State of Grace Page 10

  You are so going to fry in hell.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  When Lucas called to invite him out for golf, Sean was wary. Lucas was never one for golf, but then again, Lucas had never been married.

  Then again, you should have never slept with his little sister, asshole.

  Maybe he’d somehow found out and was waiting to bash him in the head with one of his new irons.

  He tried to squash his uncooperative thoughts. “You look like hell,” his friend commented as he strolled onto the green of the golf course.

  He knew he hadn’t been sleeping much, but Lucas wouldn’t appreciate the reason why. He gave him a dry look. “Nice to see you too, asswipe.”

  Lucas smirked at his him. “Watch what you say to me. Remember the last time I kicked your ass?”

  “Punching me for kissing Becky Martin before I hit my growth spurt twenty years ago doesn’t count.” Sean rolled his eyes as he picked up a club from the caddy. “So what’s with the golf? You finally manage to tear yourself away from Sophie for more than a couple hours?”

  Lucas grinned at the mention of his wife. “Something like that,” he said with a small smile before his expression turned somber. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

  Sean felt a mild flare of panic, but he was pretty sure Grace hadn’t said anything. If she had, Lucas would’ve been on his doorstep with a steel baseball bat in no time. Distracted by his thoughts, he took his first swing.

  “Your game sucks ass.”

  Irritated, he turned back to Lucas. “You were saying? You wanted to talk to me about something?”

  “I’m worried about Grace.”

  He swallowed nervously. Maybe Lucas would exact his torture slowly. He could be a masochistic bastard where his sister was concerned.

  “Why? And what do I have to do with it?” he asked suspiciously.

  “We think she’s depressed. We haven’t seen her in months, and Sophie had to beg and plead to get her out of the house today. She’s lost weight, and every time I call her, she rushes me off the phone with some excuse that she can’t talk because she’s busy.”

  Sean drew his brows together in what he hoped looked like concern. He remembered, in vivid Technicolor, some of those times Lucas and exactly what he’d done to Grace to distract her. He tried to avoid looking directly at his friend as he moved to select another club.

  “Like I asked before, what does this have to do with me?” he muttered, hoping his voice sounded normal and guilt-free.

  “You two have always gotten on each other’s nerves. Tonight at dinner, try to rile her up a bit.”

  Sean stared stupidly.

  “Why?”

  Lucas looked at him warily out of the corner of his eye as he got ready to tee up. “Because. If she sits there and takes it … then we know something’s wrong. If she doesn’t, well, then, we know she’s hiding something.” He swung the club and hit the ball with a hard thwack.

  Sean pictured his head in the place of the golf ball and swallowed. He contemplated backing out for a moment. No telling how they would be around each other in front of her brother and his wife.

  But crazy as it was, he couldn’t wait to be around her again. Even as he’d rolled out of her bed that morning to get ready to meet her brother, he felt a yearning sensation he hadn’t felt before. Even as she’d swatted him away when he went to press his mouth against hers, her sleepy gaze smiled into his as her mouth opened in welcome. They’d each made plans for the day with Lucas and Sophie, respectively. He was willing to bet his bank account she had no clue about dinner tonight.

  He would try to squeeze a text in to warn her. They had to get it over with at some point. Once Lucas and Sophie decided to start popping out babies, it was inevitable that they would have to see each other at christenings, birthdays, and whatever other parties his friend’s wife had in mind. They had to figure out a way to be around other people, namely her sibling and his wife, and her parents. It was going to be a struggle to act normal and not rip each other’s clothes off, but at some point they had to figure it out.

  “You know she might completely ignore me,” he said casually as he picked up a club, examining the end of a Ping nine iron. “Wish I had my own damned clubs with me,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Don’t make excuses for why your game sucks before it begins,” Lucas quipped. “Besides, the only time she’s ever kept her mouth shut around you was after you made fun of her for getting her period.” He brightened. “That’s exactly what you need to do. Just bring her along for a stroll on memory lane.”

