How We Fell in Love: Grace and James's short story Read online

  I hold my breath. I feel it coming.

  Thirty-seven passes it hard to Welch, who doesn’t even keep it on his stick for more than two seconds before passing it to Shea. He rears back, putting his whole body into the motion before he slams his stick into the puck. I don’t know why people try to stand in front of that frozen piece of rubber. I know they want to stop it, but I, for one, would run and hide when I saw that sucker coming off Shea Adler’s stick. When the puck slams into the back of the net, everyone in the building loses their shit. Especially my family. Dad hugs me, while Mom hugs us from the back. The music blares, the crowd screams, and there is a sense of euphoria bubbling inside me. I know Shea was nervous, and to see him score, man, I’m proud as hell of that guy.

  It’s his first goal as an Assassin, and Mom and Dad were here for it!

  What a rush!

  When a hand comes to my shoulder, I turn around to find James. His hair is brushed to the side, and he’s wearing a purple button-down with an Assassins pin on the pocket. His gray dress pants hug his legs and ass, and when our eyes meet, my heart starts to race.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey,” he says softly, a grin pulling at his lips. “Funny seeing you here.”

  I smile. “Yeah, a friend had a box he offered to my family and me tonight.”

  He nods slowly. “Yeah, heard Shea Adler might buy this box off him.”

  “No way.”

  “Yup, wants a place for his family. But I hear the guy who owns it now gets to come in anytime he wants.”

  “Well, that’s good,” I say as my mom and dad both stand. I hold my hand out to James. “Mom, Dad, this is James Justice. This is his box. James, these are my parents, Jenna and Mark.”

  James shakes both of their hands. “It’s wonderful to meet y’all.”

  “You too,” Mom says, and I don’t miss the way she’s checking him out. Knowing her, she’s already planning our wedding and how many kids we’ll have.

  “The real estate guy, right? Owns most of Nashville?” Dad asks, shaking James’s hand.

  With a modest smile, James laughs. “Maybe half of most.”

  We all laugh at that.

  Mom locks her hand with mine. “And how do you know Grace?”

  James isn’t stupid and catches on to what my mom is saying right off the bat. “She’s done stagings for some properties of mine. Plus, Shea and I are good friends.”

  Mom isn’t derailed at all. “Oh, that’s all?”

  James flashes her a swoon-worthy grin. “I’m also trying to get her to be mine, but she’s a tough one.”

  Whoa. Where the hell did that come from?

  Dad snorts as I glare. “Yup. Hope you’re a patient guy.”

  “Mark!”

  “Dad!”

  “What? It’s the truth,” Dad says with a shrug before sitting down to watch the game.

  An awkward silence falls between us, and I can’t believe James said that. He hasn’t made any moves toward making me his. What the crap?

  Mom looks to me and then James before she flashes that Adler smile. Shea looks so much more like her than I do. She squeezes James’s arm before winking. “You can come sit right next to me.”

  “I’d love that.” James holds his arm out, and Mom takes it for the very short walk back to our seats. I’m left standing there like an idiot as I gawk at him. Where does he get off saying that?

  Once Mom is sitting, James looks back at me. “Hey, Grace.” I just stare at him, but apparently he finds this all hilarious. “You look really pretty, like always.”

  “Isn’t she gorgeous? She gets that from my side of the family.”

  Dad chortles. “Ha. Isn’t that the damn truth.”

  Mom wiggles happily in her seat as James says, “I have to say, the man who gets to love Grace for the rest of his life will be one lucky guy if she ages even half as well as you have.”

  Mom swoons. Hell, I may swoon a bit. “I think I love him,” she says.

  Everyone laughs. Even I do as I go around Dad, lowering myself into my seat. I honestly don’t know why I sit between Mom and Dad, though, because for the rest of the first period, neither of my parents is watching the game. Nope, they’re too busy talking with James. He’s so animated when he speaks with them. It’s a new side of him I haven’t seen. I like it. A lot.

  I get up to get a drink and make a plate of food once intermission starts. As I’m loading up my plate with the yummy pasta salad and ribs, I pause when a hand comes to my waist. I glance up to find James looking down at me with those devastating brown eyes. “Hey, you.”

  “You,” I say with my eyes in little slits.

  “You’re annoyed?”

  “Somewhat.”

  “For what I said?”

  “Yup.”

  “It’s true.”

  “It is not,” I say, turning to face him. “We’ve been talking for the last two weeks. Nothing more. You haven’t made any advances at all, so I don’t know why you said that. You haven’t even acted like you want to date me.”

  His face doesn’t change, but his eyes do. Exasperation flashes in his eyes as his voice drops down an octave. “Well, that’s a lie. I think my intentions are pretty straightforward. You just choose to ignore them.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Grace, I tell you every day how gorgeous you are. When I’m with you, I’m basically worshiping you. When I do get a chance to see you, touch you, I’m so scared I’ll mess it up that I’m beyond cautious. I try to seduce you with my awkwardness because you make me so nervous, I don’t know how to be any other way. I get it. I’m not humping your leg and grabbing your boobs at every turn, which maybe is how most guys get your attention, but Grace, that’s not how I work. I think of you constantly. I enjoy talking to you more than I do working, and man, I want you. Desperately.”

  Desperately.

  My jaw drops open slightly as I gaze up at him. I swallow hard before I whisper, “Oh.”

  “Yeah.” He takes a step forward before clasping my waist in his hands. “I want you.”

  “Oh.”

  “To be mine. But also in a very dirty way,” he whispers, and my lips curve a bit.

  “Well, that’s nice to know.”

  His eyes search mine. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

  I shake my head. “Nothing. Why?”

  “Can I take you on a date?”

  I blink, and damn it, my heart sings. “Yes. Where are we going?”

  He shakes his head. “Just wear a pretty dress, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  Just wear a pretty dress, and he’ll take care of the rest.

  Sounds like an awesome R&B song…

  But apparently it’s the start of something I’m not sure I want.

  April 14th

  I thought Shea’s place was ritzy when I first saw it, but it doesn’t come close to James’s. I thought when he told me to wear a pretty dress that we would be going out to a fancy dinner and maybe back to the club where we first hung out. I assumed that to be true even more when he got out of the car in a stylish and expensive suit that hugged his body in the most mouthwatering way. To my surprise, though, James took me back to his condo.

  “This is snazzy.”

  James rests his hand on my back, leading me in through the door the doorman had opened for us. “Mr. Justice.”

  “Hey, Reggie.” He kisses my temple. “I’ve only lived here a year, but I love it. I showed it to Shea, and he said it was out of his price range. I was like, dude, you make millions. You can afford it. He declined, so I bought it for myself.”

  I snort. “I know you’re loaded, James. You don’t need to remind me,” I tease, and he grins.

  “How else can I get you to stay when I know you were expecting some luxurious dinner and clubbing?”

  I feign surprise. “I was not. I thought maybe we’d go to McDonald’s.”

  “In that dress and those shoes? Please.” I giggle as he kisses my temple