All Over You (17 page)

“Then what do you care about?” she couldn’t resist asking.

She still had her eyes closed to avoid the sting of the lather and his hesitation seemed to last forever.

“World peace. The ozone layer. I care deeply about the way your nipples stand to attention when I do this,” he said, tweaking her nipples lightly.

He was deflecting and they both knew it. She’d just had a glimpse into the dark side of Mac. But she wasn’t going to push him any further. She had an idea about what Mac cared about, where his ambitions lay. But if he wasn’t ready to say it out loud yet, who was she to force him? After all, she understood more than anyone that sometimes a person simply didn’t want to talk about stuff.

When it was safe to open her eyes again, she stood on tiptoes and kissed him. Mac’s arms came around her and he stared down into her eyes. She pulled away from him as unbidden, unexpected words rose to the back of her throat — important, heavy, emotional words. She swallowed them back down.

Way to protect yourself, lady. Why not just rip your heart out right now and throw it at his feet, save both of you a bit of time and effort?

“Do you think this was what they meant when they said they wanted you at the studio ASAP?” she asked lightly, avoiding his eye.

A flicker of awareness crossed his face and she held her breath, waiting for him to call her on her withdrawal. Then he smiled, looking boyishly caught out.

“I’m probably in big trouble,” he admitted sheepishly.

“So am I. I’ll be just as late as you by the time I get into the office.”

They smiled at each other, everything light and easy again.

She wasn’t smiling when she crept across the open-plan office an hour and a half later, hoping to slip into her office unobserved by her work colleagues. If anyone asked, she’d decided, she’d say she had a doctor’s appointment. Or that she’d locked herself out of her car. Or something equally innocuous.

She wasn’t quite ready to be out and proud about her relationship with Mac yet. She had to find a way to present it to her friends. She knew Sadie and Claudia would read a whole bunch of things into her and Mac sleeping with each other and she had to find a way to head them off at the pass. First, however, she needed coffee.

“Grace. Nice of you to join us.”

Grace froze mid-creep and winced when she saw that Claudia was standing in her office doorway, arms crossed over her chest and a distinctly wicked gleam in her eye.

Claudia knew. Grace didn’t know how she knew, but she did.

Diverting from her original course to face Claudia, Grace smiled lamely.

“Hi. Sorry I’m late, I’ll make the time up this evening,” she promised.

Claudia wave a hand dismissively. “I know that. Why don’t you come into my office for a quick chat, though?”

Grace opened her mouth to protest, fully aware that she’d be letting herself in for the Greek version of the Spanish inquisition, but Claudia just grabbed her upper arm and pulled her forward. Once they were inside, she shoved Grace into a chair and punched up the internal intercom mode on the phone on her desk.

“Sadie? The eagle has landed,” she said cryptically.

Grace heard the squawk of excitement from Sadie on the other end and rolled her eyes.

“I’m not telling you guys anything,” she said repressively.

“We’ll see about that,” Claudia said, just as Sadie strode into the room, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it, her eyes shining with excitement.

“So. How was it? Your first sex in four years. Did the earth move? God, did everything still work?” Sadie asked.

“First of all, I want to know how you know,” Grace said.

“Duh. You’ve just had a week in Hawaii together, now Mac is late on set and you’re late in. I’m no rocket scientist, but I can add two and two together and get sixty nine,” Claudia said.

Grace choked out a laugh despite herself. “I might have had a doctor’s appointment. Or car trouble. The Corvette has been known to act up on occasion,” she said.

“Yeah, yeah, sure. So, how was it?” Sadie asked, sliding into the second visitor’s chair.

“It was private, is how it was,” Grace said firmly.

“We don’t want details. Okay, not itty-bitty details, anyway. Just broad strokes. Like…did you have a good time? Are you seeing him again? Or does this mean you’re officially off the celibacy wagon and I can start setting you up with some of the great guys I know?” Claudia asked.

Grace counted off her answers rapidly. “Yes, yes, no. Anything else?”

Claudia looked perplexed. “Hang on, I can’t remember what order I asked my questions in,” she wailed.

