State of Grace Read online

  Grace simply grinned before hugging the other woman back just as tightly, then moved into her place as the priest commenced the ceremony.

  She stood, a bright bouquet of flowers in her hand, taking in every moment of the happy couple’s joy as they exchanged their hand-written vows.

  She wondered if the priest was on something when he asked Sophie if she took, “this woman in Holy Matrimony,” then hastily corrected himself.

  She scowled when the priest asked if anyone had objections to the wedding, and relaxed with a smile when no one did.

  She heard the rush of the waves in the background, and almost inaudible weeping of the bridesmaids behind her.

  She cheered when the priest finally declared Lucas and Sophie man and wife.

  She smiled, laughed, and despite her reputation as a hard-ass, she even cried a little when Lucas kissed his new wife …

  But she couldn’t help the prickle of awareness that made tiny hairs on her neck stand straight up. Because even though she’d been completely attuned to the wedding as it was taking place, she’d been unable to avoid the grip of the bright blue gaze she felt burning into her.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Sean happily downed his third shot of the night as Lucas’s warning blasted through his mind.

  “Be nice to her …”

  Well hell, if he’d met the gorgeous, seemingly good-natured sexpot instead of the boring woman with a huge chip on her shoulder, he’d have been decent from the beginning. He paused in his thoughts for a moment, before sort of taking it back. She hadn’t been a woman to begin with, just a smart-assed kindergartener.

  And he had to admit, she was hardly ever boring, personality wise. Sure, sometimes the things she said made him wish he was listening to nails scrape down a chalkboard, but she never failed to thoroughly entertain him. A few times, he’d even found himself wishing they got along and could actually be friends. She’d only looked boring.

  Or she’d tried her hardest to appear as though she was.

  What was it they said about the word assume?

  Memories of her lush hips gently swaying down the aisle with a pure mischief glinting out of her gray eyes rolled on instant replay in his mind. The image of how the bodice of her strapless dress hugged her torso until it ended in a “V” at her waist was now permanently stamped on his brain. The way the rest of the dress hugged the generous curve of her hips gave him cotton-mouth every time he thought about it.

  Sean wasn’t one to wax poetic, but the most irritating woman in the world just so happened to have the body of a goddess.

  Too bad the pretty, pouting mouth he’d like to worship hid the bite of a shark.

  He shook his head quickly, hoping to clear his mind, but a sixth sense told him he was royally fucked. Inhaling deeply, he signaled the bartender to pour his fourth shot.

  Shit.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Grace smiled lazily at the conversation taking place amongst her sister-in-law’s friends. She’d consumed enough wine to the point where she felt comfortable, in spite of baring her worldly goods for all to see.

  “You OK?” Sam arched a delicate eyebrow.

  She nodded, a little drowsy but floating on a cloud of happiness. Her brother was married, and despite the horribly revealing dress she’d been coerced into wearing, she couldn’t squelch how ecstatic she was for both Lucas and Sophie. In her current state of tipsy and happy, she could barely remember her inner skinny girl telling her outer fat girl earlier that she had no business wearing that dress.

  Sam frowned at her.

  She just grinned back.

  “Sahhh-man-thaaaa,” she sang, drawing out the other woman’s full name, “please don’t worry. Just need a few minutes. You’d think a big girl would get lucky with a decent alcohol tolerance, but I’m more of a lightweight than Soph. ”

  She shook her head in disgust at her plight, and then yelped as she felt a sharp thwhack on the back of her head. Not drunk enough where she couldn’t put two and two together, she glared at her assaulter.

  “Girlfriend, you have no idea. You’re not big, and I’m too tired to smack you again if you try to argue. Go sit over there,” she ordered, motioning towards the currently empty table that had been set up specifically for the wedding party.

  Grace’s eyes narrowed at Sophie’s bossy best friend, but the sudden fog that settled over her brain made her think twice. Maybe she did have just a little too much. Scowling, she kept narrowed eyes on Sam, using two fingers to point between her eyes and where Sam was, before plopping down at an empty table and yawning.

