Title: Experimental Grace
Authors: Debba and Sue
Category: Other – Grace/Ryder
Rating: R
E-mail: debba78@hotmail.com and ruststar@aol.com
Disclaimer: We own nothing
Summary: Grace and Ryder may be falling in love
Thanks: To Alicia for being such a wonderful muse. Without you this story might have
never happened!
Part 9
Ryder had to admit he was impressed with the way Grace shopped. The girl hardly
wasted any time at all. She was looking for a dress for a New Year's Eve party and she
wanted it to be perfect. She breezed into almost every store in the mall; flipped quickly
through the racks of dresses, and tried on a couple if she found anything she liked. If she
didn't, it was on to the next store.
He was flattered that she wanted his opinion on the dresses she tried on. She looked great
in just about everything she picked – Grace had a good sense of what looked good on her
– but they'd been at the mall for almost two hours and still hadn't found anything that
was perfect. His patience was wearing thin as he waited for her to show him the dress she
was currently trying.
His jaw dropped when she walked out of the dressing rooms, a grin on her face.
"I kinda like this one – what do you think?" she asked. Not that she needed to ask, the
look on his face said it all.
A smile crossed his face as he took in the sight of Grace in her dress. "Yeah, I think…"
he stood up and twirled her around so he could drink in the sight of her from all angles. "I
think that might be the one, Gracie," he said.
She smiled up at him. "Yeah, I think so too." She turned to look in the mirror, smoothing
the fabric. The dress was a dark midnight blue that fell to just above the knee; the soft
skirt twirled around her spreading from a fitted waist. It showed off her curves without
being tight, and the scoop neckline showed off only a little cleavage, making it by far the
classiest dress she'd ever worn. She loved it. She glanced at Ryder's reflection in the
mirror and caught him staring at her. A crazy idea began to form in her head.
"Ryder?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"Hmmm?"
"Um…would you like to go to the New Year's party with me?" she sounded unsure of
herself and she hated that, but she wasn't sure how he felt about her yet.
He was startled by her request – it was the last thing he'd expected. He didn't want to
seem too eager though, so he tried to play it cool and not show how much he wanted to
say yes.
"Grace, are you asking me out?" he asked in a teasing voice.
She blushed, but managed to look him in the eye. "Yeah, what if I am?" she teased back.
"You want to go or not?"
His eyes swept over her in that dress, taking in how stunning she looked. He met her eyes
and smiled. "Yeah, Grace. I'd love to go."
She smiled back. "Great. Um, I'm gonna go change so I can pay for this and we can get
out of here. I still need to hit a few more stores, though," she said as she slipped back into
the dressing room.
He managed not to groan.
They headed out of the department store and back into the mall. Grace veered right, and
Ryder followed, having no idea where he was going. She paused briefly to admire some
earrings in the window of a jewelry store, sighing. She'd never be able to afford them,
but they were gorgeous.
"So, where are we headed now?" he asked.
She snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, um…well, I need to get hose for the dress, so I
guess I need to go to Victoria's Secret…" her voice trailed off.
Ryder's eyebrows rose. She wanted him to go to Victoria's Secret? Judging by the blush
creeping up her neck she clearly didn't. He grinned and grabbed her hand. "Well, lets go
see what she's so secretive about then," he said, wanting to see what she'd do.
"I said that 'I' need to go there – you don't get to come," she said with authority and
didn't move.
"I didn't think you'd let me," he said with a smile. "How about you meet me in the
bookstore in half an hour? I need a break from all this frou-frou stuff for a bit."
Grace softened, grateful that he understood, and pleasantly surprised that he hadn't let go
of her hand. "You have been pretty good – I'm impressed that you've lasted this long. I'll
meet you in Borders then. In half an hour." Reluctantly she pulled her hand from his
grasp and headed down the hallway.
He watched her until he saw her enter the lingerie store then headed back the way they
came. There was a store he wanted to stop at while he had the chance.
*********
After spending 15 minutes searching through the bookstore's crowded aisles she finally
found him kicked back in an overstuffed armchair in the art and photography section. He
was deeply engrossed in a book on architecture, which surprised her, and she hung back a
moment to observe him undetected.
As she had searched through the store trying to guess what would interest him she
realized that she really didn't know Ryder very well. At the same time she thought she
might know him better than anyone else at Rawley did, which made him an even bigger
puzzle. Everybody else only knew the asshole he could be but in the last few months she
had seen a different side to him – and she thought she was falling hard for that side of
him real fast. Hell, she'd already fallen. Past tense. Done deal. There was really no
turning back – her heart was already there, even if logic was telling her she might not be
able to trust him.
