In It to Win It (22 page)

“
How many more days in the week?” Maude asked.

“
Two,” Jane answered, sounding a little melancholy.

A gentle jingle of the bell announced another customer and Maude looked up to see who’d come in. “Give me a bit,” she said.

“
No problem, Mom,” Grayson said, not looking at her as she walked up to the front of the store.

“
SHE LOVES YOU,” GRAYSON WHISPERED INTO Jane’s ear.

“
It’s good to be loved by a Pierce.”

He pulled her into his arms until she fit tightly against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat thumping steadily in his chest. He dipped his head and kissed the sensitive spot just below her ear.

“
When I get you home,” he purred the seductive threat, “I’ll show you exactly how good it is to be loved by a Pierce.”

“
Promises. Promises.” She attempted to tease him, but the words came out as a breathless, suggestive whisper. Her legs were the consistency of Jell-O and she was grateful for Grayson’s strong hold on her. She wondered if anyone would notice if they just started making out in the rear aisle of the 5 and Dime.

Grayson’s lips met hers in a bruising kiss. His tongue slipped between her lips and she answered his call. His hands dropped down her back and gripped her rear hard, fitting her groin firmly to his. She moaned … then groaned when Maude cleared her throat from behind them.

Her cheeks flamed with heat and she knew they were the color of the Christmas bows on the shelf next to her. She buried her face in Grayson’s chest. His arms held her to him, offering support. Instead of embarrassment though, the man had the audacity to think the situation was funny. His amusement was a deep rumble beneath her ear and he shook as she clung to him.

Jane slapped at his chest and glared up at him. Feeling like a total idiot, she turned to face the mother of the man whose tongue she was just having for lunch. Instead of reproach though, Maude’s face was ablaze with approval.

“
I would say ‘get a room’ but I’d prefer you were married before you—” She dropped her voice and stepped closer. “—have sex.”

“
Mom,” Grayson snapped.

She lifted her narrow shoulders in a shrug. “What? Life happens in a particular order; birth, puberty, marriage, sex, babies, death. There are a few more things that happen in there, but you get the idea. I love that you are in love—” She paused when Jane choked. “Oh please, I can see it as plain as the nose on my face. Are you going to deny it?”

“
No,” Grayson said honestly. “I love Jane Alexander,” Grayson shouted, the words bouncing off the bricks of the little store. “But Mom, don’t push this. You and I can see it, but Jane’s not ready to admit her feelings yet.”

“
What if I don’t
have
those feelings?” she teased.

“
You do.” Grayson dropped a kiss to the top of her head and pulled her against his side. “It’s okay, love. No pressure. Love me in silence if that makes you more comfortable. But don’t ask me to hide my feelings for you.” He turned her in his arms and dropped his forehead to hers. “I love you, baby. I will never tire of saying it, nor tire of you hearing it. I. Love. You.”

The only answer she could offer was to stretch up on her tiptoes and kiss him. She did love him. There was no denying it. And she hoped that he never tired of saying it because she wanted to hear those words from his lips every day, every minute for the rest of her life.

Suddenly, she remembered the audience that had interrupted them. She stiffened in his hold and jerked her head around to see … an empty aisle where Maude had left them to their moment.

Grayson took her by the hand and led her to the front of the store. “Mom gets off in ten minutes. Are you up for lunch at her house?”

“
Um. I guess.”

“
It’ll be fine. Truth is I should be the nervous one. You know the scrapbook she made for you?” When she nodded he continued, “I’ve got one for every year of my life. Would you like to see what little Grayson looked like on the day I was born?”

Jane burst out laughing. “Has he changed much?”

SWEAT DRIPPED DOWN GRAYSON’ PITS AND HE had to keep wiping his palms on his jeans. When he’d made the suggestion of spending the afternoon with his mom, it’d sounded like a good idea to let the two most important women in his life bond.

Yeah, well, he was seriously reconsidering the wisdom in that!

The two of them were sitting on the leather couch in his mother’s living room. Their heads were together over a scrapbook. They’d been going through them for three hours. Each one containing embarrassing pictures, but it was the mortifying stories that they shared that had him wanting to dig a hole and crawl inside.

Jane laughed, pointing to a picture from when he was six. “He really stuck a Lego up his nose?”

“
Yeah,” Mom answered, amused. “See that bump? That’s it. I had to take him to the hospital to get it out.” She shook her head and glanced up at Grayson. “He cried like a total baby.”

“
Do you think he’d cry now?” Jane asked, stifling a giggle with her long, manicured fingers.

He narrowed his eyes at her, not at all amused. “I’m not stupid enough to stick it up my nose to begin with.”

Jane turned the page and laughed. And laughed. And held her sides and laughed some more. She fell back against the pillows and wiped at her eyes. “What happened?”

He knew exactly which picture she found so amusing and bit his lip to keep from laughing himself. He didn’t want to encourage her.

Mom pointed to the picture of Grayson with his face painted in various shades of blue and green and purple. “That was Grayson’s Picasso stage. I found him in his bedroom with markers around him on the floor. He had my mirror propped against the wall and had painted his face. When I asked why he’d done it, he informed me that he hadn’t.”

The two women laughed while Grayson glowered at them.

“
I told him that he was the only one there and then he told me that a phantom marker guy did it. And that I’d just missed him. If I hurried maybe I could catch him in the yard, ‘cause he just jumped out the window.” Mom shrugged. “I
might
have believed him if he hadn’t had the same colors smudged all over his chubby little hands.”

“
So what happened?” Jane asked him, tears of amusement shone on her lashes.

“
It wouldn’t come off,” he groaned. “I had to walk around for days until it wore off.”

“
How did I miss it?”

“
It was summer,” he said with a shrug. “And we were in first grade. You probably wouldn’t have remembered it anyway.”