  The band happened to be playing a slower, softer song. There were several couples on the dance floor that had been erected over the sand, but none quite stood out like the groom and bride. She pursed her lips and surveyed her brother and new sister-in-law.

  Neither had eyes for anyone or anything else. They looked like they’d stepped out of a fairy tale. The cream wedding dress set off Sophie’s tanned, olive complexion perfectly, while Lucas’s dark handsomeness was incredibly dashing in his tux. They moved together slowly, but it was clear by the way they held each other’s gaze, that even the movement was an afterthought.

  Chin perched in her hand, she sighed dreamily until she felt the familiar prickle on the back of her neck.

  “Need something?” A warm, deep voice brushed over the sensitive curve of her ear.

  It took every ounce of inebriated willpower she had not to gasp aloud, but she knew exactly who was behind her.

  Asshole.

  She stilled, barely breathing. If she refused to acknowledge him or turn around, maybe her handsome tormentor would disappear. Maybe he was a drunken mirage?

  But even through the fog that settled over her brain, she knew she was kidding herself. She’d felt his eyes bore into her as she made her way up the aisle. It wasn’t unusual for her to avoid eye contact with him, but this time, she’d felt his stare so keenly. She’d wondered if her smile showed lipstick on her teeth, or the inevitable had happened, and her boobs had finally popped out. She’d snuck a glance to check if he was gloating at her utter humiliation in squeezing into this skintight dress, but when their eyes met, instead of looking away like any normal person would do, his gaze remained on her. It burned with hot intensity, unwavering, throughout the entire ceremony. Now, he looked at her lazily, sliding into the seat next to hers, wicked blue eyes taunting her.

  “Nice dress, Gracie,” he commented offhandedly, nodding at her as a slight smirk graced his perfect face.

  “Piss off,” she muttered snidely, color rising to her cheeks. Inwardly, she groaned. Earlier it had been easier to ignore him with the hectic pace of the wedding. Now that he was sitting beside her and they were seemingly alone, she fell into her familiar routine of noticing everything about him but pretending that she didn’t.

  Like the lithe grace that accompanied his large frame to his perfect mouth … a perfect mouth framed by a strong, masculine jaw with a hint of a shadow.

  That hated, familiar warmth seeped through her veins, and she panicked.

  Remember he’s an asshole, and we don’t even like each other.

  She realized she’d been staring too long, when he mockingly raised his eyebrow at her.

  He smirked. “You always complain I’m a Neanderthal. I’m finally trying to be a gentleman and pay you a compliment. What gives with the hostility, cupcake?” He flashed white teeth at her in a wolfish smile, enjoying her obvious discomfort.

  “The only reason you’re sitting here is because your favorite part of a woman’s anatomy is on display, pervert,” she grumbled, the words escaping her lips before she could think to control her mouth. Cursing her alcohol-infused brain, her hormones, and man himself, she tried counting to ten while hoping he wouldn’t egg her on.

  Although, it probably wouldn’t matter if he kept it up or not. Just him being close, and the clean, male scent emanating from his skin made her brain scramble.

  Epic
fail, idiot.

  He regarded her intently and winked at her. “’Course, Gracie. Who knew you had all this covered up underneath those ugly t-shirts?”

  She couldn’t help herself.

  She shivered.

  His voice poured over her like warm honey, even though he spoke in his familiar teasing tone. It almost sounded like he was flirting with her more than trying to antagonize her.

  It was the nearness, she decided. She needed to get away from him. Immediately.

  He placed his hand over her arm, and she gasped at the warm brush of flesh against flesh.

  “Do you want me to flirt with you?” he murmured lowly in her ear.

  Slowly, too slowly, it dawned on her that she’d spoken her thoughts aloud, and mortification set in. She quickly snatched her hand out from under his and scowled in no particular direction.

  “Don’t tell me you’re going to stop being blunt with me now? Never stopped you before,” he teased playfully, a corner of that perfect mouth tugging upwards. She averted her gaze from his mouth and prayed to her maker that she hadn’t let any lascivious thoughts about his perfect lips slip out.

