Chapter Twenty
Oscar couldn’t find a spot to park anywhere near the center. When he finally found a space, he ran the rest of the way. Terry had called to say Grace was here, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she left again. He needed to find her, needed to tell her how he felt.
He pushed the front door open and stood there, staring wildly around. No sign of her. Damn. TJ spotted him and came over. “What’s up?”
“Is she here?”
“She was. She went out back with Terry. What’s going on?”
“No time to explain.”
TJ smiled and gripped his shoulder. “It’s finally come down to that then? Go get your girl.”
Oscar nodded and strode over to the back door. That was what he was going to do. He was going to get his girl. She was his person. His mom had been right.
The door opened just before he reached it and Terry came wheeling out. He nodded when he saw Oscar and gave him an encouraging smile. He didn’t say anything, but he held the door open.
Oscar took a deep breath and went outside. She was so damned beautiful. She took his breath away every time. She met his gaze, and he held a hand out to her. She nodded and slid down from the wall where she’d been sitting.
“Grace, I …”
“I’m sorry I ran out on you.”
He smiled and buttoned her lips between his finger and thumb. Her eyes widened, but he shook his head. “I need to talk. If you’d let me talk earlier, we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble. I’m sorry, I was an idiot.”
She tried to speak again, but he smiled and squeezed her lips tighter. “It’s my turn. I was so stunned by what you said earlier.”
Her eyes darted away from his.
“Listen, I need to make sure I spell this out. I don’t want there to be any chance whatsoever that you misunderstand me. Last night when you asked if I thought of you as a friend, I said maybe. I didn’t say yes because I’d like you to be so much more than a friend.”
She stared at him. If he only had the look on her face as his guide, he’d be tempted to shut the hell up, but he knew better. He also had what she’d told him this morning about how she felt. So he pushed on. It was time to put his heart on the line. “What I’m trying to say is that I love you. I’ve fallen head over heels in love with you.”
She jerked her head back, freeing her lips. “What?!”
“You heard me. I love you.”
She stared at him. “You do? But I’m not … You’re …”
He slid his arms around her waist and drew her to him. “Don’t, don’t even go there. None of it matters. I love you. I know you care about me …”
She nodded. “I love you, too, but …”
“No buts. Stop trying to complicate it. I love you, you love me. Nothing else matters. Between us, we can overcome anything.”
She nodded. “I guess we can. But isn’t this just a short-term thing for you, enjoy it while it lasts and then …”
He shook his head. “Nope. You don’t get rid of me that easily. This is for keeps. I never thought I wanted anyone for keeps, but I want you. You’re my person.”
“Your person?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. It’s what my mom said.”
Grace raised an eyebrow.
“She said sometimes you meet someone, and you just know.”
“Know what?”
“That they’re your person, your one and only, your love, the one you’re meant to spend your life with.”
Her eyes filled with tears and he dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “Don’t cry, Gracie.”
“They’re happy tears. I never thought I’d hear you talk like that—about anyone, let alone about me.”
“Neither did I.” He nodded. “But you’re the one, Gracie. I want to love you for the rest of my life. You and me, this, us, we’re my next challenge. The most important challenge of my life.”
She smiled. “I can be challenging.”
He chuckled. “Believe me, I know.”
She pushed at his shoulder. “Aren’t you supposed to say nice things and deny it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Part of what I love about you is that you’re so honest and you love that I’m so honest. I love you because you’re real.”
She nodded. “Yeah. There’s no denying that.”
“I wouldn’t want to.”
She frowned. “But what do you want? What does this mean? Where do we go from here?”
“Wherever we want to take it. I’d like you to move in with me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I can afford my own place.”
“I know you can, but that’s not the point, is it?”
She shook her head. “I guess I need to get over that, don’t I? Always jumping on the defensive.”
“It’d be nice, but I don’t expect miracles straight away.”
“Good.”
