost accusing.

“I did. Why, do you need a ride home?”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “No. I’m about to leave.”

“Oh. Well, it was good to see you.” He wasn’t sure why she felt the need to tell him, but he didn’t want to be rude.

She sat down beside him and blew out a sigh.

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

“Maybe. I’m not sure.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

She pursed her lips again. “Okay. Here’s my dilemma. I brought Chelsea, so she needs a ride home.”

Grant waited. He still wasn’t sure what Mary Ellen thought of him. He’d offer to give Chelsea a ride, but he didn’t know if she’d think he was being helpful or opportunistic.

She turned to him and narrowed her eyes.

“What?” he asked.

“Should I take her, or do you want to?”

“I’d like to.”

“But?”

“But I’m waiting for you to bite my head off if I offer.”

She laughed. “I’m more likely to bite your head off if you don’t.”

“Okay, that’s a relief. I didn’t know if you still saw me as the big bad wolf.”

“No. I don’t. And, more importantly, Chelsea doesn’t either. So, maybe the two of you should just get on with it.”

He raised an eyebrow.

Mary Ellen shrugged. “With whatever the two of you are going to do.”

Grant nodded. “Thanks. So, I have your blessing?”

She made a face. “As long as you don’t mess up.”

He smiled. “I don’t plan to, but I can’t guarantee I won’t.”

“None of us can ever guarantee that. Okay, I’m going to sneak off before she sees me then. It’s up to you what you do with it.”

“Thanks, Mary Ellen.”

She got up with a smile. “I’ll see you around.”

Grant smiled to himself as he watched her walk away. He was glad he’d refused Antonio’s offer of a ride here. He’d wanted to be able to leave whenever he was ready. Now he was hoping to leave whenever Chelsea was ready. He looked around for her. She was sitting talking with her brother, Smoke, and his wife, Laura, a beautiful brunette whom Antonio had introduced him to earlier. He decided to wait until she was done with them.

He didn’t have to wait long. She turned in his direction and met his gaze. Damn, if it didn’t make his heart beat faster whenever she looked at him like that. He smiled, and she smiled back. He got to his feet before he even knew he’d moved. He watched her make her excuses and come to meet him. He could feel Smoke’s gaze on him, but ignored it, preferring instead to watch Chelsea approach.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” They stood facing each other. He was pretty sure the smile on his face matched the one on hers.

“Are you having fun?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. Are you?”

“I am, but I think I’m going to find Mary Ellen and head home soon.”

“You’re not going to find her.”

She gave him a puzzled look.

“She left a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, but I came with her. She was supposed to … oh.” She looked up into his eyes.

He held her gaze for a long moment. “Do you want to?”

She nodded slowly.

He could feel his smile grow bigger. “Do you want to go now?”

She looked around. “Maybe we should. Everyone’s still enjoying themselves. I don’t really want to wait until they’re ready to leave.” She shot a look back at Smoke who was still watching them. She smiled. “Someone else might insist that they can take me.”

“Yeah. I have a feeling you’re right.”

He pulled his car keys out of his pocket. “Shall we?”

She nodded and set out down the driveway to where his car was parked.

~ ~ ~

“What are you scowling about?” asked Laura.

Smoke pursed his lips. “Chelsea’s leaving.”

“We’ll see her tomorrow; maybe she’s tired.”

Smoke had a feeling she was going to get to bed early—tired or not.

Laura slapped his arm. “Don’t look like that. She obviously likes the guy.”

Smoke sighed. “I know. I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it.”

Cam and Piper came and sat down with them. “What’s up, guys?” asked Piper.

Laura shrugged. “You’d better ask him.”

Cam looked at Smoke. “Problem?”

“Maybe. How well do you know Grant Dawson?”

“Well enough to like him,” said Cam with a smile. “I take it you just saw Chelsea leave with him?”

Smoke nodded.

“It’s okay. I don’t know what they’re up to, but then I don’t think they do yet.”

Piper smiled. “She likes him a lot.”

“And I don’t need to worry?” asked Smoke.

Cam laughed. “I don’t think so. He’s good people. He even has Dad’s blessing.”

Smoke looked around and spotted his dad. He was sitting at a table with Gene and Rita, but he wasn’t taking part in the conversation. He was looking down the driveway, watching Grant’s car pull away—and he had a big smile on his face. “Wow! The old man looks happy about it.”

Piper nodded. “He is.”

Smoke and Cameron both turned to look at her. “What do you know about it?” asked Cam.

Piper chuckled. “It’s not my place to say. Remember when I said I’d be your dad’s new ally since all of you gang up on him sometimes?”

Cameron nodded, looking puzzled.

“Well, he asked for my thoughts on Grant—or more specifically on Chelsea and Grant. It seems he’s hopeful there may be something between them.”

