Perfect Embrace by Kaylee Ryan

Chapter 5

Laken

“Morning sunshine!” my sister says. I feel the bed dip, and without cracking an eye open, I know she’s sitting next to me.

“Too early,” I grumble.

“It’s ten.”

“Too early,” I repeat, making her laugh.

“Come on, lazybones. Grab a shower, and we can walk to get your car, and you can take me home.”

“How do you not feel like death?” I ask her.

“I didn’t drink as much as you did.”

“Why not? And why did you let me? This is your fault,” I blame her. However, there is no heat in my tone. We both know I’m a big girl and did this all on my own.

“You needed to let loose. You never do.”

“Wait, did we walk home last night?” I try to pull up the memories from our night out with the girls at Pony Up. I remember lots of shots, and the guys were there, but they didn’t bother us.

“Nope. Grayson gave us a ride.”

My arm that’s thrown over my eyes falls to my side, and I peel my eyes open, blinking a few times to adjust to the bright light. “Say that again.”

“Grayson Davis. He gave us a ride home. You should call him and thank him, make him some cookies or something. He did carry you upstairs.” There is a smirk playing on her lips, and I remind myself that I’m glad that she’s home.

I sit up. My head pounds, but I need to be looking at her for this conversation. “He did what?” I ask, suddenly not feeling as hungover as before, as panic sets in.

“He carried you upstairs. It was very sweet.”

“No. No. No. Oh my God, Leni. I’m never drinking again!” Closing my eyes tight, I fall back against the pillows and try to pull up my foggy memories from last night. I vaguely remember him helping me into his truck.

“What happened?” I ask my sister.

“He helped us both into his truck and out of it. You were passed out, so he carried you. He put you to bed and left.”

I swallow hard. “What do you mean? He put me to bed?” Lifting the covers, I look to see what I’m wearing, and I’m in nothing but my shirt and panties. Looking over the edge of the bed, I see my skirt on the floor. My wide eyes find hers, and she chuckles.

“You did that all on your own. He simply laid you in bed, covered you up, and left.”

“Perfect,” I say sarcastically.

“Come on. It’s not that bad. We’ve all been there.”

“Did I do or say anything that I shouldn’t have? And for your information. I’ve never been so drunk that Grayson or any man had to carry me to bed.”

“No, you were fine. Come on. Get up and get moving. I need to go see my boy.”

“Fine,” I grumble. Tossing off the covers, I make my way to the bathroom to shower. As I’m stripping out of my clothes, I think back, and nothing new comes to mind. I wish like hell I could remember. Grayson freaking Davis was in my apartment, and he carried me to bed, and I can’t remember. Just my damn luck.

There’s a knock on the bathroom door. “Yeah!” I call out, cringing when the sound of my own voice causes my headache to throb even more.

“You might want to take a look at the MC Scoop.” Lenora chuckles when I groan.

“Damnit, Tate!” I curse.

Wrapping a towel around my body, I go back to my room, grabbing my phone and pulling up the blog.

Pony Up Shenanigans

Buckle up, ladies and gents. Looks like our fire chief and bookstore owner are moving

forward with their romance. With the perfect embrace, the lady in question, along with

her sister, were escorted home by our handsome chief.

Love is in the air.

Tossing my phone on the bed, I stomp back to the shower. My sister’s laughter follows me. Not only did Grayson have to drive my drunk ass home, now he has to deal with this. I need to stop and have a talk with Tate. Not that it will do a damn bit of good. She’s relentless in her reporting of Mason Creek gossip.

* * *

“You coming inside?” my sister asks when I pull into our parents’ driveway after we’ve collected my car.

“No. I don’t need a lecture from Mom. I need to go to the store, and do laundry. If I get in there and start playing with Trace, I’ll never get home and get everything done.”

“Fine. Trace and I will stop by the store one day this week to see you. I’ve got some things to figure out, and we need to find our own place, stat.”

Leaning over the console, I hug her tight. “I’m so glad you’re both home. I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too, Laken. I’ll see you this week.” She climbs out of the car and leans down, sticking her head through the window. “Don’t forget you owe Grayson some cookies or brownies or something.” She winks and rushes away, bounding up the front steps of our parents’ house.

I can’t even be mad about her teasing. She knows I crushed on Grayson hard in high school, and she also knows the adult me is still freaking out about last night. And well, she’s home, where she belongs. I’ll take all the teasing she can dish out. I’m just glad she’s here to do it in person.

Backing out of the driveway, I turn to go back to town—the destination Mason Creek Market. I might as well get the grocery shopping marked off the list while I’m out.

The drive to the market is short. Grabbing a cart from the parking lot to help out the teenagers who are hired to collect them, I wheel inside, and I’m immediately hit with the gush of cool air from the air conditioning. It definitely makes for a more pleasant shopping experience in relation to the hot summer temperature outside today.

I take my time going up and down each aisle, grabbing items from my list and many that aren’t. Turning down the aisle to grab deodorant, I hear a masculine voice that I recognize.

“Girls, sit.”

I look up to see Grayson pushing a cart, and as I approach, I see the girls are the only thing inside. “Miss Waken!” They wiggle in the cart and point toward me as I pull my cart next to theirs.

“Ladies.” I smile at them.

“Looked what we done.” Harlow holds her hands out, and Hayden follows suit. Their hands are covered in nail polish. Their nails are painted, but so are the majority of their fingers.

“Wow!” I exclaim. I chance a look at Grayson, and he doesn’t look impressed. “Did Daddy help you with your nails?” I ask them. I know enough about kids to know they’re going to out themselves. Which is what I want them to do.