He glanced up to catch her staring at him and grinned at her, causing her heart to flutter.
That's what it was – that smile and those devastating eyes. When he looked at her like
that it was impossible to believe he could hurt her. Logic be damned – she liked him.
She slowly made her way over to where he was sitting, enjoying the way his eyes never
left hers, and sat on the arm of the oversized chair so that she could peek over his
shoulder. "What're you reading?"
"Nothing important," he said, shutting the book and laying it on the table in front of him.
He didn't care that she'd seen him reading the architecture book. True, not many people
knew about his interest in the subject, but if he had really wanted to keep it a secret, he
wouldn't have been reading a book about it in public. Especially not when he knew Grace
would be looking for him. "Are you done shopping?"
"Yup – I've got everything I need."
"Amazing. So, what do you want to do now? The day is yours, so whatever you want is
fine with me."
"Really?" she leaned back and made like she was racking her brain trying to come up
with something, making him laugh.
"How about I take you to the movies? I'll buy." She was a little nervous about asking, but
she figured he'd agree. After all, spending the day together had been his idea.
"You don't have to do that…" he started to say, but she cut him off.
"If I buy I get to pick the movie, so shhh," she placed a finger on his lips to still any
protests. She smiled at him. "I did lots of babysitting when I wasn't playing poker with
you guys, so I saved up enough to manage to swing a matinee."
She slid off the arm of the chair and offered her hand to pull him up, her eyes sparkling
mischievously. He looked at her warily for a moment before taking her hand.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be watching mushy romance for the next couple
of hours?" he asked wryly.
Grace merely smiled. "You never know…you might even like it."
*******
Grace was right, he actually did like the movie she picked – a romantic comedy starring
Russell Crowe and Kate Winslet – and not just because Kate Winslet got naked. Again. It
had been fun watching Grace's reactions to the movie – she didn't get embarrassed by the
risqué humor or get weepy during the emotional parts. The best part, though, was holding
her hand. It had been a long time since he'd done that and he was surprised how natural it
felt. He felt her staring at him for a while right after he took her hand in his but he fought
hard to keep looking forward as though nothing had happened and she eventually gave
up. If he just pretended nothing was going on maybe she wouldn't make him analyze it to
death. He didn't think he could handle a serious study of what he was feeling towards
Grace just then.
After the movie they wandered through the mall for a while then stopped for food at one
of the non-descript chain restaurants. They talked about movies and music over the
mediocre food, their conversation leading all over the place. He didn't even notice that
two hours had gone by until she mentioned that she should probably get home.
By the time they got to New Rawley it was nearly 10 o'clock. It was early still, but there
really wasn't anything to do in town, and he didn't want her to get sick of his company.
He pulled into her father's station and turned off the engine. Grateful for a distraction he
got out of the car to retrieve her bags from the trunk. He fumbled with the keys a bit
before he got the trunk open and he cursed under his breath. As he handed her the bags
he noted the look of amusement she wore and realized she heard him.
"What? What's so funny?"
"You – I've never seen you like this." She couldn't help but grin at him. It was so funny
to see him flustered and trying desperately to hide it. Too bad for him that it wasn't
working.
"Like what?"
"All nervous and awkward. Like you're afraid that if you kiss me I'll turn you down or
something."
"I've already kissed you…more than once," he said with a wicked grin. "I believe it was
very early this morning. So why should I be nervous?" When he saw her cheeks darken at
the memory he took the opportunity to close the distance between them. He was glad
he'd managed to distract her – he hated that his uncertainty was so obvious to her.
"Maybe nervous wasn't the right word then," she whispered right before he leaned down
to kiss her softly. It was just what she'd been hoping for. She needed to know that last
night hadn't just been a fluke or the beer or a mistake.
"Anxious, maybe, or…" he cut her off again with another harder kiss and he felt her
respond with equal fervor. His heart was racing and he felt a little dizzy from the contact
and he backed her up against the wall to prevent them from falling over. The feel of her
lips, the taste of her skin, even the sweet, clean scent of her hair was making him lose
control. He felt like he wanted to devour her whole and he pulled back a moment to calm
himself down. She was breathing just as heavily as he was and knowing that he was
having the same effect on her warmed him down to his toes. He pulled her closer again,
his cheek against hers, as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
She was standing on tiptoes to reach so he loosened his embrace to let her slide down and
rest her head against his chest. Holding her like that felt so good and so right – he didn't
want to leave. Nothing had ever felt more comfortable than having Grace in his arms.
