Falling Into Grace (17 page)

“God Hannah, you feel so good. I want to make this last.” The sound of his voice only makes the waves crash again. This time I lean back and place my hands on his knees. I want him to take me hard. I look into his eyes and he reads my mind. In one second he lays me on the floor and starts to pound his long hardness into me, making my orgasm fly higher. My toes curl and my arms are wild. I wrap my legs around him and push him into me. His pace quickens, and we end at the same time. Our breathing is erratic, and I begin to giggle. If this is going to happen every time I let go, I will be falling into Grace often. He props himself up on his elbows, his hands in my hair. He laughs with me and lays his full weight on top of me. We melt into each other.

He is the first to move.

“Let’s go for a walk on the beach.” I nod as he eases out of me. I want him to stay inside of me, but the angel tells me to stop.
Fuck
, what have I done? Guilt makes its way back into my body, as well as shame. I lie there, rubbing my face, trying to avoid all the feelings. Aiden stands over me, staring at me.

“You’re better than Christmas morning,” he says. I look over his sexy, muscular body. His shoulders are broad, and his body forms the perfect
V
. His abs are deep and chiseled, and his hardness is still straight out. He puts his hands out, and I reach up; he makes everything so graceful. I stand up and he turns me around. I look over my shoulder at him.

“I’m just making sure you didn’t get splinters.” He runs his hand down my back and bottom, then kisses between my shoulder blades. This makes me pulse quicken again. He picks up my bra and starts to dress me. I do the same with his clothes. I wish I didn’t have to get him dressed. I catch a glimpse of his watch, and it’s 5:23 a.m.

“Let’s catch the sunrise.” He grabs my hand and leads me down a staircase near his room. I follow him, feeling like we are teenagers sneaking out of the house. We walk over the huge patio, and I see stairs leading down to the beach. He holds my hand down the steep stairs. Once we get on the beach, he stops and I almost bump into him.

“Get on,” he says as he lowers himself so I can climb onto his back. I jump on and enjoy the scenery. I lay my head on his back and soak in his smell. I take advantage of touching the top of his chest. Once we get to the water, he swings me around him so we are face to face. He kisses me gently and puts me down. We walk in silence down the beach and back to the house. As we walk back up the stairs, he pulls me in for one last savage kiss. It gets me hot again, but he stops.

“I’m clean.” It takes a minute for his words to register. I have never had this conversation, and it feels awkward already.

“I’m clean, and we also used a condom,” I say. “I have an IUD in, so don’t worry about getting me pregnant.” I smirk at him and he kisses my forehead. I walk back to my room and head straight to the shower to go over the last few hours in my head.

Guilt is looming over me. I can’t believe I was so reckless.
I am a stupid, stupid woman
, I tell myself. Were a few minutes of pleasure worth risking my job, and heart? The water feels good against my skin, and I just stand there. When I get out, I get ready as if I were going to work. I straighten my hair and put on some makeup.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

W
hen I get downstairs, Addy is in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

“What can I get for you, honey?” she asks sweetly. She looks at me for a second longer. “Looks like the Cape agrees with you, Hannah. You have a glow today.” I think she knows something.

“I slept like a baby last night. I think I just needed that.” I walk over to the stove and see the kettle is still hot. Addy hands me a mug with a tea bag in it.

“Thanks,” I say, and fill it up. I perch on a stool at the island and begin to make small talk with Addy.

“Is Mrs. Grace up yet?” I ask her.

“No, dear, she is a late sleeper. It’s only seven fifteen. You have at least another two hours. I just got up to make the boys breakfast. They are early risers. You just missed Aiden; he just went for a run. I bet he will run to his house and shower, get ready, and come back.” I nod and just sit there.

“What would you like to eat? An omelet, pancakes, waffles… whatever you want.” She smiles.

“I’ll have whatever you were making for the boys,” I say. I’m easy to please. Before I know it, I have an omelet in front of me with a fresh glass of orange juice.

I enjoy my breakfast, and then head outside. I sit on a big outdoor couch and look out onto Vineyard Sound. Small waves crash
along the water’s edge, and I lean back and smell the salty air. I decide to call Richard’s house to check on the kids, but there is no answer; they probably went out to breakfast. I contemplate calling his cell, but decide not to.