“And you didn’t tell me this because …?” asked Cameron.

She laughed. “Because you didn’t ask.”

Cameron turned to Smoke and shook his head.

Smoke laughed. “Don’t look at me.” He snaked his arm around Laura’s waist. “I can’t tell you how to control your woman. I haven’t figured it out yet.”

Laura pushed him off with a laugh. “And you never will, jerk. Not unless you find yourself a different woman.”

Smoke rolled his eyes at the others. “See what I mean?” He closed both his arms around Laura and hugged her tight to his chest. “Sorry, lady. You know I was only joking.”

She chuckled and planted a kiss on his nose. “That’s okay. You know I wasn’t.”

~ ~ ~

Chelsea sneaked a look at Grant as he pulled out onto the road. “What are we doing?” she asked.

He chuckled. “I was just asking myself the same thing. You hadn’t even answered me about when we could go out to dinner, and here I am taking you home.”

“I thought we should wait until you were finished at Zosca.”

“But you changed your mind?”

“It looks that way, doesn’t it?”

“It does, but why?”

She shrugged. “I never did want to wait, and then tonight, my dad suggested that maybe I’d want you out of Zosca, and I realized I didn’t.”

He shot a quick glance at her.

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t want you gone. He was just wondering if there was any point you being there if I’m going to ignore everything you suggest.”

He smiled. “I’ve wondered the same thing myself.”

“No. It’s like I told him, I do want to hear what you recommend. I know you can really help—even without going to extreme measures and laying people off.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, and Chelsea stared out the window at the starry sky.

“Maybe I should go,” he said eventually.

“What do you mean? Why?”

“Well, I’ve already seen enough to be able to suggest a bunch of changes that will make you more efficient—and profitable. I don’t need another six weeks to figure it all out. The three months was just an arbitrary number you and your dad came up with.”

She watched him as he drove.

“And,” he continued eventually, “if we’re not working together, then I’ll feel a lot more relaxed about asking you what we’re doing here.”

“You mean here, right now?”

He nodded. “Here, right now, in this car, heading back toward town—back toward my hotel or your place.”

She smiled. “My place.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I’m not sure about you finishing at Zosca so soon, though.”

He smiled. “Maybe it’s for the best. Even if I do, I won’t be going far. Cameron’s asked me to work with him next.”

Chelsea smiled. “And you do like it here in Napa, right?”

“I do.”

“Okay then.” She pointed to a turning up ahead. “You want to make a right up there.”

He frowned. “We’re going back to Hamilton-Groves?”

“No. We’re going to my place. My cottage is on the estate.”

“Oh.”

When he pulled up outside the cottage, he unfastened his seat belt and turned to face her. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.”

She leaned toward him and cupped his face between her hands. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, either. I tried, and I tried, but …”

He leaned toward her and the words no longer mattered. They dried up in her throat as she lifted her lips to meet his. His kisses were just as amazing as she remembered. Her body reacted to him the way it had before—her heart raced, shivers ran down her spine, and her hands found their way into his hair. She moaned as he slid his tongue into her mouth. He was just as hot, and he turned her on just as much as he had that first time. She’d tried to convince herself that it was just the champagne, that she and Grant had been so good together because all their inhibitions were gone. It wasn’t true. There was undeniable chemistry between them, and she was lost in its grip once again.

They finally came up for air, and Grant smiled. “Do you think we should take it inside?”

She nodded breathlessly. She didn’t want to stop, but they’d have to get out of the car and into her bed before she’d be happy.

She opened the front door and pulled him through after her, pushing him up against the wall once he was inside. “I’ve dreamt about doing this every night since, you know?”

He slid his hands down her sides and pushed up the hem of her dress. “Every night,” he murmured. “Every morning, every time I see you in the office.”

She gasped as he slid his fingers inside her panties and stroked her. “I want you, Grant.”

“I want you, babe.”

She grabbed his free hand and started leading him toward the bedroom. She didn’t bother to turn any lights on; she was in too much of a hurry.

He tugged her hand. “Wait.”

She stopped and looked at him. He had a problem?

His smile said he didn’t. He jerked his head at the sofa. Moonlight streamed in through the patio door, illuminating the cushions. It looked like a spotlight, shining down on an empty stage, waiting for the next act to unfold.

She smiled and led him toward it. “It’s perfect.”

He nodded and sat down, pulling her with him. As he leaned in to kiss her again, his hands were already at work, pushing up the hem of her dress and sliding her panties down. She was busy, too, unbuttoning his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. He sat back and shrugged out of it. Wow. The moonlight reflected off his muscular shoulders and bathed him in soft light. She chewed on her bottom lip as he wriggled out of his pants. Then she remembered she should probably get out of her dress. She got to her feet and started to pull it up over her head, but he caught her arms.

