CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I knocked on Gracin’s door at six the next morning. It’d only been four hours since I left the cabin. I could still feel his lips, his silky skin against mine.
Gracin opened the door, in his boxers from the night before. I smiled, shyness sweeping over me. Normally, I was bold and brutally honest. With Gracin, it was different.
“Good morning, sunshine,” I said through a slight strain in my voice. “We running this morning?”
Gracin’s sly grin filled his face. “Kind of ran a marathon last night.” He stepped back from the door to let me in. “Best marathon of my life.”
My knees wobbled as I tried to walk with confidence into his cabin. “The best, huh?”
The door closed with a quiet click and Gracin pressed his body against my back. His arms snaked around my waist as his lips found that spot just beneath my ear. I leaned into him, wrapping my arm around his neck.
“Oh, yeah. I’m not sure it’s over either.” His fingers grazed the bare skin on my stomach. Holy hell, this was not what I’d expected this morning. “If you’re up for it.”
I was up for it, but I wanted to make him work this time. “After our run”—I turned around and captured his lips with mine—“maybe we can hit the showers.”
Gracin moaned against my mouth. My entire body turned into a boneless pile of goo. Maybe running wasn’t a good idea.
“Deal,” he said and kissed me again.
He let me go, and I sunk into the couch. My legs finally regained some form of muscle mass when he came back in his usual running attire. That outfit made me have more doubts about running.
We stretched without pawing at one another and started our run in silence. It wasn’t the uncomfortable quiet we’d experienced in the last week, but the peaceful kind we’d had before the first kiss. Gracin set a slow pace, and we made it a mile before the inevitable conversation began. We needed to talk before anything else happened. The fact we would both leave at the end of summer still hung between us. I didn’t want it to spoil what time we had together.
“We should probably lay all our cards on the table,” I said as our breaths hit the same rhythm.
Gracin tensed beside me, almost stumbling on a crack in the sidewalk. “Go ahead.”
“You already said you can’t and won’t do a long-distance relationship.” I hated saying this, but it had to be out there. We needed to agree this relationship had a time limit, even if that’s not what I wanted. It was all Gracin could give me. The sooner he knew I accepted the situation the better. “So, we agree we are just for this summer. When I leave for school, we …” I gulped the lump forming in my throat. “We agree to mutually stop. No phone calls. No texts. No emails. No contact. We go our separate ways.”
Gracin stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. I made it three steps before realizing he wasn’t beside me. I turned around to the eyebrow battle.
“You said … I don’t want to walk away from us with any regrets or hard feelings,” I said as I cautiously walked back to him. “Let’s make the most of what time we have together without ruining it for something we both know we can’t have.”
“You mean that?” His shoulders fell. “We don’t try if we want to?”
“You said you couldn’t, so I think this is what’s best.” I lied through my teeth. It left a welling of bile in my stomach. “Don’t you agree?”
Gracin shifted from foot to foot before looking me in the eye. “If that’s what you want.”
I rose onto my tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on his dry lips. “We’ve got plenty of time to make a whole assload of memories.” Ones I will cherish.
Slowly he nodded in agreement. “Okay.”
I should’ve been elated, but my heart sunk to my heels. We started running again, not bringing up anything other than work until we got back to his cabin. The cool air from the vents made me shiver as soon as I stepped inside. Gracin let the door close with a thud. He stood in front of me with a slight scowl.
He wasn’t going to push me away after last night or because of our conversation. I moved toward him, sliding my arms around his waist. Gracin’s hands moved to my hips as he rested his forehead against mine. God, I loved that. It was intimate and loving at the same time. I shook the word “loving” out of my head. It was one emotion neither one of us could afford.
I bent my neck and seized his lips. Gracin kissed me with a slow, burning passion. It was ten times more intense than anything last night. I melted against him, forgetting everything we’d talked about to just experience being with Gracin Ford. We needed to leave emotion out of it, but it was too late for me. I already cared for him more than I should. He didn’t need to know that, though. I had to keep myself in check so I didn’t slip farther into the danger zone. He’d already had his heart broken once, no reason for me to be the one to do it again.
∞ ∞ ∞
Bliss, that was the only word to describe the next several days. June was coming to an end, which meant Gracin and I had about eight more weeks together. I planned on making each day the best it could possibly be. Wednesday after the concert, I held out a pair of tickets to the final showing of the latest action movie. Guns and explosions sounded like a great prequel to the fireworks that would happen afterwards.
“A movie?” Gracin eyed the tickets in my hand. “You sure you want to be seen with me in public?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “You sure you want to be seen with me? I’m the bad girl here.”
Gracin slid his hand around my waist and pressed his body against mine. “So bad, you’re good.”
I actually giggled before kissing his nose. “You know it, baby. Now get your ass in gear so we don’t miss the previews.”
The door to Gracin’s dressing room opened without warning. We jumped away from each other before the culprit could catch us. We hadn’t come right out and said we needed to keep our relationship secret, but it seemed logical. First of all, it wasn’t anyone’s business. Second, I didn’t want to be part of unwanted gossip, even if I’d experienced it most of my life. Thirdly, when this ended, I didn’t want to be the pity of everyone.
“Nice show tonight, son,” Albert Ford said as he stepped into the room. He glanced between us before settling his glare on me. “Hello, Miss Reynolds. I didn’t realize you’d still be here this late.”
