“Yeah. Told me that people only started to respect him when he got good at hockey. Said I didn’t have to choose hockey, but that finding something that I’m really good at will make other people respect me. And over time, people would stop teasing me. He said I shouldn’t be afraid to be me. That too many people spend too much time trying to fit in when they should be trying to stand out and be their own personal best.”
That sting of warmth she’d had earlier filled her chest again, and she smiled pulling into the Dairy Queen drive through.
Grant Saber just kept surprising her.
Faith was still thinking about Grant long after she’d dropped Caleb off at home and returned to the store to finish up her day by stocking shelves. Thinking about his kiss as she started toward the basement where dozens of delivery boxes awaited her. Thinking about his words that still created a shiver in her gut and settled heat between her legs.
“I talk as dirty as I fight, and I fuck has hard as I play.”
She wondered what it would be like to have a man like Grant Saber, with all his confidence and skill, talk dirty to her. Wondered what it would be like to be fucked hard. Hell, fucked period. She’d never approached sex that way. Dillon had been her first and last. And she’d been in love with him. Had believed she’d marry him.
As she unloaded the last box, Faith came to the realization that nothing in life was a sure thing—except death. And that by trying so hard to hold onto the store, she was letting life pass her by. A big chunk of which she’d already missed out on. It didn’t matter whether Grant wanted one night. Or even one hour. Because the truth was, with her life so unstable, Faith didn’t have much more to offer.
Gathering the influx of outlet covers, nuts, bolts, and screws from the last box, she started upstairs to fill the shelves.
“Tomorrow,” she told herself, “I’m going to ask him out. Tomorrow, when he comes in, I’m going to see if he wants to go to dinner. I’m going to be honest with him, and if he’s still interested, then...” She paused on the stairs. “Then what?”
The thought of having sex with him electrified her blood. Just kissing him had knocked her completely out of balance. What would she do when she was naked? When he was naked? Or when his hands roamed her body? When his mouth ventured beyond her lips? When he moved between her legs and pushed inside her.
A wave of want crashed, making her so dizzy, she had to put a hand against the wall to steady herself. “God,” she said, the word shaky with excitement, anticipation... Fear. She forced her feet moving again. “He’s so out of my stratosphere. It’s probably time to check into some video education toni—”
Psssssssss….
Faith’s feet froze on the stairs, her ears perked to the new, high-pressured hiss coming from somewhere adjacent to the storage room. It was the kind of sound that prickled the skin on the back of her neck with alarm.
She turned and started back to the basement, her mind searching for the cause. The explosion shocked her, and Faith tripped over her own feet. She let out a cry just before she hit the cement stairs. Pain cracked through her butt and back, stealing her breath. The box she’d been carrying slammed against the wall, then the floor, spraying silver screws like confetti.
Faith used her hands to slow her momentum and brace herself once she’d come to a stop. But several moments passed before she could gain control over her breathing to ease the pain that stabbed along her back and butt.
When it finally eased enough to let her draw full breaths, her other senses came back, and a new horror flooded in—the sound of gushing water.
Grant had pushed everything too far this week—his frustration with his parents, his desire for Faith, and the limits of his own body. And he was paying for all of them.
He let the hot water pulse from the new showerhead over his right shoulder, glad he’d gone for the more expensive model and all the massage features. After this, he’d stretch then pack it with ice. Add a little ibuprophen and a good night’s sleep, and he’d be fine tomorrow.
But the sleep wouldn’t come easily. All he had to do was remember the feel of Faith’s warm mouth under his. The gentle way she’d stroked his tongue when she’d found the nerve. The way she felt against him. And, God, the sounds she made when he kissed her...
All his blood flowed south again. His groin tightened. His cock hardened.
“Fuck.” Grant opened his eyes to his hard-on and sighed. It was going to be another long night.
He hit the controls, pulled the towel from the shower door and pressed it against his face. His brothers would be here tomorrow. Initially that would buffer him from his parents. But Grant suspected that Patrick and Shawn would become as big a source of stress and frustration as his parents were. And even after all these years, that really disappointed him.
As he dried off, he thought of Faith and her relationship with her father and Caleb, a boy she wasn’t even related to by blood. They were loving, nurturing and kind. Because Faith was loving, nurturing and kind. And it made Grant wonder if it was time to add that kind of happiness and warmth into his own life.
But that was extremely hard to do in his line of work with a grueling game and practice schedule which included travel, charity and team events. When he was surrounded by women who were more interested in what kind of fame or finances he brought to the table instead of what kind of man he was.
“And you’re a good man, Grant Saber.”
Faith’s words made him smile and created a burn at the center of his chest again. He didn’t feel like he deserved them, but he wanted to deserve them. Now he wished he had more time to earn them with her.
His phone chimed with a call. Grant closed his eyes, sighed and picked up the phone. He didn’t recognize the number, just that it was local, and hoped Bobby Lowry was calling to get together. It would be good to see him and it might help keep Grant’s mind off Faith.
“Hello,” he answered, scrubbing his hair with the towel.
“Hey, Grant?”
He recognized Faith’s voice immediately, which threw him completely off axis. “Faith?”