Grace could hear his heartbeat through his jacket as it returned to normal pace. The
intensity of his kiss surprised and thrilled her – but not as much as the tenderness of his
embrace. His fingertips lightly stroked her cheek and she leaned back to look up at him.
He didn't speak, merely continued to lightly trace her cheekbones with his fingertips as
he looked into her eyes.
He tilted her face up towards his and was just about to lean in for another kiss when she
heard Bella's angry voice: "What the hell are you doing to my sister, Ryder?"
They sprang apart and Grace whirled to face her sister, angry that the mood had been
broken. She was immediately on the defensive – she knew how Bella and her friends felt
about Ryder and she knew her sister wouldn't be happy about what she'd seen.
"Nothing that I didn't want him too, Mom," she said sarcastically and glared at her sister.
"What are you doing with him, Grace?"
"Nothing! God, have a cow or something. What's the matter with you?"
"Don't roll your eyes at me, Grace. You know what he's like."
"Yeah, I do. And you obviously don't, or you wouldn't be freaking out right now," she
said, anger making her voice cold. She turned her back to her sister and ignored her when
she slammed the door behind her. This was what she'd been afraid of. She didn't want
Bella to say anything that might insult Ryder – her sister hardly knew him and had no
idea that he had a softer side.
"Sorry about that," she said rolling her eyes.
"Its okay – I've probably earned some of that from her." Bella's obvious contempt for
him had never bothered him before, but then, he'd never tried to date her little sister
either. He had never thought that teasing Bella and her friends would come back to haunt
him the way he knew it was going to. They'd do their best to convince Grace to stay
away from him. The worst part was, he was afraid it might work.
Grace sighed. "Maybe, but not lately, and its none of her business who I spend my time
with. She's not my mother and she doesn't have veto power over my friends."
"Well, I think she might disagree – she's brewing up a good hissy fit in there – you can
almost see the steam coming from her ears."
Grace looked over her shoulder to see Bella glaring out at them and sighed. She knew she
was going to have to deal with a lecture from Bella when she got in, and she was not
looking forward to it. * Might as well make the lecture worthwhile * she thought, and
threw her arms around his neck to kiss him before she went inside.
Authors: Debba and Sue
Category: Other – Grace/Ryder
Rating: R
E-mail: debba78@hotmail.com and ruststar@aol.com
Disclaimer: We own nothing
Summary: Grace and Ryder may be falling in love
Thanks: To Alicia for being such a wonderful muse. Without you this story might have
never happened!
Part 9
Ryder had to admit he was impressed with the way Grace shopped. The girl hardly
wasted any time at all. She was looking for a dress for a New Year's Eve party and she
wanted it to be perfect. She breezed into almost every store in the mall; flipped quickly
through the racks of dresses, and tried on a couple if she found anything she liked. If she
didn't, it was on to the next store.
He was flattered that she wanted his opinion on the dresses she tried on. She looked great
in just about everything she picked – Grace had a good sense of what looked good on her
– but they'd been at the mall for almost two hours and still hadn't found anything that
was perfect. His patience was wearing thin as he waited for her to show him the dress she
was currently trying.
His jaw dropped when she walked out of the dressing rooms, a grin on her face.
"I kinda like this one – what do you think?" she asked. Not that she needed to ask, the
look on his face said it all.
A smile crossed his face as he took in the sight of Grace in her dress. "Yeah, I think…"
he stood up and twirled her around so he could drink in the sight of her from all angles. "I
think that might be the one, Gracie," he said.
She smiled up at him. "Yeah, I think so too." She turned to look in the mirror, smoothing
the fabric. The dress was a dark midnight blue that fell to just above the knee; the soft
skirt twirled around her spreading from a fitted waist. It showed off her curves without
being tight, and the scoop neckline showed off only a little cleavage, making it by far the
classiest dress she'd ever worn. She loved it. She glanced at Ryder's reflection in the
mirror and caught him staring at her. A crazy idea began to form in her head.
"Ryder?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"Hmmm?"
"Um…would you like to go to the New Year's party with me?" she sounded unsure of
herself and she hated that, but she wasn't sure how he felt about her yet.
He was startled by her request – it was the last thing he'd expected. He didn't want to
seem too eager though, so he tried to play it cool and not show how much he wanted to
say yes.
"Grace, are you asking me out?" he asked in a teasing voice.
She blushed, but managed to look him in the eye. "Yeah, what if I am?" she teased back.
