Chapter Twenty-Six
Emily
I felt so much better now that I’d told Grant about my father. I felt like I could better deal with the situation, and I was glad that he was so willing to be there for me and help. Also, a night of pretending that he was my boyfriend didn’t actually sound half bad.
I looked at Grant and smiled. Terra might think that I’m good in bed, but the truth was that I hadn’t slept with many guys. I didn’t believe in sleeping around, and before Grant, it had been a long time since I’d even been with anyone. But now that he was in my life, I wanted him more than I’d ever thought possible.
We were sitting on the sofa, our bodies close.
“You know,” I whispered as my fingers moved up his leg. “You’re helping me out so much with this man who claims to be my father. Not just that, but you helped me when my house burned down, and you helped me move all this furniture into the new house. I think I owe you.”
“Oh yeah?” he said and grinned back at me. “And how exactly do you intend to repay me?”
I took off my shirt. Then I stood up and took off the rest of my clothes. While I was completely naked, I walked over to the other side of the room and dimmed the lights.
“Light dimmers,” I said. “Another reason I wanted this house.”
I walked over the stereo and put on some music.
“And why exactly do you still have your clothes on . . . Patriot?” I said. He grinned at me. I could tell that he liked it when I called him that name. In this new town, away from his old life, it felt like a little secret just between the two of us. And I liked that.
I watched as he stood up and took off his clothes. As with the other times, I was always taken aback at how strong and muscular he was from working out in the sun all day. He walked up to me, kissed me passionately, and then picked me up and put me on the sofa.
“We’re going to kiss on every bit of furniture you own,” he said.
And that was exactly what we did. We moved from room to room. Kissing on sofas, on kitchen counters, on cabinets, against the wall, until finally ending up in the bedroom. I liked that I now had a memory of him in every single room. I liked how much bigger he was than me and how much control he had over me as he picked me up and put me wherever he wanted to. With him, I felt secure, safe, protected.
“And now,” he said as he placed me on the bed, “you’re all mine.”
He leaned down and moved on top of me. He was so hard, and I was so wet, that he fit inside me quickly and easily, and I gasped at the feel of him inside me. I’d begged him to come inside me on the sofa and the kitchen counter, but he’d made me wait until we were in the bedroom. I grabbed onto his waist and pulled him deeper inside me, and I smiled in pleasure as I saw how excited he was.
“Em, I’m so close,” he whispered.
I could feel him start to pull away but I was too close, so I held on and thrust against him. He looked at me and then closed his eyes. I kept mine open and watched his face as he came inside me. Just seeing how good it was for him made it even better for me.
Afterward, my entire body shivered with pleasure as he moved off me and lay beside me.
“Well, I didn’t think it was possible,” I said, “but I think I like my house even more now.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, so do I. I’ve never met anyone like you, Em. Did you know you were this good in bed?”
I laughed. “Did I know? I still don’t know.”
“Oh, well let me inform you then. You, Miss Emily Wessler, are incredible at sex.”
“I’ll be honest, Grant; I think it’s you that makes me that way. You drive me insane.”
He grinned. “I do? I can live with that.”
We lay there for a while, just holding each other. I pulled the blankets up as it was starting to feel cold, and I realized that I’d never felt as happy as I did at that moment.
“The weather is crazy these days,” he said as he cuddled in closer. “One minute it’s boiling hot, the next its freezing.”
“Well, that’s mostly because we’re naked right now. It’s probably good that you don’t walk around like this on the ranch. Or at the fire department too. I would hate your body to be exposed to a fire.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I think I’ll keep my nakedness for you, thank you very much.”
“I’m good with that,” I said.
We lay there and spoke for a while and I began to drowse. I could feel my eyes closing, and I thought about asking him to stay. I didn’t want him to think that he had to rush into anything with me though, and asking him to stay would only make him think that I wanted something serious. I still hadn’t quite figured out what he wanted from me or even from this town. He didn’t seem sure of it himself sometimes. But then he leaned over and kissed me gently, and I couldn’t help but just ask.
“Want to sleep over?” I said as casually as possible.
“I wish I could, but it’s my first day at the fire department tomorrow, and I’m starting early, so I think I need to be home. If I’m here with you, I’m going to be far too distracted to sleep.”
I smiled and told him that it was okay, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he only saw me as someone to have sex with. We still hadn’t spoken about what this thing between us really was. It had all just happened so quickly, and now I didn’t want to be the one that mentioned it. But it was nice having him there, and I couldn’t deny that the sex was amazing. I’d just have to accept that he might not be here to stay. He got out of bed and started to change, and I climbed out too and put my robe on.
“So, I was thinking of organizing the dinner with my father, or not my father, whatever that turns out to be, for Thursday. Does that work for you?”
He smiled and kissed me on the forehead. “That works for me. I will definitely be there, Em.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate you doing this for me. And good luck for tomorrow. You’ve got this, Grant!”
I waited until he left and then I climbed back into bed and called Terra.
“Hey you, how’s it going? Flip, great minds! I was just about to call you.”
“You were? I think now that we lived together we’re a bit more in sync, don’t you think? Or have we always been like that?”
“We’ve always been like that. So, what’s up?”
“Grant just left, and I thought I’d call and tell you that I’m going to see my father. I’m going to organize it for Thursday I think.”
“What? Are you serious? And Grant was okay with that? I thought he’d agree with me that it might be dangerous.”
“He did agree with you, actually. But I asked him to come with me and pretend to be my boyfriend. That way he can protect me whether it is my father or not. I need to do this, Terra. I need to know who he is, no matter what the outcome. I know I won’t be happy until I do.”
She sighed. “I get it, Em. It’s easy for me to tell you what to do from the outside, but if I were in your shoes, I’d probably do the same thing. I know I would. But I’m so glad that you’ve asked Grant to come with you. That makes me feel a lot better.”
“Thanks for understanding, Terra. So, help me get my mind off all of this. Tell me something interesting.”
“I slept with Brady.”
I sat up straight and gasped. “WHAT? Okay, are you kidding me?”
She laughed. “I’m not. He left something at my house that day he was helping you move. He came to get it, and one thing led to another.”
“Wow. And, how was it?”
“It was amazing. Mind blowing, to be honest.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. He’s probably the best I’ve ever had, and I’m not joking. It was honestly that good. But I’m not sure I’m going to see him again.”
“What? Why not? How do you go from mind blowing sex to not seeing the person again? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Brady doesn’t make all that much sense. He’s a strange character, that one. The sex was great, and I could tell he loved it too. But afterward, he acted all aloof. It’s like he doesn’t know what he wants in life. And to be honest, Em, I’m not sure I want to be the one to tell him what he wants. He needs to figure that out for himself. So, we’ll see what happens. But right now I’m not sure if anything is going to happen.”
“Are you okay?” Although I wasn’t all that surprised in a way. Brady was a nice guy, but there was something about him that confused me. Something about him that I didn’t quite understand.
“I’m okay,” she said. “At least I got some good sex out of it.”
I chuckled. “I love you, Terra.”
“I love you too, Em.”
I put down the phone and thought about everything she’d said. Was Grant just like Brady? Were all the Maxwell brothers this confused about life and what they wanted?