Grace for Drowning(51)

Joy stared for several seconds, weighing my words, then gave a quick nod. Apparently I'd passed the test.

Her smile reappeared. "Well, good. Just keep in mind, you'll be answering to me if you're lying. You may be some hotshot in the ring, but we fight street rules, out here. You'll never even see me coming."

I laughed. "I believe you."

Half an hour later, I was out on the sidewalk with Grace, lips locked together. My hands had started around her hips, but it had only taken a matter of seconds for them to gravitate downwards. I swear to God, that ass was fucking magnetic. I could have played with it for hours. In fact, I planned to.

After what was probably far longer than appropriate in public, I broke away. "So I'll see you at the gym?"

Disappointment flashed across her face, although she hid it well. "Sure."

We may not have had much time together, but we had plenty of opportunities to sneak in a quick fuck after work. I think if it were up to her, that's exactly what we'd have been doing. But despite the fact that certain parts of me were vocal advocates for that course of action, I'd held off. It felt too cheap, too familiar, like all those throwaway relationships I'd had in the past. Obviously the dinner and movie plan was beyond me, but that didn't mean we couldn't have some semblance of a normal relationship. Thankfully, after a week of negotiating, I'd finally changed shifts so we both had tomorrow off for a quiet evening on the sofa. Twenty four hours, and that body was mine.

"Do I need to bring anything to your place?" she asked.

I gave her a playful little slap. "Just this...and maybe some chips."

She laughed. "Ass and chips. Got it."





*****





For the entire next day, I could barely concentrate. Normally, nothing can distract me once I slip into the zone, but today all I could think about was Grace's hot little body and all the things I wanted to do to her. It was driving me fucking crazy.

I left the gym a little early to give my house a once over. It was the first time Grace had been to my place, so I wanted to make a good impression. I'm not messy, but I'm also not the most social person, so my place usually isn't in a state to receive guests. Thankfully it didn't take long. I've always lived a pretty minimalist life. In the army, you don't have much beyond what you can carry on your back and I've continued that philosophy out of habit. It doesn't look fancy, but it makes cleaning a breeze.

As I looked over the Spartan furnishing of my living room — bare walls, dull carpet, just a television, a sofa and a coffee table for adornment — I tried to picture it through her eyes. It wasn't exactly the friendliest place. In fact it kind of had the look of one of those bare bones serial killer apartments from Law and Order. I briefly entertained the idea of ducking back out to buy a rug or something, but I had no idea what the fuck I'd be looking for. They didn't exactly teach interior decorating at the academy. She was just going to have to take me as I was.

About thirty minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey yourself," I replied. Despite how casual our plans were, she'd clearly put some effort into dressing up. She was wearing a tight little red dress that clung everywhere and barely covered the top half of her thighs. It wasn't cut too low in the chest, but the slim shoulder straps also made it fairly clear she wasn't wearing a bra.

I swallowed hard. "You normally watch movies dressed like that?"

"You don't like it?" she asked coyly.

"I most definitely do like it. I'm just worried about how much watching is going to get done."

"I can restrain myself if you can." There was a mischievous glint in her eye. She knew what she was doing to me. I'd made her wait, and now she was getting a little revenge. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

She held up a bag of chips, then turned on her side and popped her ass out. "As requested," she said, dragging out the "s" just a fraction longer.

It took a ridiculous amount of effort to keep my hands by my sides. That dress was in serious danger of ending up a shredded heap on the floor.

"Thanks," I replied, taking the chips and doing my best to keep my eyes on her face. "Come in."

Despite the fact that I stepped aside, she managed to brush up against me as she walked past. And just like that, I was hard. Did she want me to bend her over and fuck her in the doorway? Because that's where this was headed.

"Welcome to my humble home," I said.

"It's nice," she replied, scanning the room.

I shrugged. "I wouldn't go that far. It does the job."

"Hey, it's got a sofa, a TV and you." She smiled. "It'll do just fine." She headed toward the far doorway. "Of course I'll have to inspect the kitchen. That's where you learn all the real secrets about a person."