Chapter Three
REED TRIED NOT to let the way Grace was staring have an effect on him, but he knew the fiery passion she was capable of, and the ravenous look of desire in her gorgeous green eyes was impossible to ignore. The chip on her shoulder she’d flaunted earlier gave her an edge that made her even more appealing. Surely if she knew her defensive attitude only made her hotter, she’d do what she could to temper it, and for that reason alone, he’d never clue her in.
He cocked a smile and hiked a thumb over his shoulder, trying to remember why he’d come into the house in the first place. “I knocked, but you probably didn’t hear me.”
“Reed, come on in, honey.” Marilynn lifted a coffee mug. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“No, thank you,” he said as Amber crouched to love up Reno.
Sable leaned her hip against the counter, her eyes dancing between him and Grace. As if Grace had just realized she was staring, she shifted her gaze away. Reed wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed.
“I wanted to show you what I’ve found outside. Do you have a moment? And is your husband around? I’d like to show him, too.”
Sable pushed away from the counter. “What’d you find?”
“Something bad?” Amber took a curious step closer.
It didn’t escape him that Grace had not made a move to get closer. If anything, she’d retreated a step or two.
“Cade is out, but you can show me.” Marilynn set her coffee cup on the counter and headed out the door. Amber, Sable, and Reno followed her.
Seeing Grace’s close-knit family magnified how much Reed had missed his own family while he’d been in Michigan. And just seeing Grace made him realize how much he’d missed her. He hesitated at the door, unwilling to let this morning’s encounter be the last thing said between them. Grace crossed her arms, the lust in her eyes cooler now but still there. Has it remained for all these years, or is this new?
She lifted her chin and drew her shoulders back.
He took a step closer and said, “I’m sorry I woke you this morning.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I have work to do anyway.”
Even when she was trying to keep her distance he was drawn to her. He knew that beneath that steely facade, she had a soft, feminine side that needed to be loved and taken care of. Grace had always been a walking dichotomy of tenderness and strength. A true beauty inside and out that Reed knew had nothing to do with skimpy pajamas. Her very essence was sweet and loving. Breaking through the iron gates she’d erected around it hadn’t been easy all those years ago, and he could see that hadn’t changed. But something had, and it wasn’t Grace.
It was him.
He wasn’t going to let her get away that easy.
“Would you like to join us?” He nodded toward the door.
For a moment she just looked at him, expressionless. She wore no makeup, and her creamy skin was void of a tan. Clearly her life in New York didn’t allow for much time outside, which saddened him. He knew how much she had enjoyed the outdoors. Had that changed? What else might have changed?
“Apparently house renovations are a family affair around here,” he added, going for levity.
She laughed under her breath, and a few dark tendrils fell in front of her eyes. A genuine smile spread across her lips, illuminating the flecks of gold in her eyes. She blinked up at him from beneath her hair, looking sexy and youthful, pulling more memories from the recesses of his mind.
“No, thank you,” she said, sending a strange sense of disappointment through him.
Sunlight cut a path between them, creating a line he wanted to cross to the woman he’d never been able to forget. But he knew better, damn it. Why was this so hard? Her life was hundreds of miles away, and he was just beginning to rebuild his life here with his family. It was hard to turn away with so much left unsaid, but really, what could he say? Was it worth it? Did you find the exciting life you were seeking? Are you happy? Or the question he really wanted to ask but knew he never would—Do you regret not giving us a try for the long haul? It wasn’t even a fair question. They’d been nothing more than lovesick kids.
Following his gut rather than his heart, he nodded curtly and went outside to join the others.
Reno lumbered toward him. “Hey, buddy,” he said, reaching out to pet him as he approached the others.
“Is it worse than we anticipated?” Marilynn stood with her hands on her hips and a serious look in her eyes, reminding him of Grace.
“It’s not bad. Pretty much what I expected to find.” The dog went to Amber’s side. Reed loved animals, but he was glad for the space. His mind was still on Grace, and he needed to focus on the job, not the hungry look in her eyes he’d seen when he’d first walked into the kitchen.
