“Why would she be jealous of me?”
“Because she knows I’m falling in love with you.” He stepped closer and wrapped his hands around her waist. “It seems you have the one thing she can’t have.”
“What’s that?” Her eyes widened.
He nodded. “You have my heart. I’ve never given a woman my heart before, not like this.”
Her body relaxed into his and her mouth parted in surprise.
When she kissed him back, his heart soared. He tangled his fingers in her silky hair, pulling her closer. He could kiss her for hours and never get enough of her.
They broke the kiss and came up for air. He caressed her cheek and she leaned into his touch.
“You brought me a gift?”
She shrugged. “It’s just a box of pralines. Allison said they were your favorite.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. I love pralines. But right now, there’s something I want more than pralines.”
Her liquid gaze heated at the endearment. He pulled her into chest, his erection poking into her stomach.
“Oh, yeah?” She reached between them and grabbed his cock.
He hissed. He unzipped her jeans and shoved them down.
“We’re outside.” She panted.
“It’s night. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
“There are animals.” She met his hungry kiss with the same urgency.
He shoved his jeans down and kicked them off. “Let them watch.” He picked her up, his hands cupping her small ass. Her legs wound around him as she kissed him hard.
“I need you now.” Without breaking the kiss, he backed her up against the large oak tree that stood in the center of his yard.
She gasped as he thrust inside her. Her wet heat cradled him, squeezing him like a vise.
She arched against him, making him drive himself faster until they were both panting. She dug her nails into his shoulders and moaned. He covered her mouth with his, swallowing her cries of pleasure and finding his own release in a lust-induced frenzy.
They stood there like that, her legs still around his waist, for what seemed like forever.
Slowly he let her slide to the ground, his hands at her waist.
“I love you, Grace. I don’t expect you to say it back, not now. I just needed to get those words out.”
She touched his cheek and gazed up at him with such tenderness. He knew even if she couldn’t say the words, not yet, that she meant them as well.
***
Over the next three weeks, Grace and Sloan settled into a routine. When they weren’t working, they were sharing dinners and making love.
She winced every time she thought about how she hadn’t told Sloan she loved him. She did love him, more than she’d loved anyone before. Once she uttered those words, the responsibility about telling him the truth would come with it. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Most of all, she was afraid she’d lose Sloan.
The next few weeks flew by, and the dance team routines grew more complicated. Grace had wanted to challenge the girls because she saw real talent. Her most gifted dancer was Melanie. She didn’t want Melanie to let a man dictate to her what she should and should not be doing. What worried her the most was Melanie ending up in a situation like hers.
She’d tried to talk a few more times after practice, and every time Melanie denied that Chris was abusive to her.
Grace had brought the subject up again with Sloan. He had agreed to look into the quarterback’s behavior. She knew Sloan wanted her to talk to him about her own history. Every time she thought she was going to be brave and tell him, she ended up chickening out.
She needed to find the right time and now was not it.
***
Sloan slammed his office door shut and fell into his chair. He growled as Mitch let himself in and helped himself to the chair on the other side of the desk.
“What do you want?”
“I want to know what the fuck happened between you and the police chief. I heard you two yelling in his office. Hell, I think half the town did.” Mitch leaned back into the chair and propped his boot up on Sloan’s desk.
Sloan knocked his foot off.
Mitch sighed. “Look man, you can’t go around investigating the high school quarterback without having someone file a complaint about him.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” He ran his fingers through his hair.
Mitch shook his head. “That kid’s dad is on his way to being the next senator in the state. Unless someone has filed a complaint, you need to let it go. You don’t need to lose your job over gossip.”
“I’ve got a gut feeling.”
Mitch nodded. They both knew in their line of work gut feelings were usually right.
“Then go about it the right way. Get a complaint before you put a tail on the kid and wait for him to mess up.” Mitch cocked his head. “How the hell did the chief know you put a tail on him anyway?”
“The kid called in an unmarked cop car that was at practice. Chris called the cops saying he thought he had a stalker.”