Pulling Bessie in behind where Grace’s BMW is parked on the curb outside of her house, I laugh at the contrast between the two vehicles as I cut the engine. After pushing the door open, I hop out and, bending at the waist, tie the tennis shoes I’d just shoved onto my feet.
The sun’s just beginning to peek over the horizon as I make my way up the sidewalk to Grace’s house. She’s opening the front door just as I begin to climb her stairs, and the surprise on her face causes me to chuckle.
“Bronn! What are you doing here?” she chirps, a broad smile reaching all the way to her eyes. She closes the door behind her, careful to not slam it, and then bounces down the stairs, her ponytail swinging high on her head. In the early morning light, I can see red highlights in her hair. I wonder if it’s natural or if she pays obscene amounts to make it look that way.
Dressed in a loose tank top and tight shorts, she looks incredible. Her face is scrubbed clean of makeup, a sight that I’ve never seen before, and the smattering of freckles on her nose gives her a more youthful appearance.
She stands awkwardly in front of me, shifting her weight from foot to foot, waiting on my response, but I can’t stop looking at her long enough to answer.
I want to kiss her, to take her face in my hands and pull her body against mine, kissing her long and hard until she’s begging me to forget the run and take her to her room. I’m dying to show her with my mouth how into her I am, how I can’t stop thinking about her, no matter how busy I am or how many beers I’ve had.
And I’ve tried.
Fuck, but I’ve tried to get her out of my head, to rid myself of the feeling of her body pressed against mine, the way she tasted, how soft her lips were. I’d tried my damndest to get the constant loop of that kiss out of my head.
But I can’t.
It’s been three days of Grace non-stop in my head.
But it isn’t just the chemistry we have that I can’t stop thinking about.
The look on her face when she’d told me the story of her dad and the sharks’ teeth had caused my gut to twist.
I’d felt things since meeting Grace Monroe that I hadn’t felt in a long time, or ever, if I were being honest. Never once had I wanted to fix someone else’s problems, I had enough of my own. Not one time that I could recall had I ever wished I could take someone else’s pain away. No one had been there to take my pain away.
But, in that moment, I’d wanted to be able to go back in time, help her and her dad find those fucking fossils, so that the entire memory could be a good one.
I couldn’t change the past though, a shitty fact I knew all too well. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t help her create new memories. Good ones. Memories that are all her own. Our own.
My hands out to the sides, I tell her, “Thought I’d join you for your run this morning.”
Her face brightens even more, her smile growing impossibly wider. “You run?”
I nod, lying through my teeth. “Love it. Really helps to clear my mind.”
I’d never run a day in my life. I much preferred to lift weights, spending my time in the gym as opposed to in the oppressive heat of the south.
She nods, her enthusiasm contagious as she agrees with me. “I’ve always said the same thing! There’s just something freeing about being alone with your thoughts. I don’t even like to listen to music most of the time. What about you?” She eyes me and I shake my head.
“Nope. Wouldn’t want to spoil the serenity with over-rated pop music.”
She bends, touching her toes to stretch, her eyes closed. I follow her lead but keep my eyes open. Her face is relaxed, and watching her puts me at ease as well.
Grace continues to bend and twist and rock back and forth, getting limber for her run, and I pretend to do the same. I’m not sure why we need to take this long to warm up, but I don’t complain. After all, I’m enjoying the view of the gorgeous woman in front of me.
After what seems like it should have been the entire workout and not just the warm up, she straightens and claps her hands together. “You warm?” I nod in agreement. “Okay then, let’s get going. I like to run down to The Sands; does that work for you?”
Perfect.
“You’re in the driver’s seat, I’m just along for the ride…or the run as it is.”
She laughs and then takes off, her pace not too fast, but not as slow as I would have liked. We run in silence, Grace a few paces ahead of me. I begin to find myself agreeing with her.
There is something freeing about running with nothing but your thoughts.
Well, that and a view of a sexy woman’s perfect ass to spur me on.
