Shattered (21 page)

After allowing myself to drift through another daydream, I ran my fingers over the outer lining of his pectoral muscles, staring at his calm and glorious face. The urge to kiss him was becoming overwhelming, but I didn't want to wake him, so I just continued to stare at him, taking in all of the beauty that was somehow given to me. Grayson stirred, making me freeze. He lightly opened his eyes and stared into mine, smiling his gorgeous, sly smile. His eyes twinkled as he blinked a few times, adjusting them to the light.

"Good morning," he said in a breathy tone.

"Good morning to you."

He rolled over to face me, took my hand to his lips, and planted a soft kiss on the top of it.

"What is the lazy morning sleeper doing up so early?" he asked, grinning at me.

"Lazy morning sleeper?"

"Yes," he said. "The girl who gets pissed when I tell her to meet me at Seattle Center at 10 a.m. That’s a lazy morning sleeper."

I took my hand and used it to brush my hair away from my face.

"I may not be a morning person, Rivera, but somehow I find myself hurrying my sleep so I can wake up and see your face." I flushed, turning a deep red. Speaking in sappy tones wasn't me, and I wasn't sure where it had come from, but it spilled out of me, much to
his
delight.

"Damn. Make me feel like an asshole for sleeping in and not staring at your face," he joked. "Besides, this scruffy ol' thing is nothing to look at."

I leaned over and kissed him repeatedly, all over his face.

"I like the scruff."

"It likes you."

Grayson pulled me closer and rubbed his scruffy cheeks on mine. I squirmed to get away from him, but it was of no use. He was too strong, and with my petite frame, I just couldn't break free of him. I squealed as he began tickling me. My legs moved in such a flurry that I accidentally kicked him in the groin and he stopped, scrunched up in a ball, grimacing in pain.

"I'm soooo sorry, Grayson," I said, feeling guilty over what I'd just done. "I'm so, so sorry."

He looked up to me with a smile on his face. "Gotcha."

"You asshole," I said, hitting him on the shoulder. "I really felt bad, thinking I had damaged you."

"I'm sorry, but you should have seen your face. It was cute." His sparkling blue eyes peered into me. "Besides, the only way you can damage me is through the heart and that's not happening." He leaned over and gently grabbed my still scowling face. The sight of his lips coming closer to meet mine made me relax the tightened muscles that had appeared after being punked by him. He was so playful, quite the opposite of me, and in a way, it was refreshing. Looking at his innocent looking face brought my seriousness down a notch or two. Grayson was definitely a breath of fresh air, and as much as I had been trying to deny it, I think I knew it all along.

"What are your plans today?" Grayson asked.

"I'm shooting for some chick who is trying to get into modeling. She needs a portfolio." I watched his face lose excitement. "Why? What's going on?"

"I wanted to take you around. Show you some things."

"Well, I don't have anything booked for Wednesday. You can show me then."

A hint of a smile graced Grayson's mouth. "It's a date."

I kissed him and hopped out of bed. I needed to get to the office before the girl showed up. After spending the night with Grayson, my creative juices were definitely flowing.

I gave myself plenty of time to actually style my hair, French braiding the front along the sides of my head and using a tad bit of Grayson's products to tame all of the free flowing kinks in the back. When I finally made my way downstairs, Grayson was sitting at the table having a cup of coffee and reading the Emerald City Times. He looked up at me and froze in his seat.

"Do I have axe murderer written all over my face?" I asked.

"No. You just look--amazing."

"Don't I always?" I sarcastically asked, purposely giving Grayson a hard time.

"Yes, but I've never seen you with your hair like this. It gives me the challenge of fucking it up. I love it."

Shaking my head while running my fingers through my hair, I watched him drink me in with a slight grin on his face.

I glanced at the clock, then rushed over to Grayson and kissed him goodbye.

"You're not going to have any coffee?" he asked, holding up his mug.

"I might stop by Ada's," I said, winking at him.

Grayson stood and walked me out to my Jeep. Surprisingly, after the thunderous rain storm the night before, the sun was peeking through a cloud covered sky. He pulled me into him, standing outside in nothing but a pair of shorts and some sandals. I ran my finger over his pecks again, then looked up into his face. "You should wait to stop by Ada's so I can see you."

"I wish I could. I'm in serious need of a spiced vanilla frap, though. Ada's has the best ones in town."

He planted a delicate kiss on my lips and opened the door to my Jeep. I hopped in and smiled at him before waving goodbye.

Humming as I strolled into the office made Miranda stop what she was doing at her computer and watch me. I smiled at her and walked into my office, sitting my things down, and taking a long sip of my coffee from Ada's. I had another half hour before I had to meet up with Brynley, the aspiring model. I had to take a double take at her name when she'd first contacted me. I wasn't sure I had seen it correctly because the name seemed a little off the wall. I guess I wasn't one to talk, I
was
named after a city that my parents had fallen in love with in their early years, only they'd spelled it in some unique way that left air heads confused on how to pronounce it.  

