All I Ever Wanted(31)

Arabella felt the tension leave her body. She couldn't talk about the past with him without revealing too much. And she couldn't forgive him for what he'd done, but Grady was right. This was the only truce that would work. "Okay," she said, somewhere between giddy and sad. Feeling a bit exposed, she spotted a beach towel draped over a chair and tugged it over her body.

Grady squeezed her hand. "You don't sound convinced."

"Oh, I'm convinced that we can't keep our hands off each other. I'm not quite sure it's the best idea in the world, though."

"Me neither, but I think it's our only option."

"Yeah. So how do we handle it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think your brothers will know."

"I'm sure this is exactly what they planned on happening," he said, and then chuckled.

"What?" Arabella wasn't sure if this situation was funny, but her reliable sense of humor came to the rescue and she chuckled too. Granny York always said it was much better to laugh than cry. 

"When you came barreling into my arms . . . I knew I was a goner. I've been thinking about kissing you since the day you showed up on my doorstep."

"Grady-"

"I'm just being honest." He hesitated, as if wanting to say more, but then fell silent for a few moments. "I'm not going to make this weird."

"Uh, this already is weird." She bounced a little bit on the float, drawing a chuckle from Grady.

"Well, I'll never look at this float the same way again, that's for sure."

Arabella laughed, really laughed, harder than she had in a long time, and Grady laughed right along with her. When the laughter dwindled, she felt a little bit of hope sneak into her heart but quickly squashed it. This was going to be a wild fling, nothing more.

"You hungry?" Grady asked, and Arabella's stomach growled, answering for her. He chuckled. "How about ordering a giant pizza?"

"Okay, but no pineapple," she warned.

"I promise," Grady said, and then pushed up to his feet, giving her a very nice view. He tugged on his boxers and shorts but left his shirt off, making Arabella get hot and bothered again. She felt a blush heat her cheeks and was glad that he couldn't read her mind. She discreetly put on her clothes and then took the hand he offered to help her up. He paused and looked at her mouth as if thinking about kissing her but then took a step back, disappointing Arabella.

"Do you think your brothers are gone?"

"Probably. They don't know how this plan of theirs went down."

"How will we get out?" she asked, following him out the door.

"Hopefully, they unblocked the door. If not, I'll call Jimmy and tell him to let us out. He's still the only reasonable Heart brother."

Arabella laughed. "Some things never change."

Grady stopped and looked at her, and something sizzled in the air between them. "And some things never will."

Arabella prepared herself for another hot kiss, but Grady walked over to the door. She picked up her purse and followed him.

"Freedom awaits us." Grady stood back for her to go outside first.

Arabella stepped into the humidity and gave the pool a look of longing. "Wish I'd brought my swimsuit."

"Swimsuits are optional," he said with a devilish grin.

"I'll keep that in mind," Arabella said lightly. Skinny-dipping used to be one of their favorite sexy adventures. She'd loved the silky feeling of the water lapping around her skin and having her legs wrapped around Grady. He was the only guy she'd swum naked with, but then again, there was a long list of things she'd only done with Grady Heart.

Unfortunately, falling in love was one of them.





 CHAPTER NINE



COULD IT BE FOREVER?

Over the next week, Grady doubled down on his efforts to concentrate on the dance moves. Although Arabella still distracted him, their truce removed the tension in the room-well, unless he counted the constant sexual tension throbbing between the two of them. By the end of each day, Grady couldn't wait to get her into bed, although they found plenty of other places to make wild love. The only major problem was that he knew that when Arabella left for LA, she would leave behind a gaping hole in his life that no one else could begin to fill.


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Arabella also fell back into the earlier camaraderie she'd once shared with his brothers. Jesse loved playing pranks on her. Oliver challenged her to dance-offs and usually lost. And Jimmy helped Arabella incorporate the emotion of the lyrics into the stage moves.