Chapter Seventeen
On Monday morning, Oscar stood in his dressing room and looked around. He’d been about to put on his usual white shirt and blue suit, but now he was second-guessing himself. He was going to the center to meet with Spider and Terry. Was a suit the most appropriate, or should he wear jeans and a T-shirt? He gave himself a rueful smile in the mirror. Grace was really getting to him—or at least her more judgmental side was. She’d admitted that she thought of him as an arrogant prick. Maybe he should be trying to give a different impression to the others? He reached for his suit. Fuck it. It was a part of who he was. Just because Grace was doing strange things to his head—and his body—he wasn’t going to start changing who he was.
Hell, she wasn’t even going to be there until tonight. She had to go to work—for Harry. A job she wouldn’t have much longer once the sale of the center went through. He shook his head. He’d managed to inadvertently turn her world on its head. To be fair, she was doing the same to him.
He was starting to believe his mom’s theory about everyone having a person—the one person they were meant to be with. More than that, he was starting to believe that Grace was his person. It was crazy, but it felt true. He sighed and finished getting dressed. He wasn’t sure that she felt the same way; in fact, if he had to bet on it, he’d say she didn’t. She’d been grateful for the trip to Montana, and she was enthusiastic about his upcoming involvement in the Center, but he wasn’t convinced that she would ever see him as part of her life—her future. He shuddered. Maybe his mom had just gotten to him? She’d fallen in love with Grace, there were no doubts about that. His dad had, too, but maybe they were just relieved that he’d finally brought a woman to meet them. He introduced them to plenty of women before, but only on social occasions where he’d been with a date. He’d never brought anyone home before—never wanted his family to meet a woman or for a woman to meet them
He started at the sound of the front door opening.
“Are you ready?” called TJ.
“Be right out.” He checked himself over in the mirror and went out to join his brother who was in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“What’s the plan for the day?”
Oscar blew out a sigh. “Not much, just cancel a new nightclub and set up a new charity instead.”
TJ chuckled. “A quiet day then.”
“Yeah, nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Okay, so where to first?”
“To the office at the club. I have a lot of calls to make.”
“Anything I can do?”
Oscar met his brother’s gaze. TJ had been a mess when he first came home—spending most of his time drinking and staring at the wall. He’d been doing better since he’d been driving for Oscar, but he’d made it very clear that he’d take things in his own time. Being a chauffeur wasn’t his goal in life, but it was enough for the time being—or at least it had been until now. “Is there anything you’d like to do?”
“I’d like to be involved; I think I can be useful.”
Oscar waited.
“I’d like to get involved at the center with the vets and wherever else I can help. I spent some time there over the weekend, just hanging out talking to the guys. We’re all in the same boat in some respects, except I’m in a better position than most. I think it’s about time I stop feeling sorry for myself and start being useful.”
Oscar grinned. “That’s awesome.”
TJ smiled back. “Thanks for not saying it’s about time.”
“I didn’t say it because I don’t think it. You’ll get there in your own time or not at all.”
“Anyway.” It seemed TJ didn’t want to get bogged down talking about himself and his own progress. “What needs to happen? I’m guessing you’re going to need to go through all kinds of inspections and permitting processes and a whole boatload of red tape. The sooner we can get those balls rolling, the better.”
“Absolutely. The first thing I need to do is talk to the lawyers and the accountants. I don’t know if this should be set up as a nonprofit or a charitable trust. We’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do. I don’t think they have any permits right now, and that’s a whole can of worms I’m not looking forward to.”
TJ smiled. “I can deal with all of that. I mean, we’re going to have to check out zoning, insurance, safety regs and a whole bunch more, I’m sure.”
“You want to take on that kind of thing?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Great. Then let’s get to the office and get to work. I’m going to be busy with legal and financial, and I’m meeting with Spider and Terry at two.”
“You mean we are?”
“Yeah. I guess I do.”
“And what about Grace?”
“She’s at work.”
TJ downed the last of his coffee and made a face. “I didn’t think about that. She just volunteers her time, outside of her job, right?”
“Yes, although she’s not going to have that job for much longer. Once the sale goes through, Harry Dressel plans to retire.”
“Why do I get the feeling that she won’t have to worry about a job?”
“What do you mean?” Oscar’s heart started to pound. Even if Grace was his person, he still wasn’t sure about the whole getting married thing—and definitely not this soon. And besides, even if they did get married someday, he couldn’t see Grace wanting to be a kept woman. It just wasn’t her.
