But first things first, Grace needed to tell me what was going on. Not wanting to have the conversation in a public arena, I pocketed Grace’s phone and pretty much dragged her from the table. Having already memorised the building layout from the brief, I led her straight to the nearest quiet corridor.
Spinning her around, I let go. She was panting a little and my eyes fell to her chest. Even with anger stirring my blood, so did the lust.
“Dammit,” I growled, needing to let go of the attraction but not knowing how. I cracked my knuckles a couple of times. Grace winced at the sound so I folded my arms instead. “What did Dalton do, Grace?”
She lifted her chin. “It’s really none of your business, is it?”
I stared at the floor intently, arms still folded as I nodded in agreement. Of course it was none of my business, but that wasn’t going to stop me from digging for answers. “Did he hurt you?”
“So what if he did? Why do you even care? We hardly know each other.”
That was a good question. I wish I knew how to answer it.
Grace’s phone started ringing in my back pocket. Satisfaction ran through my veins when I pulled it out and saw Dalton’s name on the screen.
Her eyes fell to the phone. “Don’t you even— Goddammit, Casey!” she yelled when I tapped the accept button and put the phone to my ear.
“Grace! Thank God!” came the male voice in my ear. Grace froze. Her eyes locked on mine and all I could see was hurt. It fed the anger burning in my chest knowing this man put that look on her face. “You haven’t been answering your phone.”
“Is this Dalton?” I asked.
There was a pause. “Who the fuck is this?”
“That’s not your concern,” I replied as I held Grace’s eyes with mine. Our contact proved impossible to break. “What is your concern is what I’ll do to you if you keep calling Grace. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“What the … Are you fucking kidding me? Put Grace on the phone. Now!” he demanded.
Grace backed up a step, her wide eyes frantic as she shook her head. “I said I wasn’t ready to talk to him!”
“Is that her? Grace!” Dalton yelled.
I shook my head. “She doesn’t want to talk to you, mate, so stop bothering her.”
“She’s my fucking girlfriend, mate. It’s not harassment if all I want to do is talk to her on the phone. Is this about Selena?”
There was a pause when I didn’t answer the question.
“Goddammit. It is, isn’t it? I wouldn’t have fucked her if Grace wasn’t such a cold bitch.”
Grace flinched, obviously hearing his loud words in the quiet corridor. She flushed, soft colour slowly rising in her face before she turned away, hugging her body with obvious embarrassment.
Sonofabitch! My hand gripped the phone so tight it should’ve pulverised into dust. Did he not even know his own girlfriend? In a short space of time, I’d already seen Grace passionate, fiery, funny, and considerate. The one thing she hadn’t been was cold. The fucktard must be living in a parallel dimension.
“If that’s what you think,” I bit out, “then you don’t really know Grace at all, do you?”
“You obviously haven’t fucked her then. Put her on the—”
I cut him off, furious. “You useless sonofabitch! Dial this number one more time and I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.” Simply hanging up the phone wasn’t enough so I hurled it at the wall in a fit of temper. It didn’t feel as good as what punching Dalton in the face would have. There was no satisfaction in one-sided violence against inanimate objects.
The screen cracked on impact before it fell to the ground. Grace knelt, letting out a sob as she grabbed for it.
Only then did it register that I’d just thrown her phone, not my own. I opened my mouth but nothing came out.
She stood up, facing me, and her eyes were wild so I backed up a step. “Are you happy now!” she cried and shoved me in the chest with both hands. “You couldn’t let me handle it, could you? You’ve just gone and made everything worse! Arrghhhh!” Grace threw up her hands, giving me the distinct impression that I’d fucked up. Again. What the hell was wrong with me? “Just stay away from me,” she hissed, pointing a finger in my face. “After tonight, I want to forget you even exist.”
She slid the damaged phone in the pocket of her pretty blue pants and stormed off down the corridor. “Grace!” I called after her. “I’m sorry!” Without turning around, she flipped me off as she kept walking. Seeing her do that made me want to call her back and kiss her until neither of us could breathe. It took me a minute to realise she was heading in the wrong direction. “Grace!” She gave no indication she’d heard me. “You’re going the wrong way.”