The Borrowed Boyfriend (17 page)

When he’d left, Allison confided to Grady, “I might take a glass of that delicious wine later. It will probably knock me right out and make me sleep like a baby.”

Grady nodded and shifted on the sofa, positioning a pillow behind his back.

“You’re sore too, aren’t you?”

“Just a little,” he said, but that sounded like a lie.

“Maybe you should have two glasses of wine.”

Grady laughed. “Maybe tomorrow, I’ll go out and buy us a whole new bottle.”

Allison shyly licked her lips, feeling her face color. “I’d like that.”

Grady settled his gaze on her and something passed between them. He was searching her eyes, looking for something. And Allison found she was searching too. Who was this man, this Grady O’Brien? And how had he suddenly made such a huge impact on her life? It wasn’t just about him saving her; it was about other things too. “Grady,” she said, “I never properly thanked—”

“Please don’t.”

“But I…you…I mean, without you...”

“No, Allison,” he said hoarsely. “Without
you
. Without you nothing would have been the same.”

“And how are the patients?” Queenie’s voice interrupted. She glanced uncertainly at the two of them, understanding she’d intruded. “Oh! Oh, I see… Well, don’t mind Queenie.” She set two goblets of wine on the coffee table before them, then spoke softly, backing away. “Brevard and I opened our merlot. We thought we’d share.”

Grady lifted a glass and handed it to Allison while she nervously fiddled with her hair. Had he just said what she thought he had? Was Grady actually implying…? No, she had to be imagining things. Grady wasn’t interested in her as a girlfriend. Not a real girlfriend anyway. He’d simply come to care about her as a person. Besides that, Grady already had a girlfriend! “So,” Allison said like it was the most natural thing in the world, “how’s Kate?”

Grady stared at the lock of hair Allison had twisted around her finger. “Okay…I guess.”

Allison quickly unwound her hair and placed her hand in a ladylike position on her glass. “You mean, you haven’t spoken with her?”

“Spoken, no.” Grady seemed to hedge. “But we’ve texted.”

“Great!” Allison said a little too brightly. “Maybe I should text her too!”

Grady rolled back his shoulders. “Sure, if you’d like.”

“Ask her how the conference is going?” Allison went on. “Or about the weather in San Francisco, or her flight there or…?” She realized she was babbling and suddenly stopped, cupping a hand to her mouth. “Grady, I’m sorry. All this Kate talk!”

He viewed her curiously. “Well, she’s your roommate. Of course you’re interested.”

“And she’s your”—Carla walked by and Allison caught herself just in time—“sister!”

“Right.” Grady’s eyes trailed Carla as she disappeared down the hall, giving them a little wave. Queenie was in the kitchen busily peeling potatoes and humming, Deb and Patrick were still upstairs and the other men were outside.
 

For a few minutes, Allison and Grady sat silently, listening to the crackling of the fire. “Maybe I should bring in some more logs?” Grady offered.

“I think you’d get in trouble,” Allison warned him. “We’re under strict orders to stay put.”

“I feel like a kid in time-out,” Grady said, and Allison giggled.

“Me too.” She swirled the glass in her hand. “But kids don’t get to drink wine.”

Grady thoughtfully tilted his chin. “No, they don’t.”

Allison impulsively lifted her glass toward his. “Cheers.”

He clinked her glass. “What do we drink to?”

“How about…to Kate?” The instant Allison said it, she regretted it. Why, oh, why couldn’t she stop
talking
about the woman? Allison felt a rush of heat when she realized it had been her conscience speaking. When Grady had looked at her the way he had, she’d
wanted
him to be interested in her romantically. In her heart, she’d wished for it.
 

