Page 65 of Forbidden Kisses
Grace pulled her face into her hands. “Oh geez. This is so mortifying. Noah heard us having sex in the office bathroom.”
“What?” Krista said, nearly shouting.
Grace shushed her and looked around again. “Quiet.”
“The bathroom? That’s kind of disgusting.”
“Not really. It was more of a shower. We had sex in the shower.”
“Oh.” Krista cocked her head. “Well, that’s kind of romantic, I guess.”
“Not when your kind-of brother overhears. He’s pissed because we hid it from him.”
“I told you this would happen.” Krista pointed a finger.
“Not the time for I-told-you-sos.”
“Right.” Krista pulled her hand back and reached for her coffee. “Okay. Well, Noah has a temper, but he cools off pretty quickly. Usually. He doesn’t like secrets, though. I once knew him to not speak to someone for five years because of a secret. He’s still not speaking to that person, actually.”
Grace frowned. “Not helping. I may need you to talk to him for me.” Grace didn’t like to ask for favors, but this was important. “I’m afraid he’s going to drop out of the tournament. And I know if I win the money, Mr. Tomlin will sell theBeatriceback.”
Krista’s eyes slanted sympathetically. “I don’t think Noah will listen to me.”
“Yes, he will. He thinks the world of you. He told me.”
Krista looked up. “Really?”
Grace nodded. “On Friday night when he came over to talk about how bad he screwed up with you.”
This made Krista smile.
“So will you help me? Please.” And now she was begging, something that Grace Donner never did. “I’ll owe you.” That’s another thing Grace Donner typically refused to do. Owing people was like a slow suffocation in her mind.
“Fine.” Krista glanced at her watch and pulled her purse over her shoulder. “I’ll talk to him after my shift is over, even though I wanted to stay mad at him a little while longer.”
Grace blew out a breath. “Thank you.”
“Can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”
Grace stood up, too. She had to work as well. Hopefully all the deliveries would go smoothly today. She’d thought having a stressful day on the job yesterday had worked in her favor. It’d certainly seemed so when Jack had gotten her naked in the shower. Not so lucky, she thought now.
She made the short drive to work, calling to check up on her mother on the way. Mrs. Smith was driving her mother crazy, which Grace suspected her mother kind of enjoyed. They were like the female version ofThe Odd Couple. It was good for her mother to have someone, though. She’d been right that Grace had been mothering her. Her mother didn’t need that from her. She needed Grace to be a daughter.
She needed Grace to win the tournament and buy back theBeatrice.
—
At 2P.M.,when Grace usually expected Noah to come in, a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties came inside instead. Grace recognized him as part of the temporary crew that Noah wasn’t quite satisfied with.
“Hey. I’m Doug. Noah asked me to come in and give you the updates on today’s catch. The shipment’s already at the fish house. It’ll be ready to go out in the morning.” He handed her a piece of paper with the numbers.
Grace nodded, feeling deflated. “He couldn’t come in himself?” Like he did every day.
“He said he was busy.”
“Right. Well, thank you.” Grace placed the information on her desk. “I’ll schedule the deliveries.”
“Great. See you,” Doug said, turning and heading back out.
