That's all Nick could think about these days. He wanted to have sex with Grace. He really, really wanted to have sex with Grace. And he had hoped that he would last night. But apparently, it was going to be another week at least.
AJ had laughed at him when Nick said they couldn't have sex until the cast came off. AJ said it was her ankle that was broken, not her...well, he hadn't elaborated on that. The look on Nick's face had warned him that vulgarity wouldn't be appreciated. But AJ hadn't seen her when it first happened, so fragile and so hurt. Nick knew that no matter what anyone said, he couldn't make love to her until the cast was off. But man, the day that happened...
And Grace felt the same way. At least, Nick thought she did. Whenever they messed around, got each other totally hot and bothered, and then pulled back, Nick would mention the cast and Grace would say she was counting the days too. Like last night, after the club… Nick could feel himself hardening at the thought of it. Necking and petting on her couch like a couple of high school kids afraid their parents would walk in. His hand wandered down below the sheet. He stroked himself idly.
Nick wondered if it was as hard for women as it was for men. He was the first to admit that he didn't know squat about women. But he wondered what they did after a session like that. He had come right home and 'dealt himself a hand', as Brian used to say back in the pre-Leighanne days. Nick wondered if Grace had too. The image that conjured up for him made him stiffen rapidly. He closed his eyes and pictured Grace's hands wandering over her body. He remembered their phone call from New York. His hand movements became more frenzied. He came with a grunt and a moan and a sighing of her name. He leaned his head back on the pillow and became still.
After a few minutes, he looked at the clock. He had lots of time before the meeting with the guys. He grabbed his boxers from the floor beside the bed and cleaned himself up. He threw them in the pile of laundry and headed for the shower. He wondered for a fleeting moment how closely Carmela looked at his laundry before she did it. God only knows what she must think these days!
******************************"Hey there, Nick, how's it hangin'?" AJ greeted him with a laugh. The others cracked up.
"Is it hangin' or is it salutin'?" asked Kevin in his slow southern drawl. Brian just about spit coffee on himself at that remark.
"What's up?" asked Nick. The other four couldn't contain themselves at that. They laughed so hard tears ran down their face. Howie picked up a photo from the table and handed it over. Nick looked down and his face fell. "Oh, shit."
It was the same photo that Grace had seen. With Nick's hand on her waist and his interest obvious, it looked like he was trying to walk and have sex at the same time.
"Hey Dawg, it'll be okay." Kevin had certainly been there and done that. They all had. When they performed, they were all in a state of semi-erection, brought on by the thrill of what they were doing and they were photographed from every angle all the time. Kevin had a tendency to wear pants a little tighter than the others and there were way too many photos out there of him 'saluting the flag' for him to explain them all away as 'it's the pants'.
"Yeah, so they'll make a few comments about your 'package'," said Howie and they cracked up again. That was the favorite phrase on the fan sites where you were supposed to be polite but wanted to point out how well-hung you thought one of them was. "Who will that bother?"
"Oh, I don't know," said Nick. "Maybe Grace's mother?"
That sobered them. They kept forgetting that the girls they had carried on with all had mothers. Well, of course, they forgot it, thought AJ. How could you nail some girl if you were thinking about her mother?
"Her mother will never see it. Don't worry." Kevin tried to reassure him. He thought to himself that if Nick was worried about Grace's mother, he must be really serious about her. Out of habit, Kevin tried to think of a reason why Nick shouldn't be, but he couldn't. Before Nick's arrival, Howie and AJ had been talking about the club. Other times, they would have been describing Nick's wild behavior, coming on to girls and whooping it up. All they talked about this time was the amount of time Nick and Grace spent gazing into each other's eyes.
"Let's get to work," said Kevin.
They got down to business and mapped out the rest of the week, who was going to be where and doing what. There was a lot of stuff happening with their outside interests. They weren't going to be together even once.
Nick mentioned that it was Grace's birthday on Sunday.
"Party!" said AJ, who still looked for any excuse to 'get down' even though he stayed sober. They looked down at the calendar. Nope, that wasn't going to happen.