“To Kate?” Grady frowned and tipped up his glass. He sat still a moment, apparently contemplating something. Then he took a long swallow of wine, as if he were downing a bitter pill. “To Kate it is,” he said at last.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Allison struggled into bed, her bones aching. After enjoying the delicious dinner Queenie and Brevard prepared, they’d graciously excused themselves and retreated to their master suite. Nobody questioned the issue of them being wiped out. What a day! What an experience! “Thanks for letting me take the bed tonight,” she told Grady as he slid into his sleeping bag. Since it was supposed to get colder tonight, he’d worn sweatpants and a T-shirt to sleep in. Allison appreciated his being more modest. Particularly after the thoughts she’d had about him earlier, seeing his bare-chested manliness on display definitely wouldn’t do. Allison needed to find a way to put her attraction to Grady out of her mind, but the more she fought it, the more she seemed to feel it.

He sighed and dropped his head back on the pillow. “I don’t think anything could keep me awake tonight.”

Allison could relate. They’d forgone building a fire and sipping more of Grady’s marvelous Montepulciano in favor of taking mild painkillers and heading to bed. Bruce had supplied a prescription-level ibuprofen that he kept in his bag for emergencies, which he said would help them sleep better. Even Grady hadn’t refused that offer. He must have taken more of a bruising than he’d been willing to admit.

Allison studied him in the lamplight, observing the rugged contours of his face covered by dark stubble. The fact that he hadn’t shaved only added to his sex appeal. Not that Allison was considering Grady and
sex
in the same sentence. Absolutely not. Allison suddenly thought of the condoms in her purse and slapped her forehead. No way. But, yes, she had. She’d sent Grady into her purse after—

“What’s wrong?” he queried, sitting up partway.
 

Allison covered her face with her hands. “The condoms!” came her muffled reply.

Grady sat up fully, drawing up his knees and resting his elbows on them. The sleeping bag scrunched around him, bunching up around his legs. “The condoms. Hmm, yes.” He turned her way and Allison peeked at him from between her fingers. “I meant to ask you about those, actually.”

Allison wanted to die. No, make that double-die. Not really, of course. She’d already had one chance today and
actually
almost dying was no fun. “I totally forgot they were there,” she said, her face infused with heat. “When I asked you to get me my medicine.”

Grady’s eyes twinkled. “Funny thing. I’d kind of forgotten about them too.”

Could Grady tell she liked him? That would make matters so much worse. Maybe he really did believe she’d bought them for him. What kind of person would that make her? Someone who’d intentionally planned to coerce a guy into cheating on his girlfriend?

Allison gave an embarrassed moan. “I know you don’t believe me, but they really were for Kate. She asked me to buy them because I was already going to the pharmacy.”

“I know. That’s what you said.”

Allison shot him a desperate look and put on her most innocent face. “Grady, I couldn’t have…wouldn’t have… I mean, that’s just not the sort of thing I’d do—or prepare for. I mean, you’re seeing my roommate!”

“And she’s your good friend.” Well, Allison didn’t consider Kate a
good
friend. It wasn’t like they hung out together very often. Apart from the girls’ nights they undertook with mutual friends, Allison and Kate rarely did anything together at all. There was nothing the matter with Kate. She and Allison just didn’t naturally gravitate toward the same interests…or values, Allison thought with a frown. Here, Grady thought Kate was so loyal. If he only knew. Once again, Allison decided it wasn’t her place to tell him. There were certain things that had to be between Grady and Kate. It wasn’t up to Allison to get in the middle. Besides, what if she’d somehow misinterpreted things, and Kate wasn’t as bad as she thought? “More to the point,” she answered. “Kate’s your
girl
friend.”

Grady heaved a sigh. “Yeah, well… We’ll see about that when I get home.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Grady held her gaze for an extended beat and Allison’s heart hammered.
 

“Allison…” he asked thoughtfully. “When did you buy those condoms for Kate?”

“Oh, I…” She was thrown by the question. “What?”

“I mean, how long ago?”

“I don’t remember. Sometime last week. She said she, um…” Allison felt herself flush. “Needed them for your trip.”

