Shattered Grace (Fallen from Grace) (32 page)

Staring at the linen closet, she wondered if it was smart to go down below alone. She opened the door, slid the towels over, and pushed the button like she’d seen Quentin do. With a click, the door slid back. Inside was nothing but an inky blackness. Barely inching inside, she waited for the door to shut and the angels to light up. Briskly, she made her way down the passageway, and continued past the branching hallways until she reached the gym door.

From outside, she heard manly grunts and sounds of objects being smacked against a wall. Slowly, and trying to be as quiet as possible, Grace turned the door handle and snuck inside. Stunned by what she saw, she leaned against the door. Quentin whirled about, alternately beating and kicking punching bags that surrounded him in a large circle.

So this is where he’s been hiding, she thought, as she watched his graceful but lethal movements, completely mesmerized. Quentin wore only boxing shorts. His hands were wrapped in tape, and his feet were bare. He prowled around the bags, rage in his eyes. His movements were lithe and fluid—beautiful—and he moved faster than she should be able to track. Sweat glistened along every line and swell of his muscles. A flurry of naughty butterflies wrestled in the pit of her stomach.

Suddenly, Quentin snapped his head in her direction. This sharing feelings thing is getting out of control, she decided. His gaze demanded her attention. His steel-colored eyes no longer burned with rage. Instead, they glazed over with a liquid silver longing. As he stalked toward her, the beating of her heart pounded so hard, each beat swooshed deafeningly in her ears. Grace couldn’t tear her eyes away. Once again, her lungs quit working about the same time her heart stopped beating.

When he passed where she expected him to stop and marched right into her personal space, Grace searched frantically for a possible way out. She didn’t move though, and he didn’t stop coming. Grace gasped when he cupped her face with a hand, not caring about the rough edges of tape wrapping it.

The corners of his mouth lifted in triumph. Like a cat with a mouse, he toyed with her. His thumb caressed her jawline as he moved it softly down her face. Slowly, but purposefully, he leaned down, never taking his eyes from hers. His hand pulled her face closer, bringing their lips close enough together to touch, but only hovered there. Her mind ran in circles, confused by his hypnotic touch. She squeezed her eyes shut, torn apart by her warring instincts. Her heart started beating again, and didn’t let up. It pounded fiercely against her breastbone, and probably against his as well. Grace licked her dry lips.

“
Look at me.” The feel of his breath against her mouth caused goose bumps to rise all over her body. She opened her eyes, but only because he told her to.

The moment Quentin pressed his soft, parted lips against hers, a tingling surged through her veins, causing every nerve ending to fire off in rapid succession and awakening her from within. Her head was screaming at her to stop, but her body begged for more. Her lips were his to command. She followed his lips’ urgings and slightly parted her own to welcome more of him. Grace moved her tongue with his as she rose up on her toes to get closer. More
.
Quentin tasted like chocolate and mint; the best combination in the world. He was all consuming. The smell of fresh night air and water was all around her, Quentin’s scent. All of her senses were bombarded with everything that was
him
and she didn’t want it to end.

Taking his hand away from her face, he braced himself against the door at Grace’s back. Slowly he pulled away from her. Sadness replaced the longing that had filled his eyes moments before. “I’m sorry, Grace, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“
What? Why?” She thought it felt rather perfect and had to swallow the whimper that almost escaped her lips when he stopped.

“
I’m your Guardian. It’s wrong.” He looked away, focusing his gaze somewhere above her head. “Besides, you were sad and I—”

“
Okay,” she said, pushing him away from her with a hand at his chest. Her embarrassment felt like a heat wave as it replaced the tingles and the goose bumps and moved like an out-of-control wildfire up her face. “I don’t need your pity. I had a bad day and you felt it. I get it.”

“
No, that’s not—”

Apparently, he didn’t hear her. “Quentin, I said I understand. Now, please move so I can go to bed.” When he didn’t budge, she insisted, “Please! I really don’t want to do this tonight.”

When he finally moved aside, she ran past him and out the door, not looking back until she was in her own room. Grace flopped down on her bed and thought back to the kiss. Men
,
she hissed in her head. She needed to stay away from all of them. If she ever was in a situation like that again, and that was a big
if
, she’d make sure she touched him first—to check his emotions and make sure he wasn’t playing with her.

A few minutes later, Quentin could still feel the effect of Grace slamming the door as he held on to either side of the door frame. It too was humming with frustration. Pressing his forehead against the steel door, he banged his head against it repeatedly. He couldn’t do anything right when it came to Grace. Every which way he went was a wrong turn.

