Saving Grace (24 page)

“That’s a distinct possibility. Some of the guys are coming over to meet the little bastard. Oh, that reminds me, can you make that great chocolate cake you made last week? The guys are looking forward to eating it while they clean their guns.” When he said it out loud it sounded pretty weird.

“By guns, I hope you mean their bulging arm muscles.” Grace stepped back and surveyed the tie. She must have given it a thumbs up because she looked up at his face.

“Nope, I mean the kind that have bullets.” He checked his watch. If they didn’t hurry, they were going to be late. “And just exactly how much time do you spend thinking about they guys’ bulging arm muscles?”

His arms bulged…sort of. Should he whip off his coat and shirt to show her? If he did, they’d never make it to the dinner.

“Guns? Really?” Grace propped a fist on her hip. “You don’t think that’s a little over the top?”

“Nope. I want the little bastard to have the fear of God in him. CoCo’s my little girl. I want her date to know if he so much as lays a finger on her, there will be consequences…like kneecaps. You don’t need them to live, but you do need them to walk.” To drive his point home, he cracked his knuckles. “The team wasn’t happy to know CoCo was going on her first date. Most of them think of her as a little sister. They don’t like horny boys touching their little sister.”

“I’m so glad I was born with estrogen and not testosterone. It makes decision-making and rational thought so much easier. I can’t believe we made it as a society with men in charge. Just think how much further along we’d be if women had ruled the world.” She patted his shoulder. “It must be a handicap hauling all that testosterone around with you all the time.”

He hung his head dramatically. “It is. Unfortunately when I applied for a handicap parking pass, they wouldn’t take maleness as a medical condition.”

He put his hand in the small of her back and led her to the door. “If women ruled the world, there would be no war, only cat fights over shoes. We would invade Mexico because they have cuter sandals—it would be chaos.”

Grace stuck out her tongue.

“If you wanted to stay home, all you had to do was ask.” He kissed her lightly on the mouth.

***

Forty-five minutes later, Grace wished they had stayed home.

“You told me this was a dinner.” She shook her head as she stared down Chord. “This isn’t a dinner, it’s a Gala.”

“Gala…dinner.” He shrugged. “What’s the difference? You eat at both of them.”

There was a difference. She was pretty sure, but she had no idea what it was. Instead of the cozy dinner she’d expected, there were two ballrooms full of people.

They were next in line to check in, so they stepped in front of the table sitting in between the two ballrooms. The blonde manning the table had to be close to seven feet tall. She had a grin for Chord and a glare for Grace.

“Chord Robbins, we haven’t seen you around for a while.” She had an accent…Nordic maybe, or German? Her words were abrupt, and she pronounced every single consonant. She leaned into him. “We should get together again sometime. Last time was fun.”

There was way too much emphasis on fun. Mental eye roll. Clearly Chord hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her this was a great place to meet women. She looked around. It was mostly women. Grace couldn’t help but wonder how many he’d dated.

“Gretchen, I’d like for you to meet my girlfriend, Grace.” He nodded in her direction.

“Girlfriend, that explains a lot. You look familiar.” Her brows twitched and probably would have done more if her face hadn’t been frozen by Botox. “Oh yes, you’re the nipple lady from
The Voice
.”

Would she ever be known as Grace and not The Nipple Lady?

She turned a fake smile on Grace. “I’m sure we can count on you for our bachelorette auction later this evening?”

Gretchen pinned a red ‘available’ button just below the V in Grace’s cleavage. “The money raised goes to scholarships. I’m sure you’ll want to help.”

The woman made it sound like if Grace said no, she was single-handedly ripping money out of the hands of needy scholarship recipients.

“Why not?” Grace wasn’t sure what a bachelorette auction meant, but she wasn’t going to give Gretchen the satisfaction of telling everyone Chord’s new girlfriend wouldn’t help the needy.

“Enjoy Chord while it lasts, he bores easily.” She shoved two black gift bags in his direction. “Here are your goody bags. The table you’re sponsoring is down front in the main ballroom. Have a wonderful time.”

If her smile were any sharper, Gretchen would have broken a tooth.

Grace took the bags, and they went to find their table.

“Is this what I have to look forward to all evening?” Grace slipped the bags onto her wrist as they walked to the main ballroom.

