The next chapter is here!
A big Thank you to my Beta reader Laura Denvir- she really is great, it wouldn't be this good without her.
Thank you to all of the reviews they always bring a smile to my face.
The next day after seeing Jo off, Grace set about getting ready for they day. After showering and having a light breakfast, she ponders what to do. First things first, let's get rid of this sling; can't do a lot with it! She pulls it off and stashes it on the coat rack in the hall. Once that was done, she was still stumped and totally bored. Who knew she'd miss being at work?
Looking in her fridge she discovers that she is in desperate need of some food. She sighs loudly and leans on her counter, staring blankly at the fridge door. I suppose I'll have to get a cab down to the supermarket and get at least the basic necessities; my arm could be worse tomorrow, it hurts pretty badly now.
She moves from the counter to rummage in the draw by the note board. "Come on, I left the cab number in here…" She was brought out of her searching by a knock at the door.
Who…? She makes her way through the kitchen and into the hall, walking down to the door. Opening it she's shocked to see Neil standing there, dressed in casual clothing; dark blue jeans and a nice light blue polo shirt, with a small smile on his face. Whoa. He's never looked better. "Uh, hey." She manages to stutter out. So what if it sounded like she was choking on her words?
"Hey," Neil answers. Standing there holding two cups of coffee, he glances down sheepishly and offers her one.
Taking the proffered drink, she smiles slightly at him. "Thanks. Oh, come in!" She steps aside waving her good arm to usher him in, rather than leaving him on the door step like a delivery boy.
Neil nods slightly and walks carefully past, as not to jostle her arm. "How are you feeling today?" He asks, noting that she's got her sling off, while he heads into the living room.
She chuckles slightly, following him into the room. "Better. I just couldn't do anything with it on so it had to go," She answers, motioning to her arm. What's he doing here? Surely he's not… Checking up on me?
"I know I shouldn't have just come round without calling, but I just ne-wanted to see how you are." Neil says, shyly glancing at the floor. "But, if you're busy then I can always go." He adds, pointing over his shoulder, realizing that she most likely had plans.
"No, no I'm not busy. Well, I was going to pop out and grab some food, my fridge is in desperate need of it," Grace tells him, chuckling to herself.
He looks back up to her from his position on the sofa. "Well, would you like some company?" Oh god, he had that smile on. Seriously, it's like the woman attractor.
She sees the hopeful, shy look on his face and just can't turn him down. Her expression softens slightly and she nods. "Fantastic. At least now I won't have to get a cab!"
"Well then," He smiles, standing up and sweeping his arm out, "I'll let you lead the way."
Gathering up her bag, Grace walks out of her flat, closely followed by Neil.
Speeding up his pace so he gets next to -instead of behind- her, Neil gently places his left hand on her lower back, guiding her towards his car.A shit-eating grin spread across his face when he felt her move closer, and he felt a warm fuzzy feeling spread through him. Well, at least she isn't pulling away. Unfortunately, they reached the car far too soon for Neil's liking.
He flaps around a bit opening the door for her, and then rushes round to the other side and gets in.
After helping Grace with her shopping, Neil carries the majority of the bags back into her flat. God, I never knew this woman could eat so much! He inwardly chuckles, lifting the bags with a barely suppressed grunt onto the counter.
"The guys are coming over in a while," Grace says, coming in from the hall with the lighter bags. "So I had to get more supplies than normal," Opening the fridge she starts to put away the food.
"The guys?" Neil asks. Since when do 'the guys' come over? And how come I've never been invited? He silently fumes, tamping down the rising feel of jealousy.
Seeing Neil frown, Grace stops putting her food away to give him her full attention. "Yeah, it started a while ago. Once a month, we have a shift night in, normally watching films or something. Tonight's my turn to host," She moves to lean on the counter directly opposite him, causing him to turn to see her properly.