TJ gave him a puzzled look. “From what I understand, she practically runs the center. I assumed we’d make that official and employ her.”
“Oh.” Oscar felt dumb. “Yeah.”
TJ picked the car keys up off the counter and headed to the garage. “Are you going to tell me about your trip up home?”
Oscar didn’t reply until they were both in the car and TJ started to pull out of the garage. “No. I don’t think I am.”
TJ smirked. “I didn’t think so, but that’s okay. Mom already filled me in.”
“She did?”
“Yeah. She agrees with me—Grace is special.”
Oscar shook his head. She was. But he didn’t know what that would mean.
~ ~ ~
It was six o’clock by the time Grace made it to the center. Work had been crazy busy. Harry was wrapping everything up. She’d assumed it’d take him a while after the sale went through to wrap up all his client accounts and transfer them to other CPAs. She’d been wrong. He’d gone into overdrive and was nearly ready to close up shop now.
She got off the bus, wondering what she was going to do. Louise had told her time and again that she didn’t need to worry about the rent until she found a new job. Spider had told her he’d give her all the shifts she could handle at the coffee shop, but she needed to find something. She didn’t want to depend on her friends to carry her through. She stood on her own two feet.
She took a deep breath before she opened the front door. It was time to switch her mind away from her own problems and onto the center. She’d love to think its problems were over, but she was waiting to see. Oscar was stepping in to save the place. She didn’t know yet what that would look like, and she wasn’t even sure how long it would last. So, she needed to get inside and find out. She did, but she needed a minute to prepare herself. She’d just spent an amazing weekend with the man. He’d taken her to Montana, to Yellowstone, and more than that, he’d taken her to meet his family. That was huge! But, at the same time, it was completely separate and apart from whatever he was doing here at the center. He’d wanted her to stay with him last night when they got back to LA. It was going on midnight and she’d been tempted, but she insisted he drop her at Louise’s. Did she want to spend the night with him? Of course she did, but she’d felt the need to break away from him, to draw a clear line between the guy and the girl who’d met in the elevator, and the center manager and her benefactor.
“Are you going to go in, or are you just warming the doorknob?”
She swung around to see Terry sitting behind her. “Hey, you.”
“Hey yourself. Is everything okay? They’re all waiting for you. We got a lot done this afternoon.”
“You did?” For some reason, that bothered her. It shouldn’t. The whole point of bringing Oscar on board had been so they could make progress, figure out a future for the place, but now that he was here and apparently doing just that, she felt excluded. Which was ridiculous, and she knew it.
“Yeah, come on in, so we can tell you all about it.”
She held the door open and followed him inside. Her breath caught in her throat somewhere when she spotted Oscar. He was sitting on the floor with a bunch of little kids running around him and over him. It was the most unexpected sight. He looked up and met her gaze with a smile that blew her away—it wasn’t cocky or arrogant, and it wasn’t one of his smoldering looks that made her stomach flip. It was just a genuine, fresh, happy smile. She smiled back.
He got to his feet and plucked a couple of kids off his leg as they tried to cling to him.
Terry chuckled beside her. “You’re not the only one who’s fallen in love with him, Grace. I think you’ve got some serious competition for his affection there.”
Grace sputtered. “Fallen in love with him?” She glared at Terry. “You’re back to acting crazy.”
Terry just shrugged. “I’ll let you two have a minute while I round everyone up. There’s a lot to tell you.”
Again, she had that weird feeling. She didn’t like being excluded. She got over it quickly when Oscar reached her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hello, beautiful.”
“Hey.”
“I missed you today.”
Wow. She hadn’t expected that.
“When we get done here, will you have dinner with me?”
She nodded. She needed to eat, and she didn’t have any other plans. It’d be rude to say no after the weekend he’d given her.
“And stay with me afterward?”
She met his gaze. Still no cockiness, no smirk, just a question in his eyes. She nodded again. She could make a dozen excuses—about work in the morning and needing to get home and not having a change of clothes—but they’d only be excuses. She didn’t know what was going on with him, but she didn’t need to. She needed to stop complicating it. A hot guy, who she already knew was great in bed, had just asked her to stay the night with him. Why would she say no?
“Hey, Gracie, come on.” Spider waved them over to where they’d pulled four of the cafeteria style tables together.
Oscar put his hand in the small of her back as they made their way over. It seemed as though heat radiated out from his fingertips and flowed through her whole body. Hell yeah, she’d stay with him tonight—and it would only be because he made her so horny. It would have nothing at all to do with the fact that being so close to him again made her feel relaxed, and happy—like she’d come home.
