The Borrowed Boyfriend (11 page)

They waved and said their good nights, then scurried up the stairs, Deb giggling ahead of Patrick as he trailed her. Grady also watched them disappear, then turned to Allison with a suggestive grin. “Ready for bedtime, darling?”

Allison’s cheeks blazed. “Yeah, I’m beat.”

“Let’s hope you’re not
too
tired,” Queenie called from the kitchen.

 
Carla hooted. “Have fun, you two!”

“See you in the morning,” Bruce said.

Brevard nodded politely. “Good night.”

Grady impulsively reached for Allison and she stared aghast at his outstretched hand. This absolutely had to stop.
 

The foursome in the kitchen eyed her with curiosity when she hesitated.

Well, fine.

She slapped her palm into Grady’s so hard the sound
popped.

He tightened his grip on her fingers and pulled her toward the bedroom, giving the others a cheery wave. “See you in the morning!”

Chapter Fourteen

Allison shut the door behind her and huffed loudly. “Okay, Grady, let’s make one thing clear.” To his astonishment, she appeared perturbed. Hey, he was the one with the stinging hand. All right, so maybe hers was smarting too. She’d really walloped him. “This is a hands-off arrangement, remember?”

He glanced at his palm, which burned bright red. “Come on, it was for show and you know it.”

“And on the porch?” She set her hands on her hips and challenged him with piercing blue eyes. “I don’t think Kate would have appreciated it. Either time. Do you?”

Grady felt awash with shame. She was correct, of course. There was no way around it. He resisted the urge to check his cell to see if he’d heard back from Kate, deciding to take a peek later. “No, I don’t suppose she would have approved, but Allison…”

“Yes, Grady?” She took a step toward him and his pulse pounded. Her cheeks were flushed and little wisps of hair had escaped from her ponytail band, framing her face. It was an angelic face, prettier than he’d ever noticed. Then again, he’d never stood this close.

Grady swallowed past the lump in his throat. He’d been about to say that sometimes things happen. That those had been impulsive moves made on the spur of the moment, and he hadn’t thought things through. But what would that say about him? That he couldn’t keep himself under control? Talk about mixed signals! Those certainly weren’t the ones he wanted to send. Grady normally wasn’t prone to such unstoppable surges of emotion. So what about Allison had sent his heart racing and his judgment askew? He shook his head, determined to do better. “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Good.”

He attempted to soften the moment by highlighting one of his successes. “I think the wine gifts went well.”

The little tension lines around her eyes eased. “Yeah, they were excellent. How did you know? I mean, which wine to give to whom? And furthermore,” she said, adding a thought, “where did you keep them? I didn’t see any wine bottles in the car.”

“They were in my backpack, along with the other one.”

“Which other one?”

“The one I brought for you…us…but you mostly. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”

She blinked at him, obviously touched. This was clearly a turn she hadn’t expected. “You brought me a gift?”

Grady could still pull a rabbit or two out of his hat, even if he had ticked her off with the hand-holding. He strode to his backpack and lifted it off the bed, unzipping it. “I really just guessed with the other wines, but this one I picked out specially. I hope I got it right.” He reached into the backpack and took out a top-quality wine from the region in Italy where Allison had studied. He’d asked Kate about it, and she’d said Tuscany. He handed the bottle to Allison. “I thought you might like the label.”

She gripped the bottle with two hands and gave a happy gasp. “I can’t believe it! This is from the first vineyard I ever visited.”

Grady grinned. “Then I guess I made a good call.”

Allison stared at the bottle agog, spinning it around slowly to study every inch of its packaging. The label was elegant and artistic, and just the sort Allison might have designed herself. Grapevines heavy with fruit climbed a trellis framing the rustic wooden door of a villa, while blue and purple mountains rolled gently in the distance, meeting a grenadine sky. The font was Century Gothic and exquisite, perfectly picking up the hue of the red roof tiles and lending the name of the vineyard a stylish pop of color.

