Because of His Heart (For His Pleasure, Book 27) (2 page)

“Everything’s great,” Easton said from the other end. “Our baby was born late last night,” he said, “and he’s a handsome baby boy.”

Grace found herself smiling with relief. “What’s his name?”

“Shane.”

“That’s wonderful,” Grace said, and meant it. “And Kennedy’s okay? No health complications, I hope?”

“No, everything’s good so far,” Easton said. He paused. “But I was hoping you could help me out, Grace. I want to stay at the hospital with her and I need to get some hard copy files from the file cabinet in the suite. I think you still know your way around the office. I don’t have a new assistant yet…”

“Of course I’ll go there,” she said. “Just tell me what you need.”

“You sure?” he asked. “I know it might seem strange after everything—“

“There’s absolutely nothing strange about it,” she interrupted him. “I want to do it.”

“Thanks, Grace. That really helps.” He told her what files he needed and what hospital they were at and she promised to go immediately to get the files and bring them right to him.

It felt good, she realized as she hung up the phone.

Now at least her day had a little purpose to it. She just needed to have something in front of her to focus on so she could heal, one little step at a time.

Grace got dressed and felt refreshed—truly refreshed—for the first time in days.

She left the apartment and went to her old office. They were expecting her and gave her a temporary badge so that she could go up and get what Easton needed from the suite.

Once she was inside her old office space, everything came flooding back to her—all the memories, like a deluge of vivid pictures and sounds.

Easton, his demands—the work, so much of it above her head.

And then Liam, taking her into Easton’s private office, taking her on Easton’s desk.

The heat between them.

Grace stood for a long time in the middle of the office, feeling her senses awash in those poignant memories of things that already felt decades old.

Soon, she recovered and went to the file room and found what Easton had asked for. They were just some random documents and contracts, and she placed them into her purse.

She’d purposely brought her biggest bag in order to fit the files, and it worked.

As she made her way out of the suite, Grace stopped for a moment and looked around at the carpet, the furniture, the little kitchenette, her old desk.

Tears threatened, but then they never quite came.

Progress, Grace decided.

She left the office and made her way outside, then walked until she was able to flag down a cab to take her to the hospital.

G
race entered the room slowly
, feeling some nervousness. After all, she knew Kennedy had never even liked her, and Easton had only just come around to being a little bit nicer to her very recently.

But the moment Grace walked inside holding her flowers out like a shield (she’d bought the bouquet at a shop just a block away from the hospital), Easton was greeting her warmly, taking the flowers and thanking her profusely.

She couldn’t get over how different Easton seemed now. He was wearing a sweater and jeans, and he had a five o’clock shadow. But he was smiling and his eyes were filled with happiness.

“I’m so happy for the both of you!” Grace said, turning her attention to Kennedy, who was lying in her hospital bed, holding the newborn close to her chest and looking very relaxed.

Kennedy smiled. “Thanks for coming on short notice,” she said, softly stroking her baby’s cheek.

The baby made a gurgling noise and then fell silent.

“He’s tired,” Easton explained. “Long night.”

Grace laughed a little. “He’s been working hard, hasn’t he?”

“Just like his father,” Kennedy chuckled. She gave Easton a glance and he took her hand.

“Anyway,” Grace said, not wanting to ruin their private family time. “I brought those files. They’re in my purse.”

She rustled around inside her bag and then pulled out the folders and handed them over to Easton, who glanced inside the folders and nodded.

“Thanks again,” he sighed. “You have no idea how much it helps.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Grace said.

Kennedy looked again at Easton, and seemed to clear her throat in a rather purposeful manner, as if hinting at something.

She probably wants me to get the hell out of the room as fast as possible.

But as Grace was about to say goodbye, Easton scratched his cheek and began talking. “Grace, I know this might be a little bit out of left field…but…Red and I were meeting recently, and your name came up.”

