Restoration (19 page)

“Let’s go,” he said, grinning at her.

The door opened before they reached the top step, revealing the beatific face of Grace’s mother. Her eyes widened as she took in Drew’s features and she shot Grace a look that said
Oh, my God!

“Mom, this is Drew Tensley. Drew, my mom, Abby McConnell.”

Drew offered his hand to her mother. “It’s a pleasure, Mrs. McConnell.”

“Oh, my. Just call me Abby, young man,” she spluttered as she shook his hand. “Come . . . Come on in. Dinner will be served soon.”

As Drew walked into her house, Grace leaned into her mother and hissed, “Keep it together, Mom!”

Her mom looked pale. “I just can’t believe it. Gracie, you’ve got to tell him soon. Once people around here start seeing him, it’ll be a disaster.”

They sat around her old family dining table, her parents in their usual spots at the ends and Grace sitting across from Drew. His feet touched hers occasionally under the cover of the tablecloth, gentle and reassuring.

“So, um, Drew. What do you do for a living?” her dad asked, visibly uncomfortable as he added dressing to his salad.

“I own a shop in town. It’s a grocery, actually. My dad passed it on to me five years back.” He speared a leaf of lettuce and a tomato.

“Mmm, how long has the shop been in your family?”

“Oh, ages. My great-granddad started it before World War II. We just missed the London Blitz. Apparently, the villages surrounding us weren’t so lucky. The shop was able to supply neighboring villages with food and such. We’ve been there ever since.”

Her dad raised his eyebrows. WWII was as interesting to him as the Tudors were to Grace.

“Don’t get him started on World War II Jo- . . . Drew. He’ll never stop,” her mom interjected.

Grace winced as she caught her mom’s slip.
Please don’t let him notice.
She sent up a silent prayer and jumped as Drew’s foot nudged her ankle. His gaze caught hers, a questioning look on his face. She smiled weakly and leaned to serve herself a square of lasagna. She watched as his attention drifted from her face and down the V of her sweater’s neck, into her cleavage. His ears went pink at the tips when she cleared her throat.

“Drew’s store only sells organic produce and uses local farms for milk and eggs. The quality is excellent,” Grace offered.

“I’ve also heard you do special deliveries at all hours,” her mom said over the rim of her wine glass.

Drew choked on his wine at her mother’s insinuation. “We do deliver, yes.”

“And your parents? Do they still live close by?”

Drew focused on his plate. “Dad is just a few houses down from the shop. We lost my mum just before Christmas.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Her mom’s face was soft and full of pity.

“It was a long, hard fight. She was ill for several months. I’m just glad she got to know Grace. She was very fond of her.”

“Of course she was. Mothers always love Gracie. She’s the best thing I ever did!” Her eyes were trained on Drew. “Don’t let her get away, young man.”

Drew coughed and tried to cover his amusement. “No, no. I don’t plan to, Abby.”

“Mom, this lasagna is probably your best yet. Did you do something different with it?” Grace rushed to change the subject, mortified by her mother’s meddling.

“No, it’s just the same.”

“Hmm.” Grace shoveled in a mouthful.

The quartet ate the rest of their meal in silence. Drew occasionally made eye contact with Grace, clearly sensing the tension.

“Grace, will you help me clear the table?” Her mom gave her a pointed look and began clearing away the dishes. “Why don’t you two head into the great room for a drink? We’ll join you in a minute.”

“Mom! What are you doing? That was embarrassing,” Grace hissed at her mother, who was calmly scraping food off the dishes into the trash.

“Nothing, Gracie. Just making sure he knows what a catch you are.”

“Thanks, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the case.”

Her mom stopped and turned to face her. “What on earth do you mean?”

“Really, Mom? Look at him. He’s a carbon copy with a different personality. When he finds out, he’ll think I’m a nut-job and this will all be over.”

“I think you’re wrong, honey.”

“I hope so.”

Chapter 20

Grace was exhausted when she woke the next morning. She’d dropped Drew off at the hotel and bolted home under the guise of needing to pack. Her bag took all of five minutes to sort out. She really needed time to figure out what she was going to say when she finally explained everything to him. Each hour that he was there posed a greater risk and her anxiety became a gnawing ache in her stomach.

She spent most of the night and early hours of the morning wide awake, going over what she would say. At nine o’clock, she finally headed downstairs to fill her travel mug with strong coffee.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Her dad peered at her over his tablet.

“Hmph,” she grunted.

“Didn’t sleep much?”

She shook her head as she poured coffee into her travel mug first, then filled a ceramic cup and headed to the table.

“Gracie, your mother told me not to talk to you about this, but Drew, if he really is John’s twin, needs to know. He’s in love with you.”

Tears came to her eyes. “Me, too.”

“He’s a good man, from what I can tell. He deserves to love all of you, not just the parts you want him to see.”

