Boycotts and Barflies (29 page)

“My love,” Grace whispered.

He tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed together slightly, not sure as to what her muttering meant.

“You started calling me ‘my love’ after breakfast that day,” Grace clarified, wiping a tear from her cheek.

“You noticed?” he asked with a sheepish grin. “And here I thought I was being clever, telling you, without really saying the words.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Being up on the counter, they were eye to eye so Grace decided to take her second leap of faith and do the other thing she had been putting off for far too long.

“I love you,” she said intensely as she put her hands on the sides of his face and gazed lovingly into his eyes.

“I love you too,” he said as  he leaned in, making their faces less than an inch apart.

Grace didn’t give him any warning that she was going to use her free kiss; she just let things happen on their own.

The kiss started gently, as all the others had. But when she parted her lips against his and her tongue grazed his lower lip, he responded immediately, parting his lips as well, allowing her tongue to explore his mouth for the first time.

The chemistry between them was explosive. His hands moved to her hips and he pulled her to the very edge of the counter. Grace wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer to her, not wanting any space to separate their bodies.

Her hands left his face and secured themselves tightly in his hair, causing him to let out a small moan which only made her more excited. Their lips continued to move together, and Grace couldn’t stop kissing his incredibly soft lips, even if it meant not breathing. The taste of him, the fire between them was indescribable. Michael allowed her to begin the kiss, but from that point on, he controlled every part of her.

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He was all that mattered: his lips on hers, their bodies pressed together, the warm feeling that was filling Grace’s body as he touched her. Every cell in her body craved him. This kiss was everything she had hoped it would be and, at

the same time, everything she feared it would be, because Grace didn’t know if  she could sto p herself.

How am I going to do this and then have to wait another seven days to be with  him like this again? In her head, Grace wondered if they could slip into the  laundry room undetected and see where things went from there.

His hands ran up and down the sides of her body as she continued kissing him.  Grace felt his fingers lift the bottom of her shirt like he had done under the  blanket the night before, except this time she didn’t want him to stop. She  kissed him even more voraciously and his hands flew up into her hair,

clutching it tightly in his fists.

Using all the will power she possessed in her body, Grace finally broke the kiss  and pressed her forehead to his as they looked at each other, panting like they  had just run a marathon.

“Impressive,” Grace whispered.

“Exquisite.” Michael smiled back at her.

They were allowed a moment to savor what had just happened between them;  then they heard a giggle. “Well, I guess they aren’t gay anymore, Liz,”

Susan said loudly from the direction of the kitchen doorway.

Liz started snickering next to her. “I always knew they were full of shit.”

“Kids, as happy as I am that you are enjoying each other’s company, we do

need to make Christmas dinner on that counter tomorrow, so if you could

move this to a surface we wo n’t be preparing food on—or eating on— tomorrow, I would greatly appreciate it. Other than that, carry on!”

Grace and Michael started laughing the moment Susan and Liz left the kitchen.  Grace finally caught her breath and told Michael, “I was going to ask you to  meet me in the laundry room, but now, I think the moment has passed.”

“Your mom did give us permission, you know,” Michael said with a devilish  grin, as he nodded his head toward the door.

“You know they’re out there telling everyone they caught us.  We have about  ten seconds until Meg finds out and comes screaming through that door.” Grace  counted back from ten in her head and then pointed across the room.

“Grace!” A small object rocketed into the kitchen and tried to yank her off the  counter, but Michael held on tight, refusing to let Grace go.

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“Michael Andris, you let go of my friend right now,” Meg said with a fero -cious  growl. “We have important girl things to discuss, and from what I hear, she has  a rather jui cy story to tell,” she said as she stomped her foot on the floor.

“I better get this over with,” Grace groaned, but Michael still refused to release  her. He raised his eyebrows, as if waiting for her to say the magic words.

“I love you,” Grace whispered against his lips and he finally released his grasp. Meg giggled as Grace hopped down.

“I love you, too.” Michael smiled as he leaned against the kitchen counter and  watched them walk away.

They turned the corner and Meg grabbed her wrist, dragging Grace upstairs to  her room and slamming the door shut behind them. “You finally told him,  didn’t you? Well, you told him yesterday, but I doubt he remembers  ”—

Grace interrupted Meg’s excited squeals and ramblings. “What did I tell him  yesterday?” Grace asked sharply.

Meg settled herself and smiled back at her friend. “You said ‘I love you’

in your sleep when you two were on the couch, and he said he loved you back. Apparently, he talks in his sleep, too. Ryan and I thought it was very cute.” Meg  fished in her pocket for her cell phone. “Don’t say another word. We need to  get Bianca on the line so she can hear this.”