“
Oh, I would have remembered
that
.” She looked down at the picture and another fit of laughter bubbled out of her. Seeing her so carefree made Grayson’s heart fill to nearly bursting. He had to admit that her laugh was the greatest sound in the world. Actually, no … the greatest sound she made came in height of passion when she screamed out his name.

Mom slid the album into Jane’s lap and stood. “Are you hungry? I can throw something together.”

Grayson shook his head. “We’re good. I wanted to take Jane out tonight.”

“
You want to join us?” Jane asked. Damn her for being polite.

Mom smiled, appreciating the offer. The look she shot him said that she knew she wasn’t really invited. And that she was totally okay with that. “I’m fine. It’s Grey’s Anatomy tonight. I can’t miss McSteamy.” She raised a brow suggestively. Grayson’s stomach twisted and he fought the urge to be sick. He didn’t like the thought of his mother having those kinds of thoughts. By the twinkle in her eyes, she knew how he felt about her statement. “You kids have fun.”

She tugged him into a hug and put a kiss on his cheek. “Hold on to her, Grayson.”

“
I plan to, Mom. I can’t live another day without her.”

Mom then hugged Jane. “Don’t be a stranger, Jane.”

15

W
HEN THEY WERE BOTH IN THE JEEP WITH seatbelts fastened, Grayson started the engine. “I was thinking we’d go to Mom’s Café. Are you okay with that?”

“
Absolutely.” Her stomach rumbled its own vote of approval. “I already know what I’m going to have.”

“
Me too,” Grayson answered.

“
Chicken fried steak,” they said together and then laughed.

Mom’s Café had been around since nearly the beginning of time. The place was an old brick building that showed signs of wear and tear on its century old structure. Renovations were done, but rarely and only when desperation called for them, those repairs keeping with the ‘old’ ambience.

Grayson held Jane’s hand as they pushed through the door. A bell announced their arrival and Sally Montgomery looked up from her post behind the counter. She hadn’t changed a bit. The elderly woman was almost as big around as she was tall with an apron tied around her middle. Her bright blue eyes widened behind her thick lenses.

“
Grayson, it’s good to see you again.” Those blue eyes narrowed and her mouth fell open a bit. “As I live and breathe. Jane Alexander, you are the most beautiful girl. How are your parents?”

“
They’re good.”

“
Good to hear.” Her eyes swept over Jane from head to toe and an approving smile graced her lips. “It is so good to see you, dear … and with Grayson.” Her grin grew and she turned to pick up menus. “I’ll give you a secluded table in the back.”

“
We’d appreciate that,” Grayson told her.

His hand came to rest on Jane’s lower back and she relaxed against it. Jane craved the calm that his touch could bring. His touch could also bring on another slew of emotions, but right now was not the time to think about that.

“
Here you go,” Sally said, placing the menus on the table. “I have to say that it’s a pleasure to see you two nights in a row.”

Grayson stiffened as he slid into the bench. Jane dropped down into her seat across from him and tried to remember to breathe. There was no way that Grayson was at Mom’s last night. Which meant…

“
Can I get you something to drink?”

Before Jane could answer, Grayson said, “A Coke and a Diet Coke with lemon. Thanks, Sally.”

“
You betcha,” she said with a wink and disappeared through a curtain into the kitchen.

Grayson smiled at Jane and took her hand in his. He squeezed it then turned it over to run his fingertips over the lines of her palm. “Did you know—”

“
Shouldn’t we talk about … ya know?”

“
No. It’s fine.”

“
It’s not fine, Grayson.” Jane’s blood pounded in her temples.

“
Jane, don’t let him ruin tonight. It’s okay.”

She wasn’t so sure, but as he continued to trace the lines on her palm, she relaxed.

“
As I was saying before … did you know that I took palm reading in college?”

Jane felt the edges of her mouth quirking and her brow raise. “Really? Wow. Where did you go to school that they had
that
class.”

“
It was an elective.”

Sally came back with their drinks and slid them onto the table. “Do you know what you want?”

“
Two chicken fried steaks.”

“
Mashed potatoes and steamed veggies okay?”

When Jane nodded, Grayson answered, “Perfect. Thanks.”

As Sally walked away Jane turned the conversation back to the topic of palm reading. She didn’t buy that he had actually attended a class on the subject, but decided she would play along. “What does my palm tell you?”

“
This line,” he said, pointing to the line that ran parallel to the top of her palm, “is the love line. You tend to hold your feelings in a tight grip.” She felt herself bristle and barely resisted the urge to yank her hand away. He must have sensed her apprehension because he tightened his hold just a bit, running his fingertip over the line, a grin on his handsome face. “But it seems that you’re content with your current romantic situation. I’d like to think I have something to do with that.”

“
Oh, please,” she snorted. “Like you can tell I’m happy in my current romantic situation by a wrinkle on the palm of my hand. Wouldn’t it be more likely that some other romantic situation made me content?”

He frowned and Jane wondered if the flash in his eyes was jealousy. Was it bad that she kinda liked the idea of him jealous over some past love? She bit her lip to keep from smiling as his frown deepened.

“
Have there been many men who have made you feel content?”

“
A few,” she lied. There’d been one guy, one relationship in college that resembled something remotely serious. It had lasted just long enough for him to get what he wanted, leaving her in a devastated puddle of tears.

“
By your heartbroken expression I’m gonna guess those relationships didn’t end well.”

“
Hell no, it didn’t end well. You broke my heart.” She wasn’t sure where the words came from. She hadn’t been thinking of Grayson at all. At least not in the you-crushed-my-world kinda way.

He lifted her palm and pressed a kiss to it. “I’m sorry for that, Jane. I will never be able to apologize enough for that.”