Grace Anne

chapter 11



Michael answered his phone on the first ring. He was right in the middle of the biggest deal in his career and he didn’t have time for calls.

“Whatever you want, you’ll have to call back later. I’m too f*cking busy to talk to you right now.” The silence at the other end had him close his eyes. He just knew it was going to be his mother. When Trace spoke, his heart started to pound.

“Dad, I’m sorry, but I found him and they wanted to throw him in the back to die and I didn’t know she was going to let me take care of him, but I was mean to her and then she got this phone call and whoever it was made her sad, then she held my hand and told me that she was going to miss me.”

Michael could hear the tears in his son’s voice and took a deep breath. “Okay, son, let’s start over. Who did you find and who wanted to throw them out to die?”

Seemed a reasonable place to start, but apparently not to his son. “She’s going to leave us. Are you going to let her go? I love her, Dad, and I don’t want her to go away.”

He figured he was talking about Grace, but wanted to be sure. “You mean Grace? She’s not going anywhere, Trace. She and I are working on a deal that will give her a better place to work and I’ll have—”

“You’re not listening to me. She got this phone call and I think that person…hang on, the doctor wants to ask me a question.”

Michael stood up. His son was at a doctor’s office. He grabbed his coat to go to him when he realized he had no idea where he was. The last he’d heard he was with Grace. He sat down hard, thinking something had happened to her. When Trace came back on the line, Michael was ready to scream.

“They wanted a name to call him. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m calling him Walter. They said he need a good name and Grace said I should add something distinguished to it. So his name is Walter Stuffinpuppy the Fourth. Is that okay with you?”

Michael laid his head on his desk. “That’s fine, son. Where are you?”

“At the vet.”

Michael waited for more, but apparently he was waiting in vain. “And you’re there with Grace and Walter?” Again, a short, to the point answer. “Can I speak to Grace, you think? Or can Walter come to the phone?” At this point, he would talk to anyone to figure out what was going on. His son’s laughter caught him off guard.

“Walter is a dog, Dad. Grace is out in the lobby with my coat. I left her my stuff so she couldn’t leave me. She said she was going to have to leave us, Dad. I don’t want her to.”

Neither did Michael. He stood again and walked toward the door. “What vet are you at and I’ll come and get you both…well, all three. And then we’ll talk about Walter and his new owner.” Trace giggled again. “I’m assuming you’re his new owner, right?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t let them throw him outside in the rain, Dad, and the vet says that he’d got a cold and needs some TLC. I had to ask him what that meant and I’ve got plenty of tender loving care for him, I promise.”

Michael didn’t doubt it. “Does Grace know that you called me?” At his son’s ‘no’ he grinned. “Don’t tell her. She and I will have a long talk when I get there. And son.”

“Yeah, Dad?”

Michael grinned bigger when he heard the suspicion in his son’s voice. “If Walter isn’t house trained, you’re cleaning up his messes.”

Michael called his mom next. “Can you call Markus for me and tell them we’ll have to meet tomorrow? I have something to do and it can’t wait any longer.”

“Yes. I’ll call him now. Is there anything wrong? It’s not the deal, is it? Oh Michael, tell me what I can do to fix it.”

He pushed the button to the elevator to go down to his car. “No, nothing to do with that. It’s Grace and Trace.” He liked the sound of that. “Trace apparently found a dog and someone he loves more than me.”

“He doesn’t love a dog more than you. He may say that, but he doesn’t. I remember once when you claimed to love the lady across the hall from us more than ice cream. It didn’t last. The next time I went to the store and got you your favorite, Miss Too-tight-dress was history.”

Michael laughed. “If I remember correctly, I only loved her for her cookies. Back then I don’t think I would have noticed how tight her dress was. No, it’s Grace. She told him she was leaving and he’s decided that he loves her too much to let her go.”

His mom snorted. “Well, at least one of you is smart enough to know a good woman when he sees one. Tell Trace that his grandmother thinks he’s the smarter of the two of you and I’m rooting for him.”

Michael was still smiling when he pulled up in front of the Main Paws Veterinary twenty minutes later. He stepped inside just in time to hear a shrill whistle and a little boy crying.

Before he could step in and fix it Grace started barking orders like a drill sergeant. “You, I want you to stop yelling at the top of your lungs and sit still. You’re making matters worse by caterwauling like a cat with his tail under a rocker.”

The woman with the furry piece of fluff in her hands stopped shouting. Grace turned to the nurse standing there and started on her. “Take that…what the hell is that anyway?”

“It’s a gecko, miss. And I don’t appreciate you taking over like you own the place. The doctor will be—”

“Happier if he doesn’t have to bail you out of jail for causing a riot. Take that lizard in the back and see if it needs stitches. Why you don’t have a leash law in here is beyond me.” Grace turned to the little boy who was sobbing in his mother’s lap. “You should be whipped. And don’t you dare try to tell me that you didn’t throw that cat on top of the gecko on purpose. I saw you. And if he needs therapy after this, I’m going to make sure you get the bills. Poor thing will probably lose all his scales by the next full moon.”

“I don’t believe gecko have scales, honey,” Michael said to her when she looked at him. “And therapy? The poor thing will probably need years of it when this is over.”

“He called you,” she said with a glare, and he nodded. “Why? No, don’t tell me, he thought that you’d not turn him down bringing the puppy home if he could show you that he was injured. Well, he’s fine. He needs a good home and if you can’t provide it for him, I’ll take him to my nephew. Connor will love him.”

