She picked up one of the vases of flowers and carried it out to the big room. She grinned to herself at how easy it was. No having to plan every stage of the journey, utilizing strategic table placements and crutch maneuvers. Just pick it up and move it. She brought the vases of flowers out and placed them around the room. They were gorgeous.
On the kitchen counter, she found a note from Nick. “Are you a total prune now?! Hope you enjoyed the bath. See you at 8. Love, Nick”. Love, Nick.
Grace stared at the note, then reached out her fingers to trace the words. She looked at the clock. She had lots of time to eat and get ready. She opened the fridge and surveyed the contents. She had a leftover chicken breast and some salad greens. Perfect! She tossed the greens with some raspberry vinaigrette while the chicken warmed in the microwave. She sliced it on top of the salad and grabbed a bottle of water. She marched it all over to the computer, marveling again at the ease of life. Imagine! It only took one trip!
Grace finished wading through today's onslaught of email, then turned to her latest project - a computer software company. She found it ironic that a company full of computer experts would need outside help to design a website and she said so to the company president when they met.
He had laughed and shaken his head at the memory of their attempts. "We tried," he said, "but half the attempts were so full of fancy gimmicks that you would have needed NASA's computers to access them and the other half were boring, full of technical jargon and decidedly unpretty."
Grace had laid out some preliminary designs and gotten approval to proceed. She looked at the clock. If she worked for an hour, she would still have plenty of time to get ready. Nick was taking her to a private party at a friend's house.
Grace carried the remains of the salad to the kitchen and scraped the plate. She grabbed another bottle of water from the fridge and set the timer on the microwave for fifty-five minutes. Then she went back to the computer.
She worked away until she heard a ringing sound. It took four rings before it broke through to her that it was the phone. She looked at the clock. Shit! She had missed hearing the microwave altogether.
"Style and Grace," she said, grabbing the phone. She looked around but couldn't see her headset anywhere.
"It's Jermaine, Ms. Barrett. Your young man is here."
"Thank you, Jermaine. Send him up." She was tempted to ask Jermaine to stall Nick for twenty minutes while she got ready. Crap! Why did she do this? She shook her head to remove Matt's voice, tsking and accusing her of not being there for him.
A knock at the door brought her out of her reverie. She walked over and opened it. "I'm sorry, Nick. I'm not ready. I got busy and lost track of the time." She waved her hand at the computer.
Nick followed her into the apartment, looking her up and down. He smiled and tilted his head to one side. "Oh, I thought maybe you were trying to tell me you didn't want to go to the party."
He walked up to her and reached out his hand. She thought he was going to caress her face or something, but he didn't. He reached into her hair and pulled out the pencil she had shoved there.
"Interesting fashion accessory," he murmured.
Grace blushed. "I'm sorry, Nick..."
"But a very dangerous one. I could lose an eye when I do this." And his mouth swooped down to cover hers. The tingle that went through her was head-to-toe. He held her head in his hands and kissed her, searching out her tongue. She moaned and swayed, her head light. He released her and looked at her questioningly. "You okay?"
"I think I need my crutches again," she said.
"What?" He looked at her with a worried expression.
"You make my knees weak," whispered Grace, sliding up against him and kissing him. He made a sound in his throat and ran his hands down her back.
Then he gave his head a little shake and stepped back. He wanted to make love to her right now, but he knew they'd miss the party and he really wanted her to meet his friends. But later...oh, later...
“Let me see the famous leg,” he said, pulling her over to the couch.
Grace sat down and primly tucked the robe around her.“ Okay, let’s see if you can guess which one it was.” She pulled up the robe to reveal two slim, but shapely legs, one decidedly whiter than the other. Draped around the pale ankle was a thin gold chain.
Nick looked down at her legs. They did look funny. He chuckled. "It looks like you're wearing mis-matched socks." They laughed together. Nick dropped to his knees in front of her and tenderly caressed her right ankle with his fingertips. Then he bent down and kissed it. Grace drew in her breath sharply. Nick moved his lips further up her leg, dropping kisses along her calf and the inside of her knee.
"Nick," she whispered, and he looked up. He saw the longing in her eyes and he almost gave in.
"Party...must party," he intoned huskily, getting up and moving away. He stood with his back to her studying a bookshelf. "Now, go get dressed, you temptress, before I...just go get dressed."
"Yes, sir," she replied and disappeared into the bedroom. She came out in ten minutes, wearing black pants and a coppery satin shirt. "I'm ready," she said. "I just have to run a pencil through my hair and I'm all set."
Nick turned to her. "How did you break your headset?" he asked, holding up two broken pieces of plastic.
Grace looked from his face to his hands and back again. "I don't know. I couldn't find it earlier. Where was it?"
"It was on the floor, here by the window." Nick motioned to a spot near her desk.
Grace puzzled over it for a moment and then shrugged. Nick set the pieces down on her desk and came over to her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You look nice," he said.
"So do you," she answered, "and by the way, you are the sweetest man. Thank you for this afternoon, the bath was just...just heavenly." She kissed him gently on the lips.
"You're very welcome," he murmured against her mouth, "but," he said, tilting his head back, "I can't take credit for it all. I did the planning, the candles and flowers and stuff, but the original idea wasn't mine. It was..."
