Mickie held her stomach, which churned as she followed Gray into the kitchen.  She was glad he was pouring the wine, because she definitely need it.  He opened the drawer and found her corkscrew, then went to work on the bottle.  She walked to the cabinet to find wine glasses.

Tiptoeing, she reached up to the second shelf and wiggled her fingers to find the base of a glass and drag it toward the edge.  Suddenly, heat surrounded her, a firm body pressed into her and Mickie stiffened as the need to turn around and put her arms around him overwhelmed her.  He’s not here for that—he’s here to apologize, she reminded herself, taking a deep breath.  And he’s dead to you unless he does a really good job of it. 

But she was so tired of the pain. Tired and ready to wave a white flag, because the man who could stop that pain was here, right behind her.

“I’m sorry,” he said, taking a step back.

Mickie was sorry too, because her body immediately missed his heat.  Resting back on her heels, Mickie braced her hands on the counter and dropped her head, trying to fight the tears she refused to shed.

“No, I’m sorry,” she said, her insides quaking.  “For being so harsh, for pretending to be a hard ass. I’m not—I’m struggling with this too.” A tremor rocked her, and her fingers curled into her palms. “That’s why I was going to see the priest.”  She took a deep breath. “My heart hurts so bad, I can barely breathe sometimes.”

“I was going to make a doctor’s appointment,” Gray said, stepping up behind her again to nuzzle his face in her hair. “But I think I know what the problem is now.”  He put his hands on her shoulders and electricity sizzled down her body when he turned her to face him. He tipped up her chin with his finger, and his gray-green eyes bored into hers. “The good news is I think I’ve found the cure.”

His eyes fell to her mouth, and it dropped open.  He lowered his head toward hers and the air between their mouths became electric. When his mouth melded with hers, Mickie’s soul sighed.  This is what she’d been missing—and definitely the cure to what ailed her, she thought, putting her hand to his face. She nipped his lips, sucked at their delicious flavor and he moaned. She coaxed his mouth open with her tongue and sighed when his tongue met hers.

Pleasure, desire, and relief made her dizzy as she rubbed herself against him to beg him for more.  When he pulled away, that coldness returned and she hugged herself.

 

“I have some apologizing to do first—and a grand gesture to make,” he explained, with a shuddering sigh as he scrubbed a hand over his face.  “You’ve only seen part of it and you deserve the whole ravioli.” 

The whole ravioli made her think of the food he delivered to her the other night, and laughter surprised her when it bubbled past her lips. “I dumped that on your shirt, and I was sorry later, because it smelled delicious. Tito seemed to enjoy it.”

“It was a bribe. If he likes me, maybe he’ll put in a good woof for me,” Gray said, his eyes sparkling with laughter. He took a step toward her, bent and Mickie squealed when he swept her up in his arms.

“Wow, you really are pulling out all the stops aren’t you?” she asked, totally blown away by the man who showed up on her doorstep today. He was Grayson Jennings, just a lot more romantic—softer, and definitely more appealing, if that was possible.

“Every last one of them, because you’re worth it, baby, so put on your seat belt and prepare to be wooed,” Gray replied. 

Mickie put her arms around his neck instead, and the scent of his intoxicating cologne invaded her senses as he carried her to the sofa and set her down.

“You had me at tattoo, Mr. Dill,” she said, waggling her eyebrows.  That was the most romantic thing he could have done. That gesture alone was grand enough to seal her forgiveness.

She watched him walk back to the kitchen and pour two glasses of wine. He drank his down there, which verified he was as nervous as she was—definitely endearing.  He smacked his lips as he walked back to her and Mickie wanted to taste the wine on his mouth, not in the glass, but he seemed determined to continue with his grand plan.

“Drink up—” he said, waggling his eyebrows as he handed her the glass. “I remember how you react when you’re high on cheap wine.”

The massage at the beach house. The thought made her lady parts sizzle, as she brought the glass to her lips for a sip.  “You just want to get me drunk and take advantage of me,” she said, flirting with him under her lashes.  Surely he’d get the hint he was forgiven soon?  She was more than ready to get to the make-up sex part of this program.  It almost worked. His eyes sparked and he lunged forward, but frustrated her when he caught himself. 

“Stop distracting me, Sonia. I’m going to finish this,” he growled.  He adjusted himself as he turned toward the table and she knew she was very close to winning this battle.

But wait. Who in the hell was Sonia? Was that someone he had been dating?  Anger pushed the wine back up into her throat.