"Oh." He says, picking up an apple on the counter and playing with it, slowly turning things over in his mind, not looking at her. I guess they don't see me as part of their shift then. Probably because I'm the boss. Yeah, that's gotta be it. He thinks that he's keeping his face impassive. He isn't.
He looks cute when he pouts, She thinks, watching him curiously. Hold on… Does he think we don't want him to come? "We have invited you before," Seeing him look up at her with questioning eyes she carries on, "But you've always turned us down. I guess you were busy," she shrugs.
Realization dawning on him, Neil feels a bit sheepish. "Ah," he exhales, putting the apple back down.
"You are… Staying tonight, aren't you?" Grace asks him, watching him intently.
Staying… I guess she doesn't want me going home today then. Oh does she mean staying…? Realizing that she's still staring at him, he stutters out a few words strung together."Uh, I don't know, won't I be in the way…? I-I- mean, If you're not used to me, I don't want to put a damper on- I mean, you won't- I don't want to get in the way but-" He stops and breathes in deeply once he realized that we was rambling.
"No, of course you won't be in the way, I- we would love to have you here," She says, smiling at him and hoping that he didn't notice her slip up.
"Okay, I'll stay." For you. He takes a half-step toward her. "Do you need help with anything?" He stops when he's barely a foot from her. What the hell are you doing man? His inner voice screeches.
"Um, I don't know. I, ah, I-" Grace stutters, looking around the small kitchen. Anywhere but him! Where's Banksy when you need him? I need a distraction! She realizes that she's starting to panic and concentrates on her breathing, rather than how close he's standing and how unbelievably good he smells. Why are you panicking? Something nearly happened yesterday, you weren't freaking then.
She freezes when Neil reaches his hand out towards her. She sees him pause when he sees her stiffen and forces herself to relax.
When he sees her relax, he takes it as the go-ahead that it is and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiles softly at him. Mmm, he likes doing that. Noted, her inner self scribbles down that in the file of stuff she's learned about Neil Manson.
"I still need to make it up to you," Neil breathes, his breath tickling and teasing her senses. His hand traces lightly down her face and along her injured arm. Sighing ever so lightly Grace nearly missed it.
"I told you, you don't have to," Grace whispers to him, shaking her head softly. She takes the hand that was hovering by her and squeezes it lightly. "It wasn't your fault… Neil."
Shaking his head, dark, shadowed eyes intently running over her arm, he answers quietly. "No Grace, I nearly lost you yesterday, I ca-" His voice cracks and he clears his throat, "I can't forget that, I've screwed up so much as of late. What with Jake… and then yesterday, things could have ended up so, so much worse." He closes his eyes briefly.
He opens them again and looks down to see their entwined hands, her thumb running small circles over his flesh. Always trying to comfort me. He thinks, making himself feels ten times worse.
Looking back up at Grace he sees her staring at him with her caring eyes, facial expression reflecting the sadness he feels but won't let himself show. Involuntary he takes the last step closer, bringing them practically flush, only a few centimeters of air passing through the gap between their bodies. His dark chocolate gaze flicking between her eyes and lips, Neil leans forward slightly, giving her the option to back out. Lord knows he's been wrong about this stuff before. Feeling his heart beating faster, Neil subconsciously licks his lips.
With only inches left between them, he closes the gap. He tentatively touches Graces' lips with his own, still giving her the option to end it.
His kiss was gentle and soft, almost like a shy request. She felt her insides flip at the contact between them, and both heard and felt his groan as he untangled his hand from hers and pulled her tighter to his body, running his hands gently up her arms, being mindful of the bad one.
Her lips were on fire where they touched his and she shuddered when she felt his tongue glide across her bottom lip, tentatively asking permission to enter. Instinctively, she opened hers at the exquisite sensation. The feel of his tongue touching and dancing with hers sent another thrill of pleasure down her spine and she reached and placed her hand around the back of his neck to bring him closer, her fingers playing with the short strands of hair at the base.
