Be Mine (9 page)

"Because you've already touched me." The words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Oh God! A blush fanned across her cheeks, hot against her skin. She had a sudden urge to close her eyes when Luke leaned to whisper in her ear.

"Yes, I have. And I want to do it over and over again."

L
uke's breath against her neck made her angle her head, longing for his lips to caress her skin. Squirming on the bench only made her too aware of the liquid, signalling her arousal between her thighs. Wet. Needy. Wanting.

"Hell, Gracie, I can smell your nectar through your skin. I'm remembering its taste now. Sweet, tangy, delicious. Too bad I only tasted it on my fingers when my tongue should have been fucking your pussy."

"Luke, there are people," she pleaded huskily. "Stop this." She brought her trembling hands down, relieved that the coffee inside her mug only rippled, not sloshed.

"There isn't anyone here, Gracie." He gave a cursory glance at their surroundings. "They're all at the fair." Just then, they heard steps crunching on the gravel walk and an elderly couple, probably in their eighties, came into view. They looked as though they came from the wedding that Gracie noticed on her way to the gardens. The woman wore a dress of white lace. The man wore a beige suit. Luke sighed and moved slightly away.

Gracie couldn't stop the nervous giggle that bubbled up in her throat.

"You should get some lessons from them." She nudged her chin towards the couple, smiling at the devotion and adoration that passed between them.

Luke leaned back, his legs crossed at the ankles, his coffee mug resting on his thighs.

"So should you," he said quietly before taking another sip.

Gracie's retort died on her lips to watch the couple instead. They shuffled slowly, their arms entwined. The man walked straight, his glasses low on the bridge of his nose. He constantly looked at his wife, who walked slowly, relying on her walker. They spoke gently, laughed softly, as if they didn't have a care in the world. The man whispered something to his wife. Suddenly the woman blushed, swatted his arm, giggling like a schoolgirl. The man chuckled, his face adoring. They soon reached the iron bench across and directly opposite from where Gracie and Luke sat.

The man took his wife's hand to help her sit. He grimaced in discomfort when he couldn't bend down, but satisfied that his wife was comfortable he slowly straightened up. He turned to face Gracie and Luke, smiling at them, his eyes twinkling across the expanse of the garden between them. He went to one of the rose bushes that dotted the area, the one that still had fuchsia red blooms. Reaching out, he broke a stem, wincing before putting his finger slowly into his mouth. The other stems moved, brushing and scraping against his weathered hand, unwilling to give up one of their sisters. Finally, the rose was free, the bush settling in defeat.

The man straightened his coat before returning to his wife. She looked at the flower, and then looked up at the man, love clearly shining in her eyes. A love undimmed by age.

Gracie stifled a gasp with her hand, eyes tearing up when the man slowly bent down, holding on to the seat before kneeling on one knee. Emotion clogged her throat, her heart swelling at the purity of the man's act.

"Be mine," the man said.

And when the woman leaned down to kiss him on the mouth, Gracie felt a tear slide down her cheek.

"Granddad! Grandma!"

Both Gracie and Luke saw a handsome young man by the garden's entrance walk towards the couple. "We've been looking all over for the both of you."

"I was proposing to Maddie, here," the man replied, his voice gruff. "She was about to say yes."

"I already said yes," the woman replied, her voice lilting. "I kissed you. I'm yours."

The grandson grinned while shaking his head. "C'mon, you two. The Reverend is waiting. Time for you to get married again."

"We already did."

"Yes, Granddad, I know," the young man said with affection. "But you don't want the guests waiting or allow them to finish the Guinness, now. Would you?"

"Maddie, we better go. That’s my Guinness." The man grunted to stand, relieved when his grandson helped him up.

Luke chuckled beside her. When they were alone, a comfortable silence descended on them.

"There aren't many marriages like that now," Gracie ventured before drinking more coffee.

Luke glanced at her, his mouth lifting to one side, his eyes unreadable. "We don't live in that generation."

"No, we don't," Gracie murmured, both of them lost in their own thoughts until their phones rang.

"Hello?"

"Gracie, where are you?" Noreen's voice was shrill over the speakerphone.

Gracie watched Luke stand, his phone slightly away from his ear at the screech of a woman's voice.

"I'm at the manor," Gracie replied. "Taking my break."

"Uh huh. That's fine. But you know...that woman who flung herself at your Mister Handsome?

"He's not my Mister Handsome!"

"Yeah, whatever. Well, she's all over the place here, Gracie. She's already cracked a few and broken a couple of the ceramic items we're selling, and I'm close to losing it!"

Gracie stood up. "I'll be right there." She ended the call and stormed towards Luke. "What the hell is wrong with your girlfriend?"

"Who's that?" Cilla's asked through Luke's phone. "You're with that bitch!"

That's it!
Gracie fumed, the anger slowly rising from her gut to spill over her chest. Leaving the mug on one of the seats and tossing a pound coin for the mug, she left the garden to make her way out of the Manor, not waiting for Luke and uncaring at seeing his thunderous face. She half walked and partly ran the distance to the fair before stopping abruptly. A loose crowd had gathered around the booth, bits of broken ceramic strewn across the ground. Noreen was behind the table, her body stiff, hands clenched at the sides and waves of fury flowing out of her. Cilla was being held back by two of the grounds' security, being dragged no doubt to the office.

“Take your bloody hands off me!” she screeched at the security detail that seemed to have lost their hearing.

Noreen closed her eyes and jerked when Gracie touched her arm. She gave her friend a tight smile.

"Sorry, Gracie, I didn't mean to snap at you." Her shoulders slumped as the anger rolled off her.

"No big deal." Gracie paused. "I'm sorry too."

They surveyed the pottery on the table, the plates scattered about. Several dessert bowls belonging to different sets were either chipped or cracked.

