Keeping You Forever (A Harbor Love Series) (3 page)

 “Good night Grace, thank you for the company tonight I enjoyed it. I’ll see you around.” He took one more look at her before turning and walked up the street.

 “
Y
ou told him you couldn’t borrow a cup of sugar from him?” Autumn looked completely mortified at the thought of telling gorgeous guy that she couldn’t borrow sugar from him.

“I know I’m an idiot! I should just be banned from dating ever again. I can just get a bunch of cats and be the crazy cat lady.” Grace hit her forehead against the kitchen counter one more time, kicking herself for her big mouth.

“Maybe he is one of those guys who drinks a few beers and doesn’t remember what he did the night before. There still might be hope for you, Gracie.”

 There was no hope she knew it. She was officially giving up on dating or trying to meet someone. It only ended badly for her or made her look stupid.

“Maybe you should go over to his house and see if he remembers what you said.”

 Autumn must have hit her head too, because that was the worst idea ever.

 “Are you crazy? I’ve already made an ass out of myself. What do you want me to do, knock on his door and say Hi, remember me from last night? You walked me home and I told you I never want to borrow sugar from you again and oh yeah, you’re kind of grumpy. I’m Grace nice to meet you.”

 I’m sure it sounded better in her head, but when Grace put it that way, of course it was a bad idea. Autumn thought, as she glanced out the window. “Maybe he doesn’t remember because he is coming up the drive way right now.”

 Grace almost fell off the chair when she heard the knock on the door.

“Oh no, go answer the door.” If only a huge hole would open up now and swallow her it would be perfect, but not every day was her lucky day.

  “No way! He isn’t here to see me, you go answer it.”

 She gave Autumn a ‘you’re going to pay for this’ look. “Just breathe Grace, he probably doesn’t remember anything about the sugar,” she thought to herself, as she opened the door.

 No such luck because there he was looking even more sexy in the sun light, and holding a bag of Dixie crystal sugar.

 “Hi Grace, I thought this might come in handy for you. You know with grumpy neighbors and all, you wouldn’t want to run out of sugar and have to ask one of them for a cup.”

 He was being smug about it and not even trying to hide the ear to ear grin on his face. He was the sexiest man she ever laid eyes on… even if he was being a complete ass.

 “Oh …uh… Please, can we just forget about last night and pretend it never happened?” she asked, trying to keep the heat from rising to her cheeks.

 This was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her.  Of course it had to be with hot as hell, makes me want to rip his clothes of and lick him from top to bottom like a lollipop gorgeous guy.

“Hi I’m Tyler Reese, your new neighbor up the street. I just wanted to say hi, and brought you some sugar, in case you were running low,” he said. He was trying to be serious, but failing miserably, because of the smile and intense heat in his eyes as he looked at her.

 Forgiving and sexy, two great qualities a man should have, she thought as she took the bag of sugar. “Grace Carter, it is nice to meet you… Tyler.” She couldn’t help but stare into his eyes, the mystery and warmth behind them was almost impossible to look away from. It was like a vortex pulling her in slowly.

  “Are you going to invite me in?” He was leaning against the door frame with his arm resting above his head. It made his shirt ride up, exposing a small patch of smooth tan skin and the band of his underwear.

 She wondered what it would be like to touch his smooth skin, and feel the heat of it on her hands... “Oh sure would you like to come in?”

 She left her fantasy of Tyler half naked in the back of her mind. He smelled good she thought as he walked passed her. Like soap, laundry detergent and cologne, it made her remember the fantasy she was just daydreaming about.

“Hi I’m Autumn, bar tender from last night. You do remember last night, right?” She winked at Grace, who was still standing by the front door, lost in a sexy fantasy of Tyler naked.

 “Uh… yeah I usually don’t black out after a few beers, so yeah I remember last night,” he glanced over his shoulder to where Grace was standing and felt something in his chest he hadn’t felt in a long time, a very long time.

“Pay no attention to her please, I told you yesterday she has a problem saying things before she actually thinks about what is going to come out of her mouth,” she said, closing the front door still holding the bag of sugar.

“I guess that’s a family trait then?” Tyler was grinning again, trying to be funny.

  “I tell Gracie that all the time but she says it’s just me. Well look at the time I have somewhere to be. Tyler, it was nice seeing you again. Love you Gracie,” Autumn said, and walked out the front door. 

 “Thank you for the sugar Tyler. That was nice of you, you didn’t have to bring me a whole bag,” she said, putting the sugar away.

“This is a nice house. Have you and your sisters lived here long?”

