A Promise Kept (20 page)

“What meeting, honey? You finally found a movie you want to direct?” His mom cracked the eggs into a bowl, poured milk and started whisking them.

Grace watched as he closed his eyes in frustration and shook his head. “No, I haven’t found one yet. John Whitford wants me to be in his next project.”

“Holy shit!” Hilary’s eyes popped open and her coffee cup banged on the table. Evan might have been an actor, but Hilary was a huge movie buff. “John Whitford? That’s huge!”

“You taking it, sweetie?”

“I don’t know yet, Mom.” He glanced at Grace, letting his knuckles brush her cheek as he went to the stove, taking over the eggs and helping his mother cook.

“He will if he knows what’s good for him,” Zach asserted.

“Well, ultimately, it’s what Evan thinks is best,” Rebecca stressed as she turned the bacon.

“He thought
The Ending Series
wasn’t best, and look how that turned out,” Zach reminded them. “Thank Christ they kept on offering it to him.”

“Yeah, he’d be kicking himself in the ass,” Hilary laughed. “And be making genital herpes commercials.”

“Thank you, Hil, but I don’t think it would’ve come to that.”

The sound of bacon sizzling filled the room as everyone sipped on their coffee. Grace tried to settle her stomach as she grasped she had been ignoring a huge red flag. Evan was already thinking about his next project. She had to remember his address wasn’t permanent, and he would soon be leaving Austin and her behind.

G
race had come
off her vacation high, and over a week without seeing Evan was giving her major withdrawals. With the combination of his hectic filming schedule and her dealing with maintenance issues from tenants, catching up with her small fan following, and finishing her memoir, time with each other had been limited. They texted and called when they could, but Grace couldn’t help but feel herself pulling back on purpose.

Evan was in Los Angeles over the weekend, agreeing to one of the biggest film directors in the world, and Grace needed to make sure she was in the right headspace when she realized he was going to leave her. To take her mind off of everything, she worked on finishing the desk in her garage.

The sounds of Chris Stapleton drifted from her radio as she sanded through the stain. Memories of Evan and his family flashed through her mind, and she began to miss the idea of being in Boston. She had checked the weather app and saw it was snowing there. Texas in December was in the high 70s, and she wasn’t yet in the Christmas spirit. Perhaps it was because she would spend her Christmas the way she spent every one before that. Alone.

Grace scrubbed at the desk frantically, her mind and heart at war with one another as she fought emotions that were bubbling to the surface. The memoir, Boston, Evan and his stupidly perfect tattoo, and his wonderful family, and his beautiful hands and the way he touched and kissed her was too much. He was making her want so much more with him and she wasn’t sure it was possible. He was all too much.

“Gracie.” Breathless, she glanced up to see Evan standing in her garage. “I called out your name several times.” Had it really been almost eleven days since seeing him? It felt like ages. He moved toward her, tall and clean and so handsome her heart twisted. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She panted and dropped the sandpaper down on the floor. She turned away and reached for the can of gloss and a paintbrush. Looking at him was painful. She had missed him so much and was longing for his touch. “I thought you were coming in tomorrow.”

“Caught an early flight.”

“How’d it go?” She took her gloves off and uncapped the varnish setting it on the desk.

“It was fine.”

He moved toward her to give her a kiss but she backed away. “I’m sweaty, Evan.”

Grace began to dip the brush and she studied the task at hand, ungluing her eyes from him. Her arm swooshed over the wood in a hurry as she tried to bottle her emotions inside. “Gracie, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Stop it. You’ve been weird since we left Boston.”

“We haven’t seen each other since Boston, Evan.” She chuckled forcefully, trying to keep things light. He wasn’t buying it, but she continued. “Tell me about the meeting. Did you take the role?”

“What if I told you I didn’t?”

Grace froze and shot him a glance, his eyes feeling cold. She tried to catch her breath as she set down the paint brush. “You have to, Evan. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“You think?”

“I know. It’s an amazing opportunity. Please…tell me you took it.” Although it hurt, she meant what she said to him. He wanted the part, and she wanted that for him. The last thing he needed was a woman who would keep him from what he was born to do, and she loved that he was passionate about his job.

“Things are being discussed.”

She gave a half-hearted smile, looking down at her hands. “Good. You don’t just turn down an opportunity with John Whitford.” Looking back at him, she saw his lips pressed in a flat line and a crinkle between his eyebrows. He was definitely deep in thought. “Don’t give up that role. I know you want it.”

“How do you know?”

She shrugged. “You don’t think I can tell? Besides, his movies are always amazing, and you still haven’t found your directing project. It’ll be good for you to take it on. Fight for the role if you need to, but don’t give it up.”

He breathed in deeply, and she felt consumed by him, like the space he took was overwhelming her. “I should finish this up,” she said reaching for the brush. Before she could finish the attempt, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him.

Her arms flung around him as he kissed her with potency. His tongue swept over her, dipping inside with a needy motion that begged for more. “I don’t care if you’re sweaty, Grace. I don’t care about the fucking desk. I don’t give a shit about that movie, princess. Not when I need to feel you.”

“Evan…”

His hands grasped the sides of her face and she felt the heat of his breath over her as he spoke with a ruggedness that vibrated through her. “Tell me what’s going on inside your head, Gracie.” Her body was tense, but her effort to move away from him failed as he grasped her shoulders. “Don’t run from me. Talk.”