She nodded and took a sip of her coffee. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Ready and waiting, love.

She smiled and texted back quickly.

On my way XOXO

“Gotta go, Dad. Wish me luck.”

The drive to Colonial Williamsburg was easy and soothing with Drew’s mellow voice distracting her from her worries. The cadence was almost musical and she loved hearing the animated way he talked about his football team and their latest practice. The season ran from August through May and although he’d said he was terrible, she hoped to see him in action when she got back to Braley. He smiled as he spoke and the lines at the corners of his eyes deepened as his grin broadened. She found herself smiling along with him; his happiness infectious.

They spent a few hours exploring Williamsburg. Drew was entertained by the reenactments going on around him and enjoyed being surrounded by all the people in period costumes. They ate lunch at a little tavern in town and even found Williamsburg’s own Edinburgh Castle. It wasn’t really much of a castle, but a thrill rushed through her at the memory of their trip to Scotland.

“So, this is really something people do here? Dress up and pretend they’re colonials?”

“Well, they’re paid. It’s a job for them, and I think they’re a little crazy.” She smiled and elbowed him. “I mean, who would want to pretend to be . . .
English
?”

“Oi, watch it, you.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. “I’ll teach you not to be so cheeky.”

“Really? Promise?”

Drew lowered his lips to hers in a searing kiss. His hand pressed against her lower back and pulled her to him.

“Promise,” he whispered with heat in his voice.

Her heart sped up as his breath feathered across her neck. “Let’s go.”

She wiggled away from him, a heated blush creeping up her cheeks as she noticed the few people on the street who’d stopped to watch them.

“How long until we’re somewhere private, love?”

“A few hours at least, depending on traffic.”

He groaned. “I don’t think I can wait that long.”

She tried to hide her smile of satisfaction at his professed need. “We could always go back to the hotel. If you don’t want to see our display of independence from English dominance and tyranny.”

“Oh, I’ll give you plenty of English dominance and tyranny. In fact, I’m reasonably sure you’re going to quite enjoy it.”

Heat rushed to her center at the feral glow in his eyes. She liked this playful side of him and knowing he needed her as much as she did him caused a bolt of lust to run screaming through her.

As she drove, her hands were tight on the wheel while Drew’s were busy, stroking up and down her thigh, running along the inseam of her jeans and around her kneecap. He continued gripping and massaging her inner thigh and tracing small patterns on her arm until she turned off the freeway at a rest stop and parked.

“If you insist on continuing to torture me, I’m not going to be able to drive us.”

She looked around the rest stop, empty and quiet; it was the middle of the week and the least popular season for tourists. Drew laced his hands on his lap.

“Sorry, love.”

She smiled, giving him a wicked grin. “Don’t be sorry, just do something about it to get me through the next forty minutes.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he sucked in a sharp breath as he reached for her. He pulled her across the bench seat of the truck and sat her astride him.
Thank God this truck is so big.
Her hands went to his hair immediately, tangling in its unruly locks. She pulled lightly and crushed her lips to his. His answering moan under her mouth fueled her passion further.

“Grace, I love you. God, how I love you.”

She moaned, feeling the tension, the need to be connected completely, coil inside her. “I need you.”

He suddenly stilled. “Not here, love.” He pulled his face away from hers and motioned toward the security cameras in the parking lot.

“Damn.”

“Quite right.”

The remaining forty-minute drive was excruciatingly slow. Grace needed to be with him in every possible way, so much that she was squirming in her seat, trying to ignore the growing desire.

As soon as they pulled into the parking lot of his hotel, he was on her. Lips, teeth, and hands were everywhere at once. He pulled her out of the truck and into his room, leaving their bags behind. He closed the door and pressed her against it, holding her hands above her head when she tried to unbuckle his belt.

“Tsk, tsk. English dominance and tyranny . . . or don’t you recall?”

The look in his eyes caused a tremble to rattle through her.

“I’m going to release your hands now, but you mustn’t touch.”

She nodded, rubbing her legs together in a desperate attempt for some friction.

Drew ran his hand through his disheveled hair and knelt down in front of her, placing his forehead against her midsection. He lifted the hem of her sweater and kissed the skin of her stomach while pulling at her belt. His hands slid her jeans and panties off, while he replaced the missing clothing with continued kisses on her hips and down her thigh.

One finger ran up her inner thigh and slipped inside. “God, Grace.” He looked up at her with reverent eyes.

“Please, Drew. Let me touch you.” Her hands were itching to bury themselves in his thick hair, run over the planes of his chest, and finally reach his arousal.

“Not just yet, love,” he said as he pulled off her sweater and unclasped her bra. “On the bed, if you please.”

She lay across the bed as he removed her shoes and took her jeans the rest of the way off. Aching to have him, she reached to pull him to her.

“No. Close your eyes.”

