Touché.
Shit.
I looked back at Jack. He seemed curious, and a little…apprehensive?
“Grace, you’re a beautiful woman. I see how men look at you. I know there are other men who want to be with you. Whose shoes are those?” he asked.
I grabbed a box of Kleenex and blew my nose loudly, getting control again. “Michael’s. They’re Michael’s,” I said. “He was here earlier in the week. We were working on a scene, and he changed shoes. He never took those with him, and frankly, I didn’t even notice they were here until now.”
Jack had nothing to worry about. Michael and I were just friends. Just friends.
Friends that used to have feelings for each other.
But Jack doesn’t know about that.
“Did you and Michael ever date, Gracie?” he asked.
“Date? No,” I answered quickly. That was true. We never dated.
“Are you sure? You two seem to have more than friendship in your past. I noticed that right away. And when I said I see how other men look at you? He looks at you that way,” Jack added, his face going dark and his eyes turning that stormy-sea green I saw at the airport when I left L.A.
“No, we never dated. But yes, there were feelings there—years and years ago. That’s all over, though. We truly are just friends,” I assured him, breathing a little more easily now.
“Friends. Like me and Marcia are just friends.”
“Ugh,” I said, rubbing my eyes.
“Do you see how much easier this is if we just tell each other what’s going on?” he asked, reaching out his hand to me. I hesitated for a second, then took it.
“How the hell did you get so mature at twenty-four? Seriously, man. I’m like a basket case next to you,” I said, breaking the tension a little.
“I’m British. We’re born more mature,” he said with the sexy half smile that always turned me to mush.
“Feeling better now?” he asked as I blew my nose again.
“Yes, but don’t ever let me find out something like that courtesy of TMZ again, okay? I can’t take another surprise like that,” I said fiercely, as he crushed me against his chest.
“I promise. That was a shitty thing to do. And don’t let Michael get too comfortable over here. I don’t want to have to piss in the corners to mark my territory, but I will if I need to,” he said.
I laughed in spite of myself. “Well, you tell that Marcia I’ll be very glad to meet her next time I’m in L.A. And make sure to tell her I said to keep her hands to herself in the meantime. I can go along with seeing pictures of you two together for publicity’s sake, but the second I see her hand on your ass, the bitch is going down.” I grabbed his collar and pulled him closer to me.
“Fucking Nuts Girl, how could I love anyone but you? You’re insane,” he said, lowering his mouth to mine.
I let my hand slip down to his buns and gave him a squeeze. “This sweet ass is mine, and don’t you forget it. Now come give mama some sugar,” I said, and kissed him hard.
We never made it to the movie. We made it through another potential shitstorm, and we kept our shit intact. We were an odd couple to say the least, but for now, all was well in Jack-and-Grace Land. And we were off to the Four Seasons.
That night we did the crossword puzzle, and I made him clean up his room. Honestly, it was messy already. We watched the Golden Girls, and then he made love to me slowly and sweetly. The rest would work itself out another day.
Interesting. Shoving shit to the side again already, are we?
Sigh.
Chapter 5
The next morning I woke to the sound of the phone ringing shrilly. Jack groaned and dove deeper under the covers, leaving me to roll across him to answer it on his side of the bed.
“No, no, let me get it,” I muttered sarcastically as I grabbed the phone on the fourth ring. “Hello?” I asked, yawning deeply.
“Shhh, too loud, too early,” he mumbled from under the covers. I poked my toe into his thigh.
“Good morning. This is your wake-up call,” a chipper voice said.
“Great. I love wake-up calls,” I said and hung up. I leaned back against Jack, listening to his breathing begin to even out already. I squinted at the clock. It was seven-fifteen. I had an early rehearsal today.
We hadn’t been rehearsing on Saturdays, but as we got closer to the preview dates, and Michael continued making daily changes to the script, he’d ramped up our schedule. Jack had an interview planned, but we were both off this afternoon. The plan was a late lunch and maybe a walk in Central Park—very touristy.
Speaking of wake-up calls, I wondered how Jack would feel about a Sheridan Wake-Up Call? I certainly enjoyed his Hamiltonian Wake-Up Calls…
He will love it…
I lifted my head and saw that he really had fallen back asleep, although if I knew my guy, part of him would still be up.
I climbed under the covers and carefully worked my way down, moving stealthily so as not to wake him. I eased my way down his legs and positioned myself right over his boxers. I smiled as I slowly lifted the elastic band and lowered it just enough to sneak my hand in. I grasped him gently and softly, easing him out. I took him into my mouth, enveloping him with my lips and tongue, and felt him harden further. He was still asleep, although I heard his breathing change, coming a little faster. I tightened my mouth and felt him grow harder still.
He moaned slightly, and then I felt his hands move at his sides, under the covers, just inches from my head. I moved my mouth around him again, lightly trailing my fingers up and down his stomach, and I finally heard my name.
“Grace,” he whispered, his voice still thick with sleep.
I smiled around him, then took him in deeper, feeling him hit the back of my throat. He groaned, his hands moving down to twist in my hair.
“Mmm, Gracie,” I heard from above the covers, and I knew he was enjoying himself. I grasped the base of him with my hands, my mouth creating a beautiful friction as I moved up and down on his length, causing his hips to buck, keeping time with my movements. He moaned and groaned and held my face in his hands as I continued to pleasure him, hearing him hiss as I altered my grip or sucked harder.
“Grace, oh, God, Grace…mmm….Graaace.” He moaned as he exploded in pure pleasure. I smiled once again, loving how I could affect him this way. I kissed him tenderly, and he sighed in appreciation. I crawled up his body and came to rest with my head on his chest, his arms tightly around me.
“Now that’s the kind of wake-up call I just do not get enough of,” he chuckled.
“I should hope not, love,” I giggled, kissing his chest, feeling the little hairs there tickle my nose.
We lay like this for a few more minutes until my cell phone alarm went off. I’d anticipated a possible romp when we finally went to bed the night before, and I planned ahead with a back-up snooze alarm. I grabbed it and turned it off, then sank back onto the bed.
“Shower?” I asked, turning to look at him. His hair was all over the place, sheets low on his torso, and it was all I could do not to drool all over the one-thousand-thread-count sheets.
“Shower,” he agreed. He threw off the covers, stretched, and started walking to the bathroom.
“Don’t forget the coconuts, love,” he called over his shoulder as I watched his cute little tushy cross the room.
How could I possibly forget the coconuts? I giggled wildly into the pillow like a schoolgirl, then grabbed shower gel from my overnight bag and made my way to where a very cute and very wet Brit waited for me in the shower.
***
In rehearsal later that morning I saw Jack come in the back of the theater. He walked down to the front, listening to me sing. I saw his face change as he saw me in my element. I also saw his eyes dart toward Michael, who was watching and taking notes from the front row, looking at me in a way that was becoming more and more familiar.