her back pain and the slight stubble on her legs that she hadn’t been able to shave would be worth it.
He brushed his lips along her neck and then scraped his teeth over her fluttering pulse.
“It’s worth it. It’s definitely worth it,” she said.
He pulled back and studied her, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “What’s worth it, Grace?”
“Uh… dealing with a little backache in exchange for your glorious kisses?” Her face burned with heat.
He chuckled. “Glorious, huh? That’s some serious praise.”
“I just call it like I see it.” She took a tiny step forward and pressed her entire body to his, somehow managing to avoid the shooting pain from seizing her back. Maybe his kisses were just glorious enough to be magical. Whatever worked, right?
“Damn.” He let out a breath and then kissed her with so much passion she felt the rush of pleasure all the way to her toes. With her head cloudy with lust, Grace was seconds from inviting him back to her bedroom when he said, “I came by to let you know that Gigi called the office. She wants to take another look at the Victorian.”
Grace took a tiny step back, startled that he was talking about work. “Gigi wants to see the house? When?”
“Today. In a half hour,” he said.
“Oh, hell.” Grace stepped away from him, and in the process took too big of a step and yelped in pain as she froze. “Dammit!”
“Grace,” Owen said gently. “I’m going to meet Vince and Gigi for you. Then I’ll come back and fill you in on how it went.”
“I can’t miss the showing. That’s my property,” she said, but tears had stung the backs of her eyes because she had no idea how she was going to drive or even ride in a car without curling up in the back just to find a comfortable enough spot.
“Yes, it’s still your listing. But please, just let me do this favor for you. How about I pick up some dinner on the way back and we can finally have that date you had to postpone?”
“Date?” Had he lost his mind? She was an invalid who couldn’t even make it to the couch without breaking into a sweat. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I can barely move. What are we going to do on this date?”
That sexy half smile was back when he said, “I think we can figure something out. How about it, Grace? I’ll grab some sushi and we can have a quiet night in. It’ll be a nice change from the wild wedding weekend.”
All she heard was wild weekend. Visions of strippers and hot bridesmaids filled her mind.
“Grace?” he asked when she didn’t answer him. “Can I bring dinner by afterward?”
“Oh, sure. You said sushi, right?”
“If you’re up for that.” He frowned. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” She forced a smile. “I’m just distracted about the Victorian. I hate not being there when clients do their walk-throughs. You know how it is. Want to stay on top of my job.”
“Right.” He nodded but looked skeptical. “You don’t need to worry. You know that, right? I’m not going to try to steer her to another property. That’s not my style.”
“Huh?” she asked, startled. “That’s not… I wasn’t thinking that.” Holy crow. She was messing this all up. “Listen, Owen. I’m sorry. I’m kind of a mess after being stuck in bed for three days. I really appreciate you showing the house for me and bringing dinner back. I like rainbow rolls and yellow tail sashimi. Pretty much anything, but those are my favorites.”
He smiled at her and gently brushed a lock of hair from her eyes that had fallen from her bun. “No need to thank me. I’m happy to help.” Then he leaned in and gave her a kiss so tender it nearly brought tears to her eyes. The good kind of tears. He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone and whispered, “Don’t you dare get dressed while I’m gone. I really want the opportunity to admire this robe when I get back.”
Grace grinned at him. “I think that can be arranged.”
After Owen left, Lex appeared in the living room. “Well. That was hot.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” Grace said with a dreamy sigh.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Uncle Bill look at you like that,” Lex said. “Was he romantic like that back when you were dating?”
“No. Bill was never romantic. Kind and sweet, yes. But romantic? Never,” she said. Then she tilted her