“Nope,” they say in unison.

“We done it all,” Harlow announces proudly.

I know it’s not my place, but Grayson looks to be at his wit's end. Placing my hands on my hips, I look between the two of them. “You know you’re not supposed to do things like that without asking Daddy first,” I remind them.

“Hims would say no,” Hayden replies.

“That’s because it’s Daddy’s job to protect you. Even from the pretty nail polish.” I hold out my hand so they can see my painted nails. “See how the color is only on my nails?” They bob their little heads up and down. “That’s why Daddy would have said no. It’s not good to paint your skin with nail polish.” Their little lips jut out, and I feel awful, but it’s true.

“We don’t know how,” Harlow says, her voice quivering.

“Laken?”

I look up to find Grayson watching me intently. I’m ready for him to tell me that I was out of line, and I know that I was, but my heart goes out to all three of them. This man is raising two little girls on his own, and I thought maybe hearing from a woman, they might take my advice a little better. It was wrong, and I owe him an apology.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I was out of line. I just thought, well, I’m sorry.” I can’t find it in me to tell him that I thought a woman’s word might help. That’s a kick in the gut to him.

“You’re fine, Laken. In fact, I appreciate the backup. It’s not something I often have.”

I want to ask him about his parents or his late wife’s parents, but I don’t have to.

“Their grandparents, both sets, tend to spoil them. Hence the reason they have nail polish anyway. Apparently, Mom bought it for them. She let them take it home when I picked them up this morning after begging. She claims they promised to not use it until I dropped them back off tomorrow afternoon for my shift. You see how that turned out.” He nods toward where the girls are sitting in the cart, looking sad.

“Well,” I say, clearing my throat. “Let’s see what we can do to get this all cleaned up.” I move to step around him and grab a bottle of fingernail polish remover and a bag of cotton swabs. “This should do it,” I say, handing it to him.

“Will it work for their skin?” he asks.

“It should. It might take a few attempts. This one doesn’t have acetone, which is better for their skin.”

“And the back patio?”

“I’m not sure about that.” I laugh. “I’d say you could get some acetone and spray it off, but I can’t really say.”

“Thank you, Laken. You’ve been a huge help,” he says, grabbing three more bottles of nail polish remover and another bag of cotton swabs. I don’t tell him that it’s overkill. Instead, I let him do his thing.

“I like brownies,” Hayden says, pointing to the two brownie mixes in my cart.

“You do? Well, these are for your daddy. He helped my sister and me last night, and this is his thank you.” I turn to look at Grayson.

“Not necessary, Laken.”

“It’s the least I could do.”

“Can we help?” Harlow asks.

I look up at Grayson, and I can see the war he’s waging with himself. He’s very protective of his daughters and who they get close to. “That’s up to your dad,” I tell the girls.

“Please, Daddy.”

“Oh, please,” they plead with him.

Grayson rakes his hand through his hair and exhales. “Can we do it at our place? I need to get this polish off them, and well, I just… I don’t really….” He hesitates.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with. They’re your babies, Grayson.”

He nods. “Our place works,” he says cautiously.

“We don’t have to,” I say, keeping my voice low for only him to hear.

“No. It’s fine. It’s just… not something I do. Have women in our home. Other than family, that is.”

“I’m sorry. I can just—” I start, but he stops me with his hand on my arm. His touch is like fire against my skin. Fire mixed with an electric shock. He looks at his hand against my skin, and his mouth falls open. Does he feel it too?

Clearing his throat, he replies, “It’s fine, Laken. Thank you. They’ll love it.” I nod. “You know where we live?”

“Yeah.” I smile. “This is Mason Creek.”

He chuckles. “True.”

“Well, I need to finish my shopping, and then I’ll be over.”

“Yay! Brownies with Miss Waken!” the girls cheer.

I step closer to the cart. “Now, you have to promise me that you’ll be good for your daddy. I won’t be able to come over if your rooms are messy either. So you better get on that when you get home.”

They gasp. “Miss Waken, did you go to our house before?” Harlow asks.

“Daddy, how does she know our room is messy?” Hayden asks.

Grayson and I have to bite down on our lips to keep from laughing. “I’m an adult. I know these things.”

“Daddy, we hafta go.” Harlow looks at him with wide eyes.

“Go fast, Daddy,” Hayden chimes in.

“You’ve bewitched my children.” Grayson chuckles. It’s a deep throaty sound that I wish I could hear every single day.

“They’re sweet girls.” He nods in response. “I’m going to finish up here and run home to unload. Give me an hour or so?”

“That sounds good. Are you sure?”

I look at the girls and smile. “I’m sure, Grayson. I’ll see you soon, ladies.” I wave to them and push my cart down the aisle. I manage to remember it was deodorant that I needed in this aisle, so I grab some and toss it in the cart. Then I circle back around and pick up eggs and a small bottle of cooking oil for the brownie mix. I already had those things at home, but I’m not baking them at home. Then I decide to pick up some disposable foil pans. I’m sure Grayson has some, but in the event that he doesn’t, we’ll be covered.

I make it back to where I left off and finish the last few rows of my shopping before pushing the cart to the checkout.

As I wait my turn, I can’t help but smile. I’ve lived in this town with Grayson Davis my entire life, and in the last week, I’ve had more interactions with him than I would have in an entire year. I’m excited to spend time with the three of them, but I have to remember to remind myself that I’m there to help bake some thank-you brownies with his daughters. I’m not there for the man.