In It to Win It (26 page)

Yes, she was definitely going to enjoy living with him.

17

U
LTIMATELY IT’D TAKEN SOME WORK—AND the use of the tow chain—but Jane’s car made the trip north. As much as she’d enjoyed her time with Grayson on his remote ranch, she was happy to be home and sleeping in her own bed. What made it even better was that she was no longer sleeping in that bed alone.

And now she didn’t have to do anything alone, unless she wanted to.

She poured two glasses of orange juice and popped a couple of pieces of wheat bread into the toaster.

She’d never been one for drinking coffee. She loved the smell, but for whatever reason never developed a taste for it. Turned out that was another thing she and Grayson had in common.

Feeling him before she heard him, she shivered when he stepped even closer and pressed his lips to the back of her neck. “Good morning.”

“
Morning. Hungry?”

He nibbled at her earlobe. “Very.”

His arm moved around her waist and held her against him. Which was good since her knees weren’t strong enough to hold her up. She sighed and leaned against him. She wanted to shuck the clothes that she’d put on and peel Grayson’s clothes off.

“
I can’t,” she moaned, hating the words.

“
I know,” he said with a chuckle. “I just love that I made you second guess your decision to go to work today.”

She turned in his arms and glared up into his brown eyes that were twinkling like a meteor shower. Not a single bit of him was repentant. Grayson looked good, delicious in his gray sweater and jeans that hugged every delectable inch of his hard body.

“
Well, aren’t you cocky?”

“
Nope. I know I’m
that
good.” Before she could get a snappy comeback off her tongue, Grayson laughed and wrapped her in a tight hug. He kissed the top of her head. “I’ve been wondering—” She tracked his eyes as they purposefully glanced around her home. “—are you a Grinch?”

“
No.” Even as she said the words, she couldn’t dispute the fact that it did appear that she was.

“
Have you bought even
one
gift?”

“
Yes,” she snapped, then admitted the truth, “no. I guess I really should get on that.”

“
Give me a list.”

“
What?” She felt her brows pull together and her mouth drop open.

“
Give me a list. You have to work. I don’t. Let me get your parents something. Who else is on your Christmas list?”

“
Just Molly.”

“
Okay. What were you thinking for your parents?”

She shrugged. There were more reasons than just lack of time; she had no idea what to get for her parents. They were financially secure and went out to buy anything and everything they ever wanted. That and no gift was ever good enough for her mother. Hell, Jane wasn’t good enough for her mother. It sucked forever being a disappointment.

“
I have no idea,” Jane told him, sounding defeated.

“
Okay.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll come up with something. What about Molly?”

“
She’s so easy-going, she’d be happy with a bag of M&M’s.”

He nodded. “Got it.”

She reached into her pocket and searched with her fingers for the key she’d put there earlier. “If you’re going to go out today, you should probably have a way to lock up and get back in.”

“
You’re right. I probably should.” His eyes sparkled, anticipating where her thoughts were going.

She pulled out the key. “Use it in good health.”

“
I will. And I don’t plan of giving it back.”

“
That’s okay,” she said with a giggle, “I can just change the locks.”

He grabbed her upper arms, his hands holding her like a vise. His lips crashed to hers and made her regret teasing him. He was too good at teasing her right back. His tongue moved across her lips and she opened to allow him to deepen the kiss.

A knock on the front door made her groan. She didn’t want to leave Grayson, but was looking forward to editing his interview today. It’d been a long time since she’d been so excited to bring a story to her viewers.

Grayson released his hold on her and strode toward the door. She grabbed a piece of toast and buttered it. Deep voices rumbled from the living room, coming closer. What had started out as a lazy morning was now rushed. She took a bite and chewed, washing it down with a swig of juice.

Bite. Chew. Swallow. Drink.

“
Do you want a piece of toast?” she asked Nate when the two men came into the kitchen.

Nate leaned a hip against the table and shook his head. “I’m good, thanks. You ready?”

“
Yeah, I just need to grab my jacket and laptop.” She guzzled the last of her juice and dabbed at her mouth with a dishcloth. She crossed the kitchen and squeezed between the two men. “Give me two seconds.”

“
No problem,” Nate said. As she headed upstairs, she heard Nate ask, “What are you gonna do today?”

Knowing how Grayson’s home was decked out in green and red, Jane wasn’t sure she wanted to see her place after he got done working his decorating magic. She shoved her laptop into its padded bag and shrugged into her warm KHB coat.

Grayson and Nate were discussing sports—specifically Christmas Day games—when she came down the stairs. “You’re welcome to come over. Roxie makes enough food for an army.”

“
We’ll let you know.” Grayson lifted his eyes to Jane’s, letting them rake over her from head to boot-covered feet. He smirked, a small lift of one corner.

Jane knew that look.

That look turned her on … because it meant Grayson had only one thing on his mind. The same thing she did; no clothes, no cares.

Nate cleared his throat. “You ready?”

“
Yeah,” she said, her eyes still locked with Grayson’s. She walked toward the door, intent of avoiding any kind of contact with him. Leaving him home alone today was hard enough without doing so … aching.

Grayson had other plans. His arm flashed out and captured around the waist as she strode past him. “She’ll be right out, Nate.”

Nate chuckled, fully understanding that goodbye needed to be said—without an audience. He made a show of lifting his sleeve to look at his watch. “I’m giving you five minutes and then you can get yourself to work.”

He shook his coat sleeve back into place, hiked the camera bag up onto his shoulder, and left.