It wasn’t easy to switch into work mode, but he did his best. He caught himself glancing at the house several times, hoping Grace might be unable to resist joining them. But those sparks of hope were doused by reality.
As he walked them through his findings, Marilynn and Grace’s sisters listened to every word. Sable added her two cents along the way, which consisted mostly of, “We have to fix that,” while Amber and Marilynn agreed.
They came around the corner of the house, returning to the place they’d started, and Reed noticed that Grace’s bedroom curtains were open. His gaze swept over the neatly made bed and the cat curled up in the center, and he felt another wave of disappointment when he realized Grace wasn’t anywhere in sight.
GRACE SAT IN the gazebo on the hill reading through the scripts she was considering for an upcoming performance. She had taken these three weeks off, but her job as an independent producer never stopped. There was always another production to get underway. She’d been at it all day, and she was no closer to making a selection than she’d been when she’d started. It didn’t help that she pictured Reed as the lead role in each story, imagining him reciting the lines, acting out the scenarios—in nothing but a pair of jeans, boots, and that wickedly naughty smile of his. She needed to stop this silly daydreaming. It’s not like she’d follow through with her desires, and she didn’t need to play with either of their emotions in that way.
Wouldn’t Sable just love that? Her vixenish sister would encourage her to take him and leave him, and probably give her a detailed lesson on how to do it well. While Grace had never taken Reed, she’d loved him, and she’d already done the leaving him part, and that had been treacherous. She hadn’t even allowed herself to admit how badly she’d hurt both of them until years later, when she was still missing him and trying to convince herself she didn’t.
She tipped her face up to the sky, listening to the leaves rustling in the trees and letting the gentle breeze wash away her memories.
Her phone buzzed with a text message, pulling her from her thoughts. She opened Brindle’s text and smiled at the selfie, all smoky eyes and blond hair. Her youngest sister had the darkest lashes and brows she’d ever seen on a natural blonde, giving her a sultry appearance that matched her rascally personality. Another text bubble popped up and Grace read it. Hey, sis! You coming tonight? I need to talk to you about stuff.
Grace’s writer’s mind immediately homed in on the word stuff. If Brindle were a playwright, she’d correct her, tell her to be more specific, to give the viewers something to latch on to. Stuff was just another small-town idiosyncrasy that usually grated on Grace’s nerves. When it came to her sisters, however, she was never affected in the same way as she was with strangers. Use of the word stuff fit Brindle’s personality perfectly. Brindle was always moving a million miles an hour, going from one thing to the next, wanting to experience everything life had to offer, which was why she’d planned a solo trip to Paris for the summer. Grace would never be that brave.
She sent a quick reply. Missed you at breakfast. I’ll be there and can’t wait to see you and Morgyn. Bringing Trace or flying solo tonight?
She threw in Trace Jericho’s name just to get a reaction from Brindle, because what fun was it to have younger sisters if she couldn’t taunt them every once in a while? Brindle’s response came immediately. Solo. I told you we’re done! We’ll talk tonight. Xox.
She and Trace had been done at least a dozen times in the last year alone. Grace set her phone aside. She was excited to spend time with her sisters, even if she’d rather it was at her parents’ house, where they wouldn’t have the noise of Sable’s band to contend with. Amber wouldn’t be at the party. Like Pepper, Amber had never enjoyed rowdy crowds. Grace had always thought her parents were crazy to have seven children so close together, but her mother claimed that it wasn’t children that made life difficult; it was the parents’ inability to give up certain aspects of their own lives in order to care for them.
She glanced across the property to the barn, where she’d spent her youth mucking stalls and helping care for the dogs her mother trained. She’d never regretted escaping those chores for life in the city, even if she loved the animals.
She watched her mother working with one of the dogs she was training in the field by the barn, and just beyond, their horses, Sonny and Cher, grazing in the pasture. She thought about what her mother had said about her not being as soft as she used to be and wondered again if she’d become too harsh. She was definitely different than she used to be. More refined, she liked to think, not the workaholic ice queen Sable claimed she’d become.
