Give Me Grace(29)

Casey laughed and dimples popped on his cheeks, morphing the man from beautiful to adorable. A kitten with a ball of yarn had nothing on Casey when he was laughing. I stood there for a moment staring in wonder.

“I think we should call a ceasefire, don’t you? I shouldn’t have made assumptions about you, and I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I just …” Casey looked away, sliding his hands into his pockets. It was an oddly vulnerable move. I had the urge to reach out and cup his face, forcing him to look at me so I could see into his eyes. I’d never felt that with any other man before—so much irritation along with intrigue and an overwhelming craving to touch.

“You just what?”

He looked at me then, but his eyes were clear, giving me nothing. “A shitty day, Slim. That’s all. I just had a shitty day.” He stepped closer but didn’t get in my face like he had earlier. Instead, he cocked his head, waiting. “So will you accept my apology and let me do your zipper?”

I relaxed a little until I remembered Mitsy and his annihilation of Casey’s car. I had to accept his apology or appear churlish, but damn, when he saw the torn interior—because there was no quick fix for the damage I’d allowed Mitsy to inflict—all bets would be off. The ceasefire would cease.

Travis was right. I was a dead woman walking. My panic must have been obvious because his brows drew together.

“Slim?”

“Grace!” Henry yelled again. It was followed by the sound of feet stomping up the stairs.

“Accept,” I blurted out. “I accept.”

“Good. Turn around.”

I gave him my back. This time he took care not to touch my skin but the time it took for my zipper to slide upwards felt like minutes. I turned back around to Casey grinning.

“Let’s start again.” He held out his hand. I looked at it dumbly before meeting his crinkled eyes. “My name’s Casey Daniels, but you can call me Batman if you like. I’ve been assigned as your personal security for tonight’s proceedings.”





Grace looked at me like I just announced I was here to harvest her kidneys. Did no one mention Jamieson and Valentine Consulting handled all the security for the band? After a brief pause, she took my hand in hers. I closed my fingers around it feeling it disappear in mine.

“Grace Paterson,” she replied, “but you can call me Grace if you like. I’ve been assigned as the bass guitarist for tonight’s proceedings.”

My eyes raked the length of her as I shook her hand. Grace was tall and slender, not curvy like the girls I usually went for, but the black top thing she wore was hot. It drew my eye to the creamy swell that rose out the top in two delicious handfuls.

She cleared her throat and my lips curved as I diverted my attention back to her face. I let go of her hand and nodded towards the bedroom door. “Shall we go?”

“Grace?” Henry arrived at the top of the stairs, his brows drawn impatiently. “You ready?”

“Sure am,” she replied.

“Good. Go wait in the limo, will you?” He shifted out of the way, bringing him further into the room so she could get by. “I just need to speak to Casey for a second.”

“Um, okay.” Grace glanced at me quickly before she left, a question in her eyes.

The minute she was out of earshot, Henry spoke, his eyes turning hard. It didn’t surprise me. There was no way Henry could have missed the way I’d been looking at Grace like I wanted to eat her alive, but looking away proved difficult. Henry’s sister wasn’t just as shock and awe like I originally thought. She was sassy with an underlying hint of sweet and had a backbone that made her nobody’s pushover. I fucking loved that.

“Don’t, Casey. Whatever you’re doing, or thinking of doing, don’t. Grace is my sister, you asshole, and every time some female gets caught up in all your Jamieson and Valentine bullshit, they end up getting maimed or shot. That is not going to happen to Grace. I fucking mean it. Got me?”

I stiffened as he jabbed his finger in my chest, insulted he would think I’d deliberately get Grace caught in the middle of a life-threatening drama. “You need to calm down, mate. I’ve known your sister for mere hours and already you have me getting her shot?”

Knowing we were on a tight schedule, Henry started down the stairs, over his shoulder, saying, “I know you, Casey, just like I know Jared, and just like I know Travis. Mere hours is all it takes.”

“I understand you’re her brother, Henry, and you’re gonna worry no matter what I say,” I told him as I followed behind, “but you can relax. I’m covering her security personally tonight, and I have no intention of letting anything happen to her, okay?”