Grace (The Family Simon #5)- Juliana Stone Page 0,83

Her Rookie.

“Merry Christmas,” Matt said slowly. “You look—“

She didn’t give him a chance to answer. She took that last step forward and claimed his mouth. Grace kissed Matt as if she was dying and he responded in kind. The fact that they stood in front of hundreds of strangers didn’t matter because, in that moment, they were in a world of their own.

When she finally came up for air, the band had kicked into another set of Christmas music. Aware that a great many of the patrons were still looking at them, and that her family stood several feet away, Grace grabbed Matt’s hand.

“Come with me.”

She kissed Rookie and handed him off to Betty Jo (who’d appeared from nowhere) and then led Matt to the kitchen. The staff was preparing to serve the buffet and they looked up in surprise as Grace and Matt strode through. She didn’t stop walking until she reached a small alcove near the kitchen manager’s office.

“I’m mad at you,” she said, whirling around. “So…” She could barely speak. “So mad.”

For a second, surprise lit his eyes and then a slow, sexy smile drifted across his face. “Bluebell, if that’s the greeting I get when you’re mad, then I hope you’re mad at me for the rest of our lives.”

“I wanted to be the one to surprise you.”

“What do you mean?” His finger traced her exposed collarbone and she had a hard time concentrating.

“I was planning on going home with Betty and Beau.”

“You were?” Now his mouth was tracing the path his fingers had just travelled.

Chest heaving, Grace took a moment. “I was.”

He kissed his way up to her jaw. “And what were you going to do when you got to New Waterford?”

“I was going to…” She groaned and told him that he missed a spot. When he nipped at her earlobe, she shivered. “I was going to have my way with you.”

“What exactly does that mean?” His tongue swept across her ear and then he blew on her, sending a host of shivers rolling across her skin.

“Oh God, you have to stop that.”

Mouth dry, her hands crept up to his face and she held him steady so that she could look into his eyes. This was it. Crunch time. There was so much she wanted to say and she had every intention of saying all of it, but Matt Hawkins did something unexpected.

He pressed his forefinger to her lips and whispered “my turn” into her ear.

His dark eyes glittered and that sensual mouth swept one last kiss across her skin. He stared down at her for a few moments and then cradled her head in his large hands.

“I love you.”

Her heart was going to explode. She would die here. In his arms. Because her heart couldn’t take this.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you and all that blue hair. And I’m sorry that it’s taken me this long to get my shit together.” He flashed a smile, but she saw worry in his eyes. “Truthfully my shit isn’t all that together. Justin is living with me and, uh, I’m not sure how you feel about that.”

“How I feel?” She wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“How you feel about sharing a home with two men. We’ve got stuff to deal with. Justin’s pretty screwed up and he reminds me a lot of myself, but I can’t turn my back on him. I’m all he’s got and you’re what I need so…”

That stupid, stupid, lump was back in her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut as she desperately tried to keep herself above water. Her knees were shaking and if Matt wasn’t holding her, Grace was pretty sure she’d be a mess of red silk spread all over the floor.

“Yes,” she finally managed to say. It came out more like a squeak and she wasn’t sure Matt heard her. Her eyes opened and she smiled tremulously. “Yes, I’ll live with you.”

He frowned a bit, and shook his head. “That’s not what I’m asking.”

“Oh. I…” Crap. How had she got this all wrong? Embarrassed, she attempted to look away but she couldn’t—on account of those large, warm, hands that still had her trapped.

“I want to marry you, Bluebell. I want everyone to know that you’re mine. Because I can’t imagine my life without you and, right now, I can’t remember what it was like before I met you. And I never thought I’d meet a woman who had the