"Kristin," she smiled, remembering the conversation at Brian's dinner party.
"No, actually, it was Kevin," said Nick. "He's a very romantic guy."
"Well, I thank you all. It was exquisite. It transformed me back into a human being, albeit one with two-toned legs."
Nick smiled to himself. He had never been out with a girl who used a word like 'albeit'. He had no clue what it meant.
"Can you help me with this?" Grace opened her hand to show him a gold chain and then turned her back to him, so he could do up the clasp.
"I'm afraid not," said Nick, setting the chain down on the counter.
"Why not?" said Grace, turning back. "Is the clasp broken?"
"No," said Nick, removing a small box from his pocket, "but I'd rather you wear this."
Grace looked up at him.
Nick was grinning broadly. “Happy leg,” he said as Grace lifted the lid from the box to reveal a thin gold chain with a little golden dolphin hanging from the end of it.
"It's beautiful," she whispered, fingering the dolphin. She looked up at him. "You're beautiful." She turned her back to him.
"And such a way with words," he said, securing the clasp at the back of her neck. "'Happy leg!' What a dumb thing to say!" He kissed the back of her neck.
"It wasn't dumb," said Grace, turning back to him. "It was perfect." She melted into his arms and they kissed. She ran her fingernails down his shirt front.
Nick moaned, and moved away. "We are never going to make this party, if we keep doing this. Come on, let's go!"
******************************Grace had a great time at the party. There were very few show business types there but rather, guys Nick had met through his interest in boating and scuba diving. It was heaven to walk up to the door holding his hand, to move from room to room with ease, to get a drink for herself or for Nick, not to have people fussing over her the whole time.
She stayed with Nick for awhile because they were both reluctant to let go of each other's hand. He introduced her to people, and they all seemed friendly, although she did get the once-over from a couple of girls. Nick didn't seem to want to hang around them. Grace figured they were former conquests.
After awhile, Grace whispered in Nick's ear that she wanted directions to the bathroom. He grinned and whispered back, "You're not planning on another bath, are you?"
"Not without you," she breathed into his ear.
"Why, you lusty wench," he whispered and kissed her neck. Then he pointed the way to the bathroom.
It had not escaped the attention of his friends that a very different Nick Carter stood before them tonight. Usually, Nick would blast into a party, shouting for beer and generally raising the noise and energy level of everyone around him. He would drink and smoke cigars and then look around for someone to take care of his other needs. There was always a lineup of girls more than willing to do that. Even if Nick did bring a girl to a party, he didn't stay with her long, but spread the largesse of his smile and his company on everyone.
Tonight, he was totally different. He had only had two beers the entire evening and had turned down offers of more. He moved from group to group chatting in a friendly manner, but without the 'let's party' ferocity of former times. And he did not want to let go of this girl.
One of his oldest friends, Todd, watched Nick watch Grace walk away. “Hey, Nickster,” he said, punching him playfully on the shoulder. Nick turned to look at him, a lopsided grin on his face.
“Is this it?” asked Todd. “Is this the end of the Nick Carter run?” He nodded his head toward the doorway Grace had just gone through.
Nick looked at his friend. “I hope so,” he said seriously.
"Well, that's great. Maybe it will leave some California babes for the rest of us. Maybe one of us will be able to get laid without having to promise to introduce the chick to Nick Carter."
Nick shook his head. He knew Todd was just kidding. At least, he hoped he was.
Todd continued. "Seriously, man. I like her. You go good together. And she's obviously in love with you."
"Do you think so?" asked Nick. "We haven't talked about that."
"How long have you been seeing her again?" asked Todd.
"Five weeks," said Nick. "Five weird and wonderful weeks."
******************************When she came out of the bathroom, Grace turned the wrong way and found herself in another part of the house. She tried to make her way back, but was pulled into a conversation with one of Nick's friends who was looking to buy a new computer. More people joined in and it was several minutes before she could move on. She was brought into a discussion of sports and her spirited defense of baseball as the National Pastime over football or basketball had the group laughing and debating hotly.
She continued moving through the house working her way back to Nick. As she passed through a doorway, she met one of Nick's formers. The girl nodded at Grace. Grace nodded back. As she went by, the girl said, "Good luck. You seem good for each other."
"Thanks," said Grace.
"Just don't make him mad," whispered the other girl ominously.
Grace finally found Nick right where she had left him. Nick Carter didn't have to circulate at a party. The party circulated to him.
"I took the long way back," she said. He slipped his arm around her and held her in front of him, facing away from him. Grace leaned back against him, enjoying the feel of his arm around her. He rested his chin on her head and continued listening to people talk.
During a lull in the conversation, he said, "Grace, you're standing with all your weight on your good foot...I mean, your left one. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she said. "The right one's just a little tender, that's all. I don't want to overdo it the first day."
"Of course, I should have realized that. Let's go."
Grace protested weakly, but she was feeling tired and in a few minutes, she was sitting in the front seat of Nick's car.
"Two beers," he said in answer to her unasked question. She smiled and nodded. "I surely did not want to have too much to drink tonight."
Grace blushed and ducked her head. Yes, tonight was the night.