The door swung open, and they both turned to see who was there. Oscar laughed at the sight of TJ, Spider, Louise, and Terry all huddled in the doorway.
Grace chuckled beside him. “Yes, can we help you?”
Spider grinned. “Err, I wondered if you want to work a shift at the coffee shop this afternoon.”
Grace tensed, but Oscar knew what he was getting at. “Sorry,” he answered for her, “my girlfriend is busy this afternoon.”
She turned to stare up at him. If they were going to do this, he was sure that there’d be many more moments like this. She thought he was dictating what she did, and she felt like she needed to work for the money. He didn’t want either of those things to be true. He met her gaze and waited. His heart buzzed in his chest when her expression softened, and she smiled. “Yeah, sorry Spider.”
Oscar tightened his arm around her waist, feeling as if they’d just succeeded in the first challenge they’d face as a couple.
Spider grinned at him. “No worries, no worries at all.”
~ ~ ~
They had dinner at Oscar’s. He’d told Grace he’d love it if she thought of it as her place, too, but she knew that would a take a long time—if ever. He’d taken a call about some problem at the club. This was the second Saturday night in a row that he hadn’t been at Six. She’d thought of it as just a playground for him, but it seemed he did have some managerial responsibility for the place.
She picked up her glass of wine and took it outside onto the terrace to admire the view. Could she see herself living here? She smiled. She could. All because of Oscar. She’d live here for him—not off him. Since he’d told her that he loved her, she was seeing things in a whole new light. Knowing that he felt that way about her explained so many of his actions. He was still an arrogant prick. She smiled. She hoped he always would be, but the sweet guy, the one who showed so much concern—that wasn’t some other version of him—it was simply a man in love. In love with her! That changed everything.
He’d talked about her moving in here and she would. One thing she knew about love—what she’d seen at least, was that it never worked out if one or both people were holding back, waiting for it to fail. She was going to do the same as Oscar. She was going to throw herself into it with all that she was. She’d give up her room at Louise’s; she’d give up her shifts at the coffee shop. She took a big gulp of her wine—she was even going to take the job as the center manager, which meant Oscar would be paying her wages. That was a tough pill to swallow, but as he’d said, she was real, a realist. She’d never before had the luxury of turning down a job because she didn’t like the owner—their money was as good as anyone else’s. In this case, she happened to be in love with the guy who’d be paying her. She’d decided that she had to lay that aside—see it like he’d said in the beginning, as two separate issues. There was the guy who’d come in to help the center out financially, and then there was the guy and the girl who’d met in the elevator, and they still had unfinished business. She smiled. She hoped they always would.
Oscar came out to find her. “Sorry, that took a while.”
“That’s okay, it’s work. You have to take care of it.”
He smiled. “Why is it I expect to hear that from you about late nights at the center.”
“Because you know me.”
“And I love you.”
She went to him and slid her arms around his waist. “I’m still finding that hard to believe.”
He closed his hands around her ass. “I’d be happy to prove it to you—all night long if you like.”
She laughed. “I’m sure you would.”
He went back to the patio doors and held his hand out for her to follow. When she reached him, he took her hand and winked. “Just don’t say those two little words?”
Grace raised an eyebrow. “I thought you liked it when I tell you to fuck me?”
He groaned and shook his head. “I do. I like it way too much, but tonight I want to make love to you.”
Grace’s heart melted. She would never have guessed that the guy she met in the elevator, Big Cat, the arrogant prick, was capable of wanting to make love—let alone to her. She took his hand and followed him through to the bedroom knowing that this was the beginning of a new chapter in their life.
~ ~ ~
By the time Grace officially started work at the center, she and Oscar had been living together for a whole week. They’d had their challenges, but no major roadblocks so far. This morning she was waiting for him to finish getting ready so they could go.
“Come on,” she said when he reached the bottom of the stairs. “I don’t want to be late for my first day.”
He laughed. “Would it be okay with you if I get a cup of coffee first?”