She didn’t like being denied, but closed her eyes anyway. His breath against her made her jump. Without warning his tongue was on her and she was overcome with sensation. His shoulders pushed at her thighs and his hands kneaded her hips.

“Oh, God, Drew.” She squirmed and bucked as she spiraled toward oblivion, but he held her in place and just as she began to crest-

He was gone.

She opened her eyes and groaned in protest.

“I want to feel you explode around me. I don’t want anything between us.” He began shucking his clothes and she felt a tremor of excitement pass through her.

She nodded and pulled him to her.

His face was serious. “Nothing between us, Grace. No condom.”

“On. The. Pill,” she said around kisses to his chest.

“Bloody brilliant you are!”

Staring as he began to move, she lifted her hips to meet his. Her breath caught as she looked into his eyes. The irises were so deep they were almost bottomless. Full of emotion, love, and complete adoration. Her heart swelled and tears threatened to spill as realization hit home.

Nobody has ever loved me this way. This is where I’m supposed to be.

They moved in tandem, creating that delicious friction both of them so desperately needed. Waves of pleasure built and she clung to him. His rhythm became more erratic; less controlled and a fresh rush of lust hit her as she realized he was as close as she.

Her lips locked onto his nipple and she swirled her tongue around the pebbled tip. He hissed in a breath and groaned softly against her hair. Her pleasure crested and the waves crashed through her. His heart pounded against her and he cried out his own release a moment later.

“Drew?”

He stilled, breaths harsh as he tried to control himself. “Yes, love?”

“I love you.”

His smile was all consuming. “Quite right, too.”

The afternoon quickly edged into
evening as Drew and Grace walked hand-in-hand along the beach. The sun was a sliver of orange on the horizon, casting a red glow across the sky. The chill of early spring was still present and she shivered through her heavy sweater.

“All right, love?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

She nodded. “Just chilled.”

They stood together, his chin resting on the crown of her head, watching the waves crash against the beach.

“I love the ocean. So many possibilities from one thing.”

“Really? How do you mean?” His question was simple, but caught her off guard.

“Well, it’s always different. Different colors, shapes, moods. The water can go almost anywhere, carve out its own path. It can be destructive, but it can also be peaceful. I just love to watch it move.”

“I imagine you’ve spent loads of time out here.”

She leaned back against his chest. “Yep. When I was a kid, I’d come out here every day after school. I’d study, read, draw what I saw. It was my peaceful place.”

He placed a light kiss on top of her head. “Even still? You run here for the same reason—escape?”

She nodded. “This was where they found me the day after John died. I ran until I couldn’t move anymore. That was the only moment this place didn’t work its magic. I don’t even know how far I ran. I was so angry that he was gone. Angry that he felt he needed to save everyone else and in the end, he left me alone. My dad found me curled up under the boardwalk. My feet were so sore, covered in blisters, that I couldn’t walk. He carried me to the car. I’d—”

“Christ, Grace.”

“I know. It was a bad time for me. I’d loved him for so long. When he died, we were getting ready to finally move in together. Our life was really starting. I felt like it stopped before it could actually get going. Truthfully I still feel that way. I was robbed of him, of what we were supposed to have. My life that was so full was suddenly empty and aching.”

Drew’s hands stiffened around her. “I’m so sorry, love.”

She swiped at a stray tear. “It is what it is.” Turning in Drew’s arms, she faced him, ready to tell him the truth. “I thought I’d never love anyone else.”

The light behind his eyes faded at the admission. “I’m not trying to replace him. I know I can’t.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. You took me completely by surprise. I didn’t think this was possible. You fixed me. I was so broken and I couldn’t even see it.”

She kissed him gently then, raising herself on her toes to reach. Drew’s lips were soft on hers and he threaded his fingers through the hair that tumbled down her back.

“Marry me, Grace?” Just a whisper against her lips. “Let me love you forever.”

Her heart jumped into her throat. “What?”

“Will you marry me? I know it hasn’t been long and it might feel too soon, but I also had someone I thought was forever and I was wrong. This is completely different. This is right. You’re the one meant for me.”

She took a step back from him. Her vision swam and she had to sit on a nearby piece of driftwood to get her bearings.

Marry him?

She wanted to scream
Yes
and wrap up in this wonderful moment with him, but she had to tell him the truth about John. It could change everything.

She knew she had to answer him somehow. He wasn’t going to stand there and wait forever. Her stomach churned and she swallowed back the bile that threatened to rise.
He wants to marry me and I want to throw up?

“I need to think. I need some time.”

His face crumpled, the hopeful expression dashed and replaced by a cold mask of disappointment. “Why is it always this way with you? One minute we’re happy, the next you’re pushing me away.”

“Drew, it’s not . . . I’m just so—”

“Right. Ring when you’ve made up your mind about me then, will you?” He turned on his heel and walked back to his room.