Grace waited, her brow furrowing. “Okay…”

“Thing is, we still need to find me a good assistant. And I’ve been interviewing people and we’ve tried a few temps, but you’re still the first person that came to both our minds.”

“Me?” Grace said, shocked. She looked at Kennedy, who was smiling proudly, as if she too had thought it was a great idea.

Easton looked at her. “I promise things will be different this time. Better.” His eyes were slightly pained. “I know we—I know
I
treated you terribly and you went through hell with…well…everything.”

Grace shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault. I—I don’t know what to say.”

Part of her was in shock, another part just felt grateful they’d even have considered hiring her back after everything that had gone on.

“We can give you a raise,” Easton said. “And opportunities to move up in the organization, take on more responsibilities.”

“You should really consider it,” Kennedy told her. “You deserve a chance, Grace.”

“I’m just honored,” Grace said, feeling the tears and trying to hold it all in.

“Don’t be sad for God’s sake,” Easton said. He seemed unsure of what to do next, as Grace was crying in the middle of their room. “It’s supposed to be a good thing.”

“It is a good thing,” Grace said. “I’m just happy. I know it doesn’t seem like it,” she laughed through her tears.

“No, it really doesn’t,” Easton remarked, a little taken aback.

“But I am,” she sighed, nodding. She looked at Kennedy with her newborn baby in her arms, her face glowing, and then at Easton, who was so protective and loving with his little family. “I promise I’ll think about it. Can I have a day?”

“As long as you need,” Easton said.

“Thanks,” she told him. She wanted to say yes, but she needed to be sure. Working with Easton again would bring back so many memories, and Easton was still friends with Liam.

She needed time.

She needed to think everything through.

But still, it was a real, genuine offer of employment.

After saying her goodbyes and congratulations once again, Grace took her leave.

She went to the elevator in a daze and took it down to the first floor and then began walking out of the hospital. When she left through the main entrance, the sky had become overcast and the wind had picked up.

It was suddenly cooler and she shivered a little, hunching her shoulders.

A moment later, someone had put a warm coat over her shoulders, causing her to startle and give a strangled yelp. “What the—“

“Calm down, it’s just me,” came the oh so familiar voice.

She turned around and saw Liam’s face staring at her from mere inches away.

Liam had somehow found her and now his blazer was over her shoulders, warming her. She threw it off and it fell to the ground.

“Please go away,” she said, turning her head so as not to see his face again and those eyes.

Those eyes she knew would haunt her forever.

“Grace,” he began.

“No,” she said. She stared down at the ground now. Her heart was racing. Her legs and hands were trembling.

“I can’t leave you like this,” he told her. “I just can’t.”

“Fine, then I’ll leave you.” She began walking, not even really knowing where she was going. Just so long as it was away from him.

She was afraid and hurt and it seemed as though he’d mortally wounded her heart. Why did he have to keep coming around like this?

How could she ever get past him?

Even now, she knew he was following. Sure enough, Grace turned and found him just a few feet behind her, with his pale skin and his beautiful features. His perfect handsome face and that body she knew like her own, every contour of his body was home.

Only he’d taken that home away from her.

“Why are you still here?” she demanded, feeling the heat of rage as it welled inside her chest.

Liam stood there, mute at first, holding the blazer she’d tossed onto the ground in his hand.

And then his mouth worked. “I saw you going inside the hospital as I was leaving,” he said. “And I just…I told myself to stay away from you. Told myself to leave and not look back. But I couldn’t seem to leave. I just stood outside and waited. I had to see you again, Grace. Even if it was just to watch you from afar.”

“Then that’s what you should have done. Watched me and stayed the hell away.” She glared at him. “How dare you even speak to me after what you did?”

Liam’s eyes registered deep pain. “I had to speak to you, Grace.”

“You have impulse control issues, Liam. You should see someone about that.”

“I have Grace Knowles problems, is what I have.”

She shook her head. “Not anymore.”

“I do,” he said insistently.

