Homewrecker Incorporated (26 page)

"Thank you, Josh, that's so considerate. It's so nice to finally meet you. I can't believe it didn't happen sooner with me being on the same floor at work. Guess this guy and his brother must keep you locked away doing all the real work and making them look good."

Even in the dim lighting of the pub, I could see a hint of color rise in his cheeks. Definitely adorable.

Someone must have asked the DJ to crank things up because the music suddenly got louder. I recognized the beat. Grace was out on the dance floor holding a microphone while the "Cha-Cha Slide," one of our favorite songs from college, blasted through the speakers.

"Claudia, happy birthday, girl! It wouldn't be a party if we didn't dance to this at least once, so get your sexy ass out here!"

I glanced at Grey, who smiled wide, waiting to see what I would do. Bridget was already shaking her head in refusal as if she'd read my mind, but I ignored her and grabbed her hand to drag her with me through the tables and join Grace. Grace and Lydia were already lined up and doing the steps, which Grace and I forced the two younger girls to learn, by the time we weaved our way through.

We fell into line when they did the first half-turn in the dance and followed along to the commands in the song. Pretty much the whole room watched us. I laughed when we finished "cha-chaing real smooth" and turned to see Grey and Jessica with Izzy in her arms joining in. The area set up for dancing was fairly small, so the other guests probably couldn't fit without running into some of the tables, although I could tell Shawn was seriously considering squeezing his way in anyway.

The song ended and another favorite came on. Izzy ran around the edge of the dance floor and I bent down to greet her.

"Mommy says we have to go," she said with her bottom lip sticking out.

"I know, pumpkin. It's getting late. I'm so happy you came, and if you're really good for your mom and dad, I'll come pick you up in a couple of weeks and take you to the beach and movie I promised last time. Would you like that?"

She nodded her head enthusiastically. I followed her off the floor to say good-bye to Jessica and Shawn.

"Who's the guy?" Jessica asked. Since she knew everyone there other than Grey and Joshua, I was pretty sure whom she was talking about. 

"Just a guy Bridget is dating and his friend," I responded casually.

"Yeah, okay," she replied with a knowing smile.

I ignored whatever implication she tried to make and gave her and Shawn a quick hug before rejoining everyone on the dance floor. Grey slipped away back to Joshua who stayed close to the bar. It wasn't long before Bridget followed suit.

We were in the middle of grooving to "We are Family" when Grace grabbed my arm.

"Oh my God! He came!" she yelled in my ear.

I followed her gaze to the door where a man, who I assumed was the mystery man from the gala, was smiling in her direction. She then turned her back to him and kept dancing, giving me a wink as she did. I raised my eyebrows.

"Can't seem too eager," she said, leaning in close.

Good, I was glad she was playing it cool and not rushing things. It'd been a long, long time since she'd had more than a casual date, but the looming prospect of retirement clearly had her hoping for something more serious. 

I gave her the international sign for drink. She shook her head, so I walked to the bar alone while she continued dancing with Lydia and Gina who were still going strong.

"I think we're going to head out," Bridget said when I got close. "I have to get up early tomorrow."

I smiled at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but it seemed that was all I was going to get.

"This was a great party; thanks for letting us crash." Joshua shook my hand.

I could feel Grey's eyes on me, much like they'd been the whole night, but he'd managed to be fairly discreet so no one other than my sister seemed to have picked up on anything.

"It was nice to see you again, Claudia," Grey said, briefly touching my forearm. Because he'd come as Joshua's guest, courtesy of Bridget, it was only good manners he left with them. I didn't really want him to go, but I knew it was for the best. I'd paced myself pretty well with the drinking, but I wasn't foolish enough to think I was only vulnerable to Grey's charms under the influence.

"Nice to see you, too," I said and then bit my lip for good measure. He shook his head and smirked.

"Don't forget dinner on Sunday," he said quietly over his shoulder as he walked by.

"Looking forward to it."

❖

The plan for pacing my alcohol consumption flew out the window around eleven after Lydia ordered a third round of shots for those of us who'd stayed at the party. I vaguely remembered John taking his shirt off and dancing on the bar after doing a body shot off Gina. I managed to lose one of the designer heels I'd taken off by the dance floor at some point. Grace and her new man disappeared sometime between me going to the bar and when Grey left. She didn't bother with so much as an introduction or a good-bye, which seemed more than a little weird. She'd been spending a lot of time with this guy and I had yet to meet him. I began to wonder if she was hiding something.

I'd been lucky to make it to my room in the first place, so I had no clue if she was home when I stumbled through the door with a little help from John and Gina, who probably weren't much better off than I was. I really hoped he wasn't on duty the next day.

It was nearly noon on Saturday when I finally crawled out of the bed in desperate need of some aspirin and a cup of coffee. The bottle of aspirin and a bottle of water sat by the coffee maker on top of a note and an envelope

Sorry for bailing last night. I hope the gift makes up for it, it's from all of us, and don't worry, I didn't win it. I'm hanging out at the pier with Jared today. Take some aspirin, drink the whole bottle of water, skip the coffee, and go back to bed until you feel better.

Love, Grace

Inside the envelope were four tickets for a Napa Valley wine tasting, the exact thing I'd bid on and lost in the silent auction at the gala. It made sense she'd specified she hadn't won it because I would have been pissed if she'd paid more than what I bid on it, which was a lot.