Grace waited quietly as Meg dialed, knowing she still wore a goofy grin on her  face, but she didn’t care. Her heart was thundering in her chest and in her head  she kept hearing Michael tell her he loved her too. Meg set the phone to  speaker and let it ring out loud. On the fifth ring, they started to look  at each  other with concern, but then they finally heard the phone open and clank onto  the floor.

“Hel—shit, wrong one … Hel o?” Bianca cal ed out as they heard the squeaks of  her rolling around on her bed, trying to find the phone.

“Hey, Bianca! How are you feeling?” Meg asked.

“Oh, hey, guys. I’m doing OK. How’s everything there?” They smiled in relief at  each other; Bianca finally sounded better.

“Things here are great. Our little Grace has something to share,” Meg said in a  proud and motherly voice.

“Eek! You kissed him, didn’t you?” Bianca screeched into the phone. “Tell me,  tell me! You didn’t tell Meg about it yet, did you?” Bianca accused as they heard  a loud thud on the phone.

“What was that?” Grace asked. She heard Bianca scrambling.

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“It was a pile of magazines I had laying on the bed. Sorry, my foot just knocked

them off. OK, back to the kiss. So …”

“Well, he had just sung beautifully while his mom played the piano, and I went  into the kitchen to clear my head. He looked so gorgeous standing there beside  the piano … but anyway, I was up on the kitchen counter and he came in  looking for me. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided I had to tell him  I loved him. And when I said the words, he grabbed me off the counter and  swung me around the kitchen, laughing.”

Meg and Bianca both sighed as they visualized the scene. Grace heard a smack  over the phone.

“Bianca? Are you OK?” Meg said, looking extremely suspicious.

Again, Bianca stumbled over her words. “Sorry, there was this

pesky fly bothering me so I smacked it—or tried to anyway, but it was too fast.  Anyway, get to the kiss, Grace.”

“Well, he set me back up on the counter and told me he loved me too. It was the  most amazing moment of my life. I took his face in  my hands and kissed him.  When he realized what I was doing, he was, let’s just say, very eager to make  me happy. He is such a great kisser. I felt it all the way down to my toes.”

Grace sighed, thinking back to the kitchen. “And I really thought I was going to  lose the bet right then and there in my mom’s kitchen. Actually, I was going to  take him into the laundry room until —” Grace stopped because she heard quiet  snickering in the background with Bianca.

Meg signaled for her to go on with the story while she silently slipped out of

the room.

“Until?” Bianca asked.

“Sorry, until I decided to end the kiss. I was still thinking about sneaking off  with him when our mothers caught us,” Grace said sheepishly.

“Your moms walked in on you getting all hot and heavy  on the kitchen  counter?” Bianca gasped, and then started giggling. “Oh, Grace, I bet you turned  a new shade of red.”

“Yeah, it was great.” Meg returned to the room silently, with Michael and Ryan  in tow. Ryan had his phone in his hand and was getting ready to dial. “After she  announced she didn’t think we were gay anymore, she gave us her blessing to  do it on any surface in the house that we wouldn’t be eating on tomorrow.” While Grace finished her story, she watched Ryan press a series of digits and  tuck the phone to his ear.

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“Oh my gosh, Grace. That is just—” As Bianca was laughing, they all heard it— and Bianca did too because she suddenly fell silent. The only sound on her end

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was the phone ringing in the background and a ruckus as someone tried to

answer it.

“Bianca, is that a phone ringing? Whose phone is it?” Grace asked, somehow

managing not to laugh.

“Um, yeah. Well, I guess …” she stammered. Then they heard a deep male voice

growl in the background.

“What do you want, Ryan? I’m at work,” Jack spat into the phone. Michael and

Ryan nearly burst out laughing and quietly left the room with their phone to

interrogate Jack.

Grace and Meg waited a second to let Bianca finish swearing and throwing

things at Jack before they started teasing her. “So, Bianca, is there

anything you’d like to tell us?” Grace teased, giggling uncontrollably.

“Yes. I’m out. Jack was spectacular! Amazing! The best sex ever! My God, he’s

an animal in bed. And it was well worth losing  that damn pair of shoes.

Enjoy another week of cold showers, ladies, and now, I’m going to have hot,

sweaty sex—again!” And without another word of explanation, she hung up.

Grace and Meg rolled around on the bed laughing until their sides hurt.

When they  final y caught their breath, they looked at each other and smiled.

Grace extended her hand to Meg, saying as they shook, “And then there were

two …”

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Chapter 18

G race and Meg followed the roaring laughter into her room, where they found  Michael and Ryan clutching their sides, the cell phone still in Ryan’s hand. “What did Jack say? We want details,” Meg begged as she ran across the room to Ryan. Michael was wiping his eyes when Grace sat down on his lap in the rocking chair, gasping for breath.

“He didn’t get to say very much other than they had sex and he enjoyed himself immensely, but then our conversation with him was interrupted by Bianca whispering very dirty things that we probably weren’t supposed to hear.