“Hey you,” I hear, and I don’t have to turn around to know it’s Aiden.
His voice is one I will never forget
, I think. Then I feel stupid for thinking it, because I don’t need to remember his voice like I need to remember Chase’s.

“Hey,” I say once he reaches me. He is dressed in a three piece suit, all ready for a business meeting.
He looks good in a suit
, I think, and I start to grin.

“If things were different, I would take you on that couch right now, not caring if Addy is watching.” He sits down next to me. I want to snuggle up to him, but I bet Addy is watching. He rests his hand on my leg, and I let him, because I’m sure she can’t see it. He begins to slide his hand up until he reaches the top of my thigh.

“Oh, what I want to do to you, Hannah.” I roll my eyes at him and swat him away.

“Aiden, I can’t repeat last night. It was wrong, and I should not have acted like that. It was unprofessional…”

“Don’t do this. We are two adults, and we can’t help how we felt last night. It was right what happened, and I would like to repeat it tomorrow on the plane ride home.” He smiles at me and I turn red.

“So you are accompanying me home tomorrow?”

“Yes, I have business there. I will be in the city till Saturday. I just have to tie up a few loose ends today so I can leave tomorrow with you.” He leans forward, getting ready to get up. “I’d like to repeat last night.” He raises his eyebrow, then stands.

“Keep dreaming.” I smile at him sweetly.

“A boy can always dream,” he says, putting his hands up in defense. “I will see you tomorrow. Grant will be here later to spend time with Mother. Don’t let him piss her off, please.”

“You have nothing to worry about. I can handle my own.” I smile at him and watch him walk back into the house. I feel a little sad he
won’t be here tonight. Then I realize what he said.
Oh shit
, I have to deal with Grant. I sit for a few minutes, then head back into the house. Mrs. Grace is at the table eating her breakfast, and Aiden is across from her, reading the paper while he eats.

“Good morning,” I say as I sit next to her.

“Oh, good morning, Hannah. I take it you slept well last night,” Mrs. Grace says, smiling at me. I guess I do have a glow. I’ll let them think I slept well, but only Aiden and I know it’s the ‘I just had amazing sex’ glow.

“Like a baby,” I say to her. Aiden walks over to his mother and kisses her cheek.

“I have to go. I have a nine-thirty meeting.” Addy walks in, and he kisses her cheek, then kisses mine in front of them. I try my hardest to brush it off.

“Have a good day, ladies.” He smiles and winks, then walks out of sight. Mrs. Grace and Addy look at each other and I try to ignore it.

“He has it bad for you, Hannah,” Addy says, then walks into the kitchen. I ignore her comment and look over at Mrs. Grace, who looks confused.

“She is right, Hannah. I know Aiden, and he is up to something. You better be careful with him; he sucks girls in and spits them out when he gets bored. Don’t fall into his trap; he is a playful one. I see girls come and go, and I know he will never settle down. He’s not the type to settle down; he doesn’t like anyone getting too close to him.” She seems sad as she says this.

“Tori, I don’t know what you see, but I don’t see the same thing. We played a game last night and talked for a bit, that’s it. I told you I wasn’t interested in your sons.” I smile at her, trying to believe the lie I just said.

“Hannah dear, I told you I thought you would be good for Grant. He is the one you should spend time with. He is hard to warm up to, but once you do, he is a wonderful man who could give you another chance at love.” She looks at me while I let out a little laugh.

“Mrs. Grace, I came here to care for you, not for you to play matchmaker with me. Please. My friends are bad enough, and now I have you pushing Grant on me. I believe he is in love with Carla,” I say matter-of-factly. She just shakes her head.

“He doesn’t love her, and last night when Carla raised her hand at you, he flew across the room to come to your rescue. I bet he didn’t even yell at you when he took you into the other room. Grant is a yeller when he is mad, and I didn’t even hear him raise his voice. You have a calming effect on him.”

“Oh, I do? Is that why he tried to get me fired when I told him to leave the room?” I’m getting aggravated talking to her about this.

“Grant doesn’t like being told what to do, but he did listen to you. That speaks volumes to a mother. You are the first woman he has ever backed down to. And I would put money on it that Carla saw this as well last night. He took your side and not hers.” She is looking at me like some lightbulb is about to go off above my head. But it doesn’t. I need to change the subject, and quick.