"You want to go or not?"
His eyes swept over her in that dress, taking in how stunning she looked. He met her eyes
and smiled. "Yeah, Grace. I'd love to go."
She smiled back. "Great. Um, I'm gonna go change so I can pay for this and we can get
out of here. I still need to hit a few more stores, though," she said as she slipped back into
the dressing room.
He managed not to groan.
They headed out of the department store and back into the mall. Grace veered right, and
Ryder followed, having no idea where he was going. She paused briefly to admire some
earrings in the window of a jewelry store, sighing. She'd never be able to afford them,
but they were gorgeous.
"So, where are we headed now?" he asked.
She snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, um…well, I need to get hose for the dress, so I
guess I need to go to Victoria's Secret…" her voice trailed off.
Ryder's eyebrows rose. She wanted him to go to Victoria's Secret? Judging by the blush
creeping up her neck she clearly didn't. He grinned and grabbed her hand. "Well, lets go
see what she's so secretive about then," he said, wanting to see what she'd do.
"I said that 'I' need to go there – you don't get to come," she said with authority and
didn't move.
"I didn't think you'd let me," he said with a smile. "How about you meet me in the
bookstore in half an hour? I need a break from all this frou-frou stuff for a bit."
Grace softened, grateful that he understood, and pleasantly surprised that he hadn't let go
of her hand. "You have been pretty good – I'm impressed that you've lasted this long. I'll
meet you in Borders then. In half an hour." Reluctantly she pulled her hand from his
grasp and headed down the hallway.
He watched her until he saw her enter the lingerie store then headed back the way they
came. There was a store he wanted to stop at while he had the chance.
*********
After spending 15 minutes searching through the bookstore's crowded aisles she finally
found him kicked back in an overstuffed armchair in the art and photography section. He
was deeply engrossed in a book on architecture, which surprised her, and she hung back a
moment to observe him undetected.
As she had searched through the store trying to guess what would interest him she
realized that she really didn't know Ryder very well. At the same time she thought she
might know him better than anyone else at Rawley did, which made him an even bigger
puzzle. Everybody else only knew the asshole he could be but in the last few months she
had seen a different side to him – and she thought she was falling hard for that side of
him real fast. Hell, she'd already fallen. Past tense. Done deal. There was really no
turning back – her heart was already there, even if logic was telling her she might not be
able to trust him.
He glanced up to catch her staring at him and grinned at her, causing her heart to flutter.
That's what it was – that smile and those devastating eyes. When he looked at her like
that it was impossible to believe he could hurt her. Logic be damned – she liked him.
She slowly made her way over to where he was sitting, enjoying the way his eyes never
left hers, and sat on the arm of the oversized chair so that she could peek over his
shoulder. "What're you reading?"
"Nothing important," he said, shutting the book and laying it on the table in front of him.
He didn't care that she'd seen him reading the architecture book. True, not many people
knew about his interest in the subject, but if he had really wanted to keep it a secret, he
wouldn't have been reading a book about it in public. Especially not when he knew Grace
would be looking for him. "Are you done shopping?"
"Yup – I've got everything I need."
"Amazing. So, what do you want to do now? The day is yours, so whatever you want is
fine with me."
"Really?" she leaned back and made like she was racking her brain trying to come up
with something, making him laugh.
"How about I take you to the movies? I'll buy." She was a little nervous about asking, but
she figured he'd agree. After all, spending the day together had been his idea.
"You don't have to do that…" he started to say, but she cut him off.
"If I buy I get to pick the movie, so shhh," she placed a finger on his lips to still any
protests. She smiled at him. "I did lots of babysitting when I wasn't playing poker with
you guys, so I saved up enough to manage to swing a matinee."
She slid off the arm of the chair and offered her hand to pull him up, her eyes sparkling
mischievously. He looked at her warily for a moment before taking her hand.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be watching mushy romance for the next couple
of hours?" he asked wryly.
Grace merely smiled. "You never know…you might even like it."
*******
Grace was right, he actually did like the movie she picked – a romantic comedy starring
Russell Crowe and Kate Winslet – and not just because Kate Winslet got naked. Again. It
had been fun watching Grace's reactions to the movie – she didn't get embarrassed by the
risqué humor or get weepy during the emotional parts. The best part, though, was holding
her hand. It had been a long time since he'd done that and he was surprised how natural it
felt. He felt her staring at him for a while right after he took her hand in his but he fought
hard to keep looking forward as though nothing had happened and she eventually gave
up. If he just pretended nothing was going on maybe she wouldn't make him analyze it to
death. He didn't think he could handle a serious study of what he was feeling towards
Grace just then.