"We won't be able to sell these now unless we replace the damaged ones. The next fair will be next month." Noreen took one of the chipped bowls to inspect it.

Gracie started picking up the shards from the ground. She thanked a few of the bystanders who handed her some of the pieces and dumped them into one of the empty crates inside the booth.

"I'll buy the lot and pay for the damages. Put it on my card." Luke cut through the fairgrounds, handing Noreen his card which he fished out of his wallet. "Would a thousand be enough?"

Noreen's eyes bulged. "Whoa! Hold on!"

"You don't have to," Gracie blurted at the same time. "Go tend to your girlfriend, weekender, or whatever the hell you call your flavour of the moment."

"Noreen...it's Noreen, isn't it?" Luke ignored Gracie's outburst. "I'm sorry this happened, but Cilla isn't my girlfriend. I have told Mrs. Sinclair, but she won't believe me. You do believe me, don't you?"

"Frankly, mister whoever you are, I don't. The way that woman was all over you, you'd think you were a pole inside a strip club."

Gracie bit the inside of her mouth at Noreen's sassy reply. Luke raked his hand through his hair, shaking his head, his grin both amused and frustrated. "Just charge a thousand on my card and I'll leave you both alone. I'll be back." He flung his card on the table before talking on his phone. "Slater!" Luke moved away from them, but Gracie could still hear what he was saying. "...I want an injunction against Cilla. I don't want her within a million mile radius. I don't give a fuck if you have to drag the judge's arse out of his bloody house!"

Noreen gasped, pulling Gracie's coat sleeve to get her attention. "Gracie." She showed Luke's card to her friend. "This card belongs to Luke Bryce." Realization dawned on her. "Holy shit! Now I know why he looked familiar. Your Mister Handsome is Luke Bryce!"

"Keep at it and it'll sound like a mantra," Gracie grumbled, busying herself fixing the wares that weren't damaged.

"You're seeing him."

Gracie scowled. "I'm not seeing him."

"But he was the one who came to your house last Monday."

"He's a client, Noreen."

"Since when do clients follow people working for them home?"

"Just run his card through, okay?" Gracie sighed as she continued to return the cracked ceramics into the crates.

Noreen reluctantly did as she was told. "You owe me big time, Gracie. I want every juicy detail."

"Sorry, nothing happened, so no juicy details."

"Apart from Mister Bryce, now I don't believe you either."

"Noreen!"

"He needs to enter in his pin."

"Go to him. I'll man the stall."

"No need," Noreen said, her eyes gleaming with interest. "He's coming back."

Gracie felt Luke's stare while Noreen asked him to provide his pin. Her heart began to hammer inside her chest.

"I told you to take a thousand." Luke's voice mirrored his annoyance. "This is just two hundred fifty."

"That's enough to cover the damage." Noreen shrugged, unfazed by his creased forehead. "I don't feel right getting more."

Gracie noticed the myriad of emotions that flew through Luke's face. For some reason, her heart went out to him. Had everyone Luke met taken advantage of him? It didn't seem that honesty and sincerity visited him often.

"Okay," he said, sounding unsure. "If that's enough."

"It is." Noreen gave him an assessing look. "Thank you, Mr. Bryce."

"Call me Luke."

The start of a beautiful smile broke over Noreen's mouth. "Luke." She handed back his card to him.

And Gracie felt something green claw inside her.

Crap.

"Now why is it so easy for you to say my name? Mrs. Sinclair finds it hard to do so." Luke's blue eyes crinkled in mocking amusement.

Noreen locked her hip, her hand on her waist, and waved the card terminal from Gracie to Luke. "You two call each other by your surnames?"

"She does, I don't."

"But—" Noreen looked confused.

"Only today, Noreen," Luke interrupted. "I keep telling your friend to call me by my first name."

Noreen arched her eyebrow at her friend.

"I call him by his first name," Gracie defended.

"Yes, you do." Luke's voice was low. "Especially when you're about to—"

"Okaayyy...Noreen, I think we should continue packing up," Gracie butted in, pulling her friend deeper into the booth.

"When you're about to what, girlfriend?" Noreen teased in a whisper. "No juicy details, huh."

"Shush!" Her cheeks were aflame.

Noreen snorted. "That look on your face tells me all."

"Can we concentrate on packing?" Gracie flushed more. "I need to get home to Flynn."

"You can go now if you want. I don't mind fixing up here."

Gracie looked at her friend askance. "And how do you expect me to get home?"

Noreen turned to Luke. "You don't mind taking Gracie home, do you?"

"What are you doing?" Gracie grabbed her friend's arm.

"I'm asking Luke to take you home," Noreen said before looking around the booth. "There's still a lot that needs doing, and I have to talk with the fair organizer to find out when the next one will be. You won't be able to get home right away."

"I don't mind taking you home, Mrs. Sinclair," Luke said smoothly. "I'm on my way back to Manchester anyway."

"There you go," Noreen said, her face brooking no argument. Gracie glared at her. She looked at her with innocence. "Look, honey, Flynn needs you. Go home ahead."

Gracie worried her lower lip. It was over an hour's drive back to Manchester. She would be with Luke in the car.

An enclosed space. At close proximity with someone in a vehicle that hummed with power. With the engine purring under her seat thrumming through her body, an extension of him.

She was so screwed. Then again, maybe it was just her imagination.
Yeah right.

She had no alternative but to go with Luke. She also wanted to be with Flynn. He was so understanding the night before when she said he would have to stay with Nana for the day. He jumped up and down his bed saying he'd have more cookies if he stayed in Nana's house.

"All right," she finally agreed. "Thank you, Mr. Bryce."

Luke arched his brow at Noreen. "See."