She caught sight of Reed walking toward his truck, his T-shirt tucked into his back pocket. When she’d seen him last night, she’d been so conflicted that she was tempted to run home to New York and jump into the arms of her very hot, very interested neighbor, Jasper Lennox, just to prove to herself that she didn’t want Reed Cross. She’d gone out with Jasper twice, and he’d been a gentleman from the moment he’d opened the cab door to the second he’d kissed her good night with too much tongue and not enough…something. She never could put her finger on exactly what was missing from any of the men she’d dated over the years, but something was always missing. She had yet to find a man who held her intellectual and her sexual interests. But she knew that being with Jasper wouldn’t prove that the rampant heart thumping and the lust searing through her veins was all a farce.
There was no denying that Reed Cross was sex on legs, with magnificent muscles and a perfect dusting of dark chest hair, the exact opposite of the waxed and manicured actors and metrosexuals she was used to. Reed was handsome, but even if he had gained weight or come back marred in some way, she knew she’d feel the same way she did right now, because he wasn’t just good-looking. He still owned a piece of her heart.
Surely those frenzied emotions were just the remnants of love that every woman felt when they saw the first guy they’d ever given their heart to. Right? As desperately as she wanted someone to take her into the O-Zone, she was pretty sure Reed shouldn’t be that person.
She watched him place his tools in the back of his truck and grab a water bottle from the cab. He tipped his head back and drank it down. She couldn’t help imagining his warm lips on hers. What would it be like to tangle with all that masculinity? Maybe Sable was right and she had acted a little bitchy, but wouldn’t any ex-girlfriend after a guy told her he’d never—ever—leave his hometown, and because of that, she’d been forced to end the relationship, only to find out less than a month later that he’d taken off for what looked like forever?
She looked down at the stack of papers beside her and realized she’d been working for nearly eight hours. Wasn’t she supposed to be visiting with her family and fitting in work here and there? A shiver ran down her spine with the realization that she just might be the workaholic Sable accused her of being. Did that mean she’d become an ice queen, too?
The way her insides thrummed at the sight of Reed, she didn’t think there was anything icy about herself. But she’d be damned if she’d do anything more to solidify that image in her sister’s mind.
Or in anyone else’s.
Grace needed to prove to herself that she wasn’t an ice queen. She could flirt with the best of them. She was a pro at flirting. A goddess of flirtation.
She gathered her scripts, determined to prove Sable wrong, and traipsed across the yard. Who better to practice flirting with than Reed? She knew he would give her the positive reinforcement she needed, and after the way he’d leered at her, there was no chance of being rebuffed.
Or was there?
The closer she came to him, the faster her heart raced and the more she wasn’t buying her own lie. What if he turned her away? A man like Reed probably had half of the townies after him. Younger, prettier women dressed in stupid Daisy Dukes and cowgirl boots, with perfect little bodies and sweet dispositions.
She slowed her pace, trying not to think about Reed with other women. Of course he’s been with other women. He’d probably already made his way through at least a dozen of the women in town. Girls she’d grown up with. Why wouldn’t he? All men really wanted was a quick lay.
That thought made her a little nauseous—and jealous. Mostly because Reed had never been that way, but also…the idea of him in another woman’s arms bothered her far more than she liked.
She stopped walking when she was close enough to see every dip and groove in his six-pack abs. When he lowered the water bottle, their eyes met—and held. His blue eyes were as dark as the night sky, and the intensity in them held her captive, making her feel naked and strangely feminine at once. She was a cutthroat producer, able to work in a man’s world without feeling intimidated. She was strong and professional and hadn’t thought of herself as anything remotely close to feminine since…we were together in high school.
She looked down at her summer dress, suddenly wondering why she’d chosen it. Was it because Reed had always insisted she was feminine? Did she look too country bumpkin? Oh, shit. Now what craziness had infiltrated her brain? She was worried about what she was wearing for the benefit of Reed?
Intimidation trampled through her, unfamiliar and uncomfortable, as Reed’s stare continued to burn a path between them. Maybe she was an ice queen, because she was melting beneath the heat of his smoldering gaze. He took a step toward her, and her nerves took over, shattering her determination.
This isn’t failure, she told herself. She knew how to flirt. She just didn’t want to flirt with him after all.
At least that’s what she told herself as she spun on her heel and hurried away.