Then we heard the phone dropping to the floor.” Michael managed to get part of the story out, but was interrupted by Ryan.

“And then, there was a lot of moaning.” The two of them exploded into laughter again while Grace and Meg stared at the phone in Ryan’s hand.

“Are they still on the line?” Grace asked in horror. Michael nodded his head and held his sides.

Meg whipped the phone from Ryan’s hand, pressed her ear to it, and immediately started blushing. “Oh my …” She quickly snapped the phone shut

and shook her head from side to side. “Well, she certainly sounds like she’s  enjoying herself.”

After laughing for who knows how long, they all decided to return to the party  and see how many people were gathered downstairs now. Meg and Ryan  walked out the door first, and as Grace was about to fol ow behind them,  Michael caught her arm and held her back.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she looked into his eyes, puzzled.

“Nothing. Everything’s perfect.” He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.  “I love you,” he whispered as he took Grace’s hand and led her out the door,  making her heart flutter.

“I love you, too.”

When they finally made it downstairs, it looked like the crowd had tripled.  Susan found them and began making introductions. Grace politely made  conversation with Susan’s guests while Michael charmed all the ladies in the

room.

The best moment of the evening was when the Sullivans arrived. Grace saw her parents chatting with Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan and pointed them out to Michael.  He snickered something about the apple not falling too far from the tree when he got a look at the portly Mr. Sullivan.

“Did their creepy son come too?” Michael whispered in Grace’s ear as she sat on his lap in the recliner. She glanced into the foyer but didn’t see him.

“He’s not out there. We just might be safe.” Grace laughed. “I’m going to go get some punch. Do you want anything?” Michael shook his head no and flashed one of his heart stopping smiles before she turned to walk away.

Grace had almost reached the punchbowl when someone bumped into her near the doorway to the dining room. “Oh, sorry,” she mumbled. When she looked up, Grace found herself standing chest to chest with Liam Sullivan, who was beaming with excitement.

“Grace, there you are. I was looking for you.” She felt his arms wrap around and pull her into a hug that was way too close for comfort. Grace shuddered in disgust.

“Liam, I didn’t know you were here.” She looked around frantically for help, but couldn’t find anyone near. For a split second, Grace considered screaming but decided that would be considered rude and she’d catch hell from her mother.

So instead, she opted for mind -numbing small talk while she waited for the first chance to run for her life. “How’ve you been?”

“Good. You know,” he spoke in a very low voice, “I’ve been thinking about you ever since our dance last week.”

At that moment, Grace threw up in her mouth a little bit. “Um, great. Hey, I’m sorry, but my mom needs some help,” she muttered as she tried to wiggle 227

away from him. But he put an arm on either side of her, trapping her against  the wall. He snickered and pointed up over his head.

“Look, mistletoe,” he said smugly as he inched closer to her.

If you think I’m kissing your vile face, you’re actually dumber than you look. Grace took a deep breath to object when she heard the deep voice of her hero.  “Sweetheart, there you are.”

Joy radiated from her when she realized she was saved from the slimy clutches  of Liam. “Do you remember Michael?” Grace said casually as Michael glowered  at Liam, who was looking more frightened by the second. Liam didn’t speak; he  simply nodded his head and dropped his arms from her sides.

“Liam, funny running into you again. Especially when you’re so close to Grace. I  thought we had an understanding.” Michael folded his arms across his chest  and scowled until Liam took a large step back from Grace.

Pleased with Liam’s obedience, Michael turned to Grace with a wicked look on  his face. “It looks like we’ve found ourselves trapped under the mistletoe again,  sweetheart.” He possessively pul ed Grace into his embrace and felt her body  mold against his. Liam moved aside, but continued gaping at their little  performance.

Michael held Grace in his arms and bent over her, whispering “I love you”

as he pressed his lips to hers in a rather dramatic fashion. Grace’s dark hair  cascaded over his arm as he dipped her back similar to the way Henry had  kissed Susan the night before.

Behave, Grace, behave! she screamed in her head when she felt his soft lips  moving against hers. All she could think about was kissing him without  abandon like she had earlier in the kitchen.

He must have felt her inner struggle and broke the kiss before she did anything  stupid. Grace fell back against the wall, breathing heavily with her fingers  reverently touching her lips. It took her a few seconds before she even  remembered Liam was standing there.

Michael reached up and roughly pulled down the mistletoe, stuffing it into  Liam’s front pocket. With a voice full of menace, he said, “Don’t ever get that  close to her again. Do we understand each other?” Liam nodded his head and  stumbled backward as he made a hasty retreat.

Michael smiled triumphantly. “I’m not letting you out of my sight  for a single  second.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he led her over to the punch

bowl so he could make sure she got something to drink without being accosted

again.