“Sonia?” she repeated loudly.

Gray didn’t answer, he shoved his hand into the bag and brought out a box of some kind.  He didn’t meet her eyes when he handed it to her, and that made her very suspicious.  Maybe he should be giving these gifts to Sonia, if he couldn’t remember her name.

Mickie quickly opened the box and pulled out the book. She turned it over and saw a familiar couple on the cover.  Her eyes streaked to the title and excitement tickled her belly as she clutched it to her chest and smiled at him.

“Ryker’s Revenge—Sonia!” she squealed, and he smiled a smile that made her heart swell so big she wasn’t sure her chest could hold it. 

He really had gone above and beyond with this. This was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for her. It couldn’t have been easy to find this out-of-print book. He had to search used bookstores to find it.  That he even remembered the title, said he cared. 

“Yeah, I found it at a used bookstore.  I shouldn’t have taken it without your permission, and I apologize.  I had to find it to finish it, though, because you said it was a playbook to making you happy.” The playfulness left his eyes, and they became intense. “I want to do that more than I want to breathe, Michaela.”

Oh, Dio! This man had stepped off of the pages of that book and came to life.  She didn’t need a romance novel—he was romance personified.  Her eyes filled, and her lips wobbled up into a smile. “You already have all the right moves, Ryker—you don’t need a playbook.” The idea of role playing some of the scenes in the book with him titillated her and she bit back a groan. “Thank you for the book. It irks the heck out of me not to finish one.”

“We have that in common, then,” he said with a wink.  “And I promise not to read your books again without permission, as long as you promise not to store them in the barbecue pit.”

Laughter surged up from her stomach and burst past her lips. Mickie swiped her finger over her heart in an X. “I promise.” That I am never going to let you leave me.

She thought there couldn’t possibly be more, but Gray turned again to walk back to the bag. She frowned as she tried to figure out what was in his hand.

“I know all your secrets now, thanks to your mother,” he said, grinning from ear-to-ear. “Even the recipe for your Nonna’s magical massage oil.”

Anger stirred inside her, but confusion replaced it. “You talked to my mama?”

Infiltrating her family might just be pushing things too far right now.  She hadn’t even talked to them about him.  But hey, he’d met all of her brothers except Marco…and now her mother.

“I would have talked to your father, but he was at work,” Gray replied, and Mickie bit her tongue. It was probably a good thing he wasn’t home, she thought. Things might not have turned out as well as they did with her mother, who could be charmed very easily.

“Why did you go to visit my family at all?” she asked, because she had to know.

He grinned, and his face flushed. “Dante said I had to ask them first for permission to date you, so I did.”

“Dante needs to mind his own business,” Mickie growled, adding a conversation with him to her things to do list.

“No, he was a huge help to me,” Gray said, holding up his hand. “If he hadn’t told me the story about your parents’ courtship, I probably wouldn’t be standing here. She said no—and that is the only way I got her permission. It took me an hour to convince her to let me in the house, because your brothers had filled her in about us.”

She added having a conversation with Matteo and Dom to her list, too.  She might just have to have a family meeting to cover them all at one time. They did not need to be meddling in her affairs.

“I now have your mother’s permission to date you, but I need yours, too.” He set the bottle of oil on the table, then smiled at her. “This oil is proof we have her blessing and I plan to give you a massage with it once we get through this.”

Madre di Dio was this man trying to kill her!?!  Mickie shivered as lightning bolts shot through her body to electrify her skin. This wooing had been very effective, but it was over. She was ready for that massage.

“You’re forgiven, so let’s get to the massage part of this gesture,” she said, standing to hold her hand out to him across the table.  But he didn’t take it, he shook his head. 

“No—not until I’m done. You can’t forgive me yet, because I haven’t gotten to the apology.”  Gray walked back to the table again, and Mickie plopped down on the sofa. 

“This is an olive branch I got from the tree in the backyard at your mom’s house,” he said, leaning over to hand it to her. 

“Michaela Girabaldi, I’m giving this branch to you to say I’m sorry for not trusting you, sorrier for not believing you, and as a promise that I will never doubt you again.”

That smoldering stare of his burned those words into her heart. He meant them, and a weight lifted from her shoulders as her eyes filled up to the brim.

“You’re making me cry,” she said, her lower lip trembling as she fought the tears.

“Don’t tell Dante for God’s sake,” Gray said with a bubbling laugh. “I’d hate to have to molest his car after he just got it fixed.”

