Giving It All (10 page)

Chapter Ten

Ellie watched as Grant worked the crowd around him. She was amazed at how he managed to not only answer questions about his personal life, but also push the baked goods. At this rate, they’d be sold out before her shift was over. She’d already doubled the price of most of the items and they were still selling out.

“Are you back for good?” Pansy Campbell asked Grant when the throng around him had died down.

“Yes, ma’am.” Grant’s answers had gotten increasingly shorter as the questions kept flying at him.

“Then you’ll need a place to stay, won’t you?”

“I’m happy at my folks’ house. I want to be close if my mom needs me.”

“That’s the right thing for now, but you can’t stay there forever. Why, you’d have no privacy. That’ll put a cramp in your lifestyle for sure.”

“I’ll deal with that when the time comes. Right now, I’m focused on helping my dad recover.”

“Well, you know, there aren’t many places for rent in Dale, but I know the cutest little apartment on Main Street. It’d be perfect for you.”

“I’ll take it under consideration.”

Ellie bit back a smile and put out the last of the brownies. She was sure the apartment Pansy was talking about was in the building that had been owned by Pansy’s ex-husband. The one she got in the divorce.

“So how’s Chastity doing? Is she coming back to Dale or staying in California?” Pansy asked, the look on her face pure malice.

“She’s doing well. The last time I talked to her she was planning on moving to Texas.”

“She’d fit right in there. Isn’t Texas the land of big hair and boob jobs?”

Grant’s previously friendly demeanor turned cold. “I don’t know about that. Excuse me. It was nice talking to you, say hi to your momma for me.”

“What time is your shift up?” he asked. “I don’t know how much longer I can stay here and play nice with Pansy. Was she always that nasty?”

“Pretty much. I still have another forty-five minutes or so left, but once the last of the food is gone, I don’t see any reason to stay.”

“I’ve got twenty bucks on me. I’ll buy the rest of it. Let’s go.” He dug a bill out of his pocket and threw it in the cash box.

“But there’s still the clean-up, and I have to secure the money,” she said as Grant tugged her arm toward the car.

“There are plenty of people who’d love to do that since their schedules have apparently cleared up. Right?” he addressed the women who remained. Many of whom had regretfully declined to volunteer because of
other commitments
.

“Well, you know, of course I want to help out, but—” Pansy said.

“Great. Mrs. Thompson just got back, and I’m sure she’ll appreciate your contribution to the printer fund,” Grant cut her off before she could finish her excuse.

“I sure would.” Mrs. Thompson looped her arm through Pansy’s, effectively preventing her escape. “Thanks for your time, Grant. You tell your momma I’ll be stopping over soon. Bye now.”

“Go, go, go.” Grant practically shoved her into the Camry and all but tore out of the parking lot.

Ellie burst out laughing at the look of horror on Grant’s face. “It was just a bake sale, not a firing squad. We don’t have to race out of here.”

“I’d rather face a firing squad. Do you know Pansy actually had her hand inside my pocket? My
front
pocket. Like she was checking to make sure I didn’t lose my dick too.” He shuddered. “I swear, she has more hands than a normal human. Every time I moved one, another would grab me somewhere else. I feel…violated.”

“No one ever accused her of being shy, that’s for sure. It’s almost as though she’s trying to be as outrageous as possible.”

“She can damn well be outrageous with someone else. I need another shower.”

Ellie laughed so hard tears leaked down her cheeks.

“And you, you were no help at all. I thought you were going to protect me, and you disappeared. Some friend you are.”

“I was there, you just didn’t see me through the fog of hairspray and perfume. I was the one collecting the money. I think Mrs. Thompson is going to be able to buy not only the fancy printer, but plenty of toner too. We’ll have to bring you to all the bake sales.”

“I’d rather buy the printer myself.”

“Hey, where are we going? I thought you wanted to get home,” Ellie asked, noticing they’d turned onto Main Street instead of House Street, which would lead to the Andersons’ home.

“No, I wanted to get away. There’s a difference. I thought I’d take you out for ice cream since you worked so hard.” A frown crossed his face. “But I used my last twenty to escape. Fuck.”