She gave a breathy sigh. “It’s almost too pretty to open.”
 

“We can open it later if you want. Or you can save it and take it home.”

She locked on his gaze and her eyes glistened. “This is a really wonderful surprise. Thank you.” Allison bit into her lip, considering. “You know what? I think we should open it now. Of course, we’d have to get a corkscrew from the kitchen.”

“No need.” He extracted a Swiss Army knife from the front pocket of his backpack and flipped out the corkscrew portion. “Wine steward, at your service,” he said with a flourish.

Allison laughed lightly. “In that case, I think we should each have a glass tonight—to celebrate your getting through all those introductions unscathed.”

“That bit with Kate nearly tripped us up.” He grimaced in apology. “Sorry.”

“Your sister!” Allison giggled. “That was fast thinking.”

“Yeah, thank
you
for thinking of it.”
 

“No one can accuse me
of not thinking on my feet.”

“That was some pretty fancy sidestepping you did.”

“You too. I noticed how you left Kate out of your travel discussions at dinner.”

“Was she on those trips with me?” Grady questioned playfully. “Really?”

Allison laughed again, but this time it was a deep belly laugh. Grady loved seeing Allison like this, all lit up and happy. “I have to admit the evening was kind of fun,” she said. “It was certainly a relief not having to make small talk with a total stranger.”
 

Having met Allison’s friends, it was hard to imagine how they’d ever put Allison through that. They must have somehow convinced themselves they were doing the right thing. “I’m sure that was hard, Allison. You’re a trouper for surviving those occasions and living to talk about them.”

“I’d rather not,” she said with a blush. “Talk about them, I mean. They were all such horrible disasters. Especially the last one.”

“The guy who got to sleep in your room?”

“Uggh! Please, don’t remind me!”

“That bad, huh?”

Allison shook her head at the memory. “He slept on the floor, but kept trying to move into the bed—all night long.”

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes,” she replied, “and for seven nights running. I didn’t sleep a wink all week.”

“This trip will be different,” Grady assured her. “You’re guaranteed to get plenty of shut-eye.”

“Especially after a nice glass of wine,” she agreed, handing the bottle back to him. “Why don’t you open it? I’ll get a couple of glasses from the bathroom.”

“Good idea. I’ll set it out to breathe while I grab the sleeping bag from the car. The coast should be clear now.”

“Yeah, particularly since we’ve got our own private door,” Allison said. Then she added, “Maybe you should go around the other side of the house, rather than walking past the kitchen windows, just in case they’re still in there?”

A few minutes later, Grady made his way around the side of the house, grateful he’d scored with the wine gifts. Not just with Allison’s friends, but also with Allison herself. She’d seemed genuinely pleased by the Montepulciano, and Grady was glad he’d chosen well. That beautiful little bottle would prove a lovely entrée into Grady’s discussion with Allison about the wine label industry. He could get her to open up a bit more about her business and he could hint at Total Wines’ international expansion. He’d need to ease into his interest in Allison’s company, so he certainly wouldn’t mention it tonight. Still, there were things he could do to pave the way for smoother sailing during the negotiations that were bound to occur in time.

Grady reached his car, noting several of the lights in the cottage’s windows had been extinguished, indicating the other couples had gone to bed. He’d genuinely enjoyed meeting Allison’s friends and didn’t envision having any problem getting along with them during this trip. However, his primary mission was winning over Allison. As his
fake girlfriend,
Grady reminded himself sternly. Not an actual one. It was Allison’s friendship that he was really after. He wanted her to trust him so she’d be more open to talking business. Meanwhile, he had a legitimate girlfriend in San Francisco. He tugged his cell from his pocket and checked it, seeing Kate hadn’t replied. Perhaps her flight had been delayed and she was running behind in getting to her hotel and checking in.

