Page 98 of The Billionaire Is Back

“Clarence, I thought we cleared this up at the Sea Dog the other week.”

“Pah! That was before I found out you shacked up with Mr. Suit.”

Oh boy.

“Claire…” I can tell Grady’s phone is pressed up against his ear again.

“Yeah?”

“Remember that year my brother and I were trick-or-treating? We got to your house, and Damien threatened to steal all the candy from the bowl inside your front door. And I told you not to open the door…”

I know exactly what he’s talking about. Grady was a vampire that year. I don’t have time to think about how badly I wanted him to take a bite out of me, but I know what he wants me to do.

“I remember.”

“Say when…” Grady says. His voice sounds younger, and I can hear his grin through the phone.

I dash over to the kitchen door. “Now!” I unlock the door and pull it open.

Grady sprints toward me from the parking lot, his long strides graceful and beautiful. Crabby Crawford, shockingly, is right on his heels. His feet barely leave the ground. He’s speed walking. His already wrinkled face is all screwed up in concentration, and he’s muttering something fierce.

Grady glides through the screen door and the wooden one. I close and lock it right behind him. We rush back to the counter so we don’t have to deal with the angry old man who’s banging on everything he can bang on out there. We laugh and hold each other. A lock of hair falls over his forehead, the way it used to when he ran races in high school. Only this time I get to give in to my desire and move it out of the way with my fingers. Just like he can now wipe the flour from my face.

“Hey,” he whispers.

“Hey.”

He presses his lips to mine, and suddenly things don’t feel as bad as they did five minutes ago.

“How are things going in here?” Grady asks, looking around.

“Try this,” Vera says, offering him a piece of marshmallow on a fork.

Grady’s beautiful lips wrap around my marshmallow, and he swallows. “That is delicious.”

I know Grady well enough to know that he means it, that he’s not just being nice. But I know myself well enough to know thatdeliciousisn’t good enough. I want it to be perfect.

“Well, try telling her that. This is the best marshmallow I’ve ever tasted. I followed her recipe almost exactly, and she thinks it’s adisaster,”Vera says, throwing that last word in my direction.

Grady places his hands on my shoulders and deftly turns me away from Vera. He encourages me to look up into his eyes. “This isn’t going how you wanted it to go?” I shake my head. He nods. “That’s the point of today. It’s not about getting everything exactly right. It’s to run through, observe, and then make adjustments.”

“That’s what I said…” Vera sings out from behind me.

“Have you figured out what you need to do?” His question is laced with meaning.

A meaning that Vera would not understand.

“Yeah. I know what I need to do. I just can’t do it yet.”

“Okay. You’ll figure it out. I believe in you. Now get ’er done.”

This might be Grady’s greatest gift that he’s givenme. Not the money, even though the money is great. Not the sex. Okay, maybe the sex. But tied with that gift is that easy, winning way he has. When I was awkward and nervous and didn’t believe in myself, I always wanted just a taste of that. Just to try it on for a little bit, like one of those ancient stories when someone finds a magic cloak and gets to become something they aren’t for a day.

“What can I do to help?”

I have a running list in my head of things I need help with. Enjoying his warm embrace was comforting and helpful. But he’s not going to be here the morning of the opening. He won’t be here for so many mornings. So I don’t want to get used to relying on him.

I just want to appreciate him when he’s here.

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