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Grace was warm and soft beside me, her delicate hand on my chest, her perfect leg swept across mine. Her breathing was steady, so I knew she was still sleeping as I stroked the top of her head.
Last night, I’d had a massive revelation. I was a jealous fuck.
I’d never been jealous before. I’d had sex with porn stars one minute, and the next they were in front of me on camera, screaming someone else’s name, sometimes more than one someone, and I didn’t give two shits. But just the thought of Grace with that guy, any guy, and I was pulling her to the closest hotel room.
I’d taken her to the Cougar Suite. Or so Everly had dubbed it when she’d transformed Max’s old home into the quintessential bachelor pad. Fur rug. Fireplace. Large television. Circle bed and mini-fridge. Max kept it on standby for any of us to use. It was never rented out. As far as I knew, Ryan had been the only one to use it since Max had opened the doors to the hotel. But here we were, and I was watching her sleep, for fuck’s sake.
I carefully untangled myself from her hold and slipped out of bed. She was so damn peaceful, like an angel napping on a white cloud. Her skin still pink and flushed. I remembered it warm and soft against mine.
“You all right?”
I stilled at the sound of her voice. At the way her soft timbre washed over my body, causing me to break into gooseflesh. My heart picked up speed and it didn’t take much for my cock to remember its place—with Grace—and stand at attention. Always at attention.
“Sure. Just getting some water.” I went over to the small kitchenette, removed the paper cover on two glass tumblers, and filled them with water. I returned to the bed, handing her one. She took
it with a smile.
She sat up on her elbow, watching me. “Monday is the speakers series.”
I appreciated her keeping things normal. I appreciated her not dwelling on the fact we’d had sex last night. But she didn’t need to remind me of my obligation. I’d been dreading it since the day I had agreed to take Cory on as an intern.
“Are you prepared?”
I shrugged. “As prepared as I’ll ever be.”
She had no idea how much her help meant to me. How much the simple fact that she’d made a promise and kept it meant to me.
“I’m…” She settled deeper into the bed, as if hiding. “I’m not doing anything today if you want to practice.”
I didn’t know what her normal schedule was. If I was honest, despite having just screwed her brains out, I still didn’t know all that much about Grace Nolan. But what I did know was, she was kind and generous, gentle yet fierce when she needed to be, smart and determined, loyal and dependable. Not to mention the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on.
Now that the swag bags had been made and handed out and she’d imparted all of her wisdom, I figured there would be no reason for us to spend time together anymore. Which left a tightening in my chest that I couldn’t describe. Didn’t want to describe, for fear of the truth being something I couldn’t deny.
“Do you want me to come with you to the college?”
I was mid-sip when she asked and if I’d had water in my mouth I would have spit it out from shock. She was making another promise. One I didn’t know if I could trust her to keep.
“Or I can just drop you off at the classroom, give you an embarrassing kiss, and leave you to play with your friends.”
She laughed, but I didn’t. She had no idea how much that had hit home. My mother had never walked me to class. She’d never even attended a single parent-teacher conference. Having Grace there in the room for moral support was exactly what I needed.
I had no idea why she was offering herself, other than to just…help me. To be there for me. How was I ever going to repay her? “Thank you” just didn’t seem like enough.
But there was no way in hell I was going to pass up her offer, no matter how high the possibility of her letting me down.
Chapter 13
Ben
I hesitated outside the door of the classroom with my hand on the metal handle.
Why had I agreed to this?
My nerves were on overdrive, kicking around my stomach like Irish folk dancers. My chest…well, that felt like I had an elephant with a front row seat to my face.
This was not a feeling I was accustomed to.
Fear.