“What would you like to do today?” This should distract her.

“How about we go for a walk outside? Then I’ll take out some old photo albums I have been meaning to go through.” When she gets up, I can see the pain rise in her eyes. She is still sore, and I feel bad.

“OK.” I walk over to her, and she takes my arm. We do just what she wants to do, and the next few hours fly by.

We are buried in photo albums. I see her wedding album, and she lets me look at it. The first picture looks familiar, and I realize it’s the one I saw hanging yesterday. They looked so happy and in love. I bet if I looked at my wedding album, I would unravel. In time I will be able to look at it and not cry. I need to start letting go and moving on. She talks about him, and this shocks me a bit. She tells me how they first met and how she couldn’t stand him because he was extremely arrogant. I guess that’s where Grant gets it. He chased her and finally she realized she loved him. They married fast and had kids right away.
They were together for seven years before he died. The same amount of time Chase and I had together.

I feel the tears stab at my eyes, but I fight them back. I wonder if she is doing the same or if it gets easier thinking and talking about them. We have a quick lunch, then go back to the albums. She has each one of her son’s lives recorded through pictures. I love the bathtub ones. All four of them in the tub filled with bubbles, smiling. I have the same shots of Hunter and Ella. We laugh and she tells me the stories behind the pictures. She has a great memory. I always get nervous that I will forget some things, but I guess as a mother you never forget the moments, not the important ones. We are giggling on the couch when Grant walks in. Neither of us notices him at first, but he stands and watches us. Mrs. Grace starts to tell me a story about him and Aiden.

“You have it all wrong, Mom,” he interrupts. He settles on the arm of the couch and tells us the story.

“We stole a pair of scissors and thought it would be a good idea to cut each other’s hair. When we chopped each other’s hair off, we realized it looked horrible, so we thought it would be a believable story to tell you a bird attacked us and ripped our hair out.” He smiles. “We were four and five; we didn’t know how to create a good lie.” I look over at the picture and laugh. Their hair was a mess. Some spots are long, while other spots are missing.

“You boys drove me up the walls,” Mrs. Grace says, looking at Grant with such love.

“Oh, Mom, we weren’t that bad.”

“Oh no? So when you thought it was a good idea to jump off the pool-house roof into the pool, you thought I wouldn’t have a heart attack?” She gives him the evil eye, but his charm wins her over.

“We didn’t get hurt, did we? We never did anything too crazy that would put us at risk.” He gives her a warm and loving smile, and she melts.

“I would like to take a nap now. I’m very tired from looking at all of this. Grant, would you mind going and getting some gelato?” She looks at him, showing how tired she is.

“Of course, Mom. I’ll help you into bed.”

“No, Addy can help me. Why don’t you take Hannah with you? Show her around. I feel bad having her cooped up in this house.”

“Tori, I don’t mind staying here,” I say, but I know what she is up to.

“What did you drive here in?” she asks him.

“Dad’s Porsche.” He directs his attention back to me. “I would love it if you joined me, Hannah. I would like some company.” I see tears swell up in Mrs. Grace’s eyes. I feel like I am missing something. Addy comes in to tell Grant to get her some too, then takes Mrs. Grace into her room.

“Let me just go and get my bag,” I say to him.

I head into my room—well, his old room. I spray some perfume on and grab my bag. He is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. He looks relaxed again today, wearing jeans that hang nicely on him. They sit right on his hips; he looks good. He has aviator sunglasses hanging from his necklace again. When I get to the bottom step, he steps back and opens the door for me.

“After you,” he says, and I walk out of the house. I see his father’s Porsche and my jaw drops.
My father would be in heaven
, I think to myself.

“Is this a Fifty-Five Speedster?” I ask him. He is so James Dean.

His head jerks back to look at me.

“How do you know that?” he asks, in shock.

“Mr. Grace, I know things.” I smile at him, as he opens the car door for me.

“Do you want me to put the top up?” he asks when he gets in.

“No, leave it down. I like the wind.” I settle in my seat and put my seat belt on. The car is a classic and is kept in pristine condition. He starts the car and we begin to drive.