He had come to the gym to keep his distance from her. Hell, they both needed it. Instead of putting on a shirt when he felt her getting closer, he pushed himself harder to work up a sweat, knowing what it would do. Yeah, he was all kinds of a jerk. What he wasn’t prepared for, what he didn’t expect, was feeling her reaction to seeing him like that. Desire collided with desire, spinning out of control and exploding like a star. And he couldn’t stop himself. Didn’t want to.

“
Damn it!” he yelled out loud, slamming the palm of his hand against the door.

He was the one who was supposed to protect her from harm, not hurt her in irreparable ways. Scars of the heart last an eternity. No matter what he might want, his focus should only be about being her Guardian…even if it broke his own heart.

An intrusive, ear-piercing shriek ripped Grace from the black nothingness of sleep. She lifted a heavy arm from under the comforter, trying to feel her way to the snooze button. Finally, the small machine surrendered to her fierce pounding against it. Done with the day in and day out soap opera drama, she thought of attempting to smother herself as she covered her face with a pillow. The only thing that accomplished was confirming her teeth needed a serious minty toothpaste scrubbing. Yuck!

She sat up on the edge of her bed, and couldn’t deny the one positive from the prior night. No, it wasn’t the kiss, even though that technically could be considered a very good thing. If he weren’t such a freaking jerk
,
she corrected herself mentally. For once, something had gone the way she wanted…her dreamless night.

The thought of the only positive in her life being a dreamless night left an even worse taste in her mouth than the morning funk already taking up residence there.

And there it was again, her crappy mood was back.

She stomped to the bathroom, went pee, and brushed her teeth, then brushed again for good measure. But the second brushing did little to alleviate the rancid taste of reality.

She put on a pair of capri jeans and a light blue tank, grabbed a pair of white flats and her backpack, and stormed like a mini tornado to the kitchen. The buoyant Laney beat her there.

“
Good morning,” her mom’s voice sang, a smile brimming from behind her coffee cup.

“
Mm-hmm,” Grace murmured, not interested in niceties this morning.

“
Are you alright?” Laney asked as she placed her coffee cup down on the counter.

Tired of pretending and sick of biting her tongue, Grace didn’t care about saying what her mom, or anyone else, wanted to hear. “No, I’m not alright and no, I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve had a horrible couple of weeks and I just want to get through the rest of this one. Okay?”

“
Okay,” Laney said, turning back to her coffee.

“
But you wouldn’t know about any of it,” Grace continued. “Because you’ve been too busy with your new friend.”

Laney slowly put her coffee cup back on the counter and leaned against it, staying silent for a couple of heartbeats. Grace wasn’t sure if she should brace herself or run, so she defiantly stiffened. “What?” she asked her mom, ready to get this over with.

“
Are you ready to talk now?”

Who
was
this woman? The Laney that Grace had known over the years didn’t have time for heart-to-hearts. Now she wanted to have them left and right. Grace definitely needed to ask Quentin if there were aliens, too. An alien abduction would explain her mom’s strange and out-of-character behavior. Forget it! That would mean she’d have to speak to Quentin, and she didn’t plan on doing that anytime soon. If ever.

Thinking about the way he had kissed her the night before made her face heat up again. Then she remembered it was a pity kiss, and her face still burned, but for a different reason.

Her head lolled forward a little in shame of the card she was about to play. “No, I don’t want to talk. I’m sorry for being crabby. I think I’m about to start my period.”

“
Oh,” her mom said. “That explains it.” Well, it might explain it, but it didn’t explain what was wrong with Grace. “Have you taken any Midol? I have some in my purse if you need it.”

And just like that, she went from feeling brave enough to say what was on her mind, to hiding behind Midol and tampons. It just kept getting better. What would make it truly memorable would be if Quentin could join in on the Mother Nature talk.

As if on cue, Quentin walked into the kitchen. Perfect!

“…
make sure to take enough extra with you to get you through school,” her mother continued, oblivious to the member of the opposite sex entering the kitchen. “Nothing worse than cramps and bloating.”

Oh, she was so wrong. There was nothing worse than getting the time-of-the-month pep talk while in the presence of a guy. Grace would take a healthy dose of private cramps and bloating any day of the week. She couldn’t respond. She stood wide-eyed and slack-mouthed, too dumbfounded to know what to say.

“
What?” her mom asked, eyes going wide at Grace’s sudden change.

Quentin cleared his throat. “Mornin’,” he mumbled with a sly grin. Grace’s eyes closed to slits, glaring her morning “hello.” After he was done rummaging for food, he left the kitchen. Laney leaned toward Grace, lowering her voice to barely above a whisper. “Did he hear all of that?”