Page 105 of Paths

She then proceeded to make sure Grady and I were still coming to her farmhouse for Christmas dinner.

Well, that’s done.

Addy’s right. We do have furniture being delivered today. Grady dragged me out every free hour we’ve had over the last week to shop. It might seem like a houseful of furniture is being delivered, but it’s really not. That’s because the house that Grady bought across the street from Whitetail is pretty big. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no mansion, and this makes me happy. I love it so much I can’t ever imagine wanting to live anywhere else. So today, furniture is coming for the family room and master bedroom. That took long enough to pick out, the rest will have to wait.

The property is beautiful and goes on forever. However, I have no idea what we’ll do with the barns. The previous owners bred horses, so they’re quite fancy as far as barns go. Grady keeps teasing me that he’s going to buy me some cows. I hope he’s not serious.

I just got off early from my shift at Whitetail and I’m on my way to pick up Grady at Crew’s house. Winter has officially arrived in Virginia, and the recent snow will give us a white Christmas.

As I pull onto Crew’s property, it’s still hard to believe what they do here. Grady has answered all my questions, and doesn’t pretend he’s not relieved I didn’t freak out and leave him after he told me. I explained it just needed to sink in, but over the last week, I’ve come to find what he did fascinating. Now I have a million questions about what they do to train their up-and-coming replacements.

Grady felt guilty for being away from Crew’s operation for so long and wants to dive in to make up for his long absence. He explained how some of their recruits are ready to start working on their own.

I park outside the barn where I dropped him off this morning and decide I want to see it firsthand. When I get out of the car and walk to the door of the barn, I pull it open, but I’m stopped in my tracks.

Holy shit, I cannot believe the sight in front of me.

“Grady!”

Crew’s standing there with his arms crossed, grinning, not at all surprised to see me. He says nothing, but he does look up to Grady. “Man, I told you she was here.”

I step into the warm barn, slamming the door behind me and exclaim, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Grady doesn’t answer and I can’t see his face. He’s got his back to me, with no shirt on, every muscle in his back and arms are taut. He’s doing pull-up after pull-up, but not just that, his legs are bent at the knees where he’s holding a barbell steady with enormous plates on each end. Who knows how much weight he’s lifting besides his own. All I know is any pull-up is bad for his shoulder and these are worse.

“Grady, stop!”

He listens this time and drops enough to hang from the bar, but doesn’t let go. Crew steps forward and lifts the barbell before Grady drops his legs the rest of the way and falls to his feet. All he has on is a pair of loose athletic shorts hanging low on his hips and a pair of tennis shoes. It’s clear to see he’s been working out well beyond what I just witnessed.

But looking at him here, mostly bare, with his muscles taut, and skin glistening with sweat—I struggle to hang on to my irritation. If possible, he’s more beautiful than ever, and this makes my panties wet.

He’s breathing heavy from the workout he should not be doing and grins. “You ready to go?”

I shift in my snow boots and cross my arms, trying to pretend I’m not affected by … all of him. I toss my hand out between us. “You shouldn’t be doing any of that. You’ll reinjure your joint.”

He looks unapologetic when he keeps on grinning. “I’m fine. It feels good, thanks to my physical therapist.”

“Speaking of,” Crew butts in, grinning almost as big as Grady. “You never billed me.”

I roll my eyes and shake my head. “Honestly.”

Grady bends and tags his shirt off the floor and starts for me. When he gets close, he puts his hand to my lower back and pulls me in for a kiss. “Let’s go. I’m anxious for furniture, and since all we own are clothes, moving in will take less than fifteen minutes.”

“See you tomorrow,” Crew calls, as we walk out through the snow to Grady’s Escalade.

Truth be told, I’m looking forward to furniture, too, but I’m really looking forward to starting a life with Grady.

*****

Grady takes my hand and pulls me out of the kitchen. “We can finish this tomorrow.”

After the furniture was delivered, Grady was on a mission. He loaded me up again and we headed for Target. When we got there, he pushed a cart my way and told me we were to divide and conquer.

I was told my mission was simple—buy “shit to sleep on and shit to eat off of.”

I grinned and asked if he was serious. The look on his face told me how serious he was, right before he told me to hurry.

But I didn’t hurry. I reached up and gave him a kiss before turning to Starbucks. I needed a coffee and he, of course, headed for the food.

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