Page 25 of The Grump I Loathe (The Lockhart Brothers #3)

CONNOR

“ H ow was the meeting with the publisher?” I asked.

“Good,” Mom said. “They loved the additional chapters I proposed on female activists during Prohibition.”

“That’s great,” I said. We often had post-dinner video calls when Mom was in LA. She’d flown down to stay with X while she did some work with her publisher—they’d picked up her pitch for a non-fiction book on the Prohibition era.

“Grandma, did you see the picture of my flower girl dress Dad sent you?” Grace cut in, leaning closer to the phone screen. “It has pink and purple flowers on the skirt!”

“I did!” Mom said, smiling at her. Ali had finally gotten around to taking Grace shopping, however delayed that day had been. “It’s beautiful.”

“There were two I thought were pretty,” Grace said, “but the other was sorta itchy. So I ditched that idea.”

“What are you doing with your hair?” Mom asked .

Grace hummed. “Not sure. Mom didn’t say anything.”

I tried not to grimace on screen. I wouldn’t put it past Ali to forget to include Grace in whatever hair and makeup arrangements she was making.

Mom might have been thinking the same thing. “Well, I’d be happy to do your hair on the big day. Maybe a cute little updo?”

Grace beamed. “Okay! Better you than Dad.”

“Hey!” I laughed while making a mental note to book Mom a room at the hotel.

She wasn’t invited to the wedding, but it was only a few hours of driving to get to the venue, and it was a nice area to visit, whether you were there for a wedding or not.

A non-work trip would be relaxing after all this back-and-forth she was doing for X and the publisher. “When are you coming home?” I asked.

“Soon,” Mom said. “I think. Though…I’m not sure for how long.”

“You think? What does that mean?”

“Oh, you know,” Mom said, trailing off with a mysterious smile. “You should be getting to bed, young lady.”

I recognized the subject change and made a note to ask Mom about it later.

Grace sighed. “I know. Or else I won’t grow. Love you, Grandma. Say hi to X for me!”

We said our goodbyes, and Grace stood, making her way to the TV. I snagged her by the back of the shirt. “You heard Grandma. Bed.”

“Aww, Dad! Fine.” She grabbed my hand, trying to tug me off the couch. “Come on,” she complained. “Tuck me in.”

“I can’t.” I grimaced. “These old bones. I can’t move. ”

“Dad!” Grace heaved, yanking with all her might. “You’re not that old yet!”

I laughed as she slid against the floor in her socks. “All right. I’m up.”

“Though I’m excited for when you get one of those electric scooter chairs,” she said. “I’m gonna ride it.”

I barked a laugh, leading her up the stairs. “Ouch, kid. We’ve got a while before that.”

She shot me a sassy grin that reminded me far too much of her uncle Finn. While Grace brushed her teeth and put on her pajamas, I turned down her bed. “You think Mom will have one of those fancy chocolate fondue stations at the wedding?” she asked, coming into the room.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Did you ask?”

“Well, yeah.” She scrambled under her covers. “She said she was still deciding. But, like, what is there to decide? It’s a waterfall of chocolate.”

I smirked, shaking my head as I tucked her in. “You’re gonna go easy on the sugar, right?”

She looked at me like I had three heads. “Dad, be serious.”

The doorbell rang before I could respond.

“Who’s that?” Grace asked, sitting up.

I pushed gently on her shoulders. “Not sure. But it’s my job to check it out, and your job to go to sleep. Lie down.”

Grace flopped onto her side, and I pulled up the covers to tuck them under her chin, the way she liked.

“Goodnight. Love you. ”

“Love you more,” she said, yawning.

“Love you more and the most.” I kissed her forehead, then left the room, closing the door behind me as I made my way downstairs. Knock. Knock. Knock . I frowned. Who the hell was here uninvited at this time in the evening? I pulled the door open to find?—

“Eddie?” She stood there on the porch, arms crossed against her chest, shivering and soaking wet as she stared at me. Beatrice—the ridiculous name she’d given her work car—was parked at the bottom of the drive.

“Hey,” she said. “I thought maybe no one was home.”

“What are you, er, how did you…” I trailed off. What did it matter what she was doing here or how she knew where I lived? All that mattered was her glassy eyes and the uneasy set to her jaw and the way she was clinging to herself. Something was wrong.

I pulled the door open wider and reached for her, my hand catching her elbow as I tugged her into the house.