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The rest of the evening, Michael stayed true to his promise and never left  Grace’s side. They mingled with guests and listened to endless stories from people they would never see again, but they did it together. Michael was charming with the ladies while Grace enchanted the gentlemen in the room.

Susan beamed with pride as she watched the two of them interact; the bond between them at times was palpable.

Meg and Ryan spent a great deal of time visiting with Aunt Evelyn and Uncle  Frank. Every time Grace looked their way, they were huddled together laughing. It made her happy to see the important people in her life all getting along so well.

Around eleven-thirty, the last of the guests finally left. The only people who remained at the house were Michael’s parents and Uncle Frank and Aunt  Evelyn. Grace collapsed onto the couch and snuggled up beside Michael. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Content, Grace closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest while he hummed softly in her ear. “Michael, honey, we need to go,” Grace heard Liz’s voice call from the other room. She grabbed a handful of his shirt and held it tightly in her fist.

Michael started laughing. “Sorry, sweetheart, I need to get going.”

“Stay with me,” she whispered into his chest. “Please.”

The thought of him leaving was unbearable after everything that happened between them this evening. He’d admitted he loved her, and Grace couldn’t stop thinking about the fiery kiss they had shared. Her heart started racing just remembering the feel of his mouth on hers and the way it felt when her body was wrapped around his in a very intimate embrace. She opened her eyes to see a smile on his face.

“I have to go. I’m sorry. Believe me, there’s nothing I’d rather do than stay with you. You have no idea how difficult it’s going to be for me to walk out that door,” he said as his lips grazed her cheek.

“Michael,” his dad said as he stuck his head into the room. He grinned when he saw them huddled together and stepped out. “I’ll give you a minute …” Knowing it was time, Grace sighed and released her grip on his shirt. “You have to go.” She pouted like a child until he took her face in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over the apples of her cheeks.

“I have to leave for a while, but I’ll be back soon. Sleep well. I love you more

than you could ever know, Grace.” The tenderness in his voice brought tears to

her eyes.

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“Good night, Michael. I love you, too.” Grace gave him one last hug before he  headed off after his parents. Ryan met him in the foyer and the two of them  said a quick goodbye to Susan and Henry before they closed the front door  behind them.

Meg sulked into the room and sat down on the couch beside Grace. Her tiny head fell onto Grace’s shoulder. “I miss Ryan,” she sighed in a sad voice.

They both giggled as they heard a horn beep in the distance as the car pulled out of the driveway.

“I know. I asked Michael to stay. You almost had yourself some shoes.”

Grace chuckled as she stood up and started throwing plates and cups into the nearby trashcan. Meg came over to help.

“I’m glad you told him you loved him, Grace.” Meg smiled and patted her friend on the back.

“Believe it or not, I am too. Now, let’s get this cleaned up. We need to call  Bianca and find out what the hell she’s been doing while we’ve been gone!”

“I think we know exactly what she’s been doing, and with whom,” Meg said  smugly. “You forget—I heard some of it.”

With the proper motivation, the girls began their clean- up effort. In no time,  they’d finished most of the family room and headed to the dining room.

A half hour later, when the final traces of the evening’s freeloaders were gone,  the house looked presentable once again. Susan dragged herself up to bed,  exhausted from her long day. Before she left, she did get in one parting shot at  Grace when she mentioned that the laundry room was a much better location  for a romantic rendezvous if Grace and Michael felt the need to be alone again. In reply, Grace told her to back off and that if she emails her o ne bridal Web  site, she’ll never speak to her again or she’ll get married at a drive-through  chapel in Vegas with Elvis as the minister. Susan rolled her eyes at her  daughter and wished them both a good night.

Grace and Meg were the last two up to bed. In  Meg’s room, they dove onto the  bed and called Bianca.

“Hello?” Bianca’s sleepy voice answered the phone.

“Bianca Angelique Quinn, you have some explaining to do,” Meg said sternly.

She started laughing, knowing she was completely busted. “Hang on; let me g o in the other room. He’s snoring.” They could hear the fumbling of the phone as it moved closer to the loud, deep snores. Jack sounded more like an angry bear than a man when he slept. Meg and Grace laughed, wondering how 230

Bianca could get any sleep with him around. Then they heard the squeak of a door opening, and Grace could tell from the echo that Bianca was sneaking into the bathroom.

“OK, what do you want to know?” Grace could almost see Bianca bracing  herself for  their questions, twisting her long red hair around her fingers like

she always did when she was nervous.

“Were you ever really sick?” Grace decided to start with an easy one.

“No,” she said quietly.

“What? How did you fake the fever?” Meg asked in shock. Grace had felt her  head multiple times before they left, and she was blazing hot each time.

“I had a heating pad under the blanket,” she confessed, chuckling slightly.