Miranda cautiously approached my office and poked her head in, knocking gently on the door. "Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

I laughed and motioned for her to come in.

"I'm right here, you ass. What's up with you?"

"Um, let's see… your hair is all done and you're fucking humming. Where is Dallis?"

I laughed again. "I'm right here, in all of my fucking glory."

"Grayson has gotten to you hasn't he?" she asked, smirking hard.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because my beautiful little black cloud has just turned into a ray of sunshine. That can only mean one thing… Grayson Rivera."

"Think what you want. I have to get to my appointment," I said, running my fingers along one of the braids while trying to stifle a smile. "By the way, I'll be out of the office all day Wednesday, so if any calls come in for me, make sure they know that."

"Business or pleasure?" Miranda asked, eyeing me conspicuously.

"See ya," I responded, grabbing my bag and walking out the door.  

Miranda's notice of my mood shift had surprised even me. Internally, I felt like flowers blooming on a beautiful spring day, but on the outside I thought I was the same Dallis that I'd always been. Apparently, according to the one person who knew me better than anyone else, I was anything but.

Brynley was a natural. She was also incredibly beautiful in an overly skinny, runway model sort of way. I had no doubt in my mind that she would land something big and to say I was honored to shoot for her portfolio was an understatement.

She promised to refer her friends to me as we departed the studio in downtown Seattle. I thanked her, and reminded her that I would have her proofs to her within a week. She enthusiastically hugged me, catching me off guard. After getting over the shock, I surprised myself by hugging her back. Brynley was the ray of sunshine that Miranda had said I had turned into. I didn't see it, but I could feel small traces of it.

Wednesday morning was upon me before I knew it. Grayson had worked late into the night closing Ada's and I thought that would be an excuse to get a little more sleep, but it wasn't. He had slept over at my place and while I was done with work by 4p.m. the day before, he had worked well past midnight, yet he was the one freshly showered and had coffee brewing in the coffee pot. The aroma infiltrated my nose, waking me from a glorious dream where Grayson and I were sitting nude on a private beach, basking in the warmth of the sun beaming off of our sun tanned skin. I didn't want to wake up, but when I did, and I saw the real thing in front of me, I forgot about the dream and pounced on him.

"What happened to hurrying your sleep? I must be getting ugly," Grayson joked, after I showered him with kisses.

"I had you nude on a beach. It was hard to break free from that."

I grabbed his face and ran my hands over the now overgrown stubble. He hadn't shaved in a few days and the fine hairs were sexy to me.

"I need to shave this, I know."

"I like it. Leave it."

He furrowed his brow at me and ran his hand over it, but didn't say anything else about it.

"Hurry up and get dressed. We have a full day."

I smiled and turned to make my way to the shower. Grayson smacked my ass as I walked away and told me that he had coffee waiting for me downstairs. I hurried, in full anticipation of what he had in store for me.

As is customary with Seattle weather, it was sunny one day and back to a dreary mess the next. I grabbed a hoodie as I walked out of my room. Grayson was waiting for me in the living room with a to-go coffee mug in his hand and I eagerly took it, drinking in the rich warmth of the coffee, hoping it would heat my chilled bones.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Grayson opened his truck door for me to climb in.

"You'll find out soon enough," he replied, then ran around to his side and hopped in. I stared over at him. "You'll figure it out as we drive." He started up the truck and a deafening roar bellowed out from beneath. I sat back, sipping on my coffee, awaiting the surprise that Grayson had planned for me.

Grayson merged onto the I-5 North and I turned to him. "When did you have time to plan whatever this is?"

He glanced over at me and smiled while slowly shaking his head.

"I'm a Barista Boy, remember? I have plenty of free time."

I laughed. Grayson was so good at making light of the insult that had been hurled at him. It was, yet, another thing that I admired about him. Had the roles been reversed, I would not have been able to sit up and joke about it.

I was in and out of sleep as we barreled down the highway. The further north we drove, the harder the rain fell. I was lulled back into sleep, but was suddenly awakened by the slowing of the truck. When I glanced out the window, I could see a two car accident on the highway, inhibiting cars from moving forward. Scanning the roadway, I noticed that we weren't far from the spot where my dad had been killed.

Panic struck me and fire flamed in my chest. I reached for the window button and forcefully pressed down, sending the window down as far as it would go. Even though the sky was pouring rain, I needed the fresh air against my face. If that meant taking a few raindrops with it, then so be it.

Grayson glanced over to me and I turned back into the truck--concern plastered his face.

"You okay?" he asked, rubbing my thigh.

"Yeah," I quickly responded, though it was obvious I was anything but.

"What's wrong?"

I looked at the scene unfolding not too far away from us. A car was pinned to the guard-rail by another car, and the paramedics were working tirelessly to extract the passengers and get them loaded onto stretchers that would take them to the hospital. The scene reminded me of the night my dad was killed. It felt eerily surreal that I was watching an almost identical sight.