Grace (The Family Simon Book 5) by Juliana Stone Read Free Book Online

for a peek.
    “Shit,” he murmured.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Storm’s getting worse.”
    She joined him at the window and he moved so that she could have a look for herself. She wasn’t exactly short, but then she wasn’t exactly on the tall side either. She had to get up on her tiptoes in order to see properly, and he couldn’t help himself. His eyes moved hungrily over her body, sweeping over the dip in her back, to the curve of her ass to the…
    “What are you looking at?” she asked, voice a little breathless as she turned back to him. The sexual tension—it was there. He felt it sink in and take hold, and Matt met her gaze full on.
    “I’m looking at you.”
    Her eyes widened a bit and dammit, there she went again, licking those pillow-soft lips of hers. How the hell was he supposed to keep his hands off of her when she did that?
    Matt took another draw on his longneck and shoved his other hand into the front pocket of his jeans.
    “So what’s with Josh Hayden?” he asked, changing the subject and effectively killing the start of whatever the hell was itching to start.
    She set her beer down beside the sink. “He’s here for the fundraiser of course. Tucker was supposed to accompany him, but something came up and Tuck asked me to come instead.”
    “That your job? Professional babysitter?”
    “I’m just doing my brother a favor.”
    “The kid’s a tool. He’s been in and out of trouble with the cops since he was fifteen and he doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. He’ll screw up. His kind always does.”
    She pushed off from the counter, a small frown on her face. “Why would you say that? You don’t even know him.”
    “I don’t need to know him, to know what I know. It’s like looking in a mirror.”
    “Why do you do that?” she asked, voice sharp. “Why do you want me to think that you’re this awful person? A guy who doesn’t care? A guy who…” Her cheeks deepened even more as she stumbled over her words. “A guy who would screw a woman like no tomorrow even though she came into the bar with another man.” She paused. “Isn’t that what you said?”
    “Sounds about right.” He scowled. Never should have brought her out here.
    “You’re so full of it.”
    “I’m just keeping it real, Grace. You need to know what I am.”
    She bit that damn bottom lip of hers—probably did it on purpose because she had to know it would drive any man crazy—and then took a step forward. She was breathing in short, staccato bursts, and that mouth of hers was parted as if she was baiting him to taste her.
    “I call bullshit.”
    “Call it whatever you want.”
    Grace made a strangled sound and it took everything in Matt to keep his hands off of her. “You want to know what I think?”
    “Does it matter if I say no?”
    A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “I think that you’re hiding behind a mask of ugly. One that you’ve taken years to cultivate.” She angled her head and those eyes of hers never left him. “If I had to guess, I’d say probably since you were a young man. Maybe even a young boy.”
    She inched forward and placed her hands on his chest. He should have moved back but something kept him rooted to the spot. Every muscle in Matt’s body tightened, and he ached from the raw need that rose up in him.
    It had been a while, he thought. That’s all. He just needed to get laid.
    Startled, he suddenly realized that the last woman he’d been with was standing right in front of him. He didn’t get a chance to think on it, because she thumped him in the chest with her forefinger.
    “You want people to think you don’t care about anyone or anything. That’s why you have sex with women and then toss them aside like yesterday’s garbage. Not because you’re a bad man—that would be the easy explanation. A bad man doesn’t rescue an animal from the side of the road and bring that animal into his house to give birth. A bad man doesn’t walk his best