Chapter 12

Grace stirred at the pounding on the front door. Her eyes resisted the light as her mind slowly nudged her awake. Who would be at her apartment this early in the morning?

She opened her eyes and blinked in confusion. Not her apartment. She was still at Jack’s house. And, oh crap, she’d fallen asleep here last night after Jack had made good on his promise to ravage her body, starting from her toes.

Her toes curled at the memory.

The knock came again. Grace tapped Jack’s back. He didn’t respond. He was completely out. She nudged him harder. “Jack! Wake up! There’s someone at your door.”

He barely stirred.

“Jack!” she whispered loudly.

Grace’s spine stiffened at the sound of someone putting a key in Jack’s lock and turning. Whoever it was was coming inside the house and they were going to discover her in Jack’s bed if she didn’t get up and hide. Flying out from under the cozy covers, she ran to the bathroom and disappeared behind the shower curtain. She sat on the floor of the tub and pulled her knees up to her chest to make herself as small as possible. This was no way to wake up.

A moment later, heavy feet entered Jack’s bedroom. Maybe boots?

“Jack?” a deep voice called. “Hey there, sleeping beauty.”

It was Pete Sawyer. What was he doing here?

“Jack?”

“Dad?” Jack finally said, sounding half asleep.

Grace covered her face. If Jack remembered that she’d fallen asleep here, he was going to be freaking out at the sight of his father instead of her.

“Come on, son” Pete said. “Day’s a wasting. Thought we were going on a boat ride today.”

Grace’s eyes widened. She’d momentarily forgotten about her plans to go on the boat with Jack and Noah. And apparently Pete, too. This was turning into a family affair, and a nightmare if she didn’t find a way out of this bathtub soon.

Jack rubbed his eyes and blinked up at his dad. Where the heck was Grace? He looked around his bedroom. Or maybe last night had been a dream.

“What are you doing here, Dad?” he asked again as he sat up and stretched.

“We’re taking Grace fishing, right?”

“Right. Noah and I are.” Jack ran his gaze through his room, looking for evidence of Grace.

“Well, I’m going, too. Noah and Sam are out back waiting.”

“Sam? Don’t you guys have anything better to do?”

His father laughed. “Fishing is what we do.”

A little ache resonated in Jack’s heart. Fishing wasn’t what he did anymore.

“We’ll go pick Grace up—”

“No,” Jack said quickly. “She’s, uh, meeting us here.” He searched his room again. Had she gone home in the night? She didn’t have her car with her. “I need a few minutes to get ready. Feel free to make yourself some coffee. I’ll be right out.”

His father pointed a finger. “Don’t take too long. Those fish won’t wait for us.”

“Right.” His father had been saying the same thing since Jack was a child. When he was gone, Jack closed his bedroom door and started looking around. Under the bed. In the closet. He headed into the bathroom and pulled the shower curtain back to find Grace cowering in the tub. She was half naked, hair mussed, and absolutely gorgeous. If his entire family wasn’t waiting outside for them, he’d take her back to bed right now. That’s all he really wanted to do.

“Dad’s here,” he said.

She slowly uncurled her body. “I know. They can’t find me in here with you.”

Jack agreed. This wasn’t exactly the way to break the news of his relationship with Grace to the family. “It’s not just Dad. Noah and Sam are outside waiting, too. We have to get you out of this house.”

“How? I don’t have a change of clothes. I need to brush my hair and teeth.”

Jack grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste, laying it on the sink. “Here. Use my things. I think there might be some women’s clothes around here that will fit you, too.”

Grace’s brows furrowed.

He grinned. “My cousin came to visit early this summer. You remember her.”

Grace nodded slowly as she stepped out of the tub.

“She left some of her things accidentally. Come on. Let’s hurry. The guys don’t like to wait when it comes to fishing.”

Ten minutes later, Jack led Grace to the front door. “We’ll pretend like Joey dropped you off.”

“But Joey doesn’t work this early in the morning.”

“The focus is on fishing this morning. No one will catch on.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her body against his before she headed outside. “It’s going to be a long day keeping my hands to myself.” He kissed her. “Umm. You taste so good.”

Grace smiled against his mouth. “Being with you but unable to touch you will be torture. I’m actually kind of excited, though.”

He looked down at his shorts. “Me, too.”

She swatted him as she laughed. “Grow up!” she called as she walked away.

A couple of minutes later, Jack took his travel mug of coffee out back where his dad, brothers, and Grace were sitting.

“Even Grace got here before you, bro,” Sam called. “You’ve been out of the game too long.”

Jack flipped Sam the bird and took a sip of his coffee. Sam and Noah had driven the Summerly to the dock behind his house, where he usually only kept his personal boats, a small skiff and a pontoon. Growing up on the coast, he’d collected water toys instead of the land ones that some men liked. Jack had never had use for motorcycles or fast cars, though.

He pulled a ball cap over his head and walked up beside Grace. “Good morning,” he said, as if they hadn’t already said their hellos. “Did that headache of yours go away last night?”

Grace was wearing a ball cap, too. Jack recognized it as Noah’s. “All better.”

“Good.”

She walked along the dock and he resisted helping her step into the boat. She was a big girl. She could handle herself. And those sea legs of hers were working just fine these days.

“I wasn’t expecting this to be a family event,” Jack said as they backed the Summerly out onto the water.

Sam shrugged. “Our boat needed more repairs. That bump into the bridge’s column the other day is costing us big time. Plus, we heard Grace was going to be catching her first big fish today. Couldn’t miss that.”

Grace sat in a seat along the side. “I’ll be observing.”

“Oh no,” Jack said at the same time that Noah started shaking his head. “You’re bringing one in. If you’re going to be captain at the tournament, you need a fish under your belt.”