“I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

“Is this about the tabloid?”

Grace parted from him, confusion written on her expression. “Tabloid?”

“Guessing you haven’t seen it then?”

“Another tabloid?” Here was something else she needed to worry about. What was being said now? Criticism and scrutiny was not her idea of fun. And what if her parents found out? How would they react to her dating a Hollywood star? Maybe they wouldn’t care at all. It wouldn’t surprise her.

“Look, why don’t you get showered, and then we’ll get some dinner and talk?” He tried to lean down to kiss her again, but she backed away from him.

“Or you could talk now.”

“Like you’re talking to me?” They were silent, the electric sizzle growing between them. She didn’t want to talk because the truth was scary. The truth that this might not last, that she would lose him sooner than she wanted. “Take a shower, Grace. I’ll come over with some food and we’ll discuss things, okay?”

She nodded knowing this was it. She was going to have to stop it all before she got in too deep, but everything hurt when she thought of how much she was going to miss everything about him.

* * *

“
T
hey found out
, Evan.” She held out her phone as he took out the cartons of Chinese food he had gotten delivered. “They know my name. Who I am and what I do.”

He glanced at the screen and nodded. “Yeah, my people have been asking me about it.”

“People?”

“Publicists.”

She put down the phone that showcased an article of the two of them sharing a kiss at the bar they went to in Boston as well as a photo of them holding hands at the airport. “And?”

“I haven’t given a statement yet.” They sat at the table with food and silverware before them. Evan speared a piece of broccoli from her chicken with vegetables and chomped on it as he moved his Lo Mein toward her to share.

“Do you need to?”

“I want to,” he answered seriously.

“But why? I mean, maybe it’s better to keep it quiet.” She picked at her food, but had no appetite. Fear, mixed with confusion were taking over her thoughts. He wanted to tell the whole world she was his, yet if it didn’t last, that failure would forever be out for everyone to see. He didn’t seem to care, yet she did.

“The more we keep quiet, the more they’ll want to find out. It’s better to announce it, Grace.”

“Look, Evan,” her stomach fluttered as she cleared her throat, “I’ve been putting off talking to you because I admit I’ve been a bit selfish.”

He stopped chewing his food, his eyebrows raised in interest. “What do you mean?”

“I like spending time with you, and part of me doesn’t want to do this. The fact that this should end-”

“Whoa, wait a second. What are you talking about?”

“Well, I mean, it has to end. This can’t really go anywhere.”

Annoyance flashed over his manner, and he instantly straightened in his chair. “It’s been going great, Grace. I took you to Boston. I introduced you to my family and my friends.”

“It was just a poker bet.”

“Screw the fucking bet. Do you seriously still think I’m playing around with you? Or do you just not want me? What’s the real problem here?”

He was intimidating when he looked angry, and Grace was losing ground. “We come from different worlds, Evan. I don’t belong in yours. You need to follow your passions, and I don’t want to hold you back. I don’t want to be held back either, and I have work to do. I just don’t know how this can happen between us.”

He huffed and put his fork down. “Grace, you can’t be thinking this is going to fail. I need you to open up and trust me.” His all-consuming eyes pierced hers and it shook her to her core. “I’m not going to give up on you, but you need to let me know you’re in it with me, okay? I can’t do it on my own.” He waited for her to answer, but her breath caught in her throat and she was unable to form a coherent thought. “I see a future with you, babe, but if you can’t see me in yours then I need to know now, because I’m putting my heart on the fucking line, and I can’t stay in limbo anymore.”

“But, you’ll leave and long-distance…” He was always so rational. It made her whole argument seem ridiculous, and she was no longer able to find excuses to keep him away.

“I don’t care. I want you with me, Gracie. Do you want me?” She could hear the flow of blood rushing through her ears. He was putting himself out there, and she needed to take the risk. Who cares if they were from different worlds? Truth was, they weren’t that different. They’d both been wounded, they both needed someone to trust, and that was enough for them to understand each other. “Do you want me, Grace?”

His expression showed just as much vulnerability as she felt. She found it in her to walk toward him and sit in his lap, cupping his face in her palms as she stared into his azure eyes. Their breathing picked up as she took her time studying him, letting her hands run through the sides of his hair. She had never felt more secure than with him. He was open, honest, and guarding her in the way she had always wanted from a man, and in that second, she saw herself reflected back in his eyes. It was unreasonable to be at war with her own desires.
Follow your heart, Grace.
“I’m falling for you, Evan Matthews. My mind is telling me to stop it from happening, but my heart won’t allow it, and it’s terrifying.”

He swathed his arms around her and let his head rest on her heart. “Surrender to it, baby. Live it with me, please. I’m scared too, but I want you so much.” He looked up at her and clenched the back of her head, bringing her down for her mouth to merge onto his.

Her arms pulled him closer, her lips took his in, and her heart felt like bursting. She let herself fully open to feel every emotion she had been holding back. She wanted him with everything she had, and she was finally willing to do what it took to trust him, have faith in him, and believe in what had been missing from her life for far too long.

* * *

H
is heart
almost stopped when she said she didn’t think things could work between them, so he put his foot down, unable to take it slow any further. He needed to know she was committed to him, wanting to build something stronger with him. Girls had come and gone in his life, but nobody ever made him feel what Grace made him feel.