Hope pushed herself away from his chest, though she still straddled his lap, her bare thighs bracketing his. “Uhh. Jade, this is Grant.” Jade nodded once in acknowledgment, but didn’t move other than to cross her arms over her chest. The fluffy, though still damp, golden retriever padded over to them, resting his white muzzle on the couch cushion next to Hope’s leg. “Grant, this is my sister, Jade. And this is Bruno.”
“We’ve met,” Jade muttered, one strawberry blonde brow rising as she stared at him. Turning her gaze back to her sister, she asked, “I take it he apologized? Profusely?”
“Adequate groveling took place,” Hope teased softly, laying one hand against his chest. He covered her hand with his, his thumb strumming along the back of her hand.
Notching one hip out, she pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes on him. “I’m going to warn you right now, Mr. Price; I don’t care how much of a hotshot you are in this town, if youevermake my sister cry like you did…we’re going to have problems. Capiche?”
“Understood, Jade,” he said softly, nodding. He liked her, even if it was going to take a while for her to like him, too. He would grovel for her sister’s approval, if needed.
Jade pursed her lips once more and then sighed, turning away and heading into the kitchen, giving them a modicum of privacy. Grant strummed his fingers along the back of Hope’s hand again, drawing her attention back to him. “I promised a very upset and quite drunk Van that I would bring you home to both of us. What do you say, baby girl? Come home with me? Please?”
When she didn’t answer right away, he smiled gently and brought her fingers to his lips, kissing them softly.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say yes,” he said quietly, keeping his voice low. Jade flounced around the kitchen nosily, on purpose, he assumed. He caught her stealing furtive glances over at them when she didn’t think he was watching and one corner of his mouth quirked up slightly. “If you’re not ready, I understand. Just know that Van and I very much would like to see you, baby girl.”
She nodded, flexing her fingers and trailing her fingertips across his lips, over his thick beard. She brushed her fingers gently over the bruise beneath his eye. “I think I’d like to go with you,” she said softly. “If that’s okay.”
He smiled and nodded. “That’s more than okay, baby girl.” He patted her hip gently, careful to avoid the curves of her ass, and suggested, “Why don’t you go get a bag together, and then I’ll take you home to Van.”
“You’ll stay with us though, right?” she asked, cupping his jaw in her hand, those blue eyes searching his. “You won’t leave?”
“I’ll stay,” he whispered, turning his head to press his lips to the palm of her hand. She nodded, and he smiled against her palm. “I missed you, Hope. My heart hasn’t been the same since you left it in Chicago.”
“I left part of mine in that hotel room, too,” she murmured quietly. He leaned forward and captured her lips with his, not caring that her sister was still in the next room, probably shamelessly spying. When they parted, she whispered, “Take me home, Grant.”
Chapter Twenty
Grant pulled into the garage, parking next to Van’s sleek Lexus, and then caught her hand. “Don’t touch that door,” he told her, and she smiled, nodding. He exited the vehicle, rounding it to come and open her door, reaching a hand down to assist her out. He then took her bag, the same black backpack that Van had sent her home with, repacked with her toiletries and a change of clothes. He slung it over his shoulder, and it looked tiny in comparison to his size, making her giggle. He squeezed her hand in his as he led her to the door.
Pushing it open, he let her enter before him. She had made it down the hall and just entered the living room when Van rounded the corner and spotted her. She smiled over at him and he rushed forward, wrapping his arms fully around her waist and hauling her against him. His mouth crashed down on hers, frantic, matching her own need. His arms were banded around her so tightly, it was as if he was trying to imprint her on his body. Not that she minded one bit.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” he murmured against her lips before kissing her again thoroughly. They kissed and kissed, her hands fisting into his blonde locks. “You’re ours, remember that, little one.”
She nodded, brushing her lips against his. “Yours.” Then, leaning back in Van’s arms, she turned and reached one hand out to Grant, who was standing several feet away, leaning against the wall, watching them. He hesitated for a moment before stepping forward, taking her hand in his. She pulled him closer and looked up at him. “And yours.”
“Ours, baby girl,” Grant murmured with a gentle smile that tugged at every heartstring in her soul.
“I want you,” she murmured, still staring at Grant, then turned to look at Van. “I don’t want to wait anymore. Please.”
Van grinned down at her, and her heartbeat tripled in her chest. He was just so unfairly handsome. He leaned down, running his lips along her jaw and down her neck, then whispered darkly, “Do you like being shared, little one?”
“Fuck yes,” she whispered back, arching her throat to give him better access. She felt Grant’s fingers slide around her throat, twisting her head so that he could cover her mouth with his in a languid, deep kiss that turned her knees to jelly. He pressed against her back and she ground her ass against his lap, moaning into his mouth when she felt him growing hard against her.
Grant nipped her lower lip with his teeth and she sighed into his mouth. He chuckled and placed his hands firmly on the heavy slope of her waist. “As much as I want to, baby girl, I think I need to sit this one out.”
“What—no—” she whimpered, reaching for his mouth with hers again. “Grant…”
He ducked his head and pressed his lips to the curve of her neck, where her shoulder met her nape. “I want to watch, butterfly. I already got to have you all to myself… and I didn’t do it right. I want to watch Van take care of you.”
“But…”
“We will play, after,” he whispered huskily. “And I’ll be right here. I just want to watch.”
“But, Grant—”
Grant shushed her words with his mouth again, and he nodded, just slightly. “I punished you for something you didn’t do. This ismypunishment for not taking care of you the way I should have. For not listening to you, when all you wanted was to wait for both of us. I need to watch you come apart properly, baby girl, before I can be part of it. This is my penance, and my way of apologizing to both of you.”
Grant backed away from her and Van gripped her face in his hands, turning her to look at him. Tears stung her nose. “Van.”