  Shit, he’d forgotten about that. Sean winced just as he swung, missing the hole by at least ten yards. He cursed as his friend crowed with laughter.

  Tonight was going to be interesting, if nothing else.

  As they continued the game, a fine sheen of sweat had broken out over his body, and he knew it had nothing to do with the weather.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Later that afternoon after they’d returned from golf, a sense of overwhelming doom descended in the pit of his stomach as he followed Lucas towards his backyard pool.

  Everything seemed to happen all at once.

  Sophie smiled widely in delight, and Grace, clad in a pretty pink and white striped one-piece bathing suit, bolted for her brother. She hadn’t seen him yet.

  He inwardly groaned as the movement caused her breasts to bounce softly.

  Fuck.

  “Sean! It’s so good to see you!” Sophie exclaimed, hugging him warmly.

  Grace paused mid-embrace and peered over her brother’s shoulder at him. He could see a dull flush start to spread across her cheeks. He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.

  “Sophie,” he greeted, his eyes twinkling at her. “You get more and more gorgeous every time I see you.”

  “You are so full of it,” she smirked, releasing him from her embrace before turning to her sister-in-law. “Grace, come say hi, and you two play nice!”

  Grace had disentangled herself from her brother and was now staring nervously at him. Clearly, she hadn’t expected him.

  This could be fun.

  He turned in her direction, his gaze colliding with hers. Her eyes were the same deep gray as a horizon on the verge of a thunderstorm. Her hair was pulled up in some sort of messy top-knot, a few wispy tendrils caressing her face. His eyes eagerly drank in the sight of her. She looked like a fifties pin-up model with her hips flaring out into generous curves, poured into her bathing suit.

  She looked decidedly chaste, yet sexy. He supposed the one-piece was meant to be conservative, but on her, it was anything but.

  A throat cleared from behind him, and he glanced at Lucas.

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “We’ll play nice just fine,” he murmured against her skin. As she jerked her hand away, he tightened his grip, letting his middle finger stroke along the underside of her palm.

  He brought his eyes back to hers. Oh yeah, she wanted to kill him.

  He heard her mutter “asshole” under her breath.

  “Grace?” Sophie looked at her questioningly

  She pasted a bright fake smile on her face. “Oh, nothing, I was just saying ‘Sean, nice shorts.’”

  Sophie frowned. Grace’s last comment sounded nothing like what she’d said under her breath, but then again, she hadn’t heard her clearly. She looked at her husband, who was examining the clouds with great interest, and then she saw, really saw Sean’s swimming trunks, and she broke out into laughter.

  “Sean, I’m so sorry. How did he get you into these?”

  Sean narrowed his eyes as he turned to face the culprit responsible. “He said he didn’t have anything else for me to wear,” he grit out.

  Lucas smirked. “What Sean is really saying is that everything else I had was too big for him. I didn’t want him to feel inadequate, so I gave him these.” He shrugged innocently and flashed a wicked smile of white, ev
en teeth.

  “You want me to get someone to vouch for my size, asshole?” Sean threatened.

  “Delicate ears, gentlemen!” Sophie warned. “You’re making my poor Grace blush. Put the figurative swords away boys, and let’s go have a few cocktails. We have the loungers over there,” Sophie pointed out.

  Sean snuck a glance at Grace, and sure as hell, her cheeks were adorably stained a deep pink. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and as their eyes clashed, he raised an eyebrow in silent challenge. She turned her head so quickly, he was sure that if she’d moved any faster, she’d get whiplash.

  He hung back, walking behind the women with her brother. Grace’s bottom wiggled enticingly as she walked in front of him, and he felt himself harden uncomfortably.

  Shit.

  If he didn’t know any better, he’d have sworn she was trying to drive him insane. He shoved his hands in the pockets of the trunks to create some room between the fabric and his cock. He needed to get in the pool … and fast. A raging hard-on during ‘family time’ would not be good.