“Our trip to Jamaica?”

“That’s what I assumed.”

“But that was canceled by Saturday.”

“Yeah? So?”

“So, if she asked you to get them after that, then they weren’t for our trip. I mean, not her trip with me.”

Allison worked the puzzle in her mind. Did Grady suspect Kate was cheating on him?
 

Grady rubbed the side of his cheek. “If only I knew the date of that purchase.”

“There might be a receipt in my purse!”

Grady locked on her gaze with a serious look. Then he lifted her purse from beside the chair and handed it to her. Allison sat up and took it, opening it up and digging around inside. “Yes! Here it is.” She glanced at him and his face fell, like he already knew the answer. “Tuesday.”

“Of course it was Tuesday,” Grady said with a bitter edge. “I knew they couldn’t have been for me.”

Allison’s head reeled. “What do you mean?” she asked softly.

“Kate and I don’t…” He hung his head.

What? They didn’t?
“But your arrangement. You’re exclusive.”

“Kate and I cut a deal, but it doesn’t include sex.”

Allison feared the worst. Had Grady been injured or incapacitated somehow? Was it even possible he didn’t like…?

He evenly met her gaze. “I’m not gay, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

It didn’t make sense. A big, sexy guy like him. “Then, why?”

“One word.” He turned away, his expression pained. “Meg.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Allison feared she’d pried too deeply and had pushed Grady into revealing things he didn’t want to. “Grady, I’m sorry. It’s not any of my business. I never should have asked.”

His face was dark and stormy, and he seemed miles away. “We were engaged to be married,” he uttered, as if on autopilot. “I thought we were in love.” Grady swallowed hard. “That…she loved me.”

“I don’t see how she couldn’t—”

“Well, she didn’t. Not really,” Grady snapped. “I found the two of them together. Meg and Trevor, my
ex
–best friend.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and paused. When he met her gaze, his eyes were steely. “Trevor was going to be my best man, can you believe that? I mean,
the best man and the bride—
what a stinking cliché.”

Allison’s heart broke for him. She couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be deceived that badly by two people you loved. She struggled to offer some words of comfort, or wisdom, but all she came up with was a heartfelt, “Oh, Grady…”

“Yeah, it was bad. But I’m a big boy, you know? I got over it.”

Emotion welled within her and she longed to put her arms around him. “How?”

Grady set his chin. “By moving to Marydale,” he said with determination, “that’s how. It was the perfect job, and the perfect opportunity to get away from Seattle and those—”

“Memories,” she whispered in sympathy.

He met her gaze with a sad smile. “I was going to say
people,
but yeah, same difference.”

Allison was hesitant to ask him more, but she had the sense he wanted to talk about it. That maybe he needed
to confide in someone.

“I haven’t told this to anyone,” he said, underscoring her thoughts. “Thank you for listening. Maybe I needed to get it out.”

“And Kate?” she asked carefully. “How did she come into the picture?”

“Like a bulldozer, quite frankly.”

His candor made Allison laugh, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

“It’s okay to agree,” he said with a touch of melancholy. “Let’s just say I didn’t know what I was getting into. Or maybe I did. Or thought I did, anyway.”

Grady inhaled deeply, then let out a breath. “Kate was the solution to a lot of my problems. When I arrived in Marydale, I wasn’t in the dating mood, and yet…”

His words fell off and Allison guessed, “There were interested ladies?”

“A few,” Grady acquiesced. “In any case, there was that…and then there were all those business dinners and events.”

“You needed a partner.”

“In certain ways, yes. But I wasn’t ready for anything deeper. I explained this to Kate and she agreed. We worked out a deal to keep each other company, and appear as a couple when situations demanded it.”

“But all those trips?”

“Kate arranged them, and truthfully I didn’t mind. It was good to get away once in a while and take my mind off the job. Especially since it was clear there were no strings attached. Though that’s not the picture Kate wanted to paint for her sister.”