“I do. Yes, she had a good time. As if we need to ask her to know that, with that big goofy smile on her face. And yes, she’s seeing him again. Hence the big goofy smile, I guess. And no, she doesn’t want to meet anyone else. Which means it’s serious,” Sadie interpreted.

They both fixed questioning gazes on her. Grace threw her hands in the air.

“How am I supposed to answer that? It’s less than twenty-four-hours old, give or take a few nights here and there. We’re
seeing
each other,” she said.

“A few nights?”
Sadie gasped, eyes wide. “I knew something was happening when he turned up at your place that time.”

Grace blushed and Claudia shook her head.

“You dirty, dirty dog. You’ve been playing bed-time pogo with Mac Harrison for weeks and you haven’t spilled,” Claudia guessed.

“Gracie, I’m so happy for you,” Sadie said, leaning forward to rub Grace’s arm.

“And I’m impressed. Here I was, wondering how we were ever going to coax you out of your celibate’s castle and you’ve quietly gone and landed Mac Harrison,” Claudia said.

Grace held up a hand. “Um, guys — not getting married here. Just dating, seeing how it goes. So let’s not get all misty-eyed about it.”

Her friends were treating this like it meant something, like it was going to last more than a few weeks or a handful of months at the most.

“Too late,” Sadie said, blinking rapidly.

Claudia laughed. “Too sooky even for a women in love, Sadie. Please tell me you’re not pregnant.”

Sadie looked as though she’d been struck by lightning for a second, and Grace and Claudia held their breath as their friend did a mental calendar check, then shook her head.

“No. At least, not yet.”

“Thank God. I want all my team onboard so we can kick
Heartlands
into the gutter and jump on its rotting carcass,” Claudia said with gusto.

“Am I free to go now? Is the interrogation over? You don’t want to know anything else, like penis size or what kind of stamina he has?” Grace asked, rising to her feet.

“Well, of course we want to know those things but we would never be so uncouth as to ask.” Claudia grinned.

“
You
might like to know, but I can survive without knowing the size of Mac’s equipment,” Sadie said primly.

“Okay. You block your ears and I’ll just whisper it to Claudia,” Grace said, calling her friend’s bluff.

For a moment, Sadie looked so torn between outrage and curiosity that Grace and Claudia broke into laughter again.

“As if, Sadie,” Grace said.

Sadie looked sheepish. “You might have.”

“Seriously, though, Gracie — I’m really proud of you,” Claudia said, her near-black eyes shining with warmth. “I know how hard it must be for you to trust someone again. I’ve got a good feeling about this, too. Remember, I’m the one who threw Sadie and Dylan together. I have an excellent track record with these things.”

“Guys, please don’t make too big a deal out of this,” Grace said.

“Of course not,” Sadie said innocently.

“Would we do that to you?” Claudia asked.

Grace rolled her eyes and was about to extract a promise from both of them when her cell phone buzzed in her handbag. Shooting her friends both admonitory glances, she managed to answer it on the fourth ring.

“Grace speaking,” she said.

“Gracie, it’s Felicity. I just wanted to let you know I’m going to be in town in two weeks’ time and I though it would be a great chance to catch up with everyone on the Saturday night. Hope is still staying out with Mom and Dad in Pasadena, and it’s been so long since I saw you all together. What do you think?”

Grace blinked. What did she think about seeing her sisters again, all together as in the old days? As Felicity said, it had been ages. One or the other of them had always been away at Christmas or birthdays for the last few years.

“That sounds great,” she said.

“Serena is going to organize a restaurant. She’ll text you the details. Oh — and it’s partners, too. I’ve got Brad with me and Hope will be bringing Zane.”

“Right,” Grace said.

“Are you seeing anyone at the moment? Serena wasn’t sure….” Felicity fished awkwardly.

“No, I’m not seeing anyone at the moment,” Grace said automatically. “I’ll see you soon, Flick.”

“Great. Really looking forward to it,” Felicity said before killing the line.

Sadie and Claudia were glaring at her when she put the phone down.

“What?” Grace said.

“Why did you just lie about Mac to your sister?” Sadie asked.

“I didn’t,” Grace said defensively. “I just…forgot for a minute. God, it’s barely happened, give me a chance to adjust here.”

