Love Lessons
Authors: Cathryn Fox
Love Lessons
Cathryn Fox
Love Lessons
Copyright 2015 by Cathryn Fox
Published by Cathryn Fox
Edited by Theresa Cole
Cover Design
CrocoDesigns
Formatting by
IRONHORSE Formatting
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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First edition January 2015.
ISBN: 978-1-928056-13-3
Table of Contents
Grace Bennett, creator of the comic strip,
Kate Can’t Date
, crumpled up the sheet of paper in front of her and grumbled under her breath as she tossed it into her overflowing trashcan. As it fell out and rolled across the floor of her cubicle—or rather, the floor of her pod, since she considered herself and everyone else who worked behind those ugly orange wall partitions as pod people—she recalled the staff’s morning editorial meeting and how her boss, Audrey, had singled her out.
Next week’s comic strip has to be about falling in love. Your characters need to grow up, Grace. Instead of writing about funny things that happen on dates, I want you to write about endearing things that happen in love. Next week’s Valentine’s issue is the perfect time for
Kate Can’t Date
to take the next step into adulthood.
Valentine Schmalentine!
If there was one thing Grace couldn’t write—or draw—about, it was couples falling in love, which was why her comic strip was a satirical take on dating and mating. After all, one had to write about what one knew, right? And here in Deerfield, Alberta, where the pickings were slim to none, she was more likely to run into a moose at her favorite nightclub than the love of her life—which made it rather difficult to write about the adorable little things that supposedly happened between two people in love.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
She grabbed another sheet of paper and tried again. When she looked at her lame attempt to draw love, what she saw was some idiot standing on Kate’s doorstep, holding a wilted bouquet of flowers and a half-eaten box of chocolates. She gave an exaggerated sigh and gazed out her small sliver of an office window, thankful she actually had one in her pod.
Cold February wind whistled outside, blowing up a light dusting of snow in front of her frosty pane. Hugging herself to ward off a chill, Grace stared off into the distance and caught sight of Stone Cliff Resort, a vacation destination that beckoned travelers from all over the world. Fresh stock came in daily at Stone Cliff, all dressed in tight ski pants and ready to hit the slopes. Her fingers drummed on the sleeve of her blouse. Perhaps she should venture up to the lodge to see if she could find true love. Then again, most who vacationed at the resort during Valentine’s weekend were either committed couples or newlyweds, and truthfully, if she really wanted to find the right guy, she should probably stop thinking of them as fresh stock.
She glanced up to see her smokin’ hot co-worker, who also happened to be her neighbor and very best friend, coming toward her. Grace tapped her pencil on her desk as she watched Mr. Hot Pants himself walk with that easy confidence that drove women wild. Black dress pants hung low on his hips, tightening over hewn thighs with each sexy swagger. His button-down shirt rasped across broad shoulders, showcasing a firm body that had the opposite sex shedding their panties in record time.
Nathan Wright. Nate. Chick bait. Chick bait who knows how to date.
Yeah, this was the kind of thing she did when she had writer’s block.
Regardless, unlike her, Nate most definitely
did
know how to date. He also knew how to fall in love, which—if the gossip around the water cooler could be believed, not to mention the noises she heard between their paper thin apartment walls—he was known to do every other weekend. Of course, none of those relationships ever lasted very long, but at least he knew how to fall in love and was clearly having great sex. The perma-smile on his handsome face was a true testament to that. Damned if she didn’t want to be having hot, break-the-headboard sex, too. The last guy she climbed into bed with went down on her like he was munching on one of Albert’s famous prime rib roasts. Cripes, she was about to ask if he needed a knife and fork.
“Hey Gracie,” Nate said, as he approached.
She warmed at the lazy yet sexy way her name rolled off his tongue.
Gracie…
She’d always gone by Grace, but for some reason, he was the only guy she ever let get away with cutsey-fying it. Yeah, okay, so she wasn’t immune to his charm, either. But they were friends and had been working across the hall from one another at the Gazette since they both graduated university and moved to Deerfield a little over a year ago. For Nate, the oldest of four boys, the small town was home, and his folks still lived in a quaint bungalow the brothers had all grown up in. For Grace, the mountain town was hundreds of miles away from the east coast suburb where she’d grown up, a place she called home, even though it lacked the warmth, comfort, and loving parents most associated with a home.
Nate, on the other hand, had grown up with everything she’d ever wanted, and she often joined him and his family when they all gathered for their big Sunday dinner. They welcomed her with open arms and treated her like she was one of their own. Grace was an only child, and while she loved the camaraderie, teasing jibes, and friendly rivalry among siblings, it also made her long for what he had all that much more. If she ever found herself walking down the aisle—and with the way things were going, she didn’t see that happening anytime soon—she’d want it to be with a guy who had what Nate had, so she could have one big crazy-ass family of her own.