Breaking apart from her, Neil rests his forehead against hers, panting slightly. "Grace," he breathes, waiting for her to open her eyes. He's still standing right up against her, holding onto her waist. They were half-hugging in her kitchen, the shopping bags left half-unpacked and the frozen food slowly melting.
My god, what just happened? Grace panics, trying to remember where she is, as she attempts to catch her breath. Wow, can this man kiss or what! She smiles inwardly, imagining her little-me doing the 'that's the way uhuh uhuh I like it' dance. What? Everyone's got a little crazy in them, right? Hearing her name being called, she opens her eyes. Looking at him, she can see the uncertainty blatantly shining in his eyes. Just like mine I would imagine. Giving him a tentative smile, Grace waits for some sort of response.
He pauses, seemingly looking for the right words. "…When I said that I wanted to make it up to you, I didn't have that in mind," He answers her unasked question breathlessly. Sensing Grace start to panic again, he quickly assures her. "But, I don't mind doing that again at all," He exclaims, grinning at her.
Still sensing some worry Neil takes a deep breath and steps backward a little so that he wasn't suffocating in her intoxicating scent. "I think we need to talk though." Grace just nods. He takes her good hand gently and leads her to the sofa.
Sitting down, silence engulfs them. Watching her staring at the ground concentrating at it, Neil begins to worry himself. Shit. Did I get the signals wrong? Were there any? Seeing Grace open her mouth, he awaits her voice to fill the silence, but it seems that she cannot find the words, as she closes it again.
"Grace…" Neil whispers, waiting until she looks at him. "What's…? What is happening here, between us?" He asks uselessly, waving a hand between them.
"I don't know. I just… really don't know," She huffs out. Standing up, she starts to pace in front of the coffee table. Stopping now and then, she looks like she's about to say something, but never manages to get any words out.
After watching her pace for a while, Neil can't take it anymore. Standing up he catches her hands, to still her movements. He then brings her back to the sofa. He sits on the coffee table, much like the other night, and holds both of her hands in his. Tracing his hands over hers he starts speaking "Grace, I don't… I don't know what's going on between us, but I want to find out, if we could… Well, if we could try at," he gestures with one hand again, "Try at 'us', I think that maybe, maybe we could be good together." Unable to look at her intent gaze, he concentrates on their hands.
After a few long moments of silence, he takes it as his answer. Pulling his hands away gently, he stands up rather abruptly and runs his hands over his face. Damn it! Why can't I ever have happiness, get one thing right, just once- He takes a moment for a long blink and heads into the kitchen to gather his stuff together. What am I going to do now, she won't want to work with me, and I can't believe I didn't read her properly. Shit! Slamming his hands on the counter -but quietly- he looks up at the ceiling for answers. Apparently the ceiling didn't want to help him, because he got none.
He turns to leave, but stops and winces slightly. Standing there is the doorway is Grace. "I- umm, sorry, I'm going to… I'm sorry, I'm just going to go," he mumbles, "I'm sorry." Is that all you can say? Be a man!
Walking up to him, Grace takes his phone and keys out of his hands and places them back onto the counter. Looking back at him she says "Why don't we give it a shot," she shoots him a lop-sided grin upon seeing his eyes light up. She leans forwards and places a warm kiss on his lips.
Neil couldn't help but display the grin that was tugging at his mouth. He then wraps his arms around her waist and, being careful of her arm, picked her up and spun her around. Thank you Lord!
Hearing her laugh, Neil puts her down and kisses her fully on the mouth. "I could get use to this," he murmurs into the kiss, unable to get the grin off of his face.
Grace stiffens slightly, and he senses her nervousness. "What is it?"
Looking at him through her eye lashes, Grace blushes slightly, "I uh, I just have one request," Seeing him raise his eyebrows in acknowledgement, she continues, "Can we just, you know, keep this between us for the moment? Just till we know where it's- we're, going?" She bites her lip, waiting for his response.