“You look so beautiful in that.” The way he looked at her made her feel beautiful. His eyes were hungry as he ran his gaze over her.

“Thanks, but I think I look better without it.” She pulled it up and off, then unclasped her bra and stepped forward, so she stood toe to toe with him.

He slid his arms around her waist and drew her to him. Her nipples stiffened as they met his hard chest. The muscles in her stomach tightened as his hard-on pressed into her belly. She reached her arms up around his neck and looked up into his gorgeous blue eyes. “Hi,” she said with a smile.

“Hey.” He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I wasn’t sure we’d ever do this again.”

“Me neither, but I’m glad we are.”

He nodded and walked her back to the sofa. They stretched out in the moonlight, lying face to face. He smiled and planted a kiss on her lips. “Me too.” He turned onto his back and pulled her up, so she lay on top of him.

She pushed herself up on her elbows and smiled down at him. “Am I in charge here?”

He nodded. “Yup. I want to watch you in the moonlight.”

“In that case …” She sat up and ran her hands over his chest, then gasped as his hand closed around her ass.

“I want you, Chelsea.”

“I want you, too.” She positioned herself above him and sighed as he guided himself inside her. “I. Want. You!” She gasped as his hips thrust up and he filled her. She found her rhythm, moving with him, faster and faster. He felt so damned good. She opened her eyes and found him focused intently on her face. She smiled and brought her hands up to caress her breasts. His focus shifted, and she closed her eyes again, forsaking the visual to better enjoy her other senses. She rolled her nipples between her fingers and thumbs and moaned as she felt him grow harder inside her, his fingers digging into her ass as he drove deep inside. “Oh, God, Grant!” She couldn’t hold back. She let herself go, and her orgasm tore through her. She heard him gasp and then felt him find his release deep inside her. He gripped her ass tight as he came, pulling her down to receive each thrust, pounding into her, sending waves of pleasure racing through her, over and over until she was spent.

Eventually, she slumped down onto his chest and buried her face in his neck. He brought his hand up and tangled it in her hair. “Even better than I remembered,” he breathed.

She chuckled. “It was. I was kind of hoping that maybe I’d idealized the memory or that it was just the champagne.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her up into a sitting position. “Are you serious?”

She smiled through pursed lips. “Partly, I guess, but not really. Part of me hoped that we weren’t that good together. It’d make life simpler, you know?”

He nodded and gave her a rueful smile. “Yeah. I do know, but I can hardly call it bad news that we’re great together. What do you think we should do about it, though?”

Chelsea smiled and rolled off him. “How about we get cleaned up first before we think about it?”

While he was in the bathroom, she went into her bedroom and pulled her PJs on. When she came out, he was sitting on the sofa in just his jeans. Yum!

He smiled. “I know I said you looked beautiful in that dress, but you’re just as gorgeous in your jammies.”

She laughed. “You don’t need to sweet-talk me anymore, you already got what you came for.”

He gave her a stern look and held his arm out. “Come here. We need to talk about that.”

She went and sat beside him, wondering what they needed to talk about.

He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “See, I think we have a problem.”

She looked up at him uncertainly.

“At least, a misunderstanding.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Do you really believe that I got what I came for? That that’s all I want?”

She shrugged. Part of her kind of knew it wasn’t, but she didn’t want to admit it. She didn’t know where that conversation could go.

“I think you know that’s not true, don’t you?”

She shrugged. “It’d be simpler if it were true, wouldn’t it?”

He smiled. “Yeah, it would. But I don’t need simple. Do you?”

She shook her head. “I suppose not.”

“I won’t deny I wanted you, I wanted this again, but I want more than that, Chelsea. Like I told you earlier, I’d like to take you out, go for dinner, hang out, do stuff together. Date.”

She nodded. She couldn’t keep the silly little smile off her face. “I’d like that, too, but what happens with work?”

“That’s up to you. I can bow out. Tell your dad that I’m not comfortable being paid for a job that we all know won’t amount to anything.”

She sighed. “But I like you being at Zosca.” She looked up at him, surprised to hear those words come out of her own mouth.

“Even though I give you a hard time?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I know a lot of what you’re saying makes sense. I know I’ll use at least some of it going forward.”

“So, you want me to stay?”

“I think I do.”

“Okay. I’ll stay then, but maybe I should talk to your dad anyway. I don’t feel right taking his money.”

Chelsea smiled. “See, you’re more like me than you want to admit.”

He gave her a puzzled look.

“If it were all about the money, you wouldn’t care.”

“No, it’s just that, well, it’s the principle of the thing, I …”

“Exactly. Principles are more important than profits, right?”

He pursed his lips, but they both knew she was right.