  As they got to the lounge area, he saw Grace dig into her beach bag and whip out a pair of sunglasses, shoving them on her face as she settled onto the lounger. He wanted to laugh but thought it wiser to stay quiet. She was so damned cute.

  Again, he felt himself getting harder, and he wanted to yell at his penis for betraying him.

  Resolving that he needed to get in the water ASAP, he quickly removed his white polo and was about to jump into the water when he heard a low whistle from Lucas. “Someone did a number on your back, bro.”

  Shit.

  He quickly jumped into the water, feeling some relief as the cool water hit his skin. He grinned before turning around to face them.

  “Yeah, I picked up a real wildcat in a bar one night a few months back.”

  Someone made a choking sound over by the loungers.

  “A few months ago? That many scratches?” Lucas asked dubiously.

  Shrugging, he snuck another look at Grace, but he couldn’t see anything through those damned glasses. He did notice that her breathing had quickened, if the rise and fall of those delicious breasts was any indication. “We keep going at it. I guess weeks of hot sex with a repressed woman will do that to you.

  Lucas raised a brow in doubt. “Months? You?” He pointed at Sean. “Months with one woman? The same woman?”

  “Prime piece of ass, brother.”

  Before he finished his sentence, Grace bolted up from her lounger. The telltale blush that had been on its way to fading roared back into her cheeks. “I’m going to get a drink. Anyone want anything?” she squeaked as she hurried to the other side of the pool.

  He couldn’t help himself. “Get me a beer, will ya, Gracie? Stella, Lucas usually has it. Otherwise, anything will do,” he yelled obnoxiously.

  She turned to face him, and he noticed a fist clenching and unclenching. If he wasn’t already in the pool, she probably would have pushed him in. He wished he could have seen her eyes.

  She turned around and stalked off in the direction of the outdoor bar, as Sophie turned her full wrath on them.

  “In case you two idiots didn’t notice, that conversation made your poor sister extremely uncomfortable. She’s a lady, and I don’t want you two discussing Sean’s escapades with his sluts around her,” she demanded heatedly.

  Lucas rubbed his wife’s back in soothing gestures and murmured an apology in her ear as Sean managed to get out a “sorry” without choking.

  If they only knew.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Drowning out the conversation around her, Grace decided this dinner was going to be the death of her. It was bad enough that Sean had unexpectedly shown up while she and Sophie were out lounging by the pool, but then he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut and leave her alone.

  Not to mention that he’d seen her in her bathing suit in the bright-ass light of day.

  Despite the fact that they’d had sex hundreds of times (by her count), there was always the comfort of dim to no light.

  Or, it happened spontaneously with just not enough time to get all of their clothes off before they could do the deed. They’d done exactly that just yesterday, in fact.

  A vision from last night flashed through her mind, and she felt her heart beat pick up in pace.

  “Are you okay, Grace? Grace?”

  Snapping out of her daze, she realized her brother had been talking to her while she’d tuned out. Three faces stared back at her, waiting for her response. Lucas and Sophie seemed concerned, while Sean, the jerk, looked mildly amused.

  “I’m fine,” she croaked, thinking that she would be if the frog in her throat didn’t jump out. She tried to smile encouragingly at her brother while averting her gaze from her erstwhile lover.

  “Are you sure? Your cheeks are all red. Sure you’re not coming down with something?”

  Was he trying to make her crazy? Did no one else notice the suggestive tone in his voice? Especially as he said the word coming … As his warm voice poured over her, heat unfurled in her belly, an insane mix of fury and lust. She sent a momentary prayer of thanks that she wasn’t seated across from or next to him and surreptitiously avoided looking at him.

  Her fork speared into a piece of potato.

  “I’m fine,” she muttered curtly, before lifting the fork to her lips and shoving the potato inside. She chewed slowly, hoping the large bite would keep her from having to speak for at least a few seconds. Dimly, it registered that the food was delicious, but she might as well have been eating sawdust for all the pleasure it brought her.

