Page 30 of His Saving Grace

Eloise gave him a puzzled look, but didn’t comment, and turned back to the bacon.

Something landed on Grace’s shoulder and she jumped, giving a little squeak of surprise. Bella, who had plopped her butt down on the floor, stood up, instantly on alert. Grace glanced over her shoulder to see Simon behind her.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you, but you’re blocking the doorway.”

“Sorry.” The apology was just above a mumble. She stepped out of his way. Bella, who was still glued to her side, didn’t move fast enough, and Grace stumbled. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against a solid chest, preventing a face plant into the linoleum.

“Are you okay?” A thread of concern wove through Simon’s question.

“Yup, right as rain.” She pulled out of his grasp. And what the heck was with the clichéd verbal diarrhea? She was seriously losing it. She needed out of here before she said something stupid. “I’m just going to, you know… umm, head on out.” She turned to the door.

“Just a minute,” Eloise called, and Grace’s heart tumbled down to occupy the space somewhere around her kneecaps. This was it. The fiery end of an amazing thing.

She swallowed around the lump that had sprung into her throat. “Sure.” The word came out as more of a strangled sound than anything else.

Eloise gave her a strange look and snapped off the burner underneath the frying pan. She turned and walked over to Grace, the wooden spoon still in her hand.

The urge to step backwards, and keep going until she managed to reverse the last twenty-four hours, rushed through her. Too bad she’d never gained the ability to time travel.

But she couldn’t change what had happened, and if she was honest, she didn’t want to. Mistake or not, being with Mason, getting to know a bit about him, falling asleep in his arms, was something she’d never regret.

Wiping her hands on her rumpled skirt, she stood her ground. She was an adult. She would accept the consequences of her actions.

“Grace, I wanted to—”

“I’m sorry.” The words slipped out of Grace’s mouth before she even realized she was going to say anything. And then they just didn’t stop. “It was an accident and I’m so sorry. I mean, I ended up driving him home, and then we were talking and before I knew it, I was upstairs, and it was late…”

She let the words trail off, no longer able to look at the woman. She couldn’t handle seeing disappointment in Eloise’s gaze. It was easier to stare at her bare feet.

Eloise’s slippered feet came into view. “Grace, look at me, please.”

Feeling like an errant five-year-old, which was stupid, because she was a grown woman, she lifted her head.

Eloise frowned, a confused light in her blue eyes. “What are you talking about, sweetie?”

Oh, shit. She didn’t know. And now Grace had just outed herself, like an idiot. “Umm… I was just… I mean…” Oh sure, now the words dried up. Where was this drought thirty seconds ago?

Behind Eloise, Simon piled a plate full of food, pretending not to listen. Jake, on the other hand, leaned against the counter, his arms crossed, lapping up every word. One corner of his mouth tilted up in a smirk. The jerk.

Although he wasn’t the one who outed them, was he? Nope, she managed to do that all on her own. And now she had to come clean.

She dragged in a deep breath and lifted her shoulders. Here went nothing. “I slept with Mason last night.”

Eloise arched one perfectly manicured brow.

Realizing how that sounded, Grace shook her head. “I mean, not in that way. No, no, no.” She waved her hands in front of her to underline her point. “We weren’t naked, or anything. Well, Mason was in his underwear, but I remained fully clothed.” And now she was babbling, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “And nothing happened. We were talking, and then he asked me to stay with him, and I… I don’t know, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. And I know it was stupid, but please don’t fire me.”

The confession seemed to hang in the air. Simon moved to the table and kept his focus on the food in front of him. Jake still leaned against the counter, hanging on every word that spilled from her lips, looking as amused as a pig in poop.

Eloise pursed her lips and took one of Grace’s hands. Grace’s fingers trembled. Eloise squeezed lightly. “I’m not going to fire you, love.”

An unexpected flood of relief swamped her, and she almost crumpled to the ground. The only thing that kept her upright was the quick locking of her knees. She didn’t need to humiliate herself any further. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” Eloise said, her eyes scanning Grace’s face. “You were doing what you thought was right. Mason didn’t do anything…inappropriate, did he?”

Grace’s core throbbed, reminding her of Mason’s hot, hard thigh pressed between hers. Her cheeks went nuclear. At this rate, she was going to be permanently tinted pink. “No, no, of course not.” The words came out way too high, and a little strangled.

Eloise’s eyes narrowed, a hint of amusement battling with a touch of something Grace couldn’t define, shining in her gaze. “Why don’t you grab some breakfast?”