"Sure, no problem." Neil smiles easily. Lightening the mood again he adds, "At least I can keep you all to myself for a while," Chuckling, he watches her blush more.
"I think this is cause for a drink," Grace smile shyly. Moving out of his arms Grace heads to the cupboard to get the glasses and wine.
Stretching awkwardly to get them, she feels his presence behind her. Reaching his arm up from behind her he grabs the glasses and red wine, bringing his chest flush with her back. I think I could get use to this too. She thinks, smiling softly to the cupboard.
Placing the glasses down, Neil doesn't move from behind her. Trailing his hands down her arms, he feels her shiver in response to his touch. Why oh why have I waited so long to take this chance?
"You know, we are never going to get anything done like this," Grace chuckles. Feeling Neil smile behind her, she turns around to face him with the counter pressing into her back, not unpleasantly.
Groaning slightly, as he feels Grace move against him, is nearly his undoing. No, slowly, we have got to take it slowly, I can't mess this up, not this time.
"Right," He clears his throat, "Okay, lets get that drink," He says, stepping away from her so he doesn't do anything silly. Well, not that silly, his inner voice adds to the conversation.
After confirming that the group consisting of Terry, Mickey, Banksy, and Jo (after persuading her to finish early) were still coming, after much re-assurance that she was fine to host, it was settled that they would be round in a few hours. 3 pm to be precise.
The next couple of hours go by very quickly, with both of them setting up snacks for the others and listening to the radio.
I can't believe my luck! Neil grins to himself every time he looks at Grace.
Feeling Neil's stare on her more often that not, Grace cannot help but grin to herself. How am I going to hide this from the guys? While her other, more evil side says: Screw it, I feel sixteen again!
With the living room fixed and ready, they await for the group to arrive. For some reason Neil starts to feel nervous, which Grace picks up on.
"What's wrong?" Grace asks, moving over to him.
"Do the guys know that I'm here?" Getting a confused look from her he adds to that, "I mean, it's always been you lot, never the boss here as well." Also, on another note, all I want to do is kiss you.
Shaking her head, "Its fine, honestly. We all often ask if you are coming anyway." Grace reassures him.
Nodding his head he smiles back at her, his eyes crinkling. God it's going to be difficult to stay away from her tonight. Hearing the doorbell go, Neil shakes his head to clear his thoughts as Grace goes to the guys in.
After getting over the shock of the boss being there, they all settle down, Terry and Mickey in the single armchairs, Jo commandeering Grace's very large purple bean bag and Neil and Banksy on the sofa. Grace is loitering in the doorway, making sure everyone is comfortable and settled. She likes to be a good host when its her turn.
"What's on the film agenda tonight then?" Terry starts up. "Its Grace's turn to pick tonight," Slouching further into the armchair, Terry catched the smirk pass between Grace and Jo. "Woah, uh ohh! Looks like they've already decided guys," he chuckles loudly.
"I'll let you grab it Jo, you know where it is," Grace calls over her shoulder as she heads back to the kitchen. "I'll get the drinks." she says, laughter lacing her voice.
"I'll help," Neil murmurs, more to the rest of the guys as she isn't in hearing distance as he quickly strides to the kitchen.
Once leaving the room, all four of them look at each other with raised eyebrows. "What's going on there then, eh?" Mickey asks quietly, mindful that they're still only in the other room.
"Well… I came round last night, to help Grace, and he was here then…" Jo whispers, leaning forward. "He claims that he brought her home, but they had dinner too, so who knows?" Standing up abruptly, she crouches by the TV to find the film.
"Well its about time something happened!" Terry exclaims, clapping his hands on his knees. "Its been driving us crazy for months, the tension in the office is just silly," he chuckles, trying to peer into the kitchen, but since he can't actually see through walls, it didn't work.