 This was the house she grew up in. She learned to ride a bike here, lost her first tooth, and learned how to grow up overnight here. She loved the house, it was the only thing she could really call her own, her home.

 “Yeah it’s just me and Autumn now, Paige lives in New York City.” Paige always wanted to live in a big city and when she turned eighteen she left without even thinking twice.

 “You are the oldest sister right?” He asked, trying to find something to take his mind off of her hot body. She was driving him insane, and he found himself needing a cold shower.

 She hated being called the “older” sister. She was only twenty nine, but most days she felt like she was forty, since she had to be the responsible adult overnight at the age of fifteen.

“I’m the oldest, Paige is the middle one, and Autumn is the baby, but probably the one who keeps it together the best.”

  Grace was good at keeping her life together, but recently things seemed to be going downhill. After Denny left she felt like her world turned upside. Three years of hopes of marriage were over in less than five minutes.

  The heartache was still there sometimes when she thought about the night Denny ended it. He left her alone on the docks in the rain, like a wet rat as he walked off with his new love.

 “You keep saying you don’t have it together, but from where I’m standing things look pretty good,” he said, as his eyes burned into her with his gaze, heating her and she felt like she was about to go up in flames.

“Enough about me, What about you Tyler, do you have it together?”

  He was as far from having it together, he felt lost, confused and heartbroken. But he never let anyone see that side of him. Over the past few weeks he learned how to hide his emotions.

“What exactly does having it together mean? Is this some trick question to having your life figured out and planned by the time your forty?  If it is, then I never plan on having it together. I had everything planned and together back in San Francisco and a lot of good that got me.” A successful business, a house and a soon to be wife was the life Tyler had planned and put together in San Francisco, until his wedding day when his bride left him at the altar.

“Sounds like some tough stuff to deal with back home.”

 Grace was the type to stay and work on the tough stuff and get through it. When her mom left that’s exactly what she did and never once thought about leaving. She wondered who it was that made him want to leave San Francisco. It must have been pretty bad if he felt the need to start over on the other side of the country.

 “How do you like life in Bar Harbor so far?” She moved around the kitchen as he watched her, until he found himself walking up behind her as she reached up to put the sugar away.

 “Let me get that for you.”

 He reached around grabbing the bag of sugar out of her hand and put it away. Being so close to her made his heart rate jump, but he didn’t want to move back just yet. He liked being close to her, feeling the warmth of her body the soft curves of her body against him, and the smell of her hair. It smelled like flowers and shampoo. He took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet smell of her hair before backing up. This was bad, and he felt the need to get the hell out of there.

  “Well I should be going; I don’t want to take up anymore of your time. It was nice seeing you again Grace.”

 Being so close to her when they were alone was testing his control. He had no intentions of getting into any type of relationship with a woman right now or anytime soon for that matter. He left San Francisco to be on his own and start over, and that was exactly what he intended to do as he walked out.

 “Thanks again for the sugar. Feel free to stop by if you need any,” She said.

That sounded bad, she let her head hit the back of the door when she closed it behind him. At this rate her dating slump was never going to end, the only thing in the near future was cats, lots of cats.

 
T
he buzzing of the alarm in her ear was enough to set her off. She lifted her head up from the pillow, squinting to see what time it was, four thirty. Hitting the snooze button, she contemplated if she should skip the usual morning run. She knew she would regret it later and finally got out of bed after the alarm went off for the second time. She splashed water on her face trying to wake up, looking at herself in the mirror trying to tame her wild bed hair. It was still dark and quiet outside as Grace made her way down the driveway. She could hear the waves crashing on the rocks and the bells of the buoys far out in the water as she stretched her back and legs.

  This was one of the reasons she loved living in Bar Harbor. In the dark early hours of the morning, everything was peaceful. The sounds of water and the harbor, always gave her a feeling of tranquility and peace. It helped clear her mind, leaving all of her worries behind, even if it was for just one hour.

 Just as she was about to start her morning run she turned back to look at the house up the hill. It was dark the only light on was at the front door.

 Looking at Tyler’s house made her feel a longing in her heart that she hadn’t felt in a long time. “What is wrong with you he runs away from his problems this isn’t the guy to start anything up with,” she thought, as she started slowly jogging toward the harbor.

 What she wouldn’t give to have someone to come home to at night. Someone to share her life with, her hopes and her dreams, someone to love her and all of her flaws. Grace wanted true love, the kind of love that fits perfectly like the missing piece to a puzzle. The kind of love that with every kiss you feel it deep in your heart and know that it’s going to last forever.