Her head rocked back on her shoulders.  Why in the world would he be worried about Dante right now?  “What?” she asked, laughing through her tears.

Gray ignored her to turn back to the table, but his steps were slower and more measured.  She saw his back stiffen as he reached inside the bag again and she tensed too.

When he turned back, Mickie’s eyes locked on the navy velvet box in his hand. Her heart stopped, her breathing stopped.  She put her hand to her throat to claw for air. 

Gray didn’t notice she was dying, he was too busy pushing the coffee table to the side and she knew why.  Or she thought she knew why.  His grandest gesture she thought, watching as he dropped to his knees in front of her.  He flipped open the lid on the box, Mickie’s eyes locked on the olive-sized yellow diamond and she felt like she would black out.

“No, no no!” she wailed as a rush of breath finally filled her lungs.

Gray swayed and he looked shell-shocked.  His eyes turned red, and he dragged them away to snap the box shut.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and tried to stand.

He thought she was turning him down.  Panic shot through her as she shot forward and dropped her hand on his shoulder to push him back down.  More breath returned and her heart raced under her rib cage as she scrambled off the sofa to cradle his face between her hands.

“It’s too much—you spent too much. I don’t need that olive-sized ring on my finger, Grayson—all I need is you,” Mickie said, as his hollow, haunted eyes met hers. It was time for her grand gesture. “I love you, mi angelo, and yes, I want to marry you.”

Gray’s body sagged and his breath escaped in a whoosh.  Mickie kissed him frantically and found the hem of his shirt.  She pulled it up to his armpits.

“Lift your arms, Gray—I want my massage now!” she ordered, breathing hard as she kissed her way up his neck to his ear.

“Wait!” he said, dragging in a breath.  “I need to finish this, because that was not the proposal I’ve practiced all day.  I planned all this out, but you are always distracting me and wrecking my plans.  I have to say this to you—you deserve to hear me say it,” he growled, his breathing even harsher, his pulse pounding at the side of his throat.  “Dante warned me—and twenty years from now, I don’t want to hear you complaining about how I didn’t give you a proper proposal.”

Dante again.  Yep, they were definitely going to have a talk.  Mickie moved away to rest on her haunches.

“Can I have the short version, please?” she asked, leaning in to kiss him.  He grabbed her arms and held her there, trapped her eyes with his.

“Michaela Girabaldi,” he said swallowing hard. “You are chaotic, loud, fiery, and colorful—a hot mess by Texas standards. But you are perfect for me, because I am staid, boring, a slow burn, and gray most of the time.  I have no idea why you love me, because we are polar opposites, but I love every damned thing about you, even the things that irritate me.  I want you to distract me for the rest of my life…” He drew in three sharp breaths and his nostrils flared. “And maybe twice on Sunday.” 

That was about as un-romantic and chaotic a proposal as he could have delivered, Mickie thought, stifling a giggle.  And she would bet it bore no resemblance to the one he practiced all day.  He was much too organized for that.  But she had let him deliver it and he looked relieved, so that was all that mattered.

“Why just twice on Sunday?” Mickie asked, sliding her arms around his neck to nip his ear.  He growled as she sucked it into her mouth then released it with a pop. “Can I have my massage now, Mr. Dill?  I promise to give you a happy ending.”

 

P

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed GRAY MATTER.  If you did, I would greatly appreciate you leaving a review where you purchased your copy.  If you would like to get the recipe for Nonna’s Magic Massage Oil, and a bonus chapter to Gray Matter really soon, just sign up for my newsletter here, so you don’t miss out:   

Hawk’s story, Hard Landing, will be next in the Deep Six series and I’m really excited about it because I love his character.  He’s been around since the beginning of the series, so he deserves his happily-ever-after.  I think there’s a lot more going on behind those aviator shades and that sexy toothpaste commercial smile.  I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready and I’ll keep you up to date.  I’ll be revealing the cover for Hard Landing later in the year in my newsletter first. 

I know you’ll ask, because I fell in love with the Italian Stallion too. Deep Six East will be coming next year and Dante’s story will be the first in the new series.  I can’t wait to write his story, because he almost tried to take over this one.

If you’d like to read more in the Deep Six Security series, you can find it here:

My other two series are western romantic suspense with hot cowboys, a dash of suspense and a lot of southern humor.  If hot cowboys are your flavor, you can find plenty here:

Texas Trouble: 

The Cowboy Way: