Playing for Keeps (Texas Scoundrels) (25 page)

Mattie ignored her and turned to Ellen. “I’d like something bold. Teal, plum, burgundy maybe.”

“Those are more fall or winter colors,” Ellen said. “For a summer wedding, bright jewel tones are in this season. And pastels are always a lovely choice.”

“What about this?” Griffen held up a tea-length, satin A-line dress in a luxurious marine blue. It had a boat neck cut, similar to the illusion neckline of Mattie’s dress. A simple mock belt of matching beads and sequins were the only embellishments. “Simple. Classic. Not quite the color of gangrene, but still bold. It even has the same vintage vibe. And the color will really complement the champagne of your dress.”

An hour later, they left the bridal boutique, orders placed and a date set for their first fitting in two weeks. After a quick Starbucks stop for lattés, they headed back to Hart. Since Mattie was driving, Griffen pulled out her cell phone to check for missed calls. There were two, one from the auctioneer and one from Jed, as well as a text from her dad telling her Austin would be staying with him for the rest of the weekend.

“Dad’s keeping Austin overnight,” she said as she sent a text back to her dad confirming.
 

“Oooh, sounds like Jed has plans for you tonight.

Griffen bit her bottom lip. Did he? “He called.”

“Then call him back and find out. And if not, then you tell him you’re taking advantage of the situation.”
 

“I don’t know.”

“Dammit, Griff,” Mattie said, her tone filled irritation. “You’re attracted to the guy. He obviously wants you. For once in your life, just freaking go for it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

She wasn’t the only one involved. She had a child to think about, too. “Austin could get hurt.”

“That’s such a load,” Mattie said. “You’re afraid
you
could get hurt.”

Yes, she was afraid, because she’d come to care for Jed. He wasn’t the public image, not really. Sure, he could be stubborn and impossible. He pushed her buttons and made her want to throw things. But he was also caring and kind. And he made her hot. “We come from two different worlds.”

“So? Who cares?”

“You say that like it doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t. And you know, you don’t come from two different worlds. Not really. Jed comes from the same place you do. He might have made it big, but he grew up just like we did, traditional values, small town and a strong work ethic.” Mattie let out an impatient breath. “Call him back, Griff. Tell the man what you want.”

“It can’t last.” Okay, so she cared for him. She desired him. But that was as far as she was willing to swim in that river. He’d be leaving. Soon.
 

“You don’t know that,” Mattie argued. “You won’t know until you two have that discussion.”

“He isn’t a forever kind of guy, Matt. Even if something more did evolve, I would never ask him to stay.” Her pride wouldn’t allow it.
 

“Then don’t.” Mattie glanced her way, a wide grin suddenly on her face. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t use him for sex.”

Griffen laughed, grateful Mattie had lightened the mood. The conversation had turned way too serious.
 

Her cell phone rang and she checked the Caller ID. “It’s him.” Her cheeks instantly heated.

“You’ve got it bad,” Mattie said. “Do it, Griff. Go for it.”

She took a deep breath, then hit the answer button. “Hello?”

“I missed you today.”

His voice was loaded with sex and sin, and her heart skidded to a halt. “That makes two of us,” she said once her heart started beating again. “Austin’s staying with my dad for the rest of the weekend. I’m thinking this reeks of your handiwork.”

“Thomas offered,” he said. “It means we can be alone.”

“All night long,” she said, ignoring Mattie’s quiet chuckle.
 

“I’ve been thinking about dinner, sex and you all freaking day.”

Her pulse quickened at the sexy rumble of his voice. “Jed.” She used her best warning tone.

“Or we could talk on the phone instead.”

“I’m not alone.” No way was she going there. “What were you thinking for dinner? Goldie’s closes early on Saturday.”

“Wine and candlelight, sweetheart. Not local diner.”

“Oh. Okay.” More erotic images filtered through her mind. A planned seduction. She’d never survive. “I should be home in about an hour.”

“I’ll meet you at your place.”

She told him where to find the spare key in case they hit traffic and he showed up before she arrived. “How did the auction go?”

“You haven’t talked the auctioneer?”

“No yet. Why? Were there problems?”

“No, everything went pretty smooth,” he said. “You should give him a call back.”

She asked about Austin, then promised to meet him soon.
 

“Griffen?” he said before she disconnected the call. “Do you remember what I told you the other night?”

He’d said a lot of things. A lot of erotic things that made her come apart with just her imagination and the sound of his voice. “Which one?” she asked cautiously.

“Baby, I am gonna set you on fire.”

Unable to speak, she hit the disconnect button and ended the call.

“What’s wrong?” Mattie asked. “Griff, are you okay?”
 

Griffen stared at the now dark screen of her phone. “No.”

“What did he say?” Mattie asked, her voice filled with concern.

Griffen cleared her throat as she looked over at her sister, whose attention kept shifting between her and the road. “He’s gonna set me on fire.”

Mattie’s eyes widened and she laughed suddenly. “Well.” She laughed again. “I have only one thing to say about that.”

Griffen wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but asked anyway. “Which is?”

“It’s about fucking time.”

Fourteen

BY THE TIME Mattie dropped Griffen off at her place, Jed hadn’t yet arrived, for which she was grateful. She’d wanted time to shower and change before she saw him. Regardless of the enthusiastic pep talk from her sister, she couldn’t stop the case of nerves if her life depended on it. The thought of making love to Jed might had been forefront in her mind for days, but that didn’t mean she’d gotten used to the idea.
 

After her conversation with Jed, she’d called the auctioneer. The auction hadn’t only gone smoothly, as Jed had indicated, it had gone extremely well. The figure the auctioneer gave her pretty much solved the last of her financial concerns. Now she could pull the building out of foreclosure and put it up for sale, plus pay off the business loan.
 

She waved to Mattie one last time, then went around to the side of the house. She unlocked the kitchen door and slipped inside, tossing her purse on the kitchen table on her way into the family room. That’s when she saw them. A scattering of white, pale pink and deep mauve-colored rose petals littered the floor, leading a path out of the family room toward the staircase.

“Jed?” she called, but received no answering reply. She checked the side door that led to the garage, wondering if maybe he’d parked inside. Which made sense if he were trying to avoid gossip, but when she looked, she only found her Jeep. Curious, she headed for the stairs and picked up a velvety rose petal. Cool to the touch, as if it’d recently been refrigerated.

She walked up the stairs, careful to avoid crushing rose petals into the carpet. The door to her bedroom stood open and the lights were dimmed. When she walked inside, she half expected to find him in her bed—waiting.
 

The room was empty.

She went to the bed. More rose petals and something else littered the surface. She gasped when she realized exactly what she was seeing.
 

Condoms.
 

Lots and lots of condoms.
 

Gold packets, silver packets, black packets and more rose petals covered the surface. There had to be at least one hundred of them, if not more.

“Good grief.” Talk about making a statement. She couldn’t help wondering exactly what he was expecting to happen.
 

Sex
.

No kidding.

And lots of it
.

She let out a nervous laugh, trying not to feel too intimidated. The sound of a car door slamming had her throat tightening, along with her girl parts, but a quick look out the window revealed the neighbors across the road, not Jed. She tried to breathe a sigh of relief, but it came out in a rush instead. Her insides were jittery and her palms were sweaty. She was a wreck.

Get over yourself
.

If only she could. Jed was no boy scout. She had nowhere near the kind of experience he was probably used to from his sexual partners. Did she really think she could take him to the brink of insanity as he did her? He drove her to the edge just
thinking
about making love to him.

Maybe she should text him, tell him she’d changed her mind. So what if he knew she was hiding from him? That wasn’t quite true. She was hiding...from herself. Making love to Jed wasn’t a decision she’d made lightly, and she couldn’t deny she was terrified on a variety of levels. Her sex life with Ross had been satisfying, sometimes passionate but rarely adventurous. To say they shared anything remotely close to the level of sexuality she had with Jed was a major credibility stretch. Ross had never set her on fire the way Jed did with one single touch, or a look, or even the sound of his voice. He was unlike anyone she’d ever known, and she knew she’d never know another man like him in her lifetime.

Soft music suddenly caught her attention. Grateful for the diversion, she gladly followed the sound into the master bath, not sure what to expect. Her iPod dock sat on the double sink, her iPod tuned to her classical music playlist.

Candles, dozens of them, surrounded the sunken, garden tub filled with water, casting the room in a soft, warm glow. More rose petals floated on the surface, their subtle scent wafting on the steam, teasing her senses. She dipped her fingers into the water, which was hot and just the way she liked it. A silver serving tray sat perched on the bench to her vanity, which he’d apparently dragged into the bathroom to set by the side of the tub. An opened bottle of Dom Perignon sat in an ice bucket, and a champagne flute filled with the bubbly sat on top of the tray, along with a glass bowl filled with plump, red strawberries.
 

Other than the romantic display, there was no sign of Jed. Where he’d gone, she couldn’t begin to hazard a guess because he’d left no note. But she sure as hell didn’t need a written invitation to know this had all been done for her benefit. As she stripped out of her clothes she couldn’t help be impressed. The guy certainly knew how to turn on the romance, and she appreciated the effort.
 

Funny, because she’d never in a million years have pegged him for the romantic type.

Who needs romance when you have dozens of women dropping at your feet?

She stripped and pinned up her hair, then looked at her reflection in the long mirror over the double sink. Not bad, not really. She was only thirty-two years old, hardly over the hill.

He’s had
a lot
of women
. Younger
women, with perkier boobs and tinier waists
.

She wanted perkier boobs. She’d like to erase the threat of crow’s feet, too, while she was at it, but that wasn’t going to happen. If only she had a smaller waist and slimmer hips, but she was her mother’s daughter. Like her sisters, curves came with the territory.
 

She turned away from the mirror before she talked herself into a fit of sheer, unrealistic paranoia. Instead, she stepped into the tub and eased down into the scented, steaming water. After adjusting a towel to rest her head against, she leaned back and closed her eyes. She let out a sigh and could practically feel the tension leaving her body. A few sips of the expensive champagne, and she was pretty sure she’d gone to heaven. If Jed’s intention was to relax her so she’d be putty in his hands, all she had to say was
touchdown
.

She must’ve dozed, because two of the votive candles had burned out and the water had turned tepid. After downing the last of the champagne in her glass, she exited the tub and dried off. Wrapped in a towel, she went into her bedroom for something to wear. She considered dressing up, slipping into a little black dress and heels, but all she had to do was look at the bed to know she’d be severely overdressed. Instead, she went into her lingerie drawer and pulled out a tissue wrapped package. Carefully, she unwrapped the shell-pink colored chemise and matching silk robe she’d bought over a year ago and had never worn.
 

The whisper thin fabric slid over her curves and fell to mid-thigh. After adjusting the straps, she removed the matching robe from the protective wrapping and shrugged into it.
 

She opened her jewelry box and sifted through it until she found a pair of emerald studs, but then thought better of it. They were expensive, a gift from her mother on her twenty-first birthday, and she’d hate to lose one. Her fingers brushed over her wedding ring and she hesitated. She’d taken off the simple gold band the night Ross had left her and she’d almost forgotten it existed. Lifting the band out of the box, she studied it in the buttery glow from the lit Victorian lamps on the night tables. The inscription was nearly worn away;
RES/GHS
and their wedding date. No words of undying love, no promises of forever, just a simple statement of fact; who and when. Even though she had every right considering what he’d done to her, she didn’t despise her ex-husband. She no longer loved him, either. No, that emotion had dwindled long before Ross and his mid-life crisis ran off to Jamaica.