Chapter Five

Justin

To my surprise, getting Grace to go along with me was easier than I’d expected. Once I convinced her to leave the stadium with me, she became pliable. Sure, I was still standing in the shadows of the mile-high wall she built up, but she wasn’t fighting off my attention anymore. In some ways she reminded me of a doe. Spooked and frozen. I had no doubt that I could get her to unwind and relax when we were alone, away from prying eyes and whispers.

And damn it if she didn’t look even sexier in the passenger seat of my Ferrari.

“What kind of music do you like?” I asked her, reaching for the illuminated touch screen. “It’s satellite so the choices are pretty much endless.”

She tore her eyes away from the window and glanced at the screen. “What do you like?”

I flicked to my favorite station, an eclectic mix station that played a little bit of everything. “I’m not picky when it comes to music.”

Unless it was being played in the bedroom. Then I had very specific tastes.

Grace smiled slightly and gave a nod. “I grew up in Oklahoma, actually. Most people would assume I like country music and they’d be right.”

I chuckled. “That’s great. From what I’ve seen, you could rock the hell out of some Daisy Duke’s.”

She blushed and it turned me the fuck on. Whenever I complimented her, she acted like it was the first time anyone had ever said anything like that to her. Something I found hard to believe.

“Where are we going?” she asked, shifting her focus back out the front windshield.

“The beach.” I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Her expression didn’t change. “Do you like the beach?”

“Yeah. Sure.” She smiled a little wider. “It would be kind of silly to pick a school in Florida if I didn’t…right?”

I chuckled. “Fair enough. You been here all four years?”

“Yeah. The first two years I went home during the summer, but now I have an apartment and stay here most of the time year round.”

“What part of Oklahoma are you from?”

“Oklahoma City.”

My eyebrow lifted. “Really?”

She ducked her chin. “Yeah.”

“So, you a big Warriors fan then? You gonna be cheering me on when the season starts?”

She laughed and I sat back, letting the gentle sound wash over me. “I guess I’ll have to…” She shot me a look that bordered on sassy.

Finally! Some spark! I knew it was there.

What other facets was she hiding just out of sight? I grinned, relishing in the journey ahead. I’d uncover all of her secrets. She’d surrender her trust to me. Time. All I needed was time.

“Do you like it so far?” she asked. “Oklahoma City, I mean.”

I shrugged. “I haven’t had much of a chance to go out. I moved up two weeks ago and spent most of that time unpacking. Some great take-out places nearby. That’s all I know.”

Grace smiled. “That’s a start, I suppose.”

“Will you be there when school is out this summer?”

“I don’t know yet.”

I turned off the highway and whipped around the curved road leading away from the main road. I’d spent enough time in Vero Beach to know the hot spots during spring training. Grace likely knew them too. That wasn’t what I wanted though, and I had a feeling it wasn’t really her thing, either. I didn’t need loud, frat house music, a bunch of meatheads fist-pumping around a keg, and I certainly didn’t need a bunch of jealous bitches spooking her just as I finally got her to relax and open up.

No, it would be just me and her.

The headlights sensed the low light as the sun began to set and flashed on. “There’s this little tavern out here that I swear, has the best damn fish and chips of anyplace I’ve ever been.”

“Cooper’s,” Grace said with a smile.

Our eyes met in the soft light of the interior of the cab and we smiled at one another. “That’s the spot.”

The road wound through the small beach-side community and I took the streets like a local. Ten minutes later, I found a front row spot and pulled in. There were three other cars in the lot. It was one of those local legends that didn’t get a lot of press but had the best food. In all the years I’d been coming to Vero Beach, I’d made it a point to get to Cooper’s at least a few times. It was one place I could count on for a slice of peace and quiet among the press events, preseason interviews, and endless noise and chatter among players, coaches, and team execs.

And, it was the perfect place to get closer to Grace. Then, when dinner was over, the ocean was only steps away and if I was lucky, I’d get her to tap into the secret side of herself she kept tucked away.

***

Halfway through dinner, I was dying to have her. Every move she made put my thoughts into overdrive. The way she pursed her lips around her straw had me dreaming of them wrapped around my cock. I bet her sweet lips were as soft as velvet. She had no idea what she was doing to me, but I liked it.

Other dudes in the restaurant looked her way. I encouraged them to put their eyes back in their skulls with a glower. No one else was going to get so much as a pick-up line or suggestive smile in as long as I was around.