"Look," said Howie, "we all have different stuff on Saturday night, but it's all here in town. Why don't you all come to my place for an early drink and we can all kiss the birthday girl then?"
They looked at the calendar again. That seemed workable. They made a note to check with their women.
******************************Thursday
Nick and Grace had fallen into a routine. He would call her during the day and they would chat for a few minutes. Evenings they would do something together - go out somewhere or just stay at home and play video games (his place) or watch movies (hers). It was hard for Nick to remember that she had a job. He would call and say, let's go out on the boat, and be surprised when she would say she couldn't, she had a deadline. Or when he would call, sometimes she would be distracted and he knew she was looking at the computer. He would say, Hit Save and turn your back to the computer. She would do that and he would get off the line as quickly as he could, so she could go back to what she was doing.
Nick had nothing to do today and he knew Grace was working. He called her up and asked her if he could take her to lunch. He knew she was reluctant but he insisted, saying she had to at least have lunch. She agreed and told him to come by around noon. He paced the floor and played video games for awhile and then thought, to hell with it.
He jumped in his car and headed for Grace's. He went into the bakery by her building and then into the deli next door. He went into Grace's building and stopped at the front desk.
"Hey, Jermaine. How's the baby?"
"Fine, Mr. Carter, just fine. Growing like a weed."
"Grace is expecting me, but I'm a bit early. Can you tell her that there's a deliveryman on his way up?"
"Sure thing." Jermaine was willing to do anything to further this romance. He had never seen Grace so happy. Certainly not with that other guy, who treated her like his property.
When Nick arrived at the door, he knocked and held the grocery bags up in front of his face. When Grace opened the door and said, “Yes?” in a questioning tone, he lowered them and said, “Lunch has arrived.” He grinned at her and she smiled but she didn’t look all that happy to see him.
Grace looked at her watch. It was only 10:30. She had been hoping to get another hour’s worth of work in.
“Hey,” he said, stepping over to the counter and setting down the groceries. “I know I’m early, but this way, you don’t have to go out. You can keep working and when you’re hungry, just let me know and I’ll make you lunch. This actually gives you more time to work.”
“And what are you going to do while I’m working?” asked Grace. She didn’t see how she could possibly concentrate while he was in the room.
“I’m going to watch you work. I want to see what you do. I’ll be absolutely quiet, I promise. And I won’t move.” Nick made a motion of locking his lips and throwing the key over his shoulder.
“Absolutely still and quiet?” said Grace doubtfully. Nick pressed his lips together as if they were stapled and nodded his head, wide-eyed. Grace laughed and shook her head. “Okay, but I’m warning you…”
Nick’s head bobbed up and down. Grace limped back to the computer. Nick sat on the sofa near the window. From here he could watch the monitor or look at the ocean or the street.
“This is what I’m doing,” said Grace. She explained the website she was designing. It was for a company that wanted to sell organic products over the Internet. She outlined the basic concept that she had in mind. She showed him hard copies of some of the pages she had done. She explained that she was adding in the product line now and linking it to the other pages.
Nick nodded. She had pretty much lost him after the basic concept. He watched her work, fighting a desire to go over and nuzzle her neck. He looked out the window for awhile at the ocean, thinking happily of the next time he could go to The Cove. His Cove. He had put in an offer to buy the land with the fruit stand and it had been accepted. He looked back at Grace. It didn’t matter where this relationship went or how long it lasted, he would always remember her, because she had given him The Cove. The desire to kiss her grew.
Nick looked down at the street. He leaned forward in his chair. Was that a shadow by that tree or was that someone standing there? He leaned further forward and the shadow moved away. Yes, someone had been standing there. Nick wondered why. You couldn’t see the ocean from that side of the street. All you could see was Grace’s building.
He leaned back in his chair and looked at Grace. He hummed a little tune under his breath and beat time with his fingers on his leg. A slight stiffening of her back made him realize what he was doing. "Sorry," he whispered and became still. He looked at his watch. Ten minutes. He had sat still for ten minutes. That was a first, he figured.
