All Said and Undone (12 page)

The lust and love of her husband consumed Grace, body and soul. He moaned with every thrust inside her, sweat trailing down his face as he looked into her eyes. She intertwined their hands and he kissed her fingers, fucking her with a depth that had her eyes rolling back.

Grace moaned loudly as the rush crashed over her body, making her tighten around him.

“Yes,” he whispered, his lips against the corner of her mouth, hips bucking against her again and again.

The rapture snaked into her core, holding, building. It took over her with a blinding surge, making her cry out as he sent her over the edge. Her eyes watered at the power over her orgasm. Jack’s hand gripped hers tightly as he thrust into her, body and muscles tense with finality. He kept stroking his hardened cock within her until pleasure claimed its end, and he groaned with his release inside her.

He lay on top of her for a little while, breathing hard against the crook of her neck while her fingers brushed through the hair at the back of his head. She loved doing that.

He lifted his face and kissed her hard and long, moving away to lie behind her. He pulled the cool sheet over their bodies. Held tight in his arms, with so many things she wanted to say, Grace fell asleep before she had the energy to say them out loud.

***

Jack woke up to the touch of his wife’s fingertip as it traced a slow swirl over his stomach. He had no idea what time it was and didn’t care. It was the first night he’d slept for more than a handful of hours. Thankfully, it was Saturday morning and he had nowhere to be. Not that even the devil himself could tear him away from this paradise.

“Stop that,” he softly commanded in his groggy morning voice. “It tickles.” He could feel her smile against his chest.

“You’re awake.”

“And how long have you been awake, molesting me?”

“Not long…I was just thinking.”

Jack closed his eyes at the quick, fearful pang in his chest.
Please don’t take back last night. Please don’t regret this
. “Thinking about….”

“San Francisco,” she said, relieving him of his insecurity. “I’m leaving on Monday for four days. The show has to film a few scenes there. I wish I could get out of it, but I can’t.”

He kissed the top of her head. “We still have the weekend. Don’t think until Monday. Stay here with me.”

She smiled. “Deal.”

They were quiet for a while, reveling in their newfound closeness, enjoying the peace. The last thing he’d expected last night was Grace asking him to make love to her. This meant he’d finally done something right. He prayed he’d keep on doing it. She had no idea how much he needed her, how much last night meant to him. And she hadn’t held back. Her loving had felt pure and committed, with no doubt, no hesitation. It wasn’t from simple lust or sexual frustration; she finally trusted him again. He had his wife back and he was never going to let her slip away.

“I have a confession to make,” she murmured.

“Uh-oh, confessions, already?”

“I have to,” she said with a light laugh. “It’s about the boat.”

“You sold it?”

“No. I used it.” She looked up at him. “I mean, I used it to make myself feel better and—to get under your skin. I didn’t put it up for sale just because we weren’t using it. I did it to get a reaction out of you.”

His mouth twisted. He could’ve guessed as much. “What kind of reaction?”

Her eyes were sad as she shrugged. “An emotional one.”

“You could’ve just talked to me.”

“Could I? We hadn’t spoken in months.”

“Yes,” he said, running a hand down her back. “You could have. I wasn’t even upset about the boat. It was more of what it represented. Selling it felt like you were giving up on us.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, a look of guilt on her face. “I’m sorry. It was manipulative and wrong.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about now,” he told her softly. “It brought us together, didn’t it?”

“In a way, I guess it did. If you hadn’t shown up at the party and blindsided me, I probably wouldn’t have gone to the cabin that weekend.”

“And if you had remembered to set the alarm and lock the patio door, the punk would’ve never been in here and I would be at the corporate apartment.”

She sighed. “Jack, we have so many memories on the boat, in the cabin…why couldn’t we do those things at home?”

“How could we when we’re never here?”

“That has to change.”

He touched her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes again. “It already has. We can’t go back. We can’t go back and undo how we handled things in the past. But we can focus on what’s ahead of us. Together.”

“It’s not going to be easy.”

