The Seduction Vow (14 page)

He withdrew from her, cleaned up, then lay
beside her, one arm slung over her body. The weight of his arm felt
sheltering, protective. She snuggled against it and glided her hand
up and down the Chinese tattoos. Her sexy, cool, new man, who
treated her with such kind consideration.

“
Hey, if you’re not busy
this weekend, I have an out-of-town gig at a resort,” he said.
“Maybe you’d like to come. Some of the other guys are bringing
wives or girlfriends along, so you’d have someone to hang with
while we’re on stage.”

A band groupie. New Graci was doing a lot of
things Old Graci had never imagined. “Sure. I’d love to come hear
you play.”

She stroked a hand down his side, feeling the
ridges of his rib cage. “And I have something I’d like to invite
you to, if you’re interested. It’s this wedding for my friend Bree.
A week in LA. If you can get the time off and I can score some
cheap plane tickets, would you like to come? I could use a plus
one.”

He kissed her shoulder. “I’d love to be your
plus one.”

Epilogue

Graci checked her seat belt for the tenth
time, as if being buckled in securely would help if this tiny plane
went down. Her breathing was too fast and her heart rate rapidly
accelerated. She sucked in a slow breath and held it, willing
herself to calm.

“
Everything all right?” The
pilot asked through the headphones that hugged her ears.

“
Uh-huh. I’m good,” she
lied. “Thanks for taking me up. This is…great.”

“
You look freaked-out.” He
stared at her through reflective sunglasses that hid his eyes.
“Don’t panic. I know what I’m doing. But if you start to lose it,
there’s a vomit bag right under your seat.”

“
Good to know.” She smiled
at him through gritted teeth. Insane man. Jim, her dad’s friend,
did this for fun, flew in a two-seater Cessna the size of a
computer desk for a hobby! Quilting looked increasingly desirable
right at this moment as he adjusted controls, the engine roared,
and the plane vibrated.

“
We’re going to be taking
off into a downwind, so it might be a bit rough.”

“
What?”

Either she didn’t speak into her mic clearly,
or he pretended not to hear her. Jim steered the plane down the
runway, circled around, then began to taxi toward takeoff.

I’m not afraid of heights.
I’m not afraid of heights
, Graci repeated
faster and faster as the plane gathered speed.

I’m afraid of
falling!
She gripped the arms of her seat
and pressed her feet against the floor as the Cessna left the
ground.

The pilot was right. The ascent was a little
like being on rough seas in a small boat. But as they rose through
the air and reached treetop level, the air seemed to smooth out.
The bumpiness ended.

Graci slightly relaxed her grip on the chair
arms and peeked out the side window to watch the ground fall
away.

“
Whaddya think?” Jim asked.
“Doing okay?”

“
Yeah. I’m okay,” she
repeated and it wasn’t a lie this time. She pressed her head
against the window to gaze at the forest they were passing over.
“The trees are turning already.”

“
Yep. Little bit.” He fell
silent, focusing on the horizon and keeping the wings
level.

Graci studied the dashboard with all its
mysterious monitors and switches, before looking out at the
countryside again. The plane dropped suddenly, like when a car goes
airborne over the top of a hill, and her stomach lurched along with
it. But then the craft steadied again and resumed churning slowly
through the air.

I’m flying. I’m actually
flying.
Graciela Ramirez, who wouldn’t go
to the top of the Empire State Building on a senior class trip to
New York, was now cruising in a rickety old antique plane—and
liking it.

Another checked item on her list. So, maybe
this wasn’t hang gliding, and maybe she’d never actually do that,
but this was a big leap for her. She’d taken a lot of huge steps in
her life in a very short time. Not all of them had worked out, but
the most important one had.

She pictured Neal’s face smiling at her as
they lay face-to-face in her bed, holding hands and sharing
secrets. She liked him more every day, maybe loved him even though
it was too soon to love again. But love couldn’t be marked on a
checklist. It wasn’t quantifiable or accountable like numbers. It
came at you, fluid and surprising and twisting and turning in
unexpected ways.

The Cessna hit another air pocket. Graci let
go of the arms of her seat and embraced the drop, letting her
stomach lurch giddily and her fears fly away.

THE END

A Note from Bonnie: I hope you enjoyed this
first installment of the Promise series. Please consider leaving a
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Read on for an excerpt
from THE TEMPORARY PROMISE, the second volume in this series about
five friends and the men in their lives. If you want to stay
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The Temporary Promise

Waitress and struggling actress Tara
Rambeaugh has grown used to the idea that her career might not
progress beyond an occasional commercial or role in local
theater—until her best friend’s brother, Luis lights a fire under
her by encouraging her to make a big move. Soon Tara is taking more
than career risks as she plunges headlong into a steamy
relationship with the guy she crushed on as a teenager. But war
veteran Luis has issues of his own, and Tara doesn’t know if either
of them is ready to handle anything serious—even as her heart is
falling deeper in love.

Chapter One

“
Come to Mattress Town for
the best deal around, and may all your dreams come true.” Tara
froze with a huge cheesy smile plastered across her face until the
director called “Cut.” The grin instantly disappeared, and she
rubbed her cheeks, which actually ached from smiling so much.
Twelve takes for a half-minute commercial? The guy seemed to think
he was filming a blockbuster movie instead of a local ad, and Tara
had a date to get to.

“
Can you give me one more
take, dear?” McClean asked. “And this time press your hand on the
mattress to demonstrate how firm it is.”

Which she’d already done a few takes ago, but
Tara only smiled her big cheesy smile. “Sure thing.” She took her
place again and waited.