Nick could only take it for two more minutes. Then he stood and, as quietly as he could, he moved to the other side of the room. He perused her bookshelves, marveling at the different tastes she had in books. He looked carefully at her record collection. Again, very eclectic tastes. He grinned when he realized they were all stored in alphabetical order. No problem, he thought. That puts Backstreet right up there near the top, right after...he ran his fingers along...Bryan Adams and Bach. Good company, he thought. He didn't realize he was whistling until he heard her say, "Ahem."
He turned to look at her. "Sorry again," he whispered.
Grace crooked a finger at him. "Come here."
Oh shit. He was in for it now. He walked over to her sheepishly, his head hung down. "Yes, Miss Grace?"
She grabbed him by his belt buckle and pulled him to his knees. "I have a problem with your shirt," she said.
Nick looked down. It was clean and it was one he thought she liked. "What's the problem?" he asked.
"You're still wearing it," she answered. Grace leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Take it off."
Nick looked at her in surprise. Then a lazy, sexy smile drifted across his face. "It will be my pleasure," he said.
"Yes," replied Grace. "Yes, it will."
Nick didn’t bother to unbutton his shirt, just pulled it over his head. Grace sat forward in her chair and ran her tongue over her lips. “Come here,” she whispered.
Nick moved forward on his knees until he was between her legs. She lowered her head and kissed his neck. He leaned his head back and moaned. “Here we go again,” he thought.
Grace took his hands and placed them on her hips. “Help me,” she whispered and then leaned forward. He got the hint and lay down on the floor pulling her carefully down on top of him. She ground her pelvis against him and covered his chest with kisses. She licked and sucked his tattoos and her fingers stroked his stomach and his nipples.
Whenever he tried to reach for her, she slapped his hands away. “Uh, uh,” she murmured in between licks, “Absolutely still and quiet, remember?”
Nick groaned and gave in. He let her tweak his nerve endings until he was sure he could hear them humming. When she slid down his body and begin licking his stomach, he could take no more. "Grace," he panted. He put his arms around her and rolled her off him. He leaned over her and kissed her so thoroughly, she thought she would faint. His hands caressed her breasts and then his fingers moved to the waistband of her shorts. He fumbled with the button while she reached between them and massaged the bulge in his pants. He groaned again and moved away from her. She sat against the pillar and he sat against the wall and they stared at each other, their chests heaving and their eyes smoldering.
"Would you mind terribly if I tore that thing off with my teeth?" he panted, pointing at her cast.
Grace smiled. "And ruin that beautiful smile? No way."
Nick shifted his weight and their eyes were drawn to his crotch. Very impressive, she thought.
"Now a picture of that would really cause a stir on the Internet, wouldn't it?" she said.
"You saw that picture?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," she said. "Quite a number of people felt compelled to share that with me." She crawled across the floor and nestled in his arms. "But I'm not sharing you with them." She leaned her head back so that he could kiss her. And he did.
After a few moments, she said, "I didn't get much work done, did I?"
Nick stood up and helped her to her feet. "Now, that's just not true. You got a solid ten, maybe fifteen minutes in there."
"And I'll get fifteen more while you make me lunch."
"Now there you go. That's a half hour."
"And after lunch, you will go and I will get the rest of my workday in. Okay?"
"Okay." He kissed her again, and helped her back to her chair. "What's this?" He picked up a paper she had been doodling on. It was the number from the address of the threatening email. She had written it down and shaded it in and framed it in ink.
"Oh, just a doodle," she said.
"Why are you doodling your phone number?" he asked, heading into the kitchen.
Grace's heart stopped. "What did you say?" she asked.
“Your phone number. That’s your phone number backwards.” Nick lifted groceries from the bag and set them on the counter.
Grace turned back to the computer. She didn't want him to see the look on her face. She was sure he would be able to read the fear written there.
Nick worked away in the kitchen getting lunch. Grace sat and stared at her computer. Nick wondered how much work she was getting done. Her hands didn't seem to be moving at all. Oh, well, he shrugged, maybe she was planning something in her head.