It more than made up for her skipping out on the party. Of course, I'd had so much to drink I probably wouldn't have noticed if everyone had left me there dancing by myself anyway. A sad fact I was paying for dearly. I was grateful I didn't have any plans or commitments for the day, which allowed me to follow Grace's instructions and go back to bed.

Chapter 15 

After sleeping away most of Saturday recovering from my party, I felt pretty great getting up Sunday morning. So much so I threw on my running shoes, compression pants and a jacket and headed up to North Avenue Beach for an early morning run. It was just a little after five, so the place was all but deserted.

On the trail, my thoughts turned to Grey. Everything was so confusing. I had no idea how to proceed with him. A part of me wished we could move on as friends after the job was over, possibly more, but there were too many lies. Too much baggage stacked up between us, and I wasn't even sure if I was capable of giving him what he and, if I was being truly honest with myself, I wanted.

I was coming around the curve of the peninsula on my way back to the mainland when I caught sight of a man running my way.

I stopped cold, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath.

"What, what are you doing here?" I said, looking up at Grey in his blue pullover hoodie as I pulled the earbuds from my ears.

He laughed, gesturing toward his clothes as if to say, "Isn't it obvious?"

"I came out for a run to clear my head. I used to run this trail all the time before I left for Japan, seemed like it was time to get back in the habit," he replied, stepping closer.

I don't know if it was the endorphins from my run, all of the pent up emotions I'd been battling with since the first time I laid eyes on Grey, or just the joy I felt seeing him so unexpectedly but for whatever reason and, despite my better judgment, I threw my arms around his neck, pushing up on my toes as I crushed my mouth to his.

He tensed for a moment before his arms slid around my back and he pulled me closer, his tongue dancing in perfect unison with mine.

The pound of another runner's shoes against the pavement pulled us from the moment.

"Come on." I grabbed Grey's hand and tugged him in the direction of the parking lot.

We cut across the sand, something I normally wouldn't do, especially since I'd driven there in my baby, but I couldn't bring myself to care about a little sand in my car with visions of all the things I was considering doing to Grey flashing in my head.

"Wow, nice car," he said when the lights flashed as we approached.

I opened the back door and practically pushed him back on the leather seat. He slid over to the other side, pulling me with him as I reached back and closed the door. The space was more than a bit cramped and I was sweaty from my run, but I didn't care. Grey didn't seem to mind at all either.

I straddled him and I unzipped my jacket before fumbling to get free of the sleeves while Grey struggled with his hoodie. I laughed and he grabbed my face, pulling me down to his mouth while my arms were still trapped behind me in my jacket. It was early and my car was parked alone on the far side of the parking lot, so there was no one walking by to see what we were doing, not that I would have cared if they did. 

"I guess I didn't really think this through." I laughed against his lips.

I lifted up as much as I could in the cramped space, finally getting my arms free. Grey wadded up his hoodie and tucked it under his head against the seat.

"I could stay crammed in here all day if it means being with you." His eyes swam with emotion. He searched my expression, a hint of concern in his gaze. He was right to worry. With that brief moment to think, everything else barreled back into my thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Grey. I don't know what's wrong with me." I backed up against the door, pulling my jacket up over my chest as I struggled to get control of the emotions flooding my mind.

"Talk to me," he said, sitting up on his elbows as he watched me intently.

"I'm not sure I can do this. I need some space, some time to think and clear my head." 

Grey sighed, pulling his leg from under me to sit up all the way. "This feels way too familiar, Claudia." He slipped his arms back into his hoodie before he looked at me again. "I agreed to be friends, said I wouldn't push for more, but you keep sending me mixed signals. Is this a game to you?" He placed his hand on his forehead while his elbow rested on top on the seat back. "Because it's starting to feel as though you're just playing with me."

"No, Grey, it's not that." I inched closer and put my hand on his knee. "This is all new to me. I know I'm fucked up and this isn't fair to you, but I--" I turned away from him and put both hands on top of my head. "Ugh! I just don't know what to do. I don't know what I want!"

"Well, I do. I want you; I think I've made that abundantly clear. And I think you do know what you want, you're just scared to admit it to me, maybe even to yourself."

I stared at the red stitching on the back of the seat in front of me, not wanting him to see the tears welling in my eyes. 

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm not going anywhere. Well, I'm going to leave now and go for a run, or maybe grab a cold shower..." 

I chanced a glance at him and saw a smirk turning up one side of his mouth. 

"What I mean is I'm not going to let you push me away." He reached over and stroked his thumb over my cheek. "Someday you're going to figure out this is real, that you can trust me. I'm willing to wait for you to get there."

I nodded, unable to speak over the knot in my throat.

He leaned over and kissed my cheek before he opened the door. "You're still coming to dinner tonight, right?"

I nodded again.

"Good, I'll see you then." He stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him.

I stayed there, watching as Grey jogged back toward the running trail, wondering what in God's name was happening to me before I finally zipped up my jacket and drove home.

❖

The car Grey promised arrived promptly at four thirty, though I'd wondered if he would show up himself instead. When we'd made the plans he was going to be flying home the same afternoon, but he'd come back early for my birthday. I supposed he was giving me the space I'd insisted I needed.