Grace and Nate hung out often, but he had never looked at her as anything more than a friend. Then again, there were times he joked about taking her out, but she knew he was teasing. They were good friends, completely at ease with each other, and when they both ended up dateless on a Friday night, as they often did, they usually ended up eating pizza and watching scary movies together. Even though he was more of an action-packed, blow-things-up kind of guy, he always let her have her pick of shows. Probably because he loved watching her get scared so he could tease her. Regardless, she loved horror movies, and he always let her snuggle in to him when something really frightened her.
Now that she thought about it, they’d been hanging out together a lot more often lately—no doubt because she was on a dry spell, and he felt sorry for her. She’d even considered taking him up on his offer to take her out, but didn’t want to make things uncomfortable between them, forcing him to spend time with her on an actual date when he wasn’t serious. Whenever he asked, she always came back with some smart-assed comment to keep things between them light and easy. Besides, with a little too much junk in her trunk and wiggle in her thighs, she was about as far from his type as a girl could get, which was, she surmised, why he’d never paid her a lick of attention sexually.
Damn. She really wished she hadn’t just thought of licking and Nate in the same sentence.
He plunked himself down on the edge of her desk and handed her a much needed mug of coffee.
“Thanks,” she said and wrapped her cold hands around the warm mug. She took a sip and released a happy sigh. French vanilla latté with whipped cream, her favorite, and bless Nate for knowing that. Nothing in the world tasted better. Seriously. She flicked her tongue out and licked the cream, and while all that sugary sweetness wasn’t helping that thigh situation she’d just lamented over, right now, she didn’t care. She had more important things to worry about, like her job.
“You looked like you needed a cup,” he said, scrubbing his hand over the sexy scruff on his chin.
She peeked at him over the rim. “What gave it away, the curses rolling down the hall or the pile of crumbled up paper in the trash?”
He leaned close and she caught his scent. Damn the man smelled good—like clean soap, fresh laundry, and something uniquely Nate. The combination of the three brought heat to her face, among other parts of her body.
Needy parts that Nate could sate.
She took another huge drink of her coffee to smother a moan but only ended up burning her damn tongue. But a blister was better than Nate knowing how he truly affected her. Nate thought of her as his asexual friend only, and she didn’t want to ruin what they had or cause tension in their relationship by making her interests obvious.
His brow furrowed as those clear blue eyes moved over her face. “You okay?” he asked.
“Just bummed at what Audrey said at the meeting this morning about next week’s comic having to be about Kate falling in love.” She gave him an exasperated look. “I have no idea what love looks like, so I sure as hell can’t draw it.”
If only she could do next week’s strip on lust. Yeah, she definitely knew what lust was, considering it was sitting right next to her and staring her in the face. She could whip out a three-page-spread on lust. But best to keep that tidbit to herself, so she shut her mouth and quietly admired Mr. Hot Pants from her chair instead.
He went quiet for a moment, thoughtful, the familiar sexy grin on his gorgeous mouth gone. “I could show you what love looks like,” he said softly.
She dropped her paper and was about to burst out laughing when she caught the seriousness in his eyes.
Oh, God.
Serious Nate was ten times sexier! Confused, she set her coffee down and held her hands out at her sides. “How can you possibly teach me anything about love or what it looks like?”
He glanced at the scribbling she’d jotted down moments ago and made a face that suggested she was in a whole lot of trouble. He lifted it from her desk, took a closer look, then shook his head.
“Well, if you think some guy handing a girl half a box of candy and dead flowers on Valentine’s is what love looks like, you need more help than I thought.”
She snatched the sheet from him and wadded it up into a tight ball. Honestly, how could she know what love looked like? Her mind went back to her upbringing. Her father had left when she was only two, and her mother had been alone ever since, burying herself in her job and paying little attention to the girl that needed her love, affection, and guidance so badly. For as long as Grace could remember, she had done everything on her own and had always taken care of herself. Cripes, no wonder she was so jaded. Without a good role model or personal experiences of love to draw on, she honestly had no idea how to recognize it when she saw it.
“Jesus Nate, you don’t have to be so…so honest.” She drew back her arm and lobbed the wad of paper toward the trash, the force behind the toss knocking several more out of the can.
He laughed and gave an easy roll of one shoulder. “Sorry,” he said. “But I call it as I see it.”
“Well, the way I see it, I’m going to be out of a job if I don’t figure this out soon.”
“Which means you should take me up on my offer and put yourself in my hands, because you obviously need me more than you realize.”
Oh, I realize just how much I need you, thank you very much. As far as putting myself in your hands, well…
She pushed back in her chair and folded her arms, ready to hear him out, purely out of curiosity.
Right
, a little voice in the back of her head taunted. “So tell me exactly how you plan to teach me about love.”
His sexy grin returned, and she crossed her legs to stop herself from handing him her panties.
“Why don’t you leave that up to me,” he said.