She pointed to the entry table where two travel mugs sat. “You think I’d force you out the door without coffee?”
He went to her and slid his arms around her waist. “You’re more domesticated than I give you credit for. You’re going to make a good little wifey someday, aren’t you?”
She pursed her lips and looked up into his eyes. “Not if you keep up with that kind of talk, I’m not.”
The words had come out before he’d had chance to consider their implications. He held her gaze. “And if I quit talking like that. Would you consider it?”
Her eyes widened. “We’re going to be late. Let’s go.”
He knew her well enough by now. He knew she sidestepped anything she didn’t want to deal with immediately. As he drove them to the center, part of him was grateful. Did he want to get married yet? He wasn’t sure. Did he want to get married at all? Yes. The answer surprised him; it came so swiftly and with such certainty. He wanted to marry Grace Evans. He wanted her to have the kind of life she’d never known. He wanted to give her a home and security. He wanted her to always feel like he was where she belonged in the world. It’d touched his heart when she’d said that, and it was important to him that he should never let her down.
He shot a glance over at her. She had a notebook on her lap and was scribbling away in it. She’d been doing that all weekend. She was excited about finally being able to give attention to the center full time.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to use a laptop?”
She pursed her lips but didn’t reply.
At first, he thought she was concentrating and didn’t want the interruption, then it dawned on him. She didn’t have a laptop. He’d have to get her one. He could say it went with the job. No. He smiled to himself. He couldn’t take the easy way out; she needed one. He was going to get her one, and if she was going to get mad at him about it, then let her. He knew how independent she was, but she was going to have to let her realistic side come to the fore on some things. If she was going to be his wife, she’d have to get used to him buying her things—things that she needed and things that she wanted. His wife! The thought didn’t freak him out; in fact, he was starting to think that maybe he was ready. He glanced over at her again. Grace Davenport. He wanted to laugh. He sounded like a schoolgirl.
~ ~ ~
The first day of her new job was better than Grace had ever hoped. It wasn’t easy, she was going to be crazy busy for the next couple of months, and it was never going to be a cushy job, but it was everything Grace wanted to do. She finally got to devote her time and energy to the place. And she had the resources to make things happen.
The guys had built her a little office. They’d created a work space for her by partitioning off the corner by the pantry. She’d never imagined having an office before. She loved it. It even had a window, so she could look out and see what was going on. It was late afternoon, and the kids were starting to trickle in. Soon the young moms would leave, and in a couple of hours, the vets would start to drift in. She knew the rhythm of the place so well. She just wished she could do as much for the life of every person who came in here as … she nodded, she had to admit it … as Oscar had done for her. Damn. She loved that man.
He wasn’t here this afternoon. He’d had to go over to the club and catch up there. She wondered how long it would be before he found himself a new challenge. He was invested in the center, and she believed he would continue to be, but she knew that he needed a new project. It made sense. They’d turn the center around together, she had faith in that, but the center was her purpose in life. Oscar wasn’t the kind of guy who had a single purpose. He climbed mountains, and once he conquered one, he moved on to the next.
She chewed the end of her pencil. This morning he’d talked about her being his wife. She couldn’t help the smile that plastered itself across her face. She’d love to! But she wasn’t sure it was a great idea. He kept telling her she was it. She was the one he wanted for life. She was his person. But this was all so new. She believed he meant what he said, but no one ever knew how they’d feel in the future. Would he still feel the same way in six months—a year? Given his track record, she doubted it.
Did she want to get married and take that risk? She didn’t know. She didn’t want to end up divorced. Her life had been a series of temporary situations, and she didn’t want to go into a marriage only to find that it, too, was temporary. Living together was one thing—there was no expectation of forever. Getting married, to her at least, was meant to be forever, and she didn’t think she could handle setting herself up for the heartbreak of it not being.
She looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. It was TJ. She liked him a lot.
“Come on in, take a seat.”
