Grant pulled her close to him and kissed her. She didn’t struggle, just melted into his arms, so he kissed her harder and let his tongue slide into her mouth. He came up for a breath then kissed her neck while he slid one hand up her thigh, under her dress.
Kate’s brain seemed to catch up to what her body was doing. She pushed his hands off and stepped back from him. Her face was flushed.
“Sorry,” Grant said, not meaning it.
“I have to go,” she told him, then she turned and practically ran off. Grant let out a long stream of curse words, dropping into a nearby chair.
What were you thinking?he scolded himself.Get your head on straight. You can’t sleep with your father’s assistant.In his desire for Kate, he wasn’t watching for Gus, and now the dog was missing. He cursed again and took out his phone to use as a flashlight and poked around the landscape, looking for the adventurous corgi.
Chapter 5
Kate
Kate hurried back to her grandmother’s house. She was going to ask for a car to take her, but her entire body felt socharged. She replayed the scene over and over in her mind. The way Grant towered over her made her feel so small yet protected. He was so tall! Kate was not a short person—she had modeled as a teenager. She thought about Grant’s ice-blue eyes, dark in the starlight, and his hair, military short, but when it grew out, she would be able to run her fingers through it.
Stop it,she chided herself. She took several deep breaths of the clear early-spring air as she hiked up the drive to her grandmother’s historic house. It wasn’t as large as the Holbrook estate, but it was familiar and home.
“Katie!” her grandmother called as soon as Maria, the housekeeper, let her in.
Her grandmother was sprawled out on her fainting couch in the living room. The television was on low volume, showing a panel discussing Grant Jones and the Tedson case. Her grandmother, Margaret, jumped up. She was spry for a woman in her seventies.
“Sunscreen, exercise, and a gin and tonic at two p.m. keep me young,” she would always tell Kate.
“Hi, Grandma.” Kate hugged her.
“Sit down and have a drink with me. Maria, bring Kate a nightcap.”
Kate waved the maid away. “I’m tired,” she said.
“Oh, no, you don’t. I don’t want to hear any of that,” her grandmother admonished her. “You have to tell me all about the new Mr. Holbrook. My word in heaven, he’s all over the news.All over, I tell you. I need the full rundown. I’m meeting the girls for tennis at the club tomorrow, and I swore I would tell them everything.”
“I can’t blab about Mr. Holbrook’s business,” Kate said, horrified.
“I knew Walter when he was in diapers,” Margaret said. “Ichangedhis diapers, actually. There are no secrets with me. Now spill. But first the good stuff, then the play-by-play. Did you see him with his shirt off? Any tattoos in unusual places?”
Kate blushed, saying, “Grandma!”
“So you sawsomething.”
“No.”
“What happened? You’re flushed, and your eyes are dilated. Canoodling in the butler’s pantry? Tryst in the garden?”
Kate blushed a deeper shade of red. Her grandmother gave her a knowing smile. “I can’t blame you. If only I were fifty years younger. Did you do your patriotic duty?”
“He only kissed me,” Kate said through her teeth.
“Ha! I knew it!” her grandmother said triumphantly.
“I’m going to bed,” Kate announced, kissing the older woman on the cheek. “I have to give him a tour in the morning.”
“Maybe I’ll have a lunch date with him,” her grandmother said suggestively, waggling her eyebrows.
“Not tomorrow—he’s overwhelmed enough as it is,” Kate said over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.
Kate ran the water in the tub, then she tied up her hair and slipped in, settling down for a long, relaxing bath. The sexually frustrated part of her brain commented that the bath would be so much nicer if only Grant were there to share it.
“Cut it out,” she whispered to herself. “That is your boss’s son. You cannot afford to lose this job. Not after what you did! Just ignore it. Buckle down. Grant is about to be thrown to the wolves, and Walter Holbrook is expecting you to help him through it.”