“You’re worried about them meeting him, aren’t you?” Claudia asked.

As usual, Claudia didn’t pull her punches. Grace blinked, then straightened her shoulders.

“Read my lips — I just forgot. I’ll ask Mac if he wants to be bored to death by my family, but I bet he’ll be thrilled to be let off the hook.” Grace shrugged.

Neither Sadie nor Claudia looked convinced. Not being able to get away with self-deceiving bullshit was the one drawback of having such close friends, Grace mused later in her office as she sorted through her e-mail. Sometimes, it was nice to hide behind a white lie. Even for a little while. But Sadie and Claudia weren’t buying, which meant Grace couldn’t fool herself, either. The truth was, the odds of her asking Mac to have dinner with her family were very slim. Practically nonexistent. And she could tell herself that she was trying to save him from boredom, but that wasn’t true, either. She didn’t want him to meet her beautiful sisters.

A great start.

Grace rested her forehead on her hands and stared at her desk. She’d always had self-esteem issues around her sisters. She’d have been a poster child for freakishly self-sufficient kids if she hadn’t been affected by all those years of living in their perfect, beautiful shadows. But she wasn’t a kid anymore — she was a grown, adult woman. And the prospect of seeing her sisters and introducing them to the man she was dating should not have triggered an automatic Pinocchio response.

She sighed, fondly recalling the simplicity of pre-Mac days. Her feelings about herself and men were inextricably tangled up with those surrounding her relationship with her sisters. And she so didn’t want to think about untangling them. Was denial really that bad a coping mechanism? She didn’t think so.

Her cell rang again and the screen display told her it was Mac. Time to choose — did she invite Mac to meet her family next weekend or did she play it safe and put off the inevitable?

There was no decision, really. She’d already made her choice that morning, staring at his sleeping body on the bed, trying to negotiate her way through the panic and anxiety she’d been feeling.

She was protecting herself every step of the way. And that meant she was flying solo with her family.

A
LMOST TWO WEEKS
later, she was glad of her decision as she applied a last coat of lipstick and ran a comb through her hair. She was feeling strangely nervous about seeing her sisters. Which was stupid and silly and childish. Lord only knew what was going on in the Freudian soup that was her subconscious — she could only thank her lucky stars that she hadn’t dragged Mac into the whole arrangement.

Her gaze flicked to the mirror where she could see him lying sprawled across his bed behind her, script pages and contracts and storyboards creating a sea of paper around him. He was utterly absorbed in the pre-production planning for the wedding special, had been all day.

Looking at him made her body go crazy. He was such a good lover. And such good company. She’d had to exert some major self-control over the past few weeks.

So far, she’d managed to limit herself to spending every second night in Mac’s arms and she knew he was becoming frustrated. But she had to keep her limits, no matter how much she wanted to give in and let things happen. Already the situation felt as though it had taken on a life of its own — he had a toothbrush at her place, she had one at his. She’d left earrings, makeup, perfume in his bathroom, while she was accruing a tidy collection of his boxers at her apartment. Sadie and Dylan had invited them over for dinner next week — a cozy couples dinner, a real version of the one they’d inadvertently faked at her place just a few short weeks ago.

On one hand, she was deliriously happy, sated, turned on, content. But she was also constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for the rug to be pulled from beneath her feet. It would be so easy to relax into the heat of their mutual desire. Too easy. She had to keep reminding herself to hold back, to bite her tongue on words of affection, to abstain from buying him the aftershave/book/CD she’d seen that she knew he’d like.

She was being sensible. She’d learned her lesson.

Sliding her glasses on, she turned to face him.

“Right, I’m off,” she said.

He looked up from the script page he was marking up and her thighs trembled as his gaze went from distant and preoccupied to instantly hungry.

“I like that dress,” he said, his voice very low. “Come here.”

She looked at her watch. She’d been late getting out of the shower and she was supposed to be meeting her family in twenty minutes at a restaurant that was at least a fifteen minutes’ drive away. Somehow, however, she was already moving toward the bed.

She stopped in front of where he sat on the edge of the mattress and he reached out to rest his hands on her hips, his fingers fanning out to span her waistline.