This might not be Shakespeare in the Park,
but at least it was a paying gig. She had to stay focused on the
positives. Since she’d returned to Cinci, she’d always managed to
keep a little something happening other than her waitress job. Some
roles in regional theater and a few commercials for local
businesses was a helluva lot better than she’d done in New York,
where she’d been one wannabe actress in a pool of hundreds.

One African-American actress. She wasn’t fool
enough to believe that didn’t limit her options. Casting directors
were looking for certain types, and too often, she wasn’t it. After
clawing and scrambling and taking any role she could get in off
off-Broadway theaters, while working long hours in a deli, Tara had
finally abandoned the Big Apple. Nearly broke after three years of
trying, she’d flown back to Cincinnati. It felt a little like
failure, but a lot like coming home. To tell the truth, she’d been
happy to be back in her city on the river.

“
Okay, Tara. Action,”
McClean called, and Tara moved through the store, smiling and
loving the
hell
out of those mattresses. The camera held on her beaming face
once more.

The director said he had enough coverage and
this take was a wrap. The crew was released like kids from school,
and Tara hurried out to her car, rapidly typing a text to Dre.

On my way. Still free to meet up? Let me
know.

Her car door hinges
screeched as she opened it. She could really use a new vehicle, but
it was last on her list of things to spend money on. Right now she
was saving for a ticket to attend her friend Bree’s wedding only a
few months from now in LA. An opportunity to see
that
wild child walking
down the aisle was worth continuing to drive a clunker for a while
longer.

No problem. I’m late too.
Looking 4ward to see u.
Dre’s response
arrived before Tara started the car. She smiled, picturing his
thick fingers typing the message, big football hands which could
catch a pass or touch a woman with equal dexterity. Good to have
friends with benefits like Dre Rodgers, especially on a long day
like this one had been. No strings, no attachment, just some good
fun and a stress reliever with her Bengals buddy.

Tara had just started the
car and put it in gear when two more texts arrived in quick
succession. One was from her friend Corinne:
Sitch with Dawes reaching crisis point. Need to talk. Call me
later.

Tara sighed. Corinne’s
borderline obsessive crush on her married coworker was getting
really old. Graci’s more joyful message brightened her day.
How about a double date? Crash is really into
you. Could be fun. Let me know.

Ah, Graciela, newly in love and wanting
everyone else to share in it. She and Neal were adorable together,
on the surface so different, but underneath, soul mates. Tara liked
Crash, the drummer in Neal’s band, well enough. They’d hooked up a
couple of times. But she wasn’t sure she liked him enough to make a
formal date of it. Still, this seemed important to Graci.

Why not? Set something
up,
she typed back.

She put the Volvo in gear and drove out of
the nearly empty Mattress Town parking lot. It was well after
hours, which was why they’d been able to shoot the commercial
there. Her stomach grumbled about missing dinner, and Tara shushed
it. Probably she and Dre would eat together before they did other
things.

But Graci’s parents’ house
was so nearby, it was hard not to turn toward it. Mrs. Ramirez
wouldn’t let Tara stop and visit without loading her up with food.
Unlike Tara’s takeout mom, Mrs. R lived to cook. And Luis might be
there, which was always fun. Graci’s brothers had been like Tara’s
own. From middle school through high school, she’d spent more time
at Graci’s house than her own. Or if not Graci’s, then with one of
the other Fabulous Five
—
Corinne, Adya, or
Bree.

The five of them would make
a good chick flick, she thought
—
the careers,
romances, and sexual conquests of five childhood friends now
separated by time and distance. Of course, in the movie, the drama
would be ramped up. Maybe a life-threatening illness or secret
baby, and all of their careers would be more glamorous. Rather than
an occasionally employed actress, Tara would be a successful
Broadway star, perhaps struggling with drugs and alcohol. Graci
must be written as anything other than an accountant. Corinne’s
career as a coordinator for corporate events had a certain panache,
while Bree worked as a costumer on movie sets, which was awesome.
As for Adya… Well, no one was really sure what the Mysterious One
was up to.

Of course, the movie of
their lives would have at its heart the enduring friendship of five
women, their strength in adversity and support of each other when
romantic relationships crumbled. A certain audience still
missing
Sex and the City
would eat it up.

The car’s engine started making that
clattering sound it had been doing lately, only much louder. Tara
searched for a place to pull over, but now she was on the highway.
She took an off-ramp onto the city streets just in the nick of time
as her car died. She drifted to the side of the road and
parked.

“
Just fucking wonderful.”
She slapped her hands against the steering wheel, then snatched up
her phone and searched for a contact. Graci’s older brother, Hugo,
owned a garage where Luis also worked as a mechanic. One of them
would help her.

A receptionist answered the phone at the
garage. Tara explained who she was, asked to speak to one of the
Ramirezes, and waited while she was put through.

“
Hi, Tara. What’s up?” It
was Hugo’s voice, always slightly impatient and irritated when he
spoke with her, as if Tara was still his kid sister’s sidekick
who’d once filled his body-spray bottle with Windex.

“
A little car trouble. The
engine just died all of a sudden. Can you help me?”

“
Is the car out of
gas?”

Tara bit back her annoyance at the assumption
she was an idiot. “No. It’s not out of gas, and I don’t think the
gauge is broken. It just conked out. I had to pull off the
road.”

“
Did you call a
tow?”

“
I can’t afford a tow.
That’s why I called you. Could you send Luis to help me? I wouldn’t
ask, but I’m really broke and pretty desperate.”

A long-suffering sigh blew into her ear.
“Luis is in the middle of a repair.”

God, she wished she’d asked for Luis
specifically. That was who she’d really wanted to talk to, the
brother she actually liked, the one who wouldn’t give her crap,
who’d be there for her without a moment’s hesitation.