I’d had the foresight to shove the tickets into my back pocket when I realized who was interrupting us. “I’m always here this late, Mr. Ford. Gracin and I usually spend some time planning for the next day after each show. I like to stay on top of things.”
“I’m sure you do,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “If you’ll excuse us for a moment, I need to have a word with my son. Whatever you need to discuss with him can wait until tomorrow. Goodnight, Miss Reynolds.”
I stared at him, trying to comprehend the ease at which he dismissed me. I didn’t like it and wasn’t going to keep my mouth shut until Gracin cleared his throat. I tore my gaze off Albert and met Gracin’s.
“I’ll see you later, Carly.” The defeat in his voice tore through my heart. Gracin wouldn’t look at me as I stood there completely dumfounded.
I wanted to rush up to Albert and kick him in the shin. I wanted to pull out the rest of his comb-over. Instead, I walked out the door, slamming it behind me.
Then I leaned my ear against it so I wouldn’t miss a single word between them.
“What do you want, Dad?”
“You’re not sleeping with her, are you?” Disgust laced through Albert’s words.
“Jesus, Dad. That’s none of your business.” I heard the chair move and imagined Gracin collapsing into it.
“She’s a fucking redneck. You’ve been with runway models.” Something tapped against the door. “But I’m sure she’s a good enough distraction while you’re here. Anyway, I didn’t show up to talk about your sex life. I heard from your old bandmate Jay Edison. He’s trying to get Accentuate together for a reunion tour. Naturally, I told him you’re in.”
“I don’t want to –”
“Grow some balls, son. Just because things didn’t end well doesn’t mean you can’t suck it up and go on tour. Think of the money. Plus you wouldn’t have to come back to this hellhole again.” Something slapped against something else. “This is a good thing.”
Gracin sighed. “If you already agreed, why’d you bother to tell me?”
“Courtesy.”
“Whatever, Dad.”
“Glad to see we’re on the same page, son.” There was a pause. “And don’t get too attached to the redneck. There’s better fish in the sea.”
I took off running down the hall and steps until I was outside. The fresh air filled my lungs, swelling against the growing anger inside. I didn’t expect Gracin to stand up for me, but to take that shit from his father was incomprehensible. But what did I know. I was just another redneck and a notch in Gracin’s bedpost according to his father. Maybe I needed to show that jerk that I was so much more, that I was better than all of those bimbo models put together. It wouldn’t be hard. My anger deflated a little at one simple realization: It wouldn’t be hard, but it wouldn’t be necessary either. The clock had been counting down my relationship with Gracin from the beginning. It wasn’t about to change just because I wanted to prove to Albert Ford I wasn’t some redneck hussy.
Albert walked out of the theater and saw me leaning against the truck. He had no clue Gracin and I came to the theater together every day, even before we were friends with benefits.
“Did you need something else, Miss Reynolds?” He strolled up to me as if he was taking a walk along the beach.
I gave him my best smile. “Why, no sirree Bob, I’s good right where I is,” I said with the worst country twang this side of the Mississippi.
He stopped and lost all his swagger. “I take it you overheard my conversation with my son. What would your father think?”
“What would he think of you calling his daughter a redneck slut? Or what would he think of how you referred to his theater as a hellhole? Knowing my father, you wouldn’t even be able to set foot into a karaoke bar if he heard what you said.” I didn’t let my smile waver one bit as I steered the conversation away from Dad. “Now, if you must know why I’m here, I left my scooter at the cabin and rode to the theater with Gracin, as we’ve done since his truck arrived. Without any, oh how would a redneck say it, without any hanky panky going on.”
“You’ve got a smart mouth, little girl.” There was the Albert Ford I’d seen with Gracin. All malice and threats, but not a single bite.
“You wouldn’t want me to run to Daddy, would you? Lose all the money you’re raking in from Gracin’s performances?” He flinched and I kept on attacking. “What would you do if Gracin decided to quit singing, Al? My best guess is you’d be broke and living in a box on the side of the road.”
“Don’t threaten me. My son would never let that happen. And I won’t let white trash like you corrupt his mind.” He pointed at me, almost sticking his finger where I could bite it off. “You keep your panties on around him. If I find out you’re fucking my son, I’ll ruin you.”
I leaned in so he wouldn’t miss a single word. “Try it, Al. I’m not the one who’ll be ruined.”
Albert stared at me for several seconds before stepping back with his fake smile plastered across his face. “Very well, Miss Reynolds. I see we won’t come to any kind of agreement. Just remember what I said tonight when you’re spreading your legs. A little redneck bitch like you won’t change the course I’ve set for my son.”
He turned on his heel and sauntered to the rented BMW parked at the other end of the lot. I watched the bastard drive away until the taillights become nothing but a fading red dot in my vision.
“Hey, you waited.” Gracin walked toward me with exhaustion covering his features. A conversation with Albert Ford would do that to anyone.
I smiled, fake at first, turning genuine when I looked in Gracin’s eyes. The idea of the tour must’ve been haunting him. Hopefully, he could get out of it. But that was a problem for later. “Of course. I wasn’t about to let your father run me off, Gracin. Now,” I pulled the tickets out of my back pocket, “how about that movie?”
Gracin put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a quick kiss. “That sounds like a great idea.”