Irresistible Lies (5 page)

“Why
not?” he asked. “What stopped you before?”

“I
just never met anyone I wanted to do it with. Until you.” She looked away from
him. “This is embarrassing.”

“Don’t
be embarrassed, Grace.”

“I’m
very embarrassed. This is very embarrassing.”

“It’s
not embarrassing. I think it’s sweet.”

“Sweet?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.
So you don’t mind?”

“Not
at all. I like the idea of being your first. Your only.”

It
was the perfect thing to say, and it turned her on even more.

“I
just want to make sure that you’re ready before we do anything,” he said. “We
can wait. There’s no rush.”

“The
thing is...” She slowly started to undo the buttons on his shirt. “I don’t want
to wait. I’m ready. Right now.”

She
felt Jamie suck in a breath as her hand touched the warm skin of his chest.
“Right now?”

“Yes.”
She moved to sit on top of him. “Is that okay with you?”

“More
than okay.” He flipped her over so that he was on top, his voice low and sexy.
“You must really like me or something.”

“I
do,” she whispered as he kissed his way down her neck. “Oh, that feels so
good.”

“It
only gets better.”

He
helped her out of her shirt and shrugged out of his. She gasped as he ran his
hands over her body, lingering on her breasts.

“You’re
so beautiful,” he said.

She
blushed.

Grace
had made up her mind that she wanted to do this, and she didn’t want time to
let her nerves get the best of her. She had never been naked in front of a man
before.

She
reached for the waistband of his jeans and for his zipper, but he grabbed her
hands to stop her.

Jamie gave
her a look of such tenderness that she lost her breath. He eased her back down
on the bed.

“Sweetheart,
we can wait,” he told her. “I’ll wait for you as long as it takes. I want you
to be sure.”

Grace
smiled. Now, more than ever, she knew he was the one she wanted to be her
first.

“Jamie.
Please. It has been three months, and there hasn’t been one day that has gone
by since we met that I haven’t wanted to do this. I want you so badly I can’t
sleep at night. I need this.”

That was all
he needed to hear. Her clothing came off quickly and she pulled at his,
desperate to feel his skin all over hers. He kissed his way down her body,
leaving her moaning, breathless.

“God, you’re
gorgeous,” he told her when she was naked, before she could think to be
embarrassed or insecure. “But we need to slow down. I want you to remember this.”

They made
love slowly, passionately, exploring every inch of one another. She was
captivated by the look, the feel of him, and once he was inside her she was lost
to everything but sensation. He kissed her in those first moments of pain, and
when they passed she felt nothing but pleasure. They climaxed together as they
did so many times after, always in unison, driving one another to the brink.

She lay
beside him when they parted, pulling the sheet up to cover herself. He pulled
the sheet down and guided her head to his chest, the spot that would become her
spot in the months and years to come, and listened to his strong heartbeat.

“What are
you thinking?” she asked him.

He smiled.
“I’m thinking about how happy I am.”

She was
happy, too. But she wondered what would happen now. What was she to him? They
had been inseparable from the night they had met three months ago, but she was
constantly worried that she was falling for him harder than he was falling for
her. She was afraid of being in love on her own.

His lips
brushed over her knuckles.

“Grace. I have
something to tell you.”

“What?”

“It’s a
secret.”

“Were you a
virgin, too?” she teased him.

“In a way,”
he said, taking a deep breath. “I’ve never been in love before. I’ve never even
said the words to a girl.”

“Oh.” She
could hear his heart start beating faster. “Jamie... That’s okay. There’s no
rush.”

“I know. But
I don’t want to wait. Look at me.”

Grace
propped her head up on his chest and looked into his eyes. She saw that he was
nervous and smiled at him, thinking that he was the best thing that had ever
happened to her.

“I never
thought I’d meet someone like you. You’re sweet, smart and so beautiful. I love
the way you bite your lip when you’re nervous and how your nose wrinkles when
you laugh and how I can always tell when you’re annoyed with me by the tone of
your voice. I think you’re the cutest girl I’ve ever met and the sexiest girl
I’ve ever met, and I don’t know how you manage to be both at the same time.
When I’m around you, I feel like a better person. I feel like I’m where I’m
supposed to be.”

He put his
hands on her cheeks and looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m in love with you,
Grace. And I have a feeling that I will be forever.”

She knew she
had a stupid grin on her face, but she didn’t care. “Oh, Jamie. I love you,
too. I love you so much. I’m so happy I met you. Every time you walk into a
room and smile at me I feel like I have to pinch myself. These past three
months with you... I’ve never been happier in my whole life.”

He kissed
her sweetly and wrapped his strong arms around her, and she felt in her heart
that she was home—the place she was supposed to be.

When they
broke the kiss, his eyes locked onto hers. “I don’t want you to worry about
anything, Grace. I’m going to love you for the rest of your life.”

She believed
him.

When he
broke up with her, this was the memory that hurt her the most.

Chapter 5

Grace
dropped Jake off on her way to work the next day and made a beeline for her
desk when she entered the office. She kept her head down, not in the mood to
speak to anyone and have to pretend everything was normal.