“Sorry. I told you I dated some of these women. For the record, I only slept with one…Debra.” He made it seem like it was important she know that.

“Okay, I guess that makes me feel better. How many of them did you date?” She wanted to know and then again, she didn’t.

He blew out a deep breath. “Several.”

“Is that like less than five, but no more than ten, or are we talking greater than ten?” Grace asked.

“Well now…let me see.” He offered her his elbow, and she took it.

Based on the look on his face, he was doing some complicated figuring.

“Why don’t we puzzle this out over a drink?” Chord motioned to the bar set up at the side of the room. Right now there isn’t a line. Trust me, later it will be really long.”

A drink. She shouldn’t drink while pregnant. “You can. I’m not much of a drinker. Don’t worry. I’ll drive home.”

That sounded plausible.

“You’re sure?” His eyebrows arched. “The longer the evening, the more you’ll need a drink. Trust me, you’re going to need more for the bachelorette auction.”

“What is that? What did I agree to?”

They made their way to the bar.

“They auction off a date with you. You better come up with an earth shattering evening, because I work hard for my money, and I expect to get the date of a lifetime when I buy you at the auction.” He smiled at the bartender. “Rum and coke with a twist and the lady will have…”

He turned to her.

“Water with lime.” She grinned at the bartender. “I’m driving.”

“You got it.” His eyes squenched up as he evaluated her. “Aren’t you Grace, the nipple lady?”

“Yes.” Apparently she would be The Nipple Lady for the rest of her life.

Chord pulled a twenty out of his pocket and stuffed it into the tip jar. “She prefers Nipple Woman.”

The bartender didn’t get it. “You’re really good. I’m a musician too. I’ve played a couple of gigs downtown. My band, The Three Little Pigs, is playing The Hi Hat on East Sixth next week. You should drop by.”

He handed her the water and worked on Chord’s rum and coke.

“That sounds like fun.” Grace took the lime wedge hanging on the edge of her glass and squeezed it into her water. “You wouldn’t be up for volunteering at Dell Children’s Center, would you? The Lone Stars and I are putting together a music lab for the kids. It will have a full recording studio, and we’re looking to trade studio time for volunteer hours. Would you be interested?”

His eyes lit up. “Are you serious? You had me at Dell Children’s, and then you added in free studio time. Yes, I’m in.” He held his hand out. “I’m Troy Tolliver.”

“Grace Kelley.” Grace shook his hand. “Do you have a card? I’d love to contact you and pick your brain about what you’d like to see in a recording studio.”

He whipped one out before she could finish her sentence and handed it to her.

She took it and tucked it away in the gold evening bag that CoCo had lent her. “Thanks, I’ll give you a call next week.”

He fairly beamed with excitement. “I can’t wait. I’m so glad I met you.”

She returned his smile. “Me too. I don’t get to hang with musicians too much anymore. I’ll give you a call next week.”

Chord touched her arm. “That’s our table, I think.”

He pointed to the front row right in front of the dance floor.

“Goodbye Troy.” She waved as Chord led her to the front of the ballroom.

“You always have that effect on men.” Chord smiled down at her.

“What?”

“Men love meeting you. And except for Gretchen, women do too.” He said. “People like you, how do you do that?”

She wasn’t aware that she did anything. “Troy likes me because I just offered him free studio time. I don’t think I do anything. I’ve found that for the most part, people are nice.”

“You brought your nanny. That’s just wonderful.” It was Debra. Her tone was nothing short of nasty and really loud. Several people turned to watch them. “If you’re trying to make me jealous, it’s working.”

Chord looked honestly confused. “Why would I want to make you jealous? Grace is my girlfriend.”

Grace smashed her lips together to keep from laughing. He truly didn’t understand why Debra was upset. She almost felt sorry for Debra…almost.

“So I meant nothing to you? Just a fling?” Her dramatic sigh was soap opera worthy.

“What’s wrong with you? We dated a couple of times. If you read more into that, I’m sorry.” Chord made to slide past her, but she stepped in front of him.

“I love you.” Debra’s voice carried as the music stopped. The people who had been out of earshot, now turned their heads.

