Page 22 of Now and Forever
Golden covered her face with both hands. "The gentlemanly thing to do would be to say you didn't see anything," she cried behind her hands.
Grayson nodded, considering her words. "Mmm, I suppose you're right," he said, pushing the strap through the buckle until he unlatched the heel and slid it off her foot to better examine her. "Although I never described myself as a gentleman."
"What do you mean?" Dropping her hands, her eyes bounced from him to his hands on her ankle.
Slowly, he worked them gently around her narrow ankle, feeling for any tenderness and swelling. Grayson felt none but couldn't withdraw his hands from her even if his life depended on it.
"I think," Golden continued, her voice noticeably quieter than before. "You're one of the most refined human beings I've ever met. I still don't know how you produced someone like Gaige."
He didn't look at her as he thought of her words. Picking up her shoe, he gently placed it back onto her foot. "What you're seeing is twelve years of Starpoint Academy," he explained as his fingers pushed the material back through the buckle. The all-boys military academy a few miles up the hill, looking down on all of Stardust, had made sure to drill manners into him and his brothers night and day until they couldn't help but act with decorum. "And that doesn't mean much considering all those rules and etiquette went right out the window the first chance I got when I got Gaige’s mother pregnant at sixteen," he added drily.
"That may be so, but I still think you're very polite," she urged, fidgeting with her skirt pleats instead of looking at him.
He flashed her a grin, he couldn't resist teasing her. "But we just established I'm not polite enough not to mention I saw your very blue underwear."
Horrified, she tried to push him away but he didn't budge. Keeping a hold of her ankle, he let out a chuckle.
Folding her arms over her chest, Golden sat back and gave him an accusing look before looking at the office door with widening eyes. As if a thought occurred to her, she sat forward again. "You don't think Mrs. Baker would tell everyone, would she?"
"No, I don't." Letting go of her ankle, he was more than pleased when she kept her foot in his lap. "But what about me? Are you sure I won't tell?"
A playful smile spread across her lips. "I don’t know. Will you?"
A decision formed in the back of his mind and he decided to act on it before reason stopped him. "I think I'm going to take this opportunity to double down on how much of a gentleman I'm not." He watched the curiosity bloom in her eyes matching the satisfaction that welled inside of him. "I won't tell if you curb your social butterfly tendencies."
Her brows furrowed in confusion. "You mean…"
He dipped his chin in confirmation, meeting her wide eyes with a serious stare. "It's awful, I know that," his voice was lower than he intended. "But I've watched you flutter off to other departments and sit in other offices for errands that could easily have been taken care of via email." His features hardened as he thought of the way men looked at her. "Is it wrong that I want to keep you for myself?"
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it as a small, secret smile crept over her lips. "A little…but that's okay," she said breathlessly. "I like it."
Ah there it was, he breathed in relief as he drank in her beautiful face. There was the familiar glimmer of longing he’d missed in her eyes. Grayson could feel her teeth sinking deeper inside his heart, scraping against his soul. He was playing a dangerous game here but fuck if he could stop himself.
Two Years Ago
Grayson parked his car in the garage and got out. Having spent the morning at his country club, golfing with his annoying brother and discussing business, he was more than ready to go inside and take a shower. The Texas summer heat poured in from overhead while the cicadas sang their endless song in the trees. Walking across the flagstone drive and into the house, Grayson paused at the multitude of voices coming from the back of the house.
Girls' laughter, the low pitch of boys’ voices, and the sound of splashing water provided him enough evidence to piece togetherthe facts—it was one of Gaige's pool parties. Grayson sighed. As long as he kept people out of his indoor pool, Grayson didn't care.
Intending on making his way upstairs a familiar voice from the kitchen stopped him.
"Are you really just going to spill that and then walk away?" Golden asked, clearly annoyed.
Another girl laughed before a deeper voice answered, a male's voice. "I know you're not familiar with the concept, but houses like this, owned by people like the Rosebanks, have staff."
As if on cue the giggling girl laughed again.
The male voice continued, dripping with condescension, "I'm sure you're accustomed to a more... hands-on approach for things like this but I’d rather not."
"You know," Golden said with a smile that even Grayson knew without seeing was fake. "When you're thrice divorced and your kids only call for money, I want you to look back on this moment when you inevitably ask yourself how you turned into an asshole."
It was Grayson's turn to laugh.
Other voices laughed as well telling him the kitchen had more occupants than he originally thought.
"Oh my God," the boy groaned. "Here, I'll wipe it up. Are you happy?"
"Aww thank you, Ira. I knew there was hope for you yet," Golden crooned to the boy before the group of voices moved from the kitchen and through the living room and out the French doors.