Arms laden with drinks and snacks, Neil and Grace walk back into the living room. Upon placing the items on the coffee table, Grace waves her good arm over the array of food. "Dig in guys, there's more stuff in the kitchen if you want anything else. Jo," she smirks, "D'you get it?"
Grace and Neil then seat themselves on the sofa, Grace in between Banksy and Neil, the latter squished up against one arm, the former at the other.
"Oh, yes," Jo replies, an evil smirk gracing her features, "Get comfy guys, you're gonna love it!" She exclaims, flopping back into the bean bag.
Groaning when he sees the films title, Terry closes his eyes and asks the ceiling, "Why, please why? Do you hate me this much?" He asks in despair, getting a snorting fit from Mickey, "Anything but this!"
Calming his laughter, Mickey pipes up. "It not that bad Terry. Plus, we had to sit through some of your choices. I mean, Twilight? Really?"
"And some of those have been terrible, especially that last one." Banksy lets out a fake shudder.
"Hey! Twilight is brilliant; plus, you haven't seen this, so you may love it by the end." Jo says defensively, though still grinning.
Settling down they all begin to watch the film, all laughing and chatting throughout it. About half way through, Neil notices Grace wincing slightly and hugging her arm awkwardly. Deciding she most likely needs some meds, Neil gets up without a word and heads into the kitchen.
Jo calls out after him, "Oh no, that's okay, we didn't really want anything!" She says, laughing. Seeing him come back in with a glass of water, Jo looks a little confused.
"It's not for me," He gestures to the glass, "But if your offering to get us all a drink…" Neil trails off with a smirk, sinking back into his seat. Turning to Grace, he silently holds out his collected items. Why am I centre of attention all of a sudden? He asks himself, aware that there were four pairs of eyes currently burning into his back. Phew, it's getting hot in here.
Giving Neil a small smile-turned wince, Grace takes the water out of his hand and the proffered tablets from his other hand. "Thanks," She swallows down the pills and drains the glass with a shudder.
"You Okay?" Jo asks, attempting to sit up in the bean-bag, but failing miserably.
Grace nods, "I'm fine. Arm," She waggles it a bit, "Hurting a bit. Tablets work wonders," She chuckles, smiling at the group. Trying to deflect the attention from her, she turns to the room. "So you guys, go set up the food." She gestures outside.
Receiving a confused look from Neil she explains, "When the weather permits, we normally have a BBQ, and since it's nice outside…" Grace points outside to her private garden area. "Have fun!" At this point Jo starts laughing at the looks passing between the men.
30 minutes later, Grace, Jo and Banksy were all outside in the chairs, watching the other three argue over the best way to cook the food. They weren't getting very far. "At this rate we are never going to eat!" Jo laughs, amusingly shaking her head.
Laughing, Grace gets up, "I'm gonna grab another drink, you guys want one?" She asks Banksy and Jo. On the negative, she goes inside to get herself a drink, leaving the other two laughing at the trio.
Seeing Grace go back inside, Neil leaves Terry and Mickey arguing over where the best place to put the burgers is, and follows her inside.
Standing in the doorway to the kitchen Neil watches Grace pouring herself another drink. "Hey," He says, to let her know he's here rather than have the drink going everywhere. She smiles at him, which he can't help but mirror.
Turning around to lean on the counter, Grace beams at him. "You enjoying yourself?" She asks, motioning to outside with her drink.
Ducking his head in amusement, Neil smirks. "I never knew Terry could be so demanding, and over burgers of all things," He laughs, walking up to her, only leaving a small gap. "Thanks for inviting me. It's good to be around you guys when we're not at work." He tells her seriously.
"You've always been welcome, don't think you haven't," She says sternly, albeit with a hint of humour. I can't concentrate properly with him standing so close! Grace muses, playing with her glass.
Sensing him move closer she looks up and realizes that he's only inches from her, again.
God she is beautiful. He closes the distance and places a quick kiss on her lips. I feel like a bloody teenager, I can't keep away from her. He hears her breath hitch on the inhale and feels a burning start in his stomach.
