Give Me Grace (35 page)

My burner phone buzzed
. I put down the chip packet and picked it up, reading a message from Coby.

Just received news from Evie that Mitsy is currently
en route to the cottage via the backseat of my car. He better be in his dog carrier or heads will roll.

I typed a reply.
Of course he is. Relax, dude.

After hitting send, I put the phone back in the centre console
. Then I picked up the chip packet and passed Mitsy another Dorito. Casey shook his head. “If Mitsy chews the backseat of Coby’s car, we’re dead,” I announced.

His brows flew
to his hairline, incredulous as he looked at me quickly. “
We’re
dead?”

I shrugged. “You know h
ow when you’re driving and the police pull you over because your passenger isn’t wearing a seat belt? And they fine you because you’re the driver and responsible for all occupants of the vehicle? It’s kinda like that.” While Casey looked a little dazed I added, “And if he asks, Mitsy was in a dog carrier the whole trip.”

“Firstly,” Casey began, nostrils flaring dangerously
, “if I ever hear about you being in a car without wearing a seat belt, you
will
be dead and
I’ll
be the one doing the killing. Secondly … I agree. If Coby asks, Mitsy didn’t leave the dog carrier, but,” and that
but
was loud and firm and rang in my ears, “if he chews any part of this car, he’s going home in a pine box.”

I gasped.

“That’s me being humane, Grace,” I was told. “I’ll make sure it’s done quickly. Coby wouldn’t be so nice. He doesn’t like dogs. I do.”

I ignored his threats and ate a chip. Casey glanced at me, lids lowering
when I licked the flavouring off my fingers. That proved harder to ignore. I reached for another chip. “You know why I refused to give Mitsy back to Dalton?”

“Why?”

I shifted, trying to get comfortable and failing miserably. “Because Dalton abandoned him and Mitsy got shafted because no one wanted him. I feel bad about that because initially, neither did I. So of course he’s going to be angry at the world. Mitsy had a rough start to life and deserves to get his happily ever after.” I watched Mitsy from my side passenger mirror as I spoke. His head was still out the window, licking the wind with enthusiasm. “He just needs someone to love him. That’s all.”

“Playing eye-spy with you sucks,” I muttered to Casey after our fifth game.
Which I lost. After losing the last four before that.

He grinned. “Don’t be a sore loser, Slim.”

“A sore loser?” I huffed. “Using words like
automotive navigation system
and
engine malfunction light
is
not
in the spirit of the game.”

“You said I couldn’t name anything outside the car,” he pointed out.

“I know, but I’m not an aeronautical space engineer. Simple words like
steering wheel
and
dashboard
would suffice.”

“You want to play again?”

My nostrils quivered. “No.”

Ten minutes later we pull
ed into a paved driveway.

Casey got out of the car
, but I sat for a moment and stared. When he’d said
beach cottage
I assumed some kind of rendered beach house within walking distance to the water, but this was right opposite the beach, and it wasn’t some modern monstrosity; it was quaint and pretty and well kept. The outside was white weatherboard with a sweet timber porch and a brightly coloured hammock. The front lawn was thick and lush, and the gardens were a riot of bright shrubs and colourful flowers.

This wasn’t a house
, this was a
home.
A place you could see kids running around the front, bikes overturned, a pile of shoes by the front door, and a hanger by the porch railing that held things like skipping ropes, and a leash for the dog.

Tears blurred my vision
when longing hit me hard.

This.

Just … this.

This was what I wanted. A home. A family.
Maybe a veggie garden and a cat too. One with long hair that looked like a wild lion.

I opened the car door before Casey reached my side. He took my hand, helping me out. “This place is beautiful.”

“It’s not fancy,” he warned me. Moving to the back of the car, he started getting our bags out.

“I don’t
need fancy,” I called out, opening the back door. Mitsy leaped out and immediately cocked his leg on the big tyre. I waited patiently for him to finish.

“Yeah?” Casey
walked over and dumped one of the bags on the porch. Holding the other, he dug in his pocket for his keys. I followed him over, Mitsy trotting behind as Casey plucked them out. “What
do
you need?” he asked when I stepped up onto the porch.

I hooked a finger in his board
shorts and tugged him closer. “Just you.”

He grinned and brushed his lips against mine. “Just me, huh?”

“Mmm hmm.” I rubbed a hand over the bulge in his shorts, my pulse accelerating when he started getting hard. Casey dropped the bag in his grip. Then he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me, sweeping his tongue inside my mouth. Need exploded as I kissed him back. My hips cradled his and he rocked his erection against me.

The pulsing between my legs reached critical levels and
I broke off, anxious to get inside. “Give me the keys.”

He held them up and I snatched them from his hands with a smirk. Turning, I unlocked the front door, over my shoulder saying, “Last one inside has to spend the entire next day naked, waiting on the other hand and foot.”

Mitsy raced under my feet to get inside, tripping me. I spun, trying to catch my balance and Casey grabbed my hips before I toppled over.

“
Arrghhh!” I cried out, fire trailing up my bruised body where he caught me.

He cursed and
picked me up in the doorway, cradling me against his chest. I could hear the rapid thumping of his heart so I knew the effort cost him. Casey was always so capable he made me forget he was injured. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I
jerked my chin at the floor. “You can put me down.”