Her
head was filled with thoughts of Jamie just as it had been the night before.
She had told Caroline about seeing him again as soon as she was able to get Jake
in bed and the two of them had stayed up until the early hours of the morning
discussing and dissecting the situation and what it all meant.

Caroline
was convinced that her bad feeling the day before was a warning from the
universe about Jamie, a warning not to trust him. His arrival could only be bad
news. Grace had expected this—Caroline didn’t like Jamie at all, not
since he broke Grace’s heart, and she was worried about what his return would
mean for all of them.

In
the end, the sisters both agreed that the best thing for Grace to do was stay
as far away from Jamie as possible until he walked right back out of her life.

 
Grace booted up her computer and opened
an email from Charlie that read simply, “See me.”

She
swore under her breath, hoping Charlie wasn’t going to speak to her about
Jamie. He hadn’t yet said a word about it, and she had hoped that meant he
wasn’t planning to.

She
knocked on his door before entering Charlie’s spacious office, by far the
nicest in the building. He was sitting behind his large mahogany desk, reading
over some papers and drinking a cherry soda she was sure he had sent his
assistant out to buy him. That used to be her job.

“Have
a seat, Grace,” he said, glancing up at her.

She
did as she was told, feeling nervous. She still had trouble separating Charlie
her boss from Charlie her almost boyfriend, and when they were in the office
she still felt uncomfortable around him. She wondered if that was something
that would go away with time.

“I
wanted to talk to you about Four Brothers Brewery.”

She
almost groaned but bit her lip instead.

“I
stand by what I said yesterday. I think you’re the right person for the
account, and I’m going to trust you to handle it. You will deal directly with
Jamie Castleton on this. I see no need to supervise.”

“Charlie...”
The idea was horrifying. “I-I can’t.”

“You
can and you will,” he said. “If you’re having trouble handling your workload,
pass something off onto Brooke. This takes priority.”

“You
don’t understand,” she said, trying to appeal to his humanity with her wide
eyes. “Jamie and I have a history together, and I am not comfortable working
with him. I appreciate the opportunity and I’m sorry to let you down, but I
have to refuse. I can’t do it.”

Charlie
pursed his lips together. “You don’t have a choice, Grace.”

“What
do you mean?”

“He
insisted that he work with you.”

Her
mouth fell open. “Why?”

“He
says it’s because he trusts you.” Charlie rolled his eyes. “I expect it’s more
than that, but the reason doesn’t matter. He’s paying well above our typical
fee to work with you on this. If it’s not you, he will leave and take his
business with him.”

“So
let him!” She heard her voice rising and tried to calm down. “We don’t need his
business.”

“Grace.
Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Don’t
you care about me, Charlie? I’m telling you that I’m not comfortable doing
this. Doesn’t that matter to you?”

“Don’t
make this about us,” he said sternly. “This is work. Our relationship is
separate.”

Thoroughly
chastened, she felt her cheeks warm.

Charlie
sat back in his chair and looked her over. “I know this won’t be easy for you
in the beginning, but you need to learn to separate your personal feelings from
your work. There are clients I deal with who I can’t stand, but I never let it
show. It’s all part of the job and part of being a professional. This will be a
good lesson for you to learn.”

She
imagined that Charlie never felt quite the same way about one of his clients as
she did about Jamie, but she didn’t say anything. She knew when she was
fighting a losing battle.

“Fine,”
she said. “I’ll do it.”

“That’s
my girl,” he said, smiling at her. “Are we still on for dinner tonight?”

She
almost said no, but then changed her mind. What was the point in prolonging the
argument?

“Yes.
I’ve got to get Jake in bed first, so I’ll be ready at eight.”

“Good.
Did you decide where you want to go?”

“Not
yet. What’s the most expensive restaurant in town?”

He
laughed, and the sound made her feel a little better. She wasn’t going to be
angry with Charlie just because Jamie was being a jerk. She wasn’t going to let
him screw up the life she had made for herself here.

MORNING
AT THE office went by as usual, but when the clock struck noon Jamie put in his
first phone call to Grace about the campaign.

“We’ll
need mailers,” he told her after a quick hello.

“Mailers?
What for?”

“To
distribute to all the local restaurants and bars. We need something really
creative to get people interested. How soon can you have a draft to me?”

“I
can have something to you this week,” she said hesitantly.

“This
week? Why not today?”

“Because the design team can’t have it
done by today.”

“Fine. Send it over this week, then.”

“Fine.”

"What are you doing tonight?"

S
he was immediately suspicious.
"Why?"

"Let me take you to dinner."

"I don't think so," she said.
"Let's get back to talking about work."

"This is about work," he said.
"A working dinner."

"I can't. I have other plans."

"With Charlie?"
Grace could tell that he was annoyed. "So cancel them."

"I'm not going to cancel
them. Stop being ridiculous."

"That's no way to talk to
your client."

"I’m sorry,” she said,
praying for patience. “Jamie, please stop talking about my personal life."