“Well it’s not my problem. Now leave. Me. Alone.”

He stared at her, his cheeks flushing. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Grace. Every second we’ve been apart has killed me.”

“Don’t lie. I saw pictures of you with your sister and brother—and you were smiling and happy.”

He shook his head and laughed. “I can act when I need to.”

“Maybe you’re acting now,” she said.

“No,” he replied, the laughter abruptly halting. “I love you, Grace.”

She looked up at the sky and screamed. When she looked back at him, her rage was unabated. “Get the fuck out of my life, Liam!”

As she yelled those words, the clouds suddenly opened, as though the sky itself was expressing the anger she felt, and rain began spattering the ground and then she felt the cold drops all over her body. It was pouring now, soaking through her clothes.

Liam was watching her with anguish on his features, but also—and Grace couldn’t deny it—deep love.

The deepest love that Grace had ever witnessed or felt.

“I know that I don’t deserve you,” Liam told her, as the rain poured down. He didn’t seem to care, or even notice, that he was drenched.

A rolling thunder rolled across the sky, booming above them.

People around them ran for cover, but Liam and Grace just stood there, oblivious to everything but one another.

“Liam, you hurt me. You hurt me,” she told him, and then she broke too—as if the storm that was raging around them had given her permission to unleash her own inner storm. And the tears came, but they mixed with the cold rain that was cleansing her skin, and she shuddered and shook.

Before she knew it, Liam’s strong arms were wrapping around her, and he was holding her tightly, even though she struggled against his touch. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her ear as he cupped the back of her head with one hand and his other hand rested between her shoulder blades. “I’m so sorry, Grace. I love you. I never want to hurt you again.”

“But you will hurt me,” she sobbed. “You will, Liam.”

“No,” he said. “No, it’s over. I’m going to take care of you forever.”

She began beating her fists against his rock hard chest, but the punches weren’t very fierce. Her strength was fading as she collapsed, her resistance to Liam broken in half by the love she felt burning through her fear and sadness. “You left me all alone!”

“I know,” he said. “But that will never happen again. I’m going to fight for you,” he told her. And then his lips were on hers, and she’d never felt such searing hot desire blowing through her every cell—the desire to have him, to be possessed by him.

She let his tongue enter her mouth and she sagged into his arms, completely undone by the effect that Liam Houston had on her.

His lips were so familiar and yet still so mysterious, the way he could instantly disarm her and make her his own.

She felt herself responding, and then she grew afraid and started to fight against him once more. “No. No!” she yelled.

The rain was still emptying down from the heavens, and although she was shivering, Grace almost didn’t feel it.

“Grace,” Liam said, his eyes intense now. “You know that we have to be together.”

“You’ll lose everything again,” she said. “And this time it will be for real, and it will be permanent. I don’t think you can handle that, Liam.”

“Why, because of the money?” he said, scoffing.

“Yes, exactly.”

“I don’t care about the money,” he replied.

She had to admit that he had a confidence in his voice and a look of determination and clarity in his eyes that she’d never seen before.

And in the rain, his shirt clung to his skin and she could see his strength, the sheer muscularity of his chest and shoulders and arms. He was strong physically, and sexier than any man she’d ever laid eyes on.

She needed him. Needed his touch, needed to feel his body against hers.

Grace felt her resistance buckling further, like a house of cards that was quickly coming down all at once around her.

She put up one last fight against Liam’s logic and persistence. “You’ll start drinking every night, just like last time. Drinking with your college buddies and fighting for cash—I can’t watch you destroy yourself like that again.”

Liam gave her a look as if he’d been waiting for just this argument. A tiny smirk played on his lips.

“I’m clean and sober, Grace.”

She just stared at him. “What do you mean?”

The rain was abating now, as if the gods themselves were stunned into submission by his announcement.

“I mean exactly what I say,” Liam responded. “I stopped drinking. And I don’t intend to start back up anytime soon.” He grinned.