“
Mmm. Five minutes,” Grayson murmured against her neck.

Hard as she fought to stay strong against his efforts, she melted. She became a puddle right there at Grayson’s feet. She loved the way he kissed her, loved his every touch. It set her on fire and made her every bone melt away until she was supported only by Grayson.

She tipped her head and he nuzzled her neck with his lips, biting and tasting. His hands drifted down her back to grip her bottom, pulling her hips to his.

“
You feel that?” he asked. “I’m going to be like that all day now.”

She kissed his lips, a short peck. “I didn’t start this, so don’t go blaming me.”

“
I will blame you. If you weren’t so frickin’ hot, it wouldn’t be so hard—” He grinned, recognizing his own double entendre. “I meant … all of it, but yeah, that part of me is in a constant state of arousal whenever you’re around.”

She ground her hips against his and he moaned. She giggled wickedly. “Good to know.” She stepped out of his embrace. “I’ve really got to go. I hate driving in the snow, so Nate’s my ride.”

“
I could take you.”

“
You take me places, alright. But I think it’d be safer to ride with Nate. At least that way I know I’ll get there with all my clothes on.”

“
Chicken.”

“
Damn straight.” She kissed her fingertips and blew him a kiss, not sure she could tear herself away from him again. “Gotta go.”

He came toward her where she stood with her hand on the door handle. She twisted and jerked the door open. A cold blast of winter air rushed in. “One more thing before you go,” Grayson said.

She put her hand out to keep him at an arm’s length. His heart was strong and steady under her palm. He looked down at her hand and grinned. He took her hand and kissed her fingertips, then her palm, then her wrist. Her heart rate raced and her pulse took off like a horse emerging from the starting gate. Her eyes drooped closed and a soft moan escaped her lips.

“
You’re killing me,” she panted.

“
Good.”

Her eyes popped open to see his smug smile only inches from her face. “Now to my one thing—” He laughed when she scowled at him. “—where are your Christmas decorations?”

“
Um…” She wasn’t sure how much she liked the idea of him decorating her place. Not because it was
him
decorating
her
place. But as it turned out, she was kind of a Scrooge. She preferred the comparison with the old miser versus the owner of the ugly ass dog with the single horn on his head.

“
You do have Christmas decorations, right?”

“
A few. They’re on the shelf in my closet,” she said. He gave her a perplexed expression and she darted out the door before he could capture her again—and torture them both with his kisses. “I love you,” she yelled over her shoulder as she hurried down the walk.

She climbed into the news vehicle and sighed. She could see Grayson where he stood at the end of her walk. He waved and she returned the gesture.

Nate chuckled softly next to her. He pulled away from the curb and eased out of the parking lot.

“
What?” she asked, watching Grayson until he was out of sight.

She turned to look at Nate and he shook his head, a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin plastered on his face. “I’m not sure who has it worse.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
After visiting you at Grayson’s house, I thought he was the whipped one, but now I’m not so sure.”

“
You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she gritted out, irritated and a little offended by Nate’s idea of pleasant drive to work conversation.

“
It’s definitely not a bad thing, Jane.” His smile spread until it completely covered his face. “In fact it’s a very, very good thing. I’m glad he makes you happy.”

She went all warm and gooey inside. She looked in the rear view mirror, knowing full well that Grayson wouldn’t be looking back at her. “Me too.” She nodded, a smile of her own growing on her face. “Me too.”

GRAYSON LET HIS WORRIES ABOUT DEREK GO the way of the wind. Being at Jane’s meant that Derek didn’t know where they were. Which meant that Jane was safe.

Grayson spent the day doing one of the things he loved best. And when Jane got home he was going to do the thing he loved very most in the world.

He hoped that Jane liked what he’d done with the place. Decorating for Christmas was something that he’d learned to love from the time he could crawl. His mother had instilled that love, and now he was proud to give Clark W. Griswold a run for his money every year.

Festive didn’t begin to describe Jane’s home now. Red and green and gold covered every inch. He’d gotten the biggest tree her small living room could handle and put so many strands of lights on it that the thing could probably be seen from space. As for the decorations, they were in their boxes on the couch, waiting.

A red table runner ran down the middle of Jane’s table. Grayson put the evergreen centerpiece in the middle and admired how nice the red roses and white carnations looked nestled in the dark green pine boughs.

He stood back and admired his work.

It looked good.

The ten sprigs of mistletoe might have been overkill. But any excuse for him to kiss Jane was a good excuse in his book. He heard Jane’s key in the lock and nervous jitters skittered through his gut.

All the lights were off except for the tree, which illuminated the entire downstairs. Fighting the urge to race to her and gather her in his arms, he planted his feet and waited for her reaction.

She stepped inside and stomped her feet on the rug by the front door. As her head rose, she gasped. Then she sighed. Her hand moved to her mouth.

Grayson wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Unable to stay away a moment longer, he took a tentative step toward her then paused until her gaze finally made it around to him. His hands were buried deep in his pockets.

“
Do you like it?”

Her voice wobbled a bit. “I have never seen anything so beautiful.”

Relieved breath rushed from his lungs in a whoosh. “I thought we could decorate the tree together. Maybe tomorrow morning?”

She turned in a circle taking in the transformation of her home. “Yes, tomorrow morning,” she said wistfully.

He walked up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. She leaned back against him and sighed. He rested his chin on top of her head and just let the contented feelings swirl around them.

“
You’ve been busy,” she said.