Michael wanted to pull her to him and kiss her senseless, but thought she’d hit him. And as much as he wanted her right now, he didn’t want her to hurt him in front of a room full of witnesses. He braced his arms over his chest so he couldn’t touch her and smiled. “He can keep the dog. I’ve wanted to get him one for weeks now. As for your nephew, I’d love to meet him.” He stepped closer, unable to help himself. “You are the reason I’m here.”

~~~

Grace tried to get out of going back to his house with him after they left the vet. Trace was so happy about getting to keep the little dog that she’d let her better judgment get away from her. She was in his limo again and speeding across town in less time than she could have arranged it.

“I’m going to have to have a cab take me back home tonight, so will you lend me enough money to pay for the ride?”

Michael simply grinned.

“I have an early meeting in the morning so I have to leave by eight to get back in time to get to bed early.”

“I’ll make sure you get back in time for your meeting tomorrow. I have a meeting too and we can share the ride in.” He leaned back on the seat, entirely too full of himself. “You should bring some clothes to leave at the house so you can have something to change into when you’re here.”

“I’m not spending the night. I told you, we can’t see each other anymore. You need to purchase the building so that I can get on with my life.” She looked over at Trace and realized he’d fallen asleep. “You can’t keep coming around like you’re…like we’re seeing each other.”

“But we are. A lot less than I would like, but we are seeing each other.” He pulled her to him. “Like right now, for example. I’d very much like to see what you have on under this pretty blouse. Are you wearing one of those skimpy little pieces of lace like you had on this weekend?”

Her body seemed to have a mind of its own where he was concerned. While she was trying to tell it to back off and stop it, it was leaning over him and running its hands through his hair. She tried to tell her mouth to back the f*ck up, but it was covering his with its own. Grace moaned when he cupped her breast in his hand.

“I want you, Grace. I think about all the things I want to do to you and where, and now that I have you right here I can’t decide where to begin.” She moaned again when he pinched her nipple. “You want me too, admit it. You’d like nothing better than to have me pull you into my lap and suckle at your lovely nipple. Christ, I want you so bad.”

She tried again to pull back, but he wouldn’t let her. “Michael, I have to leave soon. You’re not safe with me around you. They will hurt you both if you keep this up.”

He pulled her to his lap and opened her blouse. She had a moment to wonder about his son sleeping now two feet away, but he had her breast free and in his mouth immediately.

Her entire body tightened. She knew that, without much thought, she could gladly let him f*ck her right now. He let go her of her nipple with a small pop and looked up at her. She was panting hard and she could feel his cock as he rocked up into her.

“Come home with me, Grace. Spend the night with me and I promise you’ll not regret it,” he begged her.

She looked down at him and his need. She brushed her hand over his face. “It’s not going to last. I have to leave and make you both safe. They’re going to get me.”

“I can keep you safe. I want to keep you safe. I’m…I’m falling in love with you, and I know that Trace is ready to claim you if I don’t. Stay with me, let me help you. I swear you’ll be safe.”

She pulled her blouse down and sat in the seat. She looked over at Trace and then back at Michael. “There are things…people you have to know about before…” She looked away from him. “You might want to change your mind after I tell you everything.”

He pulled her face back to his and lifted her chin so that she could look him in the eye. “Whatever it is, whoever is trying to hurt you, together we can take care of it. I love you, Grace. I’ve never said that to a woman before, but I do.”

“Oh Michael, why now? I love you as well, but our timing sucks.” They made the rest of the ride in silence. She wanted to start as soon as they reached his house, but there was dinner to make and then Trace needed to find a place to put his new pet. Walter didn’t seem to mind being put in the boy’s bed and Trace was happy, so things settled very quickly.

She was putting the dishes in the dishwasher when Molly came in with the last of the things from the dining room. Grace turned to her when she heard her enter the room and was uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“I don’t know if I did it right. I usually just throw away whatever takeout I’ve eaten from and go to bed.”

Molly continued to stare.

“I thought that you’d want the leftovers put…have I done something wrong?”

“No, miss. It’s just that…I don’t think I’ve ever had the lady of the house help me before. It’s just that I expected…well, I guess I expected you to be like the others.” Molly took the dishtowel from her and put it on the sink. “You’re not a thing like the others and you just don’t care either, do you, miss?”

“First, I’m not the lady of the house. I’m a guest and nothing more. If you want to know the truth, I’m not even sure how I came to be here tonight. And please stop calling me ‘miss.’ I have no idea why it creeps me out so much, but I’d very much like for you to call me Grace or Grace Anne. As for the others? I’m not sure what sort of people you worked for before, but if they didn’t help you out when they brought home unexpected guests then shame on them.” Grace took the last of the leftovers and shoved them in the refrigerator. “Molly, what am I going to do?”

Grace could feel the tears threaten. She didn’t know why she was so upset, but she had an idea that it was because she liked being here too much. She loved having Trace come to her when he had a problem, and she was in love with Michael. Things were moving much too fast and she wasn’t sure if she wanted it to slow down so she could savor it or just speed on by so she could leave before it was too late.

“Do you love them, mi…Grace? The men, do you love them?” Grace nodded at Molly’s question. “Then there you have it. There is no problem that love can’t fix. You just have to trust him. Michael is a good man, a bit on the stubborn side, but a good man. Aren’t you, sir?”

Grace turned to find Michael standing in the doorway looking at her. She felt his love pour over her and she wanted more than anything to do just way Molly had suggested. He stood and came toward her as he spoke.

“Thanks, Molly. And yes, I’m a bit stubborn, but not near as stubborn as some designers I know.” He stood in front of her and pulled her into his arms. “Trace wants you to come and tuck him in. He said he’s never had a person who wasn’t related to him do it before.”

They walked up the stairs together holding hands. Grace knew that they were going to talk and she also knew that what she was about to tell him would either be the end of what could have been or the beginning of his worst nightmare.

“My mother has split personalities,” she told him as soon as his door was closed. “And she murdered at least one man while I was still living at home.”