~ ~ ~
The week flew by. It was Friday before Oscar had a chance to catch up with himself. They’d made a lot of progress. TJ was taking care of all kinds of red tape—and mending fences with various departments of the city and county governments which Grace had managed to sidestep for the last few years.
Oscar had spent his days in a whirlwind of meetings and phone calls. He’d broken contracts with suppliers he’d had lined up for the new nightclub. He’d managed to switch some of the contractors over to do work for the shelter, but he’d trodden on some toes, too. So, be it. It was all for the greater good.
TJ had come back to life in a big way. He worked tirelessly with the bureaucracy and then spent the rest of his time with the vets. Oscar was glad he’d found a purpose again. He wasn’t over his own trauma, not by a long shot, but it was obvious that helping other guys was helping him.
Grace had only been able to join them in the evenings. He knew that bothered her, but he didn’t know what to do about it. She still worked for Harry and had said several times that she intended to stay with him until the day he closed his doors for good. Oscar knew he should talk to her about what her plans were after that, but he hadn’t made the time yet. They’d stayed at the center until going on ten o’clock every evening. He and Grace, and Terry, Spider, and TJ had naturally formed a kind of leadership committee, but there was a whole bunch of other people who stayed late and worked hard every day too.
He looked around. TJ was playing pool with a bunch of the guys. A gaggle of oldies were chatting in the cafeteria area. Spider and Grace were standing outside the pantry having what looked like a heated debate. Oscar frowned. He’d hate for the two of them to fall out. He’d been skeptical when Grace had first told him that Spider played the big brother role in her life. He’d expected to have trouble with the guy at some point. He didn’t know many men who played that role without a vested interest. Spider was one of the few exceptions. The more time he’d spent with them, the more he’d realized that they really did have a brother sister relationship. Although, they didn’t normally fight.
He took a few steps toward them.
“… I need the work.” Grace was glowering at Spider.
If she’d been looking at Oscar that way, he was pretty sure he would have backed right down. Spider didn’t.
“No. What you need is to get a life, and it seems to me, this week you’ve had one. So, no. I don’t want you to come in and work. I want you to go home with him.”
Oscar pursed his lips. Grace had come home with him every night this week. He’d assumed that she would tonight, too. They planned to knock off at eight since it was Friday.
“You’ve got a band tonight. You need the help, and I’m only going to have a job for another week. So, I need the money.”
Oscar sighed. Damn. He hadn’t known things were that bad for her. He wanted to make it right. It was time to talk to her about her role at the center going forward. They were setting up as a nonprofit so the center could employ her. He just hoped that she wouldn’t get too touchy about the fact that he was the only source of funds the nonprofit had—so effectively he would be paying her wages. It wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to. He knew how independent she was, and he also knew that she didn’t want to feel beholden to him—in any way.
Spider caught sight of him and rolled his eyes. “Can you talk any sense into her?”
Oscar doubted it. He went to join them. “What’s the problem?”
Grace turned her angry stare on him. “I need to work, and my so-called friend here is taking my shifts away.”
Spider shook his head and blew out a sigh. “Your so-called friend is trying to do you a favor. You’re beat, Gracie. You’ve been working your ass off for Harry all week, and then coming and working your ass off here, too. I don’t want you keeling over from exhaustion while you’re working for me.”
“I was hoping you were going to have dinner with me,” said Oscar.
“I was, but I forgot he has a band playing tonight. He needs the staff, and I need the money.”
“I don’t know that I can help with waitstaff, but I’ve been thinking about your situation. I wanted to talk to you about it tonight.”
She put her hands on her hips. He knew it was never a good sign when a woman did that, but it still turned him on when Grace did it. Then again, it seemed everything she did turned him on.
“What do you want to talk about?”
Spider grinned at him and began to back away. He’d effectively diverted Grace’s anger onto Oscar, and now he was about to beat a sneaky retreat. Awesome!
“Can we get out of here and go grab something to eat? I need beer and meatloaf before I can face you being mad at me.”
She scowled. “I told you. I need to go and work for him …” She jerked her head at the spot where Spider had been standing. “What the …”
Oscar smirked. He couldn’t help it. “Come on, Grace, you can’t blame him.”
She drew in a deep breath, looking as if she might explode, then slowly let it out, looking defeated and much more tired than Oscar had realized she was. “Did you say something about a beer and some meatloaf?”
He smiled and slung his arm around her shoulders. “I sure did. Let’s go eat.”