Saving Grace, Page 3

  “I have a place here in the lodge.” I don’t mention that my living quarters are a three-bedroom suite that I’ve commandeered. “I’ll walk you to your room.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “A gentleman always walks his lady home.” I ignore the looks that the staff sends us as I lead her to the elevator, and once we reach her floor, she leads me to her door. She’s in one of the standard king rooms. They’re top of the line, comfortable, and perfectly fine. But I also know in this moment that regardless of how many nights she’s reserved to stay in this room, and I intend to find out, she’ll spend only one night in this room.

  “Thanks for walking me home.” She grins.

  “My pleasure.” I wait for her to unlock the door, and before she can escape inside, I pin her against the doorjamb and kiss her passionately, deeply. Hungrily.

  Her fingers find their way into my hair again, and I long to feel them there as I bury my face in her pussy, making her come over and over again.

  Yes, this is just the beginning for Grace and me.

  I pull away from her mouth, drag my nose along her jawline to her ear.

  “I’ll be back to pick you up in an hour.”

  She swallows hard as I pull away from her.

  “Okay, I’ll be ready.”

  Grace smiles and turns to walk into her room.

  “Grace . . .”

  She turns at the sound of my voice, but I’m too late, and she runs smack into the doorjamb.

  “Ow!”

  “Oh, love, I’m so sorry.”

  She giggles and rubs her temple where she hit the hardest.

  “At least I’m not standing on ice. I’d be a goner.” She shrugs and waves before closing the door behind her.

  chapter 4

  ~ Grace ~

  Well, that was elegant. Way to run into the door, like in some slapstick movie, as the hottest man you’ve ever seen in your life looks on with lust-filled eyes after kissing you unlike you’ve ever been kissed before.

  I wonder if all the British kiss like that?

  Because seriously, the man knows how to use his lips.

  He never makes me feel clumsy or stupid. When I fall or walk into a wall, he doesn’t look at me like I’m a moron. He laughs with me instead of at me.

  And let’s face it, the sexy factor is through the roof.

  His hair is as thick and soft as it looks. I never wanted to let go.

  So what do I do? Have a weekend affair like the girls suggested? Why not?

  Perhaps I’m jumping ahead of myself here. The man asked me to dinner¸ not to jump into his bed.

  Get a grip!

  I strip out of my clothes and turn on the shower, then struggle with what to wear. I didn’t bring anything dressy because I didn’t plan to go out on a date. I wonder what he’s wearing?

  I don’t even have his phone number.

  Shit.

  Suddenly my phone buzzes on the bathroom vanity with a number I don’t recognize.

  This is Jacob. Dinner will be casual. See you soon.

  How did he do that? Would Jeanette have given him my phone number? Probably, but that seems rather unprofessional.

  I shrug and type back a response: Sounds good!

  I take a long hot shower. My muscles are already moaning from the activity today. Tomorrow will be horrible.

  Thank God I’m scheduled for a massage!

  In a moment of optimism, I shave my legs and bikini line, then wash my hair and step out of the shower.

  Thankfully, my short hair has trimmed a good ten minutes off my time. It blows dry quickly, and with a few brushes with my fingers and a little hair gel, I’m good to go. I keep the makeup simple and casual, then dress in my jeans and red cami with a black shrug over the top. I slide my feet into black Toms and take a spin in front of the mirror. My breasts are pushed up, thanks to the expensive bra I splurged on, and my ass looks great in these jeans.

  This is as good as it gets with my limited wardrobe choices.

  Just as I smooth some gloss on my lips, there’s a light knock on the door.

  “ ’Ello, govna!” I exclaim as I open the door, and then I lose all control of my tongue. I think it fell out.

  I hope I’m not flapping my mouth about like a guppy.

  Jacob is delicious in faded blue jeans and a well-worn white T-shirt with a blue plaid button-down open over it. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows.

  His hair is still damp from a shower, but he didn’t shave that scruff off his chin.

  Thank God.