Grace didn’t even notice the extra attention. I’d watched her for a few days and already knew she had no fucking clue how damn beautiful she was. Not one single clue.

In fact, she didn’t seem to notice much of anything. Her eyes scanned the room but didn’t stop long enough to take any of it in. It was more that she couldn’t seem to stay still. Let alone rest her eyes on me. She was closed up tight. Guarded. But when I caught her sneaking peeks, her cheeks went red, and I knew her mind was thinking about something other than the food.

“Can I ask why you don’t drink?” I asked, leaning back as the end of the meal approached. I’d ordered a whiskey on the rocks and was still nursing it. She’d turned down my offer to buy her a drink or split a bottle of wine.

Grace looked up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She ducked her chin for a moment and then met my eyes, one of the first times since we’d sat down. “It’s—well, it’s not something I really talk about. Normally, I just say I don’t like the way it tastes. But…” she trailed off as her eyes bounced from mine. Searching for something.

I inclined my head and lowered my voice. “You can tell me anything, Grace. Secrets are all safe with me.”

“My mama used to drink a lot. She’s been sober for three years now. I know it’s not necessarily hereditary, but we never drink alcohol at home, out of respect for her, and I guess even when I’m out, I just prefer to stay away from it.”

Her answer surprised me. I was rarely at a loss for words. But genuinely didn’t know what was supposed to come next.

Grace filled in the blank space with a wave of her hand. “She’s doing really well now and is really happy. So it could have been, ya know, a lot worse.”

“Right.” I nodded and glanced down at my whiskey. “Would you prefer I not drink when we’re together?”

Grace shook her head. “You can do whatever you like. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

She looked so small on the other side of the table. Her shoulders somehow folded in on themselves. What other secrets was she hiding behind her soft, doe eyes and sweet smile?

“Tell me something else about your family?” I found myself asking, despite the fact that it was a question I never asked a woman I wanted to sleep with. There wasn’t room for intimate details and long family histories in what was usually a straight-forward transaction. But with Grace, my curiosity was awakened and it wanted to know more than just the way she’d feel underneath me or the sweet moans I could bring forth from her lips.

“Well, I have an older brother. Jake. He’s eight years older and has a wife and two kids. They live in Maryland now. He and his wife are both lawyers. My parents divorced when I was five. I think I was some kind of last-ditch effort at saving their marriage. It didn’t work.” She paused to reflect for a moment. Her lips twisted and I wondered if she was going to cry. But when she met my eyes again, they were dry. “Anyway, my daddy kind of went classic divorced dad. He tried to buy us everything under the sun to make it all go away. Mama started drinking…things were kind of a mess for a little while. But the last few years have been good. Mama lives here in Florida. Part of the reason I chose to go to school here, and Daddy lives in Oklahoma City. Like I said before.”

“I have two older sisters,” I told her. “I was their living baby doll growing up.”

Grace laughed. “I can’t picture that.”

I chuckled. “I’m sure there are pictures somewhere…”

“I bet the media would have a heyday!”

I groaned and threw back the last sip of whiskey. It warmed through me on the way down. I set the tumbler aside and reached across the table to capture Grace’s hand. It was so small compared to mine. Thin, tapered fingers, bearing no rings or even any nail polish. I glanced up from her hand. She hardly wore any makeup. Little freckles dashed over the bridge of her nose. She looked…fresh. Clean.

I didn’t really have a type of woman, but usually the women I ended up with were older than Grace. They also liked the finer things in life. Hot cars, designer clothes, and exotic vacations. The kind of women who liked to see and be seen. They usually didn’t have much to say on anything important. They usually didn’t know anything about sports—even baseball—and only attended games as a social hour. As much as I despised socialites and wannabe actresses, they tended to be the types most readily available through the season. Media events, magazine shoots, press tours. They all provided ample amounts of big-tittied, single women who were chomping at the bit to get into my pants. They were fine for a quick fuck, but when it came to something more tangible, I hadn’t found the right girl.

Grace was different in so many ways and yet, I found myself getting pulled deeper and deeper, intrigued by the fact that she wasn’t like any girl I’d ever hung out with.

As the waitress came to take away our plates and offer us dessert, I declined. I knew what I wanted next wasn’t anywhere on the menu.