  She tried to muster the snottiest tone she could. “Much to my misfortune sugarplum, I had a little too much to drink, and the liquor loosened my lips. And you jerk, you know I don’t like being called Gracie or cupcake.”

  Putting this ass-hat in his place had been a struggle since she’d been in pigtails. Maybe she needed to change tactics so he’d stop torturing her. She guessed she should at least try to be friendly, especially because he was sort of family, but didn’t that also mean that he probably shouldn’t be flirting with her? And he was, wasn’t he? Men like Sean Holden did not flirt with or pursue girls like her.

  Unless maybe he thought chubby chicks would do anything in bed because they were so desperate. She decided that the alcohol was talking too much. No need to be friendly to the enemy. Eyes narrowed, she pursed her lips and waited for him to respond.

  Undaunted, he flashed a wide, charming grin at her. “Don’t they call that alliteration?”

  Stupidly, she stared at him. “Huh?”

  In slow motion, his hand lifted. She took a moment to appreciate the sheer masculine beauty of that hand.

  Strong fingers, a fine sprinkling of downy dark hair across his knuckles.

  She was so distracted in dissecting the appearance of that hand that it took her a moment to realize that it was on an agonizingly slow ascent towards her lips. Her mouth fell open as the tip of his index finger lightly landed on the center of her full bottom lip. Paralyzed, she stopped breathing and stared at him wordlessly.

  “Liquor loosened lips,” he murmured thoughtfully. “I like that … and aren’t these the prettiest pair I’ve ever seen.” His thumb took the place of his index finger, and she felt the slightly callused pad rub her bottom lip gently.

  Stunned by how forward he was, and even more shocked that she was even letting him touch her, she fought to regain some semblance of control.

  “Stop touching me,” she whispered furiously.

  “You don’t like it?” His warm gaze held her slightly panicked eyes captive.

  She shook her head in response but failed to dislodge his touch. “Then why aren’t you moving away?” he murmured.

  Truer words had never been spoken.

  Grace’s head jerked away suddenly as she saw Sophie descending upon them, a lovely vision of cream and silk with Sam right behind her. Sophie looked worried, while the other woman glared daggers at … Sean? Flushed with embarrassment, she turned to look at the man sitting next to her.

  Eyes twinkling, he gave her a hint of a slight smile and carelessly shrugged as the woman reached their table. He mockingly nodded at them before sliding his chair back to leave. In the heartbeat before Sophie and Sam arrived at the table, he bent down, pausing when his lips were dangerously close to the shell of her ear.

  She froze, going shock still. Nervous anticipation coursed through her veins like lightning, tiny jolts of voltage that sparked what felt like every nerve ending on her body.

  Finally, he spoke. The satiny skin of his lips barely brushed her suddenly sensitive skin, as he wickedly whispered, “When was the last time someone fucked you and made you scream so hard, you couldn’t remember to be angry, Gracie?”

  Even though she routinely accused him of being a pervert and a man-whore, his crude question and bold manner stunned her into silence. Her heart drummed erratically as air escaped her lungs in shallow breaths. She jerked her head so that she faced him.

  Big mistake.

  He was so close, close enough that if she moved ever so slightly, there would be nothing between his lips and hers. Sharp, knowing blue eyes bore into hers intently, and two things happened simultaneously.

  Heat consumed her face…

  And wet warmth flooded between her thighs, leaving her panties soaked.

  She knew she was beet red, but she desperately scrambled to regain her wits and ignore the lust pounding through her veins. Her efforts were in vain though, because he didn’t give her any time to respond. Just as she opened her mouth to say something he took off, swiftly escaping before the other woman descended upon them.

  “Babe, you okay?”

  While Sophie’s endearment pleased her, she nodded yes, hoping her face didn’t betray how much he’d rattled her.

  “Sean bothering you, Grace?”