Grady pressed his key remote and popped open his trunk, lifting the sleeping bag and bedroll out of it. He felt a tad guilty about Allison sleeping on the floor, even though she had agreed to it. Her last beach trip had apparently been a disaster, and he’d promised she’d get more rest this time. It wouldn’t kill him to take the sleeping bag. It was the gentlemanly thing to do, and the gesture also might win more points with Allison. Grady never got involved in any games he couldn’t win, and he was determined to come out ahead in this endeavor. Naturally, a deal would benefit Bella Fortuna Wine Designs as well. Grady just had to find the right method for helping Allison see that.

Grady was nearly back to the house when a dark figure emerged from around the corner, nearly running smack into him. “Whoa!”

“Oh! Sorry!” It was Bruce, holding an armload of firewood.

“Bruce!” Grady said with surprise. “I…we… Allison and I thought everyone had gone to bed.”

“Queenie and Brevard turned in,” Bruce explained. “Carla and I decided to stay up awhile and have some of that merlot you brought by the fire.” His gaze roamed over the bedroll and sleeping bag in Grady’s grasp. “Planning a campout?”

Grady blanched. This obviously didn’t look good. What could he say?

Bruce shocked him by leaning forward with a husky whisper. “No worries, man. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Ah, well. Thanks.” Grady mentally kicked himself. How could he break the news to Allison that their jig was already up? It was only their first night here!

Next, Bruce stunned him with another revelation. “Carla and I used to do that too,” he confided, keeping his voice down. “Sneak down to the beach late at night.” He appeared pensive a moment. “It was pretty romantic actually. We haven’t done that in a long time. That’s what happens when you’re an old married couple, I suppose.” He slapped Grady firmly on the shoulder. “Anyway! Have fun!”

“Right. Uh-huh. Will do!” Grady said, his face steaming.

Chapter Fifteen

Allison found a set of glasses on the double vanity in the very fancy bathroom, with its super plush towels folded elegantly over brushed steel towel racks. The fixtures were top-drawer, and the classic claw-foot tub was fantastic. She was a bit road weary and achy from the long drive. A nice hot soak would feel terrific. Still, the idea of Grady being right outside the door while she was covered in suds, but otherwise naked from head to toe, made her flush all over. It was absurd to think that way and Allison knew it. She hadn’t worried over this silliness with any of her previous blind date fix-ups. Then again, this was the first time Allison had been appointed the master suite, with its very own, private bathroom. When she and her date had shared a hall bath with other couples, the situation had not felt nearly as intimate.

Allison conceded to herself that today had gone better than expected. Though she’d been a nervous wreck on the road, once she and Grady had arrived at the beach house, she’d been more comfortable. Never mind that Allison was pulling a big fat one over on her friends. Since none were aware of the ruse, it had no real impact on any of them. What mattered was that Grady had been accepted by her friends with open arms, as she’d suspected he would be. All she and Grady had to do now was continue their couple act for six more days—and nights.

Allison was glad the awkwardness about her former blind date sleeping on the floor had come up. That had given her and Grady a chance to discuss it, and get any miscommunications out of the way. Allison didn’t anticipate any trouble with Grady. While he was clearly assertive in business, she didn’t judge him to be the physically aggressive sort. He was also a lot more thoughtful than she’d imagined. His bringing wine to her friends had been such a nice touch, and the bottle he’d selected just for her had really moved her. Kate was fond of saying Grady didn’t pay attention to things, but she was so wrong. From Allison’s perspective, Grady was a very keen observer of many details, including particular ones pertaining to her.

Allison recalled their pit stops on the road, musing over the way Grady had seemed to know very specific things about her: how she took her coffee and liked her eggs. Those certainly weren’t big deals, but they’d made Allison sit up and take notice…shortly before she’d dumped her purse contents all over the floor, she remembered with a rapid blush. Perhaps one day she’d look back at that incident and laugh about it. She wasn’t there yet. Allison heard the outside door pop open and stepped into the bedroom, seeing that Grady had just entered carrying the bedroll and sleeping bag.