“Thanks.” He sat down across the desk from her and smiled.
Johnny and Jean sure had produced some good-looking boys. While Oscar was the cocky and outgoing kind of gorgeous, TJ was quieter, the more intense, broody kind. He was a heart-stopper, no question about it, but Grace knew that his waters ran deep. Grace realized she was smiling at him but hadn’t actually spoken yet. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to see how your first day’s going. I know you’ve waited a long time for this, and I didn’t want the day to go by without us marking the occasion.”
Damn. He was sweet too? She’d never noticed before. “Thanks, TJ. That means a lot. There’s a hell of a lot of work to do—and thank you for everything you’ve already done. You’ve mended a lot of fences that I broke over the years.”
He grinned. “That’s okay. It’s done me good.”
She nodded. She didn’t know what his story was, but she knew he’d been through a lot. It seemed the center had become as much of a lifeline for him as it had for so many of the others. A thought occurred to her. “Do you plan to stick around?”
He shrugged. “I’ve been waiting to see what you think.”
She smiled. “I’d love it. I’d love to make it official. I can’t do it all, and as we both know, you have strengths that compliment my weaknesses.”
He smiled. “I wouldn’t have brought that up.”
“Yeah, wise man, but we need to be honest about it.”
“I guess we do. So, what I’m thinking is I’d like to set up a program for the vets. I’ll help out with anything else you need, of course, but I think I can do a lot of good with the vets—for them and me.”
“I agree. It works perfectly.”
“Great. I know you’ve got a bunch of meetings set up this week, so I’ll draw something up that I can lay out for you. I’d like to be here full time from now on.”
Grace nodded. She liked the idea, but she didn’t know how to bring up the matter of whether he’d need a salary. She’d been surprised when she learned that Oscar had made his own money. She had to wonder how TJ had fared. She didn’t know how to bring it up.
He made a face, and she waited. “I wanted to ask how you feel about me being on the board. I don’t have the same kind of money Oscar does, but I can be another source of funding.”
Apparently, Grace didn’t hide her surprise very well.
“I don’t just get a pension. I made some smart investments early on.”
She raised an eyebrow. She wouldn’t have imagined TJ as the investing type.
He laughed. “I loaned my brother all the money I had when he started his first company.”
Grace had to laugh with him. “Wow! That did turn out to be a smart investment.”
“Yeah. I knew there was very little risk, though. I mean. He’s Oscar.”
Grace nodded. Could she have that much faith in him? Should she.
TJ met her gaze. “What’s troubling you?”
She blew out a sigh. “I love him. You know that.”
He nodded.
“Could you ever see him getting married?”
“Before you? No. Now? I’m just waiting for the two of you to name the day.”
Grace looked up and saw Oscar standing in the doorway. Had he heard all of that? His smile said he had.
“I got finished early at the club. I wondered if you wanted to celebrate tonight?”
“You mean go out for dinner?”
He shook his head. “No. I meant bring dinner here—for everyone.”
He jerked his head, and she and TJ both went to join him in the doorway. Grace had to smile at the sight of a whole line of caterers walking in. Terry was wheeling along beside them issuing directions as they set up what looked like a banquet that would feed the whole neighborhood.
TJ grinned at them. “I’ll go help set up.”
Grace went to Oscar and slid her arms around his waist. “Thank you. You’re not only changing my life for the better, but you’re also changing all of theirs, too.”
He slung his arm around her shoulder and hugged her into his side. “I’m the one who should be saying thank you. You’re the one who’s changed my life for the better. I’ll admit that at first, I wanted to be the knight in shining armor who rode in to save the day. In the end though, you and this place, you’ve saved me.”
Grace smiled up at him. “How about we agree that we both saved each other?”
He nodded. “I believe we did.”
Grace leaned her head against his shoulder. That feeling of warmth washed through her. She’d spent her whole life longing for a place to belong, and now she knew she’d finally found it, here, by his side;