The turn off to the beachy part of the neighborhood looms ahead, and Grace begins to slow. The stitch that’s formed in my side says a silent prayer of thanks that we’ve stopped the grueling pace, and as I come up to her side I do my best to slow my breathing. Grace’s face is shiny with perspiration, but she isn’t breathing nearly as hard as I am. I fight to regulate my breathing even more, not wanting to embarrass myself in front of her. Or worse, let her in on my little white lie.
When we reach the water’s edge, she stops and begins to stretch, all the while her shrewd eyes watching as I force myself to stand upright.
She arches an eyebrow. “You sure you love running?”
Fuck.
“Uh, yeah,” I tell her, still panting like a dog. “It’s the best.”
When she crosses her arms over her chest, I hold my hands up in surrender. “Okay, it’s been a while since I went for a run.”
“Oh, yeah?” she quips. “How long exactly? Twenty years?” Her gaze drops to my tennis shoes. I shuffle my feet, but not fast enough. Her head snaps up, her eyes wide. “Those are new shoes! Oh my God, Bronnson!”
Busted.
“What? These old things? I’ve had these for ages,” I protest, finally able to breathe again. She’s eyeing me, a smirk on her face. I kick the sand, unearthing something black and shiny.
I squat, my thighs protesting the sudden movement, and pick up the object that’s caught my eye. “Hey, what’s this?” I ask dumbly, standing back up and trying not to wince as my legs scream in pain.
Grace is right, my feet are screwed. Along with my quads and calves. But spending the morning with her has been worth it.
Still smirking, she struts over and I hold my hand out, palm up, revealing the large black shark’s tooth that I’d just picked up.
Grace lets out a squeal and grabs my hand, bringing it closer to her face for inspection. “Ohmygod! Did you just find that?”
Her head tilts back and her eyes, full of amazement, meet mine. My breath catches with the brilliance of her smile, and my chest swells at the knowledge that I’m the cause for her elation. Her reaction is everything I hoped it would be.
I force myself to play it cool, then nod and shrug. “Yeah, it was right here by my foot.”
“Wow.” She breathes. “A real life shark’s tooth.”
She turns the tooth over in my palm, studying the serrated edges carefully, as if she’s going to have a quiz on it later and needs to memorize every detail.
I hand it to her, and while she’s examining the artifact I shuffle over and bend at the waist, scooping another tooth up. “Look, another one!”
Her jaw drops and she races over to where I stand. “Holy crap!”
As soon as she sees the tooth in my hand, her head drops and she begins scrutinizing the ground, searching to find her very own tooth. After just a few seconds, she drops to her knees and brushes the sand aside.
Just as quickly as she dropped, she leaps to her feet, holding a tooth high above her head, shouting, “I found one! Look, Bronn!”
She waves the tooth in my face and I can’t help myself, I let out a bark of laughter at her exuberance.
Living on the coast my whole life, I’d found hundreds of teeth, but I don’t think I’d ever been as excited to find one as Grace is. She continues to dance around, waving the tooth like it’s a championship trophy.
I’m swept up in her excitement.
In her elation.
In her.
“Bronn, do you think there are more?” she asks breathless, her face hopeful.
I’m sure of it.
I make a show of looking around, pushing the sand around with my toe and tell her, “I mean, yeah. Probably. Want to look for a few minutes?”
She nods vigorously and I tell her, “Okay, so this is how you find them—“
“Hey!” she interrupts, her hands on her hips. “I just found one, thankyouverymuch! You think I need pointers from you? First the hot sauce, and now you’re a tooth-hunting expert.”
Her eyebrow is arched, her face ridiculously adorable, and I smirk. “Can’t help that I’m good at everything.”
She harrumphs, a devilish smile turning the corners of her mouth up. “How about we make this a competition?”
“Oh, you’re gonna regret that.” I wave my hands at her. “Bring it.”
She glances at the watch on her wrist. “Person that finds the most in the next ten minutes has to buy the loser coffee.”
I blink at her slowly. “Is that it?”
“Uhh…coffee and dinner?”
Stroking my chin, I look her over. “You’re on. But I gotta warn you, I’m pretty good at this.”