"Neil…" She sighs, "You know the guys are only just out there; they're gonna wonder where we are," she says, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. How did my hand get there?
"Uh huh," Is all he can get out. Oh god, this is torture! He thinks every time Graces' fingers glide across his chest. Closing the gap again Neil places a firm kiss on her lips. Putting his hands either side of her, he effectively pins her between the counter and him. Deepening the kiss Neil tugs at her bottom lip for permission to enter; upon gaining it, He slips his tongue inside. His hands wandering over her body, he pulls her closer. Not that it's possible, but he still tries.
Groaning softly in pleasure, Neil's hand finds the bottom of her top. "Grace?"He hears.
Pulling away from her, she looks up at him with darkening eyes, questioningly. "Grace?" Neil hears again. Shit! Banksy! Again! Pulling away from her Neil settles himself a respectful distance from her, leaning against the counter opposite. He was just in time, because Banksy walked in not 3 seconds later.
"Ah, there you are. We were wondering where you got to," Banksy says when he finds us.
"Yep, I'm just coming back out," Grace smiles, and proceeds to walk past Neil and head back into the garden.
Noticing the tension in Neil, Banksy asks if everything is okay. "Yes, everything's fine, Banksy." Just another interruption by the master! Neil grumbles to himself. Clapping his hand on his back Neil pushes Banksy back outside. "Let's see if Terry has figured out how to cook some burgers yet," He chuckles.
The rest of the evening goes off without a hitch, everyone relaxing with the help of booze. At about 8pm, it was time to say goodbye. With Terry, Mickey, Jo and Banksy each in their own cars, they left pretty quickly, noticing that Neil hadn't got all of his belongings together yet.
Giving Grace a wink Jo waves from the car and drives off.
Turning around Grace sees Neil standing there, just watching her. Should I go or what? Why can't I ever seem to make a decision when I'm around her? Even before we were… Together. "It was… fun today," Is that all you can say? Way to go!
Nodding, she walks over to him. "Yeah, it was. See what you've been missing?" She grins.
The team night or you? He thinks. "Yeah. I shouldn't of taken this long to do this," he huffs. "Well I suppose… I better get going, let you get some rest, you know. You haven't really stopped today." He tells her.
I'd rather you stay. "I suppose your right," She replies glumly. "Are you doing anything tomorrow?" Grace blurts without realizing the words were there. Oops. Now I can feel my face on fire. Just great.
Suppressing a grin, Neil closes the space between them. Again. Why can't I stay away? He lets the grin out, "Nope, I'm all yours," He shuffles a little closer, "Do you wanna do something?"
"Shall we?"
"Yeah," He blinks twice and does the lopsided grin; the one that he knows is blatant flirting. "I'll pick you up tomorrow, say, twelve?" She nods haltingly, having trouble thinking with him pressed up against her. Again.
Walking him to the door, Grace shows him out. Giving her a peck on the cheek, Neil murmurs into her ear, "I better not kiss you anywhere else, or I won't be leaving tonight." I'm getting the hand of making her blush. Maybe I should stop. Aww, like you would. He inwardly cackles when he sees her face darken in embarrassment and something else; desire. "See you tomorrow," He whispers.
Watching him leave, Grace was tempted to call him back, but she knew better. Hearing her phone ring, Grace shakes her head, muttering to herself while heading back to the phone. "That'll be Jo. Can she just not gossip for one day?" She picks up the phone. "You've only just gotten in!" Grace laughs into the phone.
"I know, I just couldn't wait any longer!" Jo giggles from the other end of the line. "Come on girl, spill it!" Jo prompts.
"Well I-" Do I tell her? Will she keep it secret? Ahh, it doesn't matter that much, I need to tell someone. She sits down and sighs into the phone. "Alright, where to start…"
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be soon.
Please R & R. xx