  “You are beautiful,” he murmurs. He leans his shoulder against the doorframe and watches me watch him with hot, green eyes. “Are you ready?”

  “Hold on, I’m not done,” I reply.

  “Done with what?” he asks with a half smile.

  “Looking,” I whisper.

  The smile disappears from his face, replaced by pure, unadulterated lust.

  “Keep looking at me like that, and I’ll push my way into your room, uninvited as it stands right now mind you, and take you up against that wall.”

  I blink at him, tempted to take him up on the offer, when my stomach growls.

  “I think I’m hungry.”

  “As am I. Let’s feed you, love.” He holds his hand out for mine and leads me down the hall to the elevator.

  “You smell great.” God, I have got to learn to use a filter when I speak to this man! Shit just pops right out.

  “Thank you,” he murmurs with a smile. “I hope you’re content with the restaurant here in the hotel.”

  “Sure, I’ve heard good things,” I reply truthfully. “I’ve never been up to check it out, but my friends love it.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.”

  The hostess smiles widely at Jacob as we approach, but the light in her eyes dims a bit when she sees me.

  That’s right, he’s with me. At least for a few hours, anyway.

  “Hello, Riley.”

  “Hi, Mr. Baxter. Your usual table?”

  “That will be fine, thank you.”

  I frown up at him. A ski instructor has a usual table?

  She leads us through the restaurant to the back of the room, tucked in a corner with wide windows that look out over the ski hill.

  He seats me in the corner and sits with his back to the room, facing me.

  “I didn’t think men liked to sit with their backs to the room,” I say. There’s no way in hell he’s a fucking ski instructor.

  “A gentleman always seats the lady so she can look out to the room,” he replies matter-of-factly, perusing his menu.

  “I like that.” I clear my throat without opening the menu. “Who are you, exactly?”

  His eyes whip up to mine in surprise. “I’ve told you who I am, darling.”

  “You lied,” I reply, without emotion in my voice. “Let me guess. You own the joint.”

  “Hey, Mr. Baxter, what can I get you both to drink?” a waitress with the name Babs pinned to her shirt asks as she approaches the table, interrupting us.

  “We’ll need a moment, please.” His eyes never leave mine as Babs walks away.

  “I own this lodge, yes,” he replies, and holds my gaze steadily.

  “So that whole, ‘Don’t lie to me, love. That’s one thing I won’t have. There’s no need of it,’ was just, what? A line?”

  “That’s fair, Grace, and no, it wasn’t a line.” He snaps his menu shut and scratches his fingers through his hair.

  “So you played me. Good job.”

  “No.” He grabs my wrist to keep me in place as I move to leave and clenches his jaw shut. His grip isn’t hard or biting, but just enough to let me know that he wants me to stay. “Please let me explain.”

  “I feel foolish,” I whisper. Way to go, you clumsy idiot. Just another way to make a fool of yourself.

  “No, love.” He shakes his head and clears his throat. “If anyone should feel foolish, it’s me. I didn’t mean to mislead you.”
<
br />   “You mistakenly failed to mention that you own this damn lodge all day long?” I ask incredulously. “Do you think I’m stupid as well as clumsy?”

  “You’re neither stupid nor clumsy, Grace. When you approached me this afternoon, I was speaking with the boy who was supposed to be your instructor for the day.”

  “You employ toddlers?”

  Jacob’s lips twitch with humor. “He’s a very young-looking nineteen and an excellent skier. You were mistaken when you assumed I was to be your instructor today.”

  “My mistake. I apologize.”

  “I apologize, Grace. I just instantly liked you. With your immediate apology for your clumsiness and your sense of humor and your gorgeous hazel eyes, I just . . .” He blows out a breath and searches for his next words. “I just wanted to spend the day with you.”

  “Look, Bax,” I begin.

  “Jacob,” he corrects me softly. “I like the way Jacob rolls off your spectacular tongue.”

  Oh, God, he’s good.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m here under false pretenses.”