“This isn’t about your
personal life,” he told her. “This is about your canceling a date to attend a
professional working dinner with me.”

“I can’t.”

"Hmm. I think I may need to sit down
and have a talk with your boss about your priorities."

Grace couldn’t believe how arrogant he was
being.

"I've got to go,” she said. “If I'm
going to get anywhere with your account today and still get out of here by five
o’clock, I've got to get to work."

It was something she never would have said
to one of her other clients, but she didn’t mind saying it to Jamie. She knew
they could never be truly professional with one another, not when they had so
much history.

He was quiet, and she wondered if she had
crossed a line.

"Jamie?"

"You’re right, of course.
Goodbye."

That was weird, she thought, putting down
the phone. Why did she have the feeling he was up to something?

Grace tried to keep her thoughts busy with
work, so she began putting together plans for Four Brothers Brewery. She knew
the best way to keep Jamie out of her hair was to do such a good job that he
had nothing to complain about.

She put together a social media plan and
started working on drafting letters to be sent to local bars and restaurants.
She thought of promotional ideas and drafted a press release announcing the
brewery’s expansion. She even wrote an outline for a behind-the-scenes video on
the brewery process, doing as best as she could with the information she found
on their website. When she finished sending what she had worked on to Jamie,
the phone rang. It was 4:50 p.m.

"Grace? It's Jamie."

As if she didn’t have his voice forever
burned into her mind.

"Hi. What's going on?"

"I have a project for you."

"Okay."

"I set up a meeting with the owner of
Southside Grill,” he said. “He's considering partnering with us and selling our
beer in his restaurants."

"Wow, that's great. You did that
today?"

“
Don't sound so surprised. I came down here
to work."

"Okay, what do you need from
me?"

"I need you to put together a
presentation for me to give tomorrow. I'll send you some of our financials and
information, although I think you have most of it. I need to sell him on this
product."

"What time is the meeting?"

"9 a.m."

She almost laughed.

"This needs to get done, Grace."

"You couldn't have called earlier?
I'm about to go home."

"Sorry," he said, not sounding
sorry at all. "I can come over and help. We can work on it together."

"No. I'll do it."

"Are you sure?” His voice grew low
and seductive. “I can bring Chinese food."

They used to order Chinese in college when
they were studying for exams. Clearly, he also remembered that.

Grace gritted her teeth, warding off the
memories. "I'm positive. I'll get it done and email it you tonight."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

He hung up, and she groaned in
frustration.

"Everything okay?"

She turned to see Charlie standing behind
her wearing his coat and holding his briefcase.

"I have to stay late tonight,"
she told him. "We're going to have to reschedule dinner."

"That's alright. Is it something for
Castleton?"

"Yes."

"For some reason, I'm not
surprised."

Grace forced a smile. "Maybe we can
do dinner tomorrow?"

"Will Caroline be able to watch Jake?"

"I'm sure she won't mind. Will is out
of the country on business so she's got some free time."

"Okay. Tomorrow, then."
He gave her a
kiss on the cheek. “I’m proud of you. You’re really being mature about this
whole thing and putting the company first.”

She felt a flicker of resentment toward
Charlie when he said that, but she didn’t say anything to him about it. She
couldn’t fault him for being so focused on his business. It was his priority.
She usually admired that about him. It meant he was responsible.

Charlie left and was slowly followed by
everyone else in the office, until Grace was the only one left working. She
took a break from writing promotional material for Jamie’s presentation to call
Caroline and tell her about the change of plans.

"That ass," Caroline said once Grace’s
recap was through. "Tell Jamie to do the work himself."

"I can't," she said. "This
is what he is paying us for."

"Charlie should have never taken the
account in the first place. This whole thing is screwed up."

Grace sighed. "Let’s not talk about
it anymore. It’s making me depressed. How is Jake?"

"He's good. He’s watching cartoons."

“Better cartoons than
Law and Order
reruns,” Grace said with a laugh.

“Hey, give me a break, it happened one
time.”

"I’m just messing with you, Cara. Thank
you so much for watching him."

"My pleasure."

Caroline finished teaching around the time
Jake got out of preschool, so she picked him up on her way home everyday and
took care of him until Grace got home. It was yet another thing Grace owed her big
sister for.

"Can you put him on?"

There was some shuffling and then a little
voice came on the line. "Mommy?"

She pulled the picture of Jake out of her
drawer and put it back in its place. "Hi baby. How was school today?"

"Good. I made a picture of you and
Aunt Caroline."

"You did? I can't wait to see
it."

"I colored it blue. Miss Logan said
it was the best one in the class."

"I bet it is, honey.”

"Are you coming home?"

“I have to work late," she told him.
"I'll come in and give you a kiss goodnight when I get back."

"Okay. I'll stay up and wait for
you."

She winced, feeling like the world's worst
mother. "Don't do that, silly. Big boys need to sleep."

"Aunt Caroline is making chicken
fingers."

"Your favorite! Go ahead and eat. I
love you," she said.

"I love you, too."

He hung up the phone, and she went back to
work.