Ellie snickered to herself, trying not to let her amusement embarrass him. “I’ll get it. It’s the least I can do after you drummed up so much business for us.”

Grant parked in front of the Tasty Treat and they headed to the counter. The tables were empty and there was only one bored-looking teen manning the ice-cream stand. Ellie remembered how hot it could get in that shack and how long the day felt when it wasn’t busy.

“What’ll it be? Soft serve or scooped?” she asked him as he stopped to read the menu.

“I think I’ll have a scoop of Butter Pecan.”

“That’s my favorite too. Two cones of Butter Pecan, please. One small, one large.” Ellie handed over the exact change and grabbed a napkin.

“You didn’t even wait for him to ring it up before you had the right money. How’d you do that?”

“I worked here ten years ago, and I don’t forget numbers.”

“I’m calling bullshit on that one. The prices must have gone up since then.”

Ellie laughed out loud. “You caught me. Peter and I get ice cream at least once a week, and we always get one small and one large.”

They took their cones and sat at a table under an umbrella, focused on eating their ice cream before it melted.

“So you worked here, at the gym, and tutored Jenny, all while getting excellent grades in school? That’s a lot on one plate. I barely managed to work at my dad’s store on the weekends and still make honor roll.”

“But you were on the swim team and had a social life. I had my friend Mel and my grandmother, and that was pretty much it.”

“Mel?”

“Melodious Sunshine. Her parents were hippies and she did everything possible to rebel against their peace-love-and-happiness attitude.”

“I think I remember now, wore all black, dyed her hair black, lots of chains and skulls?”

“That was Mel. She’s now an interior decorator in Atlanta and makes big bucks redesigning homes for rich housewives.”

Grant faked a shudder. “I can only imagine. Nope, actually, I can’t.”

“She does a great job, and no longer dyes her hair black. Although she still refuses to be called Melodious Sunshine.”

“Go figure.” Grant pitched his napkin and cone wrapper in the garbage and looked around the deserted parking lot. A nostalgic look crossed his face before he shook it off. “Are you ready to go home? You can probably get that nap in now.”

“Sounds great. I’m going to try to carve out an hour or two to work on your accounts after I prep for tomorrow’s clients.”

“It’ll wait. Take care of yourself first.”

“I’m fine, really. The coffee helped get me over the hump and a twenty-minute power nap will do wonders.”

Grant took Ellie’s hand as they headed to the car. It seemed like an unconscious gesture on his part, but it had her pulse stuttering.

“Don’t look, but I think that’s Pansy’s Mercedes pulling up in front of the General Store. If we get in the car quickly and don’t make eye contact, we can escape.”

“Seeing as only Pansy and her momma have a Mercedes, you’re probably right.” Her heart sank as she realized he’d only held her hand as camouflage. Shoot. On the bright side, he was going out of his way to avoid Pansy, which had to be a good thing.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Grant asked as they headed back home.

“Sure, I don’t necessarily agree to answer it though.”

“That’s fair. How much are you paying for rent? I asked my mom and she told me to mind my own business.”

“That sounds like her. It’s no secret though. I pay four hundred dollars a month, including electricity. I pay my cable and Internet bill separately, plus I help out with the lawn—when I’m allowed to.” She gave him a pointed look.

“I guess four hundred is reasonable, but it’s a tiny place and it’s not like my parents need the space for anything. We only used it for a guest house when the whole family came to town. I don’t see why you need to pay rent at all.”

“Because I have pride? There aren’t many places to rent in Dale and if I got an apartment in Canton it would be close to seven hundred a month, and that wouldn’t include utilities. When my grandma died, I didn’t have anywhere to go. I was barely twenty-two and in grad school. Pansy’s husband wouldn’t rent me an apartment because I didn’t have a reliable source of income, and most of the other places in town said the same thing. Your mom and dad not only gave me a safe place to live, they cleaned it up and helped me salvage what I could from my grandma’s house for it. Without their help, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“I see. Why did you sell your grandma’s house then?”

“I had no choice. She had taken out a reverse mortgage when I was still in high school. When she died, the loan came due and I couldn’t pay it. The bank foreclosed on it. Luckily, the people who bought the house just wanted it for a country escape and gave me plenty of time to clear my stuff out.”

