Crain's Landing (37 page)

His face turned from shock to something I couldn’t put my finger on. “Tell me something, Natalie.” His eyes now vibrant blue and his skin flushed. “You say that you saw the two of us kissing, wrapped around each other. Tell me, is that how I normally act around Tiffany? Am I friendly to her or do I act professional with her? Do we have lunch together? Do I have her over for movie nights? Do I call her for no reason or just to say hello?” He was right, of course. I lowered my eyes as I held back the tears that threatened to fall.

“Are the rumors true about you and Evan? Is he the new man in your life?” His anger growing, nostrils flared, teeth bared and clenched. As twisted as it sounded, I was becoming turned on.

“Did you think about me when you had dinner with him? When you held his hand across a table or when you took him back to your room and into your bed. Did you tell him you had a boyfriend back home and a little girl?”

His words should have insulted me, caused me to slap his gorgeous face. Instead, it made me want to grab him and do extremely naughty things.

“Natalie, he doesn’t even know you like I do. He sent you flowers for Christ’s sake and you hate getting flowers! Does he know Peyton likes to have her back rubbed when you hold her or her favorite bunny is named Albert? Does he know she knows every word to the movie
Beauty and the Beast
?”

He began to walk closer to me, like a lion marking his territory. “Does he know that you have a birthmark on the inside of your left thigh that looks like a comma? Or that your legs start to shake when you are about to come? Has he ever heard you say his name while you are sleeping in his arms?”

His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath as he spoke each word. “I am sorry for a lot of things that night, but I’m not sorry I told you I love you.” His lips crashed into mine as my back was against the wall. This kiss was primal and raw. He was taking charge and clearly reminding me of the passion we once had. His tongue entered my mouth; he didn’t wait for permission, as he thrust his tongue and pelvis at the same time.

“Tell me, Natalie, can he make you feel the way I do?” His lips were back on mine as I gave up the fight and pulled him in closer to me. If this was the last kiss I ever received from him, I wanted to remember it forever.

“I didn’t touch Tiffany.” He words were spoken into my neck and enough of a wakeup call to cause me to pull my head back. He slowly lowered my feet back to the ground.

“She got into my house because I left the door unlocked for the pizza guy. She threw herself at me and I then proceeded to throw her out. “

“But...” I tried to protest.

“I know you spoke with my father. He won't admit to what you two spoke of, but call him and ask him if you don’t believe me. I called him immediately and had her banned from working with me. Would I do that if I wanted her?”

Martin had kept our conversation between us—huge brownie points for him in my book. We needed to have this conversation, battle it out.

“But you never answered me about Evan. Did something happen between you? Are you moving to Atlanta?” I raised my hand to touch his face. His lips were red and swollen from our kissing. My anger was now completely gone.

“Evan is a member of the city council of Atlanta. He took me to dinner to show me the city. Well, that’s what he told me at first. However, I got the impression he wanted more from me. I left him sitting at the table, got back in my car and came here.”

His eyes searched mine as he took my face in both of his hands. “Tell me you believe me about Tiffany.”

My eyes never left his. “I believe you.”

Those words barely left my lips, before he crashed his back to mine. My face was still in his hands as he kissed me with heart and passion. “I love you, Natalie. I swear to God if we can get through this, I will make you and Peyton so happy.”

He didn’t let me respond as he kissed me again. His hands were everywhere and I wanted so badly to take his shirt off and take him here in my living room. But we needed to talk, to clear the air about things.

“Grant,” I mumbled; my voice low and raspy.

He placed his forehead against mine. “I know, talk first.”

I made us each a new cup of tea and we sat at opposite ends of the couch. I needed this distance and I believed he did, as well.

“Okay, so apparently the rumor mill made more out of this then it really was.” Grant had taken my foot in his hands and was massaging the balls of my feet.

“They seem to do that pretty regularly. They helped in making my decision to visit Atlanta.”

I hummed at the feeling of his fingers on my feet. I decided to return the favor as I reached for his sock clad foot and began to rub, as well.

“So, I have to know, are you planning to move to Atlanta? Because if you are, I will also move.” His words floored me. He would give up his practice to be near me?

“Grant, you can’t...”

He gripped my foot tightly. “I can’t be without you. I can’t let that little girl in there go another day without knowing I want to be her daddy, more than anything in this world.”

I couldn’t speak as my heart hammered in my chest. “Natalie, I love you and I pray you and I can see past everything that has happened and learn from it. But, God, Natalie, please don’t make me live another minute not knowing if I have your heart, the way you two have mine.”

I didn’t waste any more time as I leaped from the cushions and threw my arms around his neck. “As much as I fought it, you have had me from the first moment I laid eyes on you. I love you, Grant. I want to have the happy ever after, I just never thought it was meant to be mine.”

He flipped us, and I let out the most girly giggle I had ever heard. “You are in so much trouble, Ms. Reid.” He spoke into my ear. “You are about to be given my full and undivided attention for the next few hours. I am going to give you a sample of the kind of things I will be doing to you in the future.”