  “Everything else I told you today is true. Everything. I just didn’t mention that I owned the lodge. I was a ski instructor at sixteen, in Switzerland during winter holiday with my family. I’ve been skiing since I was four. I didn’t lie.”

  I sit back and watch him carefully as Babs returns to the table.

  “Are you ready to place your drink order, boss?”

  Again, his eyes stay on mine. “Stay. Have dinner with me.”

  “Why didn’t you correct me right away?” I ask bluntly.

  “Because I didn’t want you to treat me differently when you found out about my status here.” His face is sober and honest, and I feel just a little pity for him. It can’t be easy to have the money he has, to always wonder if someone is interested in you as a person, or you as a wealthy person.

  “I’ll stay,” I reply after a long silent moment.

  “Thank you.” His smile is wide and genuine as he cocks a brow. “Now, what would you like to drink? I, for one, could use a glass of wine.”

  “I’ll join you in that,” I reply, with a nod. “Pinot Noir?”

  “Excellent.” He rattles off the name of an Oregon wine I recognize and then pulls my hand to his lips, nibbles my knuckles, sending shivers up my arm. “Thank you.”

  “For?”

  “The second chance.” We settle into a companionable silence as we browse the menu. Should I have let him off the hook so easily? Am I so desperate to get laid—if that’s even where this is going—that I’m willing to forgive his lie by omission and have dinner with him? I glance up to watch him read the menu, and realize that it doesn’t have much to do with wanting a quick fuck and everything to do with this weird attraction I feel toward him, the whole package.

  But that doesn’t mean that I have to bare my soul to him. He didn’t see fit to come clean with me, and perhaps I should keep the same attitude, keeping most of my own secrets closely guarded.

  “I want a big hunk of meat for dinner.” I rub my flat stomach as I return to the menu. “Steak. Potatoes. Oh, God, you have huckleberry cheesecake. That’s going to be in my belly before this night is out.”

  “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he murmurs quietly. I’m stunned speechless as I gaze over my menu at him.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Don’t ever lose your enthusiasm for life, Grace. Your excitement over a dessert is one of the sexiest things I’ve ever witnessed.”

  “You’ve led a sheltered life, then,” I reply, and lay my menu over my plate.

  “Quite the opposite, love. I’m very happy that you mistook me for your instructor today. It’s perhaps the best thing that’s happened to me in a long while.”

  “There’s that blarney again,” I reply with a laugh. “But thank you. And back at you. What made you come to Montana?”

  “I was here on holiday years ago,” he says, and sips his wine. “It’s beautiful here.”

  “Very different from Europe.”

  “Indeed. But it’s become home.” He takes my hand in his again and threads our fingers together. “How long have you lived here? Are you native?”

  “No.” I take a sip of my wine and think about how much I want to confide in this sexy, sweet man. “I’ve been here since I started teaching. About six years.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Arizona.”

  He nods and watches me, waiting for more.

  “I don’t have any siblings.”

  “I had a younger brother,” he says softly. “He drowned when he was nine.”

  I tighten my hand on his. “I’m sorry.”

  “It destroyed my parents. They’ve never been the same.” He tilts his head. “Your parents?”

  “I don’t speak to them.” I firm my lips, determined not to tell him any more.

  His jaw ticks at my response, but he doesn’t push. He just nods and smiles at Babs when she returns to take our orders.

  “The lady will have the rib eye with a baked potato. Would you like salad, love?”

  “Yes, please. With ranch. Medium on the steak.”

  “And for you, Bax?”

  “I’ll have the same.”

  Babs nods and takes our menus. “Oh, Bax, Jerry asked me to tell you that he wants a word with you before you leave.”

  “He’ll have to wait. I am with a guest. Tell him I’ll have a word with him tomorrow morning.”

  “You’re the boss.” She winks and saunters away, leaving us alone.

  “Maybe Jerry’s issue can’t wait.”