  The truth was, the man had bothered her since the day she’d started kindergarten. What started as a simple tug of her pigtail at five only became worse as she got older. She could vividly remember her first day of high school when Sean and his squeeze of the moment had pulled up in front of their house.

  “Come on, Gracie. It’s not going to be that bad,” Lucas had urged.

  Easy to say for her older brother. While she was close to him, they were nothing alike. Lucas was charming, handsome, and a jock, all of which made him popular.

  She was bookish, plain, and had skipped a grade making her a year younger than the others in her class and no higher than a gnat on the social ladder.

  They’d walked out to Lucas’s carpool partner, her anxiety doubling by the second until they reached the car, although the sight that greeted her caused her anxiety to vanish completely.

  Instead, it was replaced with the tight clench of something unpleasant as Sean pulled his mouth away from the girl in the front seat who was clearly a cheerleader because she was wearing a cheerleader’s uniform. As Sean sweet talked his girlfriend into squeezing herself into the backseat with Grace and her baby-fat, she had a feeling she wasn’t all twisted inside because of the pitying look the pretty, blue-eyed blonde gave her.

  Oh no.

  She couldn’t be that lucky.

  That was completely due to the boy in the letterman’s jacket with the dark hair and laughing blue eyes tearing his mouth away from said blond. Knowing she would never be in the blonde’s seat – neither in the front or the back because girls like her didn’t go with guys like Sean, she pulled strands of her hair tighter in her pony tail and kept her lips in a straight line.

  “Brat.” He grinned as she tried to bury herself to make room for the blonde in the back. The blonde was three years older than she, yet her thighs were half the size. Her face flamed, but she’d managed to bark out her own greeting.

  “Greetings, cretin.”

  She heard her brother heave a sigh as Sean asked her if she’d miss her online Star Trek fan club friends while at school. Despite the blush on her cheeks that wouldn’t go away and the whirlwind inside, she’d given him as good as she got.

  Unfortunately, the years since hadn’t diminished the sharp feeling that always left her aching and uncomfortable from being around him. It had only gotten worse.

  So she’d dealt with it the only way she knew how.

  Hating him.

  Or rather, telling herself that she hated him.

  It was her truth, and she was sticking to it. Dragging herself b
ack to the present, she sighed heavily. “I’m fine guys. It’s just the usual. Nothing to worry about.”

  The only problem now was believing her own words.

  Chapter Two

  He still wasn’t quite sure what had possessed him. He’d been in the middle of sweet-talking a perfectly attractive and willing wedding guest, who truthfully hadn’t needed much sweet talking, when he’d noticed Grace was gone. Quickly, he scanned the sectioned-off reception area on the beach, and when he couldn’t spot her, he rambled on about excusing himself to the rest room. His feet moved on their own accord to the edge of the beach.

  She appeared lost in thought as she stared straight ahead, watching as waves crashed into each other and onto the shore, sparkling like black diamonds. The only sound came from the water, but it was loud enough to mask his footfalls as he drew closer to where she sat, her knees tucked under her.

  Something sharp and sweet twisted in his gut.

  She looked so peaceful, he almost didn’t want to disturb her, but after today, he couldn’t help himself. Something intrinsic, chemical had altered between them.

  She looked up when he reached her, his bare feet sinking lightly into the white sand. Her eyes widened slightly, and as he dropped to sit next to her, he could see the delicate pulse of her throat quicken. She swallowed and turned her gaze back to the water, but her pose now held a distinct unease that told she wasn’t as immune to him as she pretended.

  “It’s not safe for you to be out here so late,” he said gruffly.

  He could see that his words caught her by surprise. She didn’t respond at first, so he used time to study her even further. Even though he’d known her since she was a small child, he felt like they were meeting for the very first time, and he wanted to soak up every second of it. She had a beautiful profile, perfect lips, and a tiny sliver of moonlight glinted off of her auburn hair, turning some of her tresses into fire.

  She let out a tired breath. “What do you care Sean?”

  Her words were no different than what she would usually say to him, but they lacked her usual heat and intensity. He paused, considering her question.