Before I could blink, he had me tossed over his shoulder and was heading toward my bedroom. I didn’t dare fuss at him for fear of waking Peyton. He gently placed me on my bed as he began to climb over my body. He slid his thigh between my knees, demanding to be between them.

“While I was away in Los Angeles, I didn’t have time to think about anything, except for going from one lecture to another. I did, however, dream of you several times.” His eyes were so bright and his words wrapped around my heart.

“I could hear your laugh and I swear, I could smell your perfume.” His fingers unbuttoned my shirt as his eyes stayed locked with mine.

“I compared Evan to you the whole time I was with him at dinner,” I confessed. The feel of the cool breeze from the ceiling fan rushed across my now bare chest, Grant’s warm skin quickly covered me.

“Emily thought Evan Tucker was my stage name. She questioned if I was headed to Hollywood with Dale and Rebecca.” We were silent for a few seconds before we both began to laugh.

“Do you have another career that I need to know about?” I chuckled into his shoulder.

“Only being the best friend,” he whispered and kissed my nose.

“Best lover.” A kiss to my forehead.

“Best fiancé.” A kiss to my cheek.

“Best husband.” A kiss to my lips.

“Best daddy, Peyton could dream of.”

This time
I
grabbed him and kissed him. I let myself feel the love and honestly he was giving me in this kiss. He would do everything he could to keep true to his words. “It just so happens that we have an opening in each of those areas you just described.”

His smile was electric as he again claimed my lips. For the first time in my life, I closed my eyes and let myself just feel. I had never allowed myself to take as much as I had given. Grant was here, giving me all the love he could possibly convey and I took it all. I would do everything in my power to make him feel as happy and loved as he was making me.

“I swear to you, Natalie, I will never walk out that front door in anger again.”

“And I swear to direct my anger at the correct person in the future.”

“I swear to always make certain you know that you, and Peyton, are the most important people in my world.”

“And I swear to let you in.”

His eyes flickered between mine. We both knew exactly what this meant for us. By my confession, he knew I was all in. There would be no going back. I had effectively placed it all on the line.

“Just so you know, this isn’t a proposal. When we are truly ready, I will give you a proposal the town will talk about for years.”

I smiled as I looked into his beautiful eyes. “I consider this a promise of great things to come.”

He reached his hand behind his back as he removed his T-shirt. “Speaking of coming. I have an entire week to make up for. Not to mention we now have a reason for makeup sex.”

I WOKE UP THE NEXT
morning and took a look around my room. Pillows were everywhere and the only sheet left on the bed was the fitted one. I dropped back onto the mattress as I closed my eyes, remembering every detail of last night.

I loved the feel of Grant’s fingers as they danced over my ribs. The look in his eyes as he confessed, “I’m so sorry. I should just lay beside you, instead of wanting nothing more than to consume you.”

His words said one thing, but his hands and body spoke so much louder. His right hand carefully took my breast, while his mouth covered the opposite. The tingling ran from my hardened nipples to my clit. My eyes closed as my back arched. His lips roamed from my neck to my collarbone, and then traveled lower to lick a slow and torturous circle around my navel. The nips his teeth he made around my hips caused me to moan wantonly. He slowly dragged the tips of his fingers along the outside of my lower lips, circling my clit and making me jump. Finally, he parted my folds and began to take long deliberate licks with the flat of his tongue. His fingers joined in the rhythm of his tongue. He stayed in place through several orgasms.

I thought many times he would move up my body, but he didn't. He stayed with his head between my thighs until he was satisfied my body was completely spent. When he did finally enter me, he rolled to his side, positioning me on my back, entering me from behind. With my left leg behind his neck and the right lying over his hip, he had the perfect view of us joined.

“Play with your clit, baby. I want to see those pretty fingers playing with this tight pussy, make yourself come.” He grunted as he continued to thrust his cock inside of me.

I did what he aske; it took a little while this time. However, he stayed consistent in his rhythm, telling me how perfect my pussy looked around his cock. His words only made me wetter. When I finally cried out with my orgasm, he flipped me around and grasped my hips.

“I love to watch your ass from this angle. Firm and round, fucking perfect.”

We didn't stay in this position long as he had to stop a few times to keep from coming. Finally, he pulled me toward him and turned me around. Laying me on my back, he slowly entered me again. This time his lips found mine in the perfect slow dance, as he made love to me.

The sight in the kitchen stopped me dead in my tracks. Grant had Peyton sitting on the kitchen counter, stirring something in a large bowl. Where he found the sleep pants and long sleeved tee was beyond me. I secretly wished he was still completely naked like he had been just hours ago.

“Daddy, can we put the chocolate chips in now, please.” Peyton's sweet voice reminded me of a time I had spent with my own father. It was Mother’s Day and I was five or six. I was trying to make her breakfast in bed, but I wasn’t allowed to touch the stove. My dad caught me coming down the hall with a napkin filled with crackers and a juice box. He picked me up and helped me make her waffles. I remembered how he let me cut up the fruit using a plastic butter knife. I was so proud when I walked into her room that morning.

“Mommy!” Peyton shouted. I looked up to see her waving at me with the wooden spoon she had in her hand, batter dripping down her night gown and onto the counter. Grant started to laugh at her and quickly took the spoon from her.