She came to me without resistance, stumbling into my arms. I cradled her face, forcing her to look at me as my heart hammered.

“What happened?” She wasn’t holding herself like she was injured, but I was hardly an expert. Should I call 911?

She blinked at me, those rapid little flicks holding back the moisture in her eyes. “Alannah’s parents are getting divorced,” she said, voice raspy. “I just found out.”

My chest clenched at the hurt in her voice. “Eddie, I’m?—”

“Valentina is moving into a rental until the divorce is settled. Then she’s taking Alannah to Florida.”

“She can’t just take her out of the state,” I said, frowning .

“She can if my dad doesn’t do anything to stop her,” Eddie said, her words chilled.

I tried to imagine what I would have done if Ali had tried to leave with Grace. I would have moved heaven and earth to stay with her.

“If Valentina takes her,” Eddie said, jaw trembling. “I’ll hardly see her again.” She let out a humorless laugh, running her hands through her damp hair. “God, I hate divorce! No offense.”

“None taken,” I said. I wasn’t a fan either. It took a toll on everyone, even when it was the right decision in the end. No one escaped without battle scars.

She dropped her hands, groaning. “You’d think my dad would have learned his lesson.

Like what am I supposed to do, start prepping for wife number three?

Little sibling number two? Is this just how it’s going to be for the rest of our lives?

Him moving on and starting over with a new family until he screws that one up, too, because taking responsibility and being a father is too much effort? ”

I hauled her close again. She shivered in my arms. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I don’t know if it is,” she mumbled against my chest. When she pulled back, she looked at me, those green eyes pinched. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I shouldn’t have come.” She tried to step away, but I tightened my hold. “I didn’t mean to dump this on you.”

“It’s okay,” I said. I would a million times rather have her here, where I could make sure she was safe, than driving around in the dark and the rain when she was distracted and upset. I racked my brain for a way to help her.

Money ?

No, her dad presumably had enough of that.

I knew a great divorce lawyer, but if he wasn’t willing to fight, that wouldn’t do him much good—by which I meant it wouldn’t do Eddie much good, since she was the one who actually seemed to care about fighting to stay close to Alannah.

Eddie jerked with chill, and I registered the temperature of her skin.

“You’re shivering.”

“’Cause your house is frigid,” she said, teeth rattling. “What, is your AC on super ultra mode?”

“It’s because you’re wet,” I said. Right now, more than money or divorce lawyers, she needed to get warm and dry. “Come on.” I escorted her down the hall to the bathroom. “Why don’t you have a shower, get warmed up? I’ll find you something to wear, and we can throw your clothes in the dryer.”

“Thanks,” Eddie said. I opened the door and started the shower, turning the handle all the way to hot.

“There’s all sorts of soap and shampoo,” I said, doing a mini tour. “This is the bathroom my mother uses when she visits. So everything should be suitably…girly.”

Eddie gave me a weak smile.

“And there are towels under the sink here.” I pointed them out. “Grace says the white ones are the softest and?—

“Thank you,” Eddie said, catching my hand, her voice small. Her skin was still like ice, but heat bled through me from her touch. She blinked hard, then rubbed at her eyes as a few stray tears slid down her cheeks. “I really didn’t mean to intrude. This was stupid. I’m sorry I came here.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said, the words escaping before I could stop them .

She looked up at me, her gaze softening from hurt to something else—something like desire.

In spite of my best intentions, I fell into those green eyes.

The pull was magnetic. My hand landed on her hip.

The other cupped her cheek. And then I was dipping down, closing the distance to take her in a breathless kiss.

Her lips were as chilled as the rest of her, but they warmed as our mouths fit together, again and again. She tilted her head, and I nipped at her lower lip. When she parted them, I pressed my tongue into her mouth, exploring every groove and angle and the softness of her own tongue.

When I pulled back, Eddie groaned in displeasure. “Don’t stop,” she rasped.

I cleared my throat. “You should get out of these clothes.”

“Okay,” she said, reaching down and popping the button on her jeans.

“What are you doing?” My eyes widened.

“Getting out of my clothes?”

“I didn’t mean right now.” The room filled with steam, and my cock twitched in my pants. The sirens that should have been going off in my head hardly made a sound.

“Didn’t you?” she said, giving me a cheeky grin.