Grace blanched. “I can’t…I don’t know…”

“Relax. We’ll give you a hand,” Jack said, his gaze snagging on hers. He’d given her more than a hand last night. By the way her cheeks filled with a rosy pink color, he could tell she remembered.

“Just enjoy the ride until we get to deeper water. This is going to be one of the best days of your life,” Noah told her.

Jack laughed. “The day we caught a big one may have been the best day of our lives, but Grace doesn’t have fishing in her blood.”

Noah winked at Grace, which only annoyed Jack a little bit. “Trust me, sis. Best day ever.”

There was a loud clicking noise from one of the metal rods lined up along the stern of the boat. Everyone on board the Summerly stood at attention.

“We got one!” Jack yelled, high-fiving his brothers.

Grace stood back and watched them for a moment, intrigued by the boyish nature they’d suddenly taken on. They were like little kids at Christmas, with Jack being the biggest one. He loved fishing. It was so obvious. How could he give this up?

Noah grabbed Grace’s arm and pulled her over to one of the fishing rods. “This is all you, sis. Your big moment.”

“Oh, okay.” A little excitement sparked inside her as well, although she wasn’t about to start jumping up and down. Jack slid in beside her and that little spark turned to a wildfire.

“Here. I’ll guide you,” he said, leaning in to her ear to speak over the low roar of the wind that tangled with her hair.

The brothers moved to the edge of the boat, with a gaff and net in hand.

How barbaric, she thought, knowing that people had been doing this for ages. This was a means for food. It had been a way of survival back in the day when there were no Walmarts or Harris Teeters to supply them.

Jack’s hand guided hers as they reeled in the line together and then gave the fish some slack so it wouldn’t break free. The fish on the line resisted until it grew tired, and then they reeled again, repeating the process for nearly an hour until the fish was suspended out of the water.

“Score!” Sam said triumphantly.

“You got it?” Jack asked, that same excitement evident in his voice.

The men, including Pete at the helm, cheered.

Grace laughed out loud, getting a rush as well.

It took all three brothers to get the yellowfin tuna on the boat’s floor. Its skin glistened against the sun, silver and blue, and absolutely breathtaking. The yellow diamonds were like work from an artist’s hands.

“She’s beautiful,” Grace said, bending low and sliding her hand over the fish’s belly.

“It’s a great feeling, huh?” Jack squatted down beside her.

With him so near, a new feeling rode up in her chest. A better feeling. She wanted to turn and kiss him, celebrate the moment. Instead, she turned and smiled. “Yeah. I didn’t expect it to feel so…” She shook her head, unable to find the right words. Good was too cheap a word for this moment.

“It’s indescribable, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “Now I know why you guys rushed out every weekend when I lived with you. I wanted to sleep in and you guys wanted to fish.”

Jack nodded, his gaze lowering for a moment.

She guessed he was thinking about the cruel twist of life that had stolen this joy from him. Grace reached out and touched his arm. Jack met her gaze and held it, a million indescribable words between them for this moment, too.

“All right, Grace,” Noah said, walking up.

Grace snatched her hand back, seeing the muscles along Jack’s jaw tighten as she did.

“Now to show you what happens after we catch the big one.”

Grace and Jack stood.

“Would this one win the tournament for us next weekend? If we caught it next Saturday?”

Noah looked at Jack, then the two men started to laugh.

“She really has no idea, does she?” Noah asked playfully, all for her benefit.

“Not a clue,” Jack confirmed. “This is a minnow compared to what we need to win next weekend,” Jack told her.

Grace looked at the fish that must’ve been at least four feet long and seventy-five pounds. It didn’t look anything like a minnow to her.

“Don’t worry, sis. By next weekend, you’ll be seasoned.”

After putting the fish on ice and setting the rig again for the next big fish, Grace walked to the back of the boat where Jack was standing alone, looking out at the water behind them.

“Hey,” she said softly.

He glanced over his shoulder.

“Can I join you?”

“Of course.” Jack gestured beside him.

“It’s nice.” Another cheap word. “I can see why you guys love it.”

“Yeah.” He wore mirrored sunglasses, hiding those micro movements around his eyes that usually told her so much.

“You sure you want to give this up?” she asked, knowing that she shouldn’t. She didn’t want to ruin the moment, but if she was right, he was already thinking what she was saying.

Jack sucked in a long breath, keeping his eyes forward. “Honestly, no. I thought I did, but experiencing that first catch with you brought back a lot of memories. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid.”

“I can’t even imagine. The fish must’ve been bigger than you were.”

“Sometimes.” A grin spread across his face. “And there was a time that I’d begged Dad to toss them back, insisting that they needed to return to their families.”

Grace laughed along with him. “Truthfully, I had to resist saying that when we brought that one aboard.”

Jack turned to her. “Good thing. Sam and Noah might’ve made you walk the plank for saying that.”

“There’s a plank?”

“Oh yeah. You didn’t know?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. Are you going to tell me you guys are all pirates, too?”

“Arghh.”

Grace leaned in to him. She didn’t have any wise counsel for him, but she wanted him to know she understood, as much as she could without having walked in his shoes.

“Maybe I don’t have to give up fishing. Maybe it just doesn’t have to be my entire life anymore. I’m excited about this new business. More excited about it than I’ve been about anything in a long time—until you, at least.”

“Me?”

Jack looked at her again. “I’m excited about you, too. That feeling when we dragged the fish on board doesn’t even compare to how I feel every time you walk into the room.”

Grace’s breath caught in her chest. Oh, God, she wanted to kiss him right now. Wanted it nearly as much as she wanted her next breath.

Leaning in, Jack read her mind and kissed her.