He thought of all the catching up they had to, how they were going to heal their marriage and take on the challenge of fusing two vastly separate external lives into an eternal one. They needed to fill in where the past six months had emptied them. “No, some things will be easier than others.”

“Such as…?”

He answered her wordlessly with a pull of the sheet over their heads, making love to her like a man who didn’t want to take any time for granted.

Later that morning, Grace sat at the counter laughing, completely entertained, looking utterly sexy in one of his T-shirts, with her hair down and messy about her shoulders. He attempted to make waffles with the waffle maker they received for a wedding present and never used, burning his fingers and the batch in the process.

That night they went on their first real date in months by taking a drive to Venice Beach with no dinner reservations, stopping at the first place that looked romantic and inviting. They talked over ceviche and margaritas then took a walk down the beach, laughing their way into the car with sand on their feet. Jack smiled wickedly as he put the driver’s seat back. Grace climbed on top of him with delicious, playful lust, kissing him with passionate ardor until he had to drive them home so they could finish what they’d started.

Sunday morning they spread out the
L.A. Times
on their bed and snacked on cantaloupe and Grace’s favorite, white-chocolate-covered pretzels, both discussing current events and exchanging long kisses between the sports and entertainment pages.

As Jack held Grace in his arms that night, he wished the weekend wouldn’t end. Tomorrow was Monday and she was leaving for her trip.

Two things he really wasn’t looking forward to.

Grace worked tirelessly in San Francisco, hoping to keep busy every minute of every hour so time would go by faster. Shooting was blessedly moving right on schedule. She powered, puffed, blushed, and eyelined the four beauties of
Housewife Secrets
with quick, proficient hands, making them flawless for the camera.

The first night, Grace attempted to hide in her room with room service and call Jack, but April and Shelby had vehemently protested, insisting she come to dinner with them. April made her spill the beans about her and Jack, which she was shyly delighted to share. The girls had demanded a celebration. She stayed up way later than she ever intended, only able to send Jack a quick text message before crashing in her hotel bed.

The next day, she realized the text message hadn’t gone through…she’d been too tipsy to effectively hit Send. She pouted he hadn’t received her sweet message and also because he hadn’t bothered to call or send her a text, either.

Hungover, tired, and more than a little grouchy, she dragged herself out of bed to get to the filming on time.

While swirling blush on Diana Gardner’s perfect, high cheekbones, Grace was only half listening to the actresses’ conversation with the other star, Gabrielle. After they finished gossiping, the young blonde changed the subject to someone Grace knew personally.

“So, Grace,” Gabrielle asked in her delicately snobbish tone, “How is that husband of yours? Jack, was it?”

Only giving the actress a quick glance, Grace smiled and wondered why she was bringing him up. “He’s well, thank you.” And continued making Diana rosy.

Gabrielle smiled wickedly as the hairdresser fluffed her thick hair. “How long have you been married?”

“Three years.” She counted the months they spent apart. Technically, they had been married the whole time.

“Ohhh.” Gabrielle watched Grace as she went about powdering Mrs. Gardner’s face to a porcelain finish.

Grace wondered where the heck she was going with this inquisition.

“I don’t mean to sound like a nosy Rosie but I’ve been wondering how someone….” She looked around as if trying to think of the word, then shrugged. “Well, how someone like you got a man like
that
.”

Grace paused.

“Oh Gabrielle, leave her alone,” Mrs. Gardner said. “How can you be so catty?”

Gabrielle put out a helpless hand. “I
said
I wasn’t trying to be nosy. I’m super-curious.”

“What do you mean someone like me?” Grace couldn’t help but ask, though she knew by asking such a question she would only be offended by the answer.

“He’s a bit out of your league,” Gabrielle continued, “and from what I heard, he’s quite the catch. Successful and all that. I just want to know how you were able to rope him into marrying you.” She turned her eyes to Diana as if pretending Grace wasn’t there at all. “I mean, a super-hot bachelor marrying a makeup girl? Must’ve been a dream come true for her.”

Wow, the nerve. Grace wanted nothing more than to kick the snotty actress’ chair over. But that would get her nowhere…except a huge lawsuit.