Fuck . Like hell I didn’t. I surged forward, capturing her in another kiss, this one less gentle, filled with all the desperate desire I’d been packing away since I’d encountered this frustrating creature and her damn hot sauce.

Eddie moaned into my mouth, the sound sending all my blood rushing south, and I slid my hands under her shirt, pulling it up and over her head.

I kissed her everywhere I could reach, eager to taste the newly exposed skin.

That long neck. Her collar bone. The dip at the base of her throat.

Everywhere I’d been dreaming about since that night in the club.

“Grace?” she whispered as I nibbled at her throat.

“Sleeping upstairs.”

Eddie gasped as I sucked on her pulse point. “Oh God,” she muttered. “Mmm, Connor.”

Yes , something inside me crowed. Say my name.

Eddie rocked against me, and I cupped her ass, grinding my erection against her.

“I need you naked,” I growled. “Right now.”

She wriggled out of the rest of her wet clothes as I shoved my pants down my legs.

I popped the clasp on her bra, watching hungrily as it fell away.

She was gorgeous and glorious, and I pulled her close, devouring that sassy smile with a kiss that left her moaning as I ran a thumb over her nipple, feeling it pebble.

Eddie slid her hand between our bodies, taking hold of my cock and giving it a few strokes. She swallowed hard, her lips parting as she held my girth.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, you’re just…” The corner of her mouth curled. “Big.”

I snorted.

“Isn’t that what every man wants to hear?” she asked as she released me.

I cupped the space between her legs, pressing the palm of my hand against her clit. Eddie gasped, chasing the pressure as her hands wrapped around my neck. She dropped her head back and groaned .

“ That’s the sound every man wants to hear,” I murmured in her ear.

I angled my hand differently, curling a finger along her entrance.

She nodded before I’d even asked the question, and I sank one finger into her warmth, starting a regular rhythm of grinding the heel of my palm against her clit. Her breathing sped up as she jerked against me, chasing the pressure, clawing at my shoulders.

“Yes, yes, yes!” she said, seizing up right before she trembled in my arms. I held her while she rode the waves of her orgasm, barely holding onto the last of my control. I wanted to fuck her senseless. Bury myself in her warmth. I just wanted her . Every frustratingly gorgeous inch.

I reached over, rifling in a drawer.

“Come back here—what are you even looking for?” she whined, rocking against me slowly.

“A damn condom.” I opened another drawer.

I’d thrown a box in the drawer when X started sleeping over, mostly as a fuck you to him.

Please for the love of anything, I hoped they didn’t get tossed.

Yes ! I found the box, which had been opened, and rolled it over my cock as Eddie squeezed me, making needy little sounds again.

“I’m going to bury myself so deep,” I said as I kissed her.

She nodded, making more of those desperate sounds.

“Turn around.”

She did, bracing her hands on the counter, thrusting her ass out at me. I lined up my aching cock. “Ready?”

“Fuck me already!”

I did, sinking into her.

“Yes!” Eddie hissed. “God. Fuck. Yes. So good, Connor. So— Mmm . ”

Yes, my thoughts exactly.

I rocked into her, finding a steady, pounding rhythm.

I was hungry for my own orgasm, but even that came second to my absolute need to chase more of those delicious sounds Eddie made.

I didn’t know if it was the steam from the shower or how hard my blood was pumping, but sweat beaded upon my brow as I thrust into her.

I swiped my hand over the mirror, wiping away the steam so I could see the way her breasts bounced and watch her mouth fall open in ecstasy, her eyes clenched tight as she shuddered through a second orgasm. With that, I came, spilling as I gave one final thrust, burying myself as deep as I could.

Eddie leaned against the counter, and I leaned over her, catching my breath.

“Holy shit,” she said.

“Agreed.”

“Is there a bed around here?” she asked before the high had even completely worn off.

Fuck yes. “Guest room down the hall,” I mouthed the words against her spine.

She grimaced. “The one your mother uses?”

“Different one. I don’t think the bed’s ever been slept in.” I pulled out, disposing of the condom, and stepping over to shut off the shower. When I moved back toward her, Eddie threw herself into my arms. A thrill shot through me as her legs wrapped around my waist.

I threaded my arms around her back and Eddie giggled, clinging to me as I wrenched the bathroom door open. “Where are we going, Lord LockMill?”

I gave her a filthy grin. “To break in a mattress.”