Page 27 of Forbidden Kisses
A loud noise came from the back bedroom.
Grace pulled back.
“What was that?” Noah asked.
Grace shook her head, thinking fast. “I live with my mom.” Or she had until tonight. “She’s resting. I don’t want to disturb her. But I’m glad we talked.”
Noah took a step back toward the door. “Me, too. We’ll strategize for the tournament tomorrow.”
Grace smiled. “So you’re in?”
“I’m in.”
“That’s great. Yeah, we’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Bye, sis.” Noah waved and walked away.
She heaved a heavy sigh as she closed the door behind her.
“Hey.”
Grace jumped, then whirled to see Jack standing in the hallway, fully dressed again. “Hey. That was your—”
“Brother. I heard.” Jack nodded. “Your brother, too, apparently.”
“Yeah. I’m really surprised about his sudden change of heart.”
“He just needed to collect his thoughts. He lost a lot as a kid.” Jack stepped closer. She could tell he was going to touch her. And why shouldn’t he? They’d just had sex.
“Jack.” She took a backward step.
He stilled.
“We shouldn’t have—”
“You’re not about to call tonight a mistake. It wasn’t.”
She weaved her fingers together in front of her stomach. “No…Maybe. It’s just—” Just that she was suddenly consumed with fear because of the feelings she had for the man in front of her. Because of how she’d always felt about him. She prided herself on being strong, but right now she was teetering on her breaking point. She’d lost a lot as a kid, too. First her father had skipped out before she was even born. Then she’d lost the Sawyer family. They were letting her back in, though. “Noah doesn’t hate me anymore. He’s actually treating me like I exist. I can’t mess this up.”
“Mess this up by sleeping with me, you mean? That makes no sense, Grace.”
“It does. There was a time when I would have given anything for Noah to call me sis again. I just think…maybe it’s best if we forget about tonight.”
Jack stared at her for a long moment. Then he headed to the door, opened it, and stepped over the threshold, where Noah had disappeared ten minutes earlier. “Good night, Grace,” he said, shutting the door firmly behind him.
Grace awoke the next morning with a hangover of regret. Things had gone from fireworks to fiasco at the end of last night. Her mother had moved out and she’d slept with Jack. And then, in true Grace fashion, she’d pushed him away.
She pressed her palms against her eyes, took a deep breath, and sat up. She had to be at Sawyer Seafood by eight, but it was still early. She needed to go to Mrs. Smith’s and see her mother this morning and make sure she was okay. Her mother hadn’t even discussed leaving with her. She’d just up and left with the parting advice that Grace should get a life.
Grace grimaced. Instead of getting a life, she’d worked on ruining her life.
After showering and dressing, she headed a few neighborhoods down to Mrs. Smith’s house. It was an older house in need of renovations. Even one of the shutters hung loosely to the side.
“I knew you’d be here this morning,” her mother said as she opened the squeaky front door. “Actually, I thought you would’ve come last night.”
Grace averted her gaze. She’d been a littlebusylast night. “You didn’t have to move out, Mom.”
“I know that. But do you really think I want to live with my adult daughter? How am I supposed to date with my daughter hovering nearby?”