She had to remind herself that although Gabrielle Winthrop was a very pretty actress on a popular television show with men falling at her feet, she was never happy, had no one genuine in her life. Deep down, she must’ve been a lonely, sad girl who envied what she could easily have had—if she weren’t such a bitch.

Grace swallowed the nasty retort she could only dare to sneer and remained cool-headed. “It
was
a dream come true,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I didn’t do anything special to ‘rope’ Jack except be myself. A quality not all of us are confident enough to use….”

“Whatever.” Gabrielle flipped up a hand. “If I wanted your husband, Grace, all I’d have to do is show up.” She laughed.

Grace steeled herself. She calmly walked over to Gabrielle’s chair, cocking her head with a look of condescension, feeling sorry for the beauty queen. “You know, Gabrielle….” She lifted her chin and held her hands out. “As my mother-in-law would say, jealousy is a sickness.” She patted Gabrielle’s knee. “Get well soon.”

As Grace walked away, smiling, she could hear Mrs. Gardner’s laughter mixed in with Gabrielle’s vehement, empty comeback.

Shelby was coming toward them to dress Gabrielle for a scene and saw the actress fuming. “What did you say to her?”

Grace closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply. “She’ll probably have me fired.”

Shelby gave a short laugh. “Do you care?”

Opening her eyes, her tone light, Grace shrugged. “Not at all.”

***

It was Tuesday afternoon and Jack hadn’t heard from Grace since he’d dropped her off at the airport. They had a shared a long, sensual kiss in the car before he’d watched her walk away and disappear behind the automatic doors. Well, in reality that had been only yesterday morning, even though it felt much, much longer. He had received a text message after her flight landed, but nothing more. He didn’t want to exchange texts, anyway; he wanted to hear her voice.

Work kept him busy as it always did, but he found the office stifling, so he went home early that afternoon. He’d happily canceled his lease with the corporate apartment and planned to get the rest of his things that evening. He was looking through some contracts on the patio, with his feet propped up, when the doorbell rang.

He pushed out of the chair and headed to the front door.

It was the mailman. He smiled and handed Jack a thick envelope addressed to Grace. “Certified letter. I need a signature, please.”

“Sure, no problem.” Jack scribbled his name. The mailman thanked him, handed him the receipt, and went on his way.

Closing the door, Jack glanced at the sender.

Max Shelton, Attorney at Law
.

Also on the face of the envelope, stamped in red, was “Please Sign Immediately.”

What the hell
?

Jack’s heart pounded. The weight and thickness of the envelope definitely indicated whatever was in there was substantial, important.

Could it be…?

No. No way in hell. That wouldn’t make sense.

But his head and heart warred with each other as the words “divorce papers” circled around in his head.

As he stared down at the envelope, he had to allow himself the possibility. Maybe she’d filed these before he moved back in and this was all just a misunderstanding now that they were back together.

Still, the question wouldn’t go away, and it took all of Jack’s self-control not to call Grace up and demand an explanation.

Around nine o’clock, his cell phone finally rang and she was on the other line. He swallowed a bitter tone and answered, “Hey there.”

“Hi. You busy?” Was it him or did she sound reluctant to call? God, he couldn’t believe he thought that after three short words.

“No, I’m just going over some work stuff. How is it in San Francisco?” He sounded way too insincere.
Are you leaving me, Grace? Was last weekend just a last hoorah for you?

“It’s nice, I guess. How are you?”

I miss you like crazy and want you to come home
. Yes, he should say that, be romantic. “Everything’s cool.”
Cool? Ha.

“Good…good….” She sounded disconnected. Maybe she was just tired after a long day. Or maybe she’d realized she wanted nothing to do with him.

Jack touched the wall with a light fist, curbing his paranoia. “Is everything okay?”

She sighed over the airwaves. “Yeah, I just…I don’t want to get into it now. We need to talk when I get home. That’s all.”

Silenced stretched between them. Jack closed his eyes in frustration. What could he say right now?