  “Jerry always has an issue, and trust me, it can wait.” Jacob grins and drags his knuckles down my cheek. “I’m in the middle of a very important meeting.”

  “So I’m a business meeting now?” I ask with a cocked brow. “I’m flattered.”

  Jacob laughs and shakes his head. “You were telling me how you ended up in Montana.”

  “I went to college with someone from here. I joined her one weekend when she came home to see her parents, fell in love with the town, and decided to move here when college was done.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  “Me, too. I love snow.” Babs sets our salads in front of us. “The cold doesn’t bother me.”

  We eat in relative quiet, making small talk about the unusually dry winter, the days getting shorter, and what we studied in college. The meal is as delicious as the conversation.

  “Oh, God,” I moan, and lean back in my chair. “There’s no way I can eat the cheesecake. I’m stuffed.”

  “We could share it,” he offers.

  “You’re far too tempting, Jacob Baxter.”

  “I hope so, Grace.”

  “Okay, fine. I’ll eat half.”

  Jacob hails Babs and orders our dessert. “What are your plans for the rest of the evening?” he asks.

  “Yoga pants and a Lifetime movie,” I reply.

  “Can I talk you into doing those things in my suite?”

  His face is hopeful and sexy and I’m so fucking tempted to say hell yes! But I’ve known him less than a day. And he wasn’t honest with me.

  “I take your silence as a no,” he says ruefully.

  “Jacob, you are an intriguing man. The chemistry between us is . . . impressive. I’m interested. But I just met you today.”

  “I understand, darling. Completely.”

  Babs sets our dessert, two spoons, and two black coffees on the table, winks at Jacob, and walks away. We dig in with gusto, and when Jacob wraps his lips around that spoon and moans in appreciation of the sugar and sweet fruit hitting his tongue, I almost change my mind about his offer and beg him to take me to bed right now.

  But instead I laugh at him, eat my half, and keep quiet.

  Finally, he walks me down the hall to my room. He pushes my back against the wall beside my door, braces his hand on the wall next to my face, and leans in. Almost unbearably s
lowly, he drags his nose down my own and nibbles the corner of my mouth.

  “Good night, sweet Grace.” He kisses me softly, but with no less passion, leaving me a quivering mess.

  “G’day, mate,” I whisper. He laughs, and leans his forehead on mine.

  “God, Grace, you’re so damn funny. I can’t wait to spend tomorrow with you.”

  “Back at you, mate.”

  “I’m not your mate, love.” He nuzzles my nose once more before backing away. “I’m going to be much more than that.”

  chapter 5

  I close the door behind me and lean against the wood, panting, aching, wanting with all my heart to call him back here.

  I’ve never done an impulsive thing in my life.

  It’s about time to change that.

  I yank the door open and stick my head out into the hallway, just in time to see Jacob press the call button for the elevator.

  “Jacob, wait.”

  He stills and whips his head toward me.

  “Don’t go.”

  He marches back to me and gazes down into my face with bright green eyes. “What’s wrong, darling?”

  “I don’t want you to leave,” I whisper, and watch his lips as he licks them.

  “What do you want?”

  I find his gaze with mine and simply say, “You.”

  “Invite me in, please.”

  “Another one of those gentlemanly things?” I ask softly.

  “Grace, I’m on a very precarious ledge right now.”

  “Won’t you come in?” I step back and open the door wide. He swoops in, pushes me deeper into the room, cups my face in his hands, and devours me with his mouth. The door slams shut behind him and I can only cling to him as he kisses me almost desperately, as though I’m a mirage that will disappear.

  He pulls my shrug off my shoulders, letting it fall to the floor, and reaches for the button of my jeans next, deftly unfastening them with one hand. He pushes his hands inside them, glides them down my ass, and lowers my jeans down my legs until they’re pooled around my ankles.

  “I told myself that once I finally had you like this, I’d take my time and explore every inch of your gorgeous little body . . .”

  I whip my cami over my head just as he reaches behind me to unclasp my bra and am now pinned against the wall in my plain pink panties.