“
In a second.” Casey turned around and started walking backwards inside the house. It would effectively make him first inside and me the loser. “Let me just carry you inside.”

“No
.” I reached out and grabbed hold of the doorframe before he could move. It forced him to shift sideways or risk dropping me on my ass. “This is my stop, right here.”

Thwarted.
There was no way Casey could peel my fingers from the doorframe without having to let go of me first. I was impressed he could still hold me as tightly as he was without breaking a sweat.

“It seems we’re at an impasse,” he said.

My brows rose coolly. So help me God I wanted a naked Casey all day waiting on me hand and foot. He was
not
going to win this. “So it would seem.”

“What’s your plan, Slim? Because my arms are getting tired.”

“They are?”

His lips twitched. “No
. I could stand here all day.”

“Fine. I don’t have a plan,” I declared, “but I’ve never had a naked man wait on me hand and foot before.” I let my lids lower lazily, focusing on his mouth and letting my voice go all husky. If my one working hand didn’t have a death grip on the doorframe, I’d have trailed it down my body suggestively. “The things I could do to you
…”

“Yeah?” Casey’s lips brushed mine again, slow and teasing. “What things?”

“What things?”

“Mmm hmm,” he answered against my mouth. “I want you to list them out.
One by one.”

Did he think I wouldn’t?

Newsflash, buddy
, I thought, my eyes narrowing.
You are going down in a ball of flames.

“First, I’ll make you watch while I slide my hand down my belly and inside my panties.” My cheeks heated because I’d never touched myself in front of a man in my life.
If Casey asked me to though, I would. He had that effect. I lifted my chin, soldiering on. “But I’d keep them on so you couldn’t see what I was doing.” Casey’s breathing got heavier. Buoyed that my plan was working, I kept going. “Then I’d—”

I was cut off by the sound of a man clearing his throat from inside the cottage. My eyes flew towards the sound and my flush almost set me on fire. A man
—black suit, white shirt, red tie—was leaning up against the kitchen bench, juggling a set of keys. He looked like a property agent. Slick, handsome, and
amused
.

My hand fell away from the doorframe and Casey walked me in, setting me carefully on my feet. I didn’t care that it made me first inside the cottage because I wanted to
die
. I glanced quickly at Casey. He hadn’t been breathing heavy like I thought at all. He’d been laughing
.
His lips pressed together when he caught my glare.

“Hello,” I managed politely to the man
. Then I started for what I prayed really hard was the bedroom and not the pantry. “It’s been a long drive so I’m just going to go to the bedroom now and die. Please excuse me.” Mitsy followed, pausing to growl at the man as we passed by. “Mitsy,” I snapped. “Come.”

“Grace.” My wrist was snagged before I could make my escape. I was turned to face the man so I pasted a smile on my face. “You’re dead,” I hissed quietly at Casey through gritted teeth. “I’m going to smother you in your sleep with a pillow. And I’m going to
laugh
while I do it.”

His lips twitched as he made the introductions. “This is Wesley Brennan of
Brennan Marks Realty. Wes, this is Grace.”

There was an awkward hand shaking movement where he held out his right hand and I had to shake it with my left. He quickly changed hands and took mine
in his. “I’m sorry about before,” I told him. “We weren’t— I mean, I wasn’t … I didn’t know anyone was going to be here.”

I felt Casey shaking beside me and I wanted to elbow him. Not one of those lame elbows in the side either, but the kind where it packs a punch and when they dou
ble over from the pain, you crack your elbow in their face, thus breaking their nose. They did it all the time in those Jackie Chan movies. It didn’t look that hard.

“I arranged for Wes
to meet us here when we arrived,” Casey explained. “He’s heading out of town tomorrow so I wanted to catch up before he left.”

I
offered Wes another smile before I hissed quietly at Casey through gritted teeth. “Perhaps you could’ve told me this earlier.”

“I could’ve,” he murmured.

“Sorry for the interruption, Grace,” Wes offered, fighting back a grin. “I was checking some of the fencing along the back line so I came through the side entry, which is why the front door was still locked.”

Deciding to get over it, I offered Wes a drink.
God knows I needed one.

He accepted so I
left them to talk while I made a beeline for the kitchen. It looked out over the backyard. A large window sat above the sink, offering a beautiful view of more flowering shrubbery and a deep, blue pool. The kitchen and living area boasted a lot of white, but the gleaming timber floors added warmth—as did the accents of colour dotting the interior. The kitchen splashback was a bright tangerine and the beige modular couch was decorated with a navy throw and large, coloured cushions. The overall space wasn’t huge, but high ceilings with exposed beams added an airy feel.

Deciding I’d be happy living here on a permanent basis, I opened the fridge door. Cool air blasted outwards and
I let it cool my residual embarrassment while I perused the contents.

Spying a bottle
chilled Sauvignon Blanc in the side door, I plucked it out. After finding some glasses from a nearby cupboard, I poured a hefty amount in each. Casey and Wes walked over and I pushed a glass across the kitchen bench in each direction, only catching on to their conversation after I’d returned the bottle to the fridge.