  Nerves, annoyance, and an unhealthy paranoia that her big brother would find out that she was sleeping with his best friend had killed any of her pleasure sensors.

  A self-proclaimed amateur chef, Sophie had prepared a four-course meal. They’d already gotten through a caprese salad, seafood bisque, and were now working through a roasted leg of lamb with herbed potatoes. All she had to do was make it through dessert, and she could escape to freedom.

  Escape to freedom and give that snake Sean a piece of her mind for this unholy torture.

  She was conscious of the questioning looks she got from Lucas and Sophie, but she ignored them. The conversation had turned to the golf game the men had played earlier that day. She focused on bite after bite, drawing every morsel out as slowly as she could while managing to keep her mouth constantly chewing so she wouldn’t have to contribute to the conversation.

  Her mind floated away from the dinner table once again as she wished her phone hadn’t died earlier that day so she could get a head start on reaming Sean.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  They’d just finished the main course, and of course when Sophie cleared their plates and went to get dessert, Grace raced after her. She’d appeared eager to help her sister-in-law, but Sean knew she was just looking for escape.

  Chicken, he thought fondly and slipped his phone out of his pocket to text her just that. He unlocked his screen and frowned when he didn’t see any new messages flashing on the screen. He’d sent her several earlier on in the day so she’d have a heads up on what her brother wanted him to do.

  A sharp pain exploded in his shin, jolting him from his reverie.

  He glared at the table’s only other occupant.

  “What are you doing?” Lucas whispered harshly.

  He raised his brow in question, fighting the urge to rub against the sharp pain that throbbed in his shin.

  “You’re supposed to antagonize her,” Lucas hissed.

  “Doing it,” he grit out.

  “Do it better.”

  Just then, the two women re-entered the dining room, each holding two bowls with hot apple pie and ice cream. Grace set a bowl in front of her brother before returning to her seat.

  Sean didn’t miss the questioning look Sophie gave her as she set a bowl down in front of him before setting her own bowl down and taking her seat.

  “This
looks amazing honey, thank you,” Lucas smiled warmly at his wife before digging into his dessert.

  They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, the only sound, forks clinking against the china. Lucas looked at him again, almost in warning, and Sean wisely tucked his legs under the space beneath his seat.

  The silence dragged on, almost verging into uncomfortable, before Sophie attempted to break it. “Grace, we didn’t get to talk about it earlier. You seeing anyone?” Sophie asked brightly.

  Grace’s fork paused mid-air. The question obviously caught her off guard, and she bit into the corner of her lower lip before responding. “Nothing serious,” she mumbled, before forking another bite into her mouth.

  His temper flared. No, fuck that. It didn’t just flare, it fucking roared. Of course, they hadn’t talked about the status of their relationship, but after spending every single moment together, he’d expected a different response from her. He set his fork down and glared at her, but of course, she refused to meet his eye. Something nasty rose up inside him, and before he could stop himself, he retorted, “What, no one good enough to meet your impossible standards, Gracie?”

  He didn’t miss the pleased look Lucas gave him or the telltale red flush that stained her cheeks. He knew better than to think it was solely due to embarrassment, although there probably was a little bit of that mixed in.

  Oh no, she was pissed as hell.

  Deliberately, she dropped her fork into the bowl, the harsh sound of metal against china permeating the air. Sparks flying from her gray eyes, she finally met his gaze, head-on.

  “Someone good enough? Let me ask you this Sean, do you think someone like you would ever be good enough for me?”

  His eyes took on a hard glint. “Good enough, yeah, but just you baby? There’s enough good in me to go around, and you know I’m not a one woman kind of man.”

  A pang of remorse pierced through him as he saw the color drain out of her face … and Lucas looked downright pleased. He knew things were going straight to shit, but before he could open his mouth to change the course of the conversation, she beat him to it.