She rolls her eyes before turning away from me. “We’ll see about that,” she mutters.
Dropping to all fours, she begins crawling around, slinging sand in every direction, and generally going about it all wrong. But I press my lips together and begin looking for teeth myself.
I come across a couple, but pretend not to see them, and a few minutes later she lets out a whoop when she finds them herself.
“Found two!” she shouts.
Thankful that my back is to her so she can’t see my smile, I say over my shoulder, “Don’t go getting too cocky now.”
I scoop a couple more off the ground and then turn to where she’s searching. Her brows are pulled in tight, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth.
Every so often, she pauses to pick something up, her face falling slightly when she realizes it’s just a piece of broken shell or rock.
I’m forced to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing as she angrily tosses them aside and continues her search.
I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun doing absolutely nothing, and as I continue to watch her my mind swirls.
I don’t know what the hell we’re doing here, what this thing between us is, but I fucking like it.
I like the way I feel. The way she makes me feel. The way she keeps me on my toes, giving me shit, but also opening up to me as though she’s known me for ages.
I like that she can confide in me, that she wants to tell me the things that she’s obviously not talked about in a long time.
But more than that, I like her.
It may be cliché, but she’s different than other women. Unlike anyone I’ve ever met before, she’s not afraid to be herself. And she makes me unafraid to be myself as well.
She stirs things in me that haven’t moved since my dad died.
Grace’s watch sounds, indicating the time is up, and she jumps to her feet and races over to where I’m sitting on a large rock.
Her hands are balled in tight fists and she’s grinning. “How many did you find?”
I shake my head. “Uh-uh. You first.”
Beaming, she sticks her arms toward me and opens her hands, revealing two handfuls of teeth, all various sizes. “More than you I bet!”
Putting my poker face on, I command, “Count them.”
I know she’s found way more than me. I stopped looking almost as soon as I started. I’ve only got five in my hand, but I want to make her sweat.
She eyes me carefully and then settles on to the rock beside me, her thigh brushing mine. I grit my teeth to keep the contact from working me up.
I tell myself that it’s only because it’s been a while since I’ve had any action that I’m so easily excited, but the truth of the matter is that it’s just fucking Grace that turns me on. Even if it is just her smooth, toned leg pressed against mine.
She silently counts her haul and I twist my body away from hers as I pretend to count mine as well. When I feel her hand on my shoulder, I turn my back to see her peering over my shoulder.
“Hey! No peeking!” I scold.
She giggles and then sighs. “Just tell me how many you found!”
Relenting, I angle my body back to where she’s seated and tell her proudly, “Five!”
Her eyes bug out of her head. “That’s it? Five? You suck! I’m glad I didn’t listen to your pointers.”
Laughing, she tells me, “I found thirteen!”
Feigning disappointment, I grumble, “Guess that makes you the winner. Coffee’s on me.”
She leaps to her feet and grins. “Wanna race back to the coffee shop? Double or nothing? Coffee and breakfast?”
I stretch my legs out in front of me and they protest the movement. “Hell, no.” I groan. “I was hoping you’d run back to your house and come pick me up in your car,” I confess.
“Awww, poor Bronnson,” she says in a sing-songy voice. “Can’t keep up with a girl?”
I shake my head. “Oh, I can keep up. Want me to prove it?” I wag my eyebrows, and her cheeks turn pink.
Not able to resist any longer, I grab her by the wrist and pull her in to my lap. I wrap an arm around her waist, using my free hand to bring her face to mine.
Her lips part, her tongue darting out to wet them, and as her eyes flutter shut, her breath whispers across my skin. I’ve been aching to feel her soft lips on mine since I laid eyes on her this morning.
Without another word, I bring my mouth to hers and run my tongue along her lips.
She sighs and wraps her arms around my shoulders, kissing me back in the early morning sun. The sound of the water lapping along the shoreline fades away, the only sound I hear is Grace’s sigh.
The longer I hold her, her tongue gliding along with mine, the further I begin to fall.
Falling into what, I’m not sure.
But I’m no longer interested in trying to catch myself.
Whatever happens when I land, I’ll take it.