“Who the hell wants to escape
to
Dale? I thought everyone tried to escape
from
Dale.”

“Hey, don’t knock Dale. We’ve become a best-known secret for people who are trying to get away. Folks come to go hiking or hunting in the woods, and now families are coming to go horseback riding too. Claire’s Bed and Breakfast even has a honeymoon suite. People like getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life, and if they get bored, well, it’s only an hour into Canton.”

“You’re serious? Dale is becoming a tourist area?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but Claire usually has a full house, and some of the properties that were abandoned have been bought by folks who come up during hunting season. Maybe all the attention we got from those folks protesting the housing development brought Dale into the spotlight. I don’t know. Something got people’s attention and it’s a good thing too. We needed jobs badly after the mill shut down.”

“It still seems crazy to me that people would want to vacation in Dale, but whatever works.”

“Exactly. Thanks for driving and for the boost to the bake sale. I know it must have been uncomfortable for you with everyone asking so many questions, but you handled it well,” Ellie said as they pulled into the driveway.

“I don’t know if it was because it was mostly women or what, but they asked me more about Chastity and living in California than about the teams or my injury. Weird.”

“Not really. They all know Chastity, and living in California seems so glamorous. It’s pretty logical that those were the subjects they’d be interested in. If it was a gathering of guys, well, they’d probably want to hear more about your missions than what it was like to live on the Pacific.”

“It’s not much different from living anywhere else. I was in Navy housing, not some mansion in Malibu.”

“That’s not the point. It’s very different from living in tiny Dale.” Ellie yawned again and it seemed to go on and on. “I think I’m ready for that nap. How can you be so wide awake? You got less sleep than I did and you worked out too. It’s just a little bit annoying.”

“Going one night without sleep is no big deal, especially when the biggest danger I’m facing is getting molested by Pansy Campbell.”

“Some men would like the attention. She’s had a lot of work done to make herself attractive.” Why was she doing this? If he was put off by Pansy, she should be celebrating, not questioning it.

“I wondered at the changes. When we were in high school, she was on the chubby side.” He paused while they got out of the car. “You know, back then she and Chastity hated each other like the Hatfields and McCoys. I bet you that’s part of the reason she’s all over me.”

“Seriously? You’re drop-dead gorgeous and you think the only reason she’s trying to get into your pants is because she wants to get back at Chastity, who’s in Texas and wouldn’t know anyway? Don’t you own a mirror?” Ellie slapped a hand over her mouth, as if that would negate the words that just spewed from her lips.

“Drop-dead gorgeous, huh?” Grant gave her that I-want-to-nibble-you-all-over grin and rounded the hood of the car to where she stood like an idiot against the passenger door. “Care to explain that comment a bit more?”

“I think it was pretty self-explanatory. Thanks again for all your help.” Ellie took a step to the side to try to do an end-run by him, but he caught her with ease and pulled her back against the car.

“Seems to me, when a woman throws out a line like that, there are two ways to handle it.” He trapped her between his muscled arms, the heat radiating off him was nothing compared to the inferno she felt growing inside of her. “If I wasn’t interested in the speaker, I could say thank you and move on.”

“You’re welcome.” She gulped as Grant leaned closer. His blue eyes darkened and she could smell the soap from his shower on his skin.

“Or I could do this.” He captured her lips, giving her no room to say no. This time there was no teasing, testing foray. It was damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life. His hard, hot body pressed her against the car and she could feel his muscular chest, narrow hips and a growing bulge between his rock-solid thighs.

She couldn’t stop herself from rubbing against that tantalizing bulge. Sparks flared between her legs at the contact and she wrapped her leg around his to get even closer. His hands slid from her hips to her waist and under her T-shirt. Slowly, too darn slowly, he inched his hands higher, his calloused fingers rasping against the smooth skin along her ribcage and then against the silk of her bra.

A whimper escaped her as he swirled his thumb along her already peaked nipple. Her breasts were incredibly sensitive and his touch through the material of her bra was torture. Grant ran his teeth along the sensitive column of her neck, hitting erogenous zones she didn’t know she possessed as he moved down the V of her T-shirt.