“There you are.” Sweet Louise walked across the dance floor to get to them. She gave Grace a quick hug. She arched one perfectly manicured eyebrow at Debra. “Go attend to your dress. Your nipples are hanging out.”

Debra’s face turned the exact shade of her red dress, turned on her heel, and stomped out of the room.

With that, the music started again.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here.” Grace had never been so happy to see another human being.

“CoCo called me and said you might need backup. Summer would have been here too but she couldn’t find a formal maternity dress fast enough. She was ready to come in jeans, but I told her to stay home. I promised her we’d call if we needed her.” Sweet Louise was downright sexy in a silver and black sequin dress that was cut conservatively, but on her curvy body was downright sexy. Devon would have a hell of a time fighting off the men already surrounding his mother.

Grace pulled the older woman into a hug. “If I’m ever in a bar fight, I want you two as wingmen.”

“Honey, it would be an honor.” Sweet Louise hugged her back.

“What about me?” Chord pointed to himself. “I’m good in a fight.”

Grace let go and stepped back. “The ability to punch isn’t that useful in a girl fight. Words are our finest weapons…and well, most men can’t keep up.”

“Amen to that.” Sweet Louise smoothed down her hair and the red ‘available’ button pinned to the one strap of her gown caught the light.

“Is this your first bachelorette auction?” Grace smiled. Sweet Louise was bound to fetch a good price.

“Honey, no. Last year, my final bid was ten thousand dollars. I have some pretty ardent admirers.” She waved to one over Grace’s right shoulder.

Grace turned around to find a Hispanic man at least twenty years younger than her friend, practically pushing people out of his way to get to Sweet Louise.

“That’s Roberto…we tango.” Sweet Louise offered him her hand. “Excuse me honey, we’ve got business on the dance floor.”

“When I grow up, I want to be her.” Grace smiled to herself as the older woman was led out onto the dance floor by the mysterious Roberto.

“Christ, I hope not.” Chord swigged back a good bit of his rum and coke. “Devon’s ninety-percent sure Hall and Oates wrote
Maneater
about her. Sweet Louise was a groupie, before Hall and Oates, we think she was the
Witchy Woman.
  Devon claims to have photographs to prove it.”

“Damn, now I have to be her when I grow up. I’ve always wanted a song written about me instead of the other way around.” Grace took his hand and led him to their table.

“Have you written songs about other men?” His face was bland but his tone said he didn’t like that at all.

“Of course. I’ve written songs about most of the men in my life.” She squeezed his hand. “Y’all give us so much material. How can I help but use it?”

He pulled out the chair for her. “Have you written a song about me?”

“Maybe.” She’d been working on something. Writing about the love of her life was soul wrenching and glorious.

“Can I hear it?”

“No. It’s not finished yet.” Right now it was a sad ballad of unrequited love. If she could discreetly roll her eyes she would. Her life was a country song full of unwanted pregnancy and a one-sided love affair. She gave up and did roll her eyes.

“I bet it’s about how sexy and perfect I am.” He nodded, convinced he actually was.

“No, it’s about how insecure and needy you are.” She took a sip of her water. Not to dis on the baby human she was hauling around, but a margarita sure would taste good right about now.

“My lady, may I have this dance?” Devon stepped in front of her and handed her a red rose he’d clearly stolen from one of the centerpieces.

“Of course.” She took his hand.

“Now wait a minute. I want to dance with my woman.” Chord stood in protest.

“Too late, Coach. I got here first.” Devon pulled her onto the dance floor.

She glanced back at Chord. His gaze followed every move she made. She threw him a saucy wink and wrapped her arms around Devon. Sweet Louise caught her eye. She was on the floor with a red rose in her mouth her arms extended to Roberto who dragged her across the floor.

“Your mom is a very enthusiastic dancer.”

He gritted his teeth. “My mom is an enthusiastic everything. It’s like raising a horny teenager.”

“I want to be her when I grow up.” Grace matched his rhythm. They weren’t doing the tango as much as swaying to the music.

“Coach would flip out. He’s into you.” Devon dipped her ever so slightly.

Even his friends could see his feelings…that had to mean something.

“I’m into him, it works out well.” She was dying to read more into it than there really was. Women looked for meaning in every word while men just stared at boobs. Maybe she should content herself to staring at their butts and call it a day.