Page 51 of Sweet Temptation (Men of Honor 2)
I walk over behind the dressing curtain she has and begin undressing. “What size are your feet?”
“Um, normally a seven and a half.”
“Perfect.” She smiles brightly then rummages around in a few suitcases that she had packed from her guesthouse. “Here, sport these sexy bad boys with it.” She hands me a pair of black leather thigh-high boots, thankfully ones without a heel.
“Thank you very much for sharin’ your stuff with me.”
“No problem. And I agree with my sister- Sawyer likes you a lot. I have a feeling we will be seeing you around.”
Her comment has my stomach doing a little flip of hope. “Well I sure hope so. I think your family is real great.”
“To be honest, I’m glad my brother has found someone he cares about, especially someone like you. Someone I know who will take care of him too. He may be arrogant and tough, but I know what happened to him and his friends in Iraq has left more scars on him than just his body.”
Pain and sadness washes over both the girls’ faces. My own throat goes tight at remembering the scars that mark Sawyers back. I swallow thickly, “I’ll take good care of him. I promise.”
Jesse smiles again, “I know. I saw it at supper when you cut my dad off. Which was awesome by the way. You’re braver than you look, I’ll give you that.”
I’m not sure if that was a compliment or not.
“How is Cade?” My gaze snaps to Sam, surprised by her question. She shrugs, “I just know he doesn’t have any family, and no matter how much Mom tries to make him a part of this one he doesn’t let himself get attached, not even to us.”
“Why is that?” I ask curiously.
Jesse answers, “Cade has had a real hard life to say the least. He lost his younger sister very tragically when he was fifteen. I’ll let Sawyer give you the details on it, since it’s not my place. But when I say it was bad, I mean it was horrendous.”
My heart breaks at hearing that, and I nod in understanding about her not wanting to tell me herself. I answer Sam’s original question. “He seems to be doin’ alright. I don’t know him all that well. He’s quiet and sticks to himself most of the time. When I first met him, his sexy butt scared the ever-livin’ crap out of me.” Both the girls chuckle. “But I know there’s more to him then he lets people see. There’s been moments where he was real kind to me.” I forgo telling them about the night I heard their brother screwin’ my enemy against the door.
“Yes he can be. It’s down there somewhere, it’s just buried deep inside and locked away,” Jesse pauses sadly before brightening again, “all right get your pretty ass out here and let’s see my creation.”
Laughin’ I walk out from behind the dressin’ wall; Jesse and Sam both whistle. I make my way over to the full-length mirror and like what I see. Jesse was right; I look trendy, warm and casual. I’ve never worn boots like this before but they remind me of my alpine thigh highs… I love them.
“Those boots are so hot!” Sam says.
“Yes they are. Thank you, Jesse, for lettin’ me borrow your clothes.”
She waves me away, “You can keep them. Not the boots of course, because those are my pride and joy, but the clothes you can keep.”
“Oh, are you sure? I won’t wreck ‘em or anythin’, I’ll give them back in good condition.”
She chuckles, “I know you won’t. I’m giving them to you because I want you to have them. They look great on you. Just make sure you tell everyone where you got them from.”
I give her a hug. “I will, thank you again.”
“You’re welcome. Now let’s touch up your make-up and we will be good to go.”
She grabs her make up bag and twenty minutes later does another creation, this one to my face. She made my make up look natural, yet still beautiful. It goes great with my outfit, and I have to say that she has a real knack for this fashion thing.
“Is there a bathroom close by I can use?” I ask. Sam points to the left, “Third door on the right.”
“Thanks, I’ll be right back.” I walk out and start down the long hallway. It’s the kind of hallway you see in big hotels. My eyes take in the simple but pretty decor on the way. The first door I walk past is half-open and I see John standing at his desk, bent over what looks like blueprints.
Hesitating for only a second, I take a deep breath and knock gently.
His head snaps up, surprise flashing in his eyes when he sees it’s me. “Grace.”
“Hi, Mr. Evans,” I shake my head, “uh I mean, John. Um, do ya have a minute?”
“Yes of course, come in.” As I walk through the door he looks at my outfit and smiles. “I see my daughter got ahold of you to play dress up.”
I laugh but it comes out nervous, “Oh yes, well, it was very kind of her. She’s very good at what she does, that’s for sure.”
“Yes she is,” he says with love and pride.
Things go quiet as he stares at me expectantly, “Well anyways, I um… I just wanted to say I’m sorry about interruptin’ you at the supper table. I meant no disrespect.”
He shakes his head, “Don’t be sorry, I know you didn’t mean any disrespect. If anyone should be sorry it’s me. Clearly my boy and I have some issues, and it shouldn’t have been brought up like that at the supper table. So no need to apologize.”
I nod and give him a shaky smile. Then, before I think better of it, I open my yappy mouth again, “I know it’s not my place but… I just want you to know that Sawyer has been real amazin’ to me. He’s the best man I have ever met; he’s strong, loyal and honorable, and you should be real proud of him. He stepped up and was there for me when I had no one else. I mean, my Daddy has only met me once and wants nothin’ to do with me. I think it’s real sad you and Sawyer will let somethin’ so small wreck your relationship. Because it only takes one moment in time to have the people we love taken away from us.”