After the movie they wandered through the mall for a while then stopped for food at one
of the non-descript chain restaurants. They talked about movies and music over the
mediocre food, their conversation leading all over the place. He didn't even notice that
two hours had gone by until she mentioned that she should probably get home.
By the time they got to New Rawley it was nearly 10 o'clock. It was early still, but there
really wasn't anything to do in town, and he didn't want her to get sick of his company.
He pulled into her father's station and turned off the engine. Grateful for a distraction he
got out of the car to retrieve her bags from the trunk. He fumbled with the keys a bit
before he got the trunk open and he cursed under his breath. As he handed her the bags
he noted the look of amusement she wore and realized she heard him.
"What? What's so funny?"
"You – I've never seen you like this." She couldn't help but grin at him. It was so funny
to see him flustered and trying desperately to hide it. Too bad for him that it wasn't
working.
"Like what?"
"All nervous and awkward. Like you're afraid that if you kiss me I'll turn you down or
something."
"I've already kissed you…more than once," he said with a wicked grin. "I believe it was
very early this morning. So why should I be nervous?" When he saw her cheeks darken at
the memory he took the opportunity to close the distance between them. He was glad
he'd managed to distract her – he hated that his uncertainty was so obvious to her.
"Maybe nervous wasn't the right word then," she whispered right before he leaned down
to kiss her softly. It was just what she'd been hoping for. She needed to know that last
night hadn't just been a fluke or the beer or a mistake.
"Anxious, maybe, or…" he cut her off again with another harder kiss and he felt her
respond with equal fervor. His heart was racing and he felt a little dizzy from the contact
and he backed her up against the wall to prevent them from falling over. The feel of her
lips, the taste of her skin, even the sweet, clean scent of her hair was making him lose
control. He felt like he wanted to devour her whole and he pulled back a moment to calm
himself down. She was breathing just as heavily as he was and knowing that he was
having the same effect on her warmed him down to his toes. He pulled her closer again,
his cheek against hers, as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
She was standing on tiptoes to reach so he loosened his embrace to let her slide down and
rest her head against his chest. Holding her like that felt so good and so right – he didn't
want to leave. Nothing had ever felt more comfortable than having Grace in his arms.
Grace could hear his heartbeat through his jacket as it returned to normal pace. The
intensity of his kiss surprised and thrilled her – but not as much as the tenderness of his
embrace. His fingertips lightly stroked her cheek and she leaned back to look up at him.
He didn't speak, merely continued to lightly trace her cheekbones with his fingertips as
he looked into her eyes.
He tilted her face up towards his and was just about to lean in for another kiss when she
heard Bella's angry voice: "What the hell are you doing to my sister, Ryder?"
They sprang apart and Grace whirled to face her sister, angry that the mood had been
broken. She was immediately on the defensive – she knew how Bella and her friends felt
about Ryder and she knew her sister wouldn't be happy about what she'd seen.
"Nothing that I didn't want him too, Mom," she said sarcastically and glared at her sister.
"What are you doing with him, Grace?"
"Nothing! God, have a cow or something. What's the matter with you?"
"Don't roll your eyes at me, Grace. You know what he's like."
"Yeah, I do. And you obviously don't, or you wouldn't be freaking out right now," she
said, anger making her voice cold. She turned her back to her sister and ignored her when
she slammed the door behind her. This was what she'd been afraid of. She didn't want
Bella to say anything that might insult Ryder – her sister hardly knew him and had no
idea that he had a softer side.
"Sorry about that," she said rolling her eyes.
"Its okay – I've probably earned some of that from her." Bella's obvious contempt for
him had never bothered him before, but then, he'd never tried to date her little sister
either. He had never thought that teasing Bella and her friends would come back to haunt
him the way he knew it was going to. They'd do their best to convince Grace to stay
away from him. The worst part was, he was afraid it might work.
Grace sighed. "Maybe, but not lately, and its none of her business who I spend my time
with. She's not my mother and she doesn't have veto power over my friends."
"Well, I think she might disagree – she's brewing up a good hissy fit in there – you can
almost see the steam coming from her ears."
Grace looked over her shoulder to see Bella glaring out at them and sighed. She knew she
was going to have to deal with a lecture from Bella when she got in, and she was not
looking forward to it. * Might as well make the lecture worthwhile * she thought, and
threw her arms around his neck to kiss him before she went inside.