Chapter 16

Jack and Tristan had worked all morning on the new job. Hammering nails and cutting wood was good for his mood. He was still upset about being tricked into last night’s dinner with Grace and her mother. He also regretted the way he’d walked out on them. Maybe after clearing the air he and Grace could make up in lovers’ fashion—if she promised to never pull that crap on him again. Dating her didn’t mean dating her mother. They needed to get that straight. He was willing to tolerate Tammy Donner from a distance, but not from the other side of the dinner table.

“Lunchtime,” Jack told Tristan, grabbing a drink of water. “Let’s make it a long lunch. See you back after one.”

“Sure.” Tristan grabbed a bottled water, too, and headed to his car.

Jack climbed inside his own truck and pointed it in the direction of Sawyer Seafood Company. Grace was on the phone as he walked in, so he waited and listened.

“Yes, sir. Yep. I’m so sorry that happened. The delivery truck broke down. You can’t plan for these things.” She waited as the person on the other line barked so loud Jack could hear him from where he was standing. Jack had one guess about the person she was talking to.

“I’m sorry. We do our best. The truck will be fixed and the delivery will be on time tomorrow.” She listened again.

Jack walked over and gently tugged the phone from Grace’s ear. “Jack Sawyer here. Is this Mike Hoffman? Hey, Mike. This is Jack Sawyer. I just want to reiterate everything Ms. Donner just told you…Uh-huh. Well, that’s life. We have to be prepared and the same goes for you, my friend.” Jack’s gaze flicked down to Grace. “Like I’ve advised you before, you should always have some frozen fish in your freezer…No, sir, I’m not telling you how to run your business. Just telling you how to run a good business.”

Grace grimaced as sat at her desk.

“Okay, so you’ll get your fish tomorrow. No problem. Have a good afternoon.” Jack set the receiver back on the phone and looked at Grace.

“The delivery truck broke down,” she said.

“I got that. It happens.”

Grace nodded. “It made for a pretty stressful afternoon.”

Jack leaned against her desk and folded his arms. “Sorry ’bout that. Just know that most customers are more understanding than Mr. Hoffman.”

Grace nodded, but kept her gaze distant from his.

He reached out and touched her shoulder. “So I guess we should talk about last night.”

“I guess we should.”

They both remained silent for a long moment. He’d thought she would apologize first. “Are you waiting for me to apologize?” he finally asked.

She looked up. “I’m certainly not apologizing. I invited you over for dinner. My mother was there. Big flippin’ deal. I have nothing to be sorry for.”

“It is a big deal. You know that. Your mother isn’t the typical girlfriend’s mother.”

Girlfriend. It was the first time he’d used that word in relation to her. She seemed to notice, too.

Her eyes rounded. “Well, a girlfriend should be able to invite her mother over for dinner without asking permission.”

Jack blew out a breath. “Your mother and I have a history that’s a little out of the normal. I stayed through the meal. That’s a start, isn’t it?”

She met his gaze, softening just a touch. “I guess I knew you wouldn’t be thrilled with the change in plans.”

“I had a few other plans for the evening,” he said, lowering his voice.

The corner of her mouth curled. “Oh yeah?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What kind of plans?”

“Big ones.”

She laughed out loud.

That was more like it. “I’d say this was our first couple’s fight.”

“First you call me your girlfriend. Now we’re a couple.”

He stroked a piece of her hair out of her face. “Is that okay?”

Both sides of her mouth curved upward as she shrugged one shoulder. “If we’re going to be a couple, you’re going to have to be around my mother.”

He didn’t want to talk about Tammy right now. “And you’ll have to prepare me for those times beforehand.”

“Fair enough.” She stood and went to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I think if we’re going to be a couple, we should come out to everyone, though. As soon as possible.”

“Thought you wanted to wait until after the tournament this weekend,” he said, kissing her mouth, once, twice. He couldn’t get enough.

“I don’t want to wait any longer,” she said breathlessly.

“Neither do I.” Except he was talking about more than just telling his friends and family. “I want you right here, right now.” He pressed his lower half into her and she gasped, closing her eyes.

“I’m at work. I can’t—”

“No one’s here. You can.”

Her eyes widened and then grew fiery with a need he recognized and loved. He loved everything about this woman—with the exception of her mother.

“Yes,” Grace relented, allowing him to press her against her desk. “But let’s make it quick.”

Grace moaned as Jack’s hand cupped her backside. He pulled her flush against him—a perfect fit. Then his hand curled around the back of her neck, keeping her mouth on his, which she didn’t mind one bit.

Grace melted into the heated kiss. Into Jack. Lifting her up, he set her on the top of her desk, pushing his body between her legs.

“Your dad has already been by today. Sam and Noah, too.”

“No reason for them to come back,” Jack whispered as he continued touching her. She was fully clothed, but that wasn’t stopping his hands from finding their way to her bare skin. “There’s a shower here.”

Grace pulled away momentarily. “A small shower. We can’t possibly fit.”

“We’ll have to stay close. I can help you wash off the stress of the morning. Give you a little massage while the hot water beats against us.”

“You make it sound so romantic.”

“It can be. Come on.” He stepped away, allowing her space to hop down off the desk. Then he locked the office’s door and turned the sign to CLOSED.

They ran down the hall like little kids, excited and turned on by the newness of their lovers’ tryst. When they entered the bathroom, Jack pressed her against the sink and slammed the door shut. The harsh sound made her body jolt with awareness, which only increased her arousal.

“I’ve been mad at you all day,” she said, nipping at his bottom lip.

“I’ve been mad at you since last night. I could barely sleep when I got home.” He pulled her flush against him again. Slipping her hand down into the space between them, she worked to unbutton his jeans. “I guess we’ve both been bad.” She nipped again and his pants came undone. She worked her hand down between the denim and his skin.

He cursed softly and lowered his forehead against hers as she stroked him a moment. Then he growled, “You. Naked. In the shower. Now.”

She didn’t usually like a man, or anyone for that matter, telling her what to do. In this case, though, it turned her on. She lifted her shirt overhead, going slow even though this was technically a quickie. A cramped shower didn’t exactly seem romantic, but it felt romantic right now. Loving how Jack’s eyes watched her, she reached behind her and unhooked her bra. The garment hadn’t even dropped to the floor before Jack’s hands were on her. She moaned in pleasure—so much pleasure. And they’d barely gotten started.

Jack dipped and brushed his mouth over her neck. She arched, giving him full access. There was an unshaven edge to his face that set her skin on fire as he kissed down her neck. One of his hands enveloped a breast, squeezing softly. Then he coaxed her body toward the shower.

He turned the knob and hot water beat against her skin as she clung to him. There was even less room than she’d thought, but she didn’t mind. Jack’s mouth returned to hers as he slipped one hand between her legs, finding a rhythm with his fingers that had her moaning and chanting his name. All the sensations were hitting her as hard as the shower’s unrelenting water.

Gripping Jack’s shoulders, she hung on and forgot that she was ever mad at him, or he at her. She forgot everything except the moment they were suspended in.

Jack had a big, satisfied smile on his face as he left Grace in the bathroom to finish getting dressed. With a towel wrapped around his waist and his own clothes in hand, he walked down the hall to get himself a drink of water from the filtered water jug. He paused. The empty office wasn’t as empty as he’d thought.

Noah turned to face him from the window that overlooked the ocean.

“Hey, bro,” Jack said slowly, praying that Noah hadn’t overheard the lovefest in the bathroom. Of course, Jack was naked under this towel, and any fool could connect the dots. No sense trying to cover things up. He and Grace had decided to tell Noah the first chance they got anyway.

“We were going to tell you,” Jack started. It was a lame thing to say. Something like you’d see in a movie right before the other person blew up and refused to talk to the offending character again.

“Tell me what?” Noah crossed his arms at his chest. His cheeks were red—angry. Noah knew exactly what had just happened in that bathroom, which made this a little more awkward than just sitting down with him and explaining that he and Grace really liked each other. “Tell me that you’re screwing my sister?” Noah asked, his voice growing loud.

“She’s not your sister, dammit. She was your stepsister once upon a time.”

“Once a sister, always a sister. I never forgot about her the way you guys did.”

Jack laughed. “That’s why you were the coldest to her when she came to work here. Why you couldn’t even look at her for the first week. Because you loved her as a sister so much, right?” Jack shook his head.

“I acted like that because it hurt like hell losing her once, and I didn’t want to lose her again. And this time when she leaves, it’ll be your fault.” Noah pointed a finger and took a step closer. “You’re fucking my sister. You’re going to break her heart, and whether it’s intentional or not doesn’t matter. She’ll quit working here and leave. All because your dick had an itch.”

Jack held up his hands. “It’s not like that. Let me take you out for drinks. We can talk about this—”

The bathroom door opened down the hall. Grace’s soft footsteps approached.

“Jack?” she called. “Where’d you go?” She stopped in her tracks. All the blood drained from her face. “Noah.”

Jack could almost see all the questions rising to the surface. What had Noah heard? What did he know?

Noah stalked angrily toward the door. “I’m out of here. Please, don’t stop because of me. I’ll just lock the door back up so you two can continue.”

Grace’s startled eyes turned to Jack. Her hair was still wet and hanging in clumps around her shoulders.

“I’ll go after him. I’ll fix this,” Jack said, dropping his towel and pulling his jeans back on.

She gave a shaky nod.

Then Jack chased after Noah. He understood perfectly why his younger brother was upset. And yeah, he had every right to be. Jack and Grace had kept this a secret from him. For all Noah knew, this was just sex that Jack was having with Grace. Meaningless sex. Which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Just wait, will you?” Jack said, stopping Noah’s truck door from slamming. Noah slammed a hand against his steering wheel.

“How long have you been sneaking around?”

Jack started to tell him they weren’t sneaking around, but that’s exactly what they’d been doing. “Grace didn’t want to tell you. She wanted to wait until after the tournament.”

Noah looked at him, anger still lighting his features. “The tournament?”

“This thing means a lot to her.”

“You kept a secret like this from me because of a stupid tournament?”

“She was afraid you wouldn’t do it, and we need you, bro. You’re one of the best.”

Noah started laughing. “Well, guess what? You just lost me.” He started his truck’s engine, reached past Jack for the door’s handle, and pulled.

Jack stepped away. “You don’t mean that,” he said before the door slammed—pretty much in his face. Realizing that Noah was just angry enough to maybe run him over, too, he stepped out of the way as Noah’s truck reared back, then shot forward. “Damn it.”

Grace was waiting at the door when he reentered the office. She looked broken. He just wanted to wrap his arms around her.

“It’ll be okay.”

“Really?” she asked, hope sparking in her brown eyes. He didn’t want to crush it. Hope was a fragile thing. He knew that from experience. When he’d discovered that Chris had fallen overboard in the spring, he’d held out hope that his friend was still out there. Chris was a tough guy. He didn’t give up. A little water would never hold him down.

“Really,” Jack said, quietly pulling Grace to him. She wrapped her arms around him, softening into him. He’d make this okay. Brotherhood was a bond not easily broken. Jack just worried about the bond Noah and Grace had reforged. Maybe that one wasn’t so resilient.