Always Be Mine: Sweetbriar Cove: Book Nine Read online

  Lila was hoping that Griffin had a sense of humor, because when she arrived at the town hall that evening for the festival kickoff party, she found his name already listed on the bachelor auction program, alongside a photo they must have lifted online.

  “Some excellent choices this year!” a woman Lila recognized as the famous Aunt June remarked from nearby. “Just look at all these options . . .”

  “Ahem.” The dapper man on her arm cleared his throat, smiling.

  “Oh, don’t worry, Stanley,” June smirked, patting his hand. “You’re still at the top of my list. Now, when it comes to installing those new bookshelves . . .”

  “Feel free.” Stanley chuckled. “He looks sturdy, don’t you think . . . ?”

  Lila smiled and drifted deeper into the packed room. There was music, and some dancing already, and a wall of buffet tables practically groaning under the weight of spring-themed treats. Lila was just reaching for the ladle to pour herself some punch when she heard an amused voice behind her. “Now, if I wasn’t a gentleman, I’d let you drink that.”

  The voice sent shivers down her spine.

  Griffin.

  Lila turned, already smiling even before she saw his tall, lean frame and irresistible smile. “Is it bad?”

  “Nope. It’s great, if you feel like getting very merry tonight.” Griffin gave her a lazy grin. “That’s Aunt June’s punch. It also doubles as paint stripper.”

  Lila felt breathless, and it wasn’t just because she needed the refreshment. “Thanks for the tip. Maybe I’ll stick with soda for now.”

  “Good call,” Griffin said, and took the ladle. “Now me, on the other hand . . . I’m going to need something strong to get through this shindig. Apparently, I’m selling off my company to the highest bidder later.” He shot Lila a sideways look as he filled a cup to the brim. “I don’t suppose you have anything to do with that?”

  “Me?” Lila put on her best innocent look. “I think everyone just agreed you were the hottest bachelor in town.”

  Griffin snorted. “Nice try. You better bid on me, after all that.”

  “It depends,” Lila grinned. “What do you have to offer a girl?”

  Griffin leaned in close, his lips brushing Lila’s earlobe and sending a delicious shiver down her spine. “I think you already know what I have to offer . . .” he murmured in a low, sexy voice. “Although, I’d be happy to demonstrate again, back at your place.”

  Wow.

  Lila gulped, feeling her cheeks blush hotly. “I’ll try,” she managed a reply. “But don’t bet on it. I’ve heard Aunt June has deep pockets and is looking for some muscle tonight.”

  Griffin laughed and stepped back, just as they were joined by Eliza and Brooke—with a glum-looking Cal and Riley in tow. Griffin took one look at their expressions and chuckled. “You too?”

  “Yup.” Riley sighed. “I don’t know why I can’t just write a check and skip out on the whole auction thing.”

  “Because it’s fun!” Brooke protested, shooting Lila a grin.

  “Fun watching us squirm, you mean?”

  “That too.”

  “Besides,” Eliza added with a mischievous look. “Don’t you guys want to know who’s the most desirable of you all? I thought you loved a little competition . . .”

  “Not when it means being paraded around like a piece of meat,” Riley said, smirking. “What happened to equality and not being objectified?”

  Eliza snorted with laughter. “Relax. It’s not like there’s a swimsuit contest.” She paused. “Is there?”

  “If Aunt June organized it, all bets are off.” Brooke giggled. “Oh, cheer up,” she told Riley with a playful nudge. “I promise I’ll bid on you, and you can treat me to a romantic evening at home, cooking me your famous seafood pasta.”

  “You mean, a regular Tuesday night?” Riley cracked, but he was smiling now. “What do you think, Griffin? Reckon you can beat out the prospect of a meal cooked by yours truly?”

  Griffin gave a chuckle. “That depends if the bidders have any perennials they need planting.” He nudged Lila. “Hint hint.”

  “I don’t know . . .” she pretended to muse. “That seafood pasta is sounding pretty good to me.”

  Griffin clutched his chest. “Tell us how you really feel, why don’t you?”

  Lila laughed along, feeling lighter than she had in years. Looking around the room, it struck her how different tonight was to the stuffy fundraiser they’d attended together last week. Both events were for charity, but here, there were no fancy champagne flutes or red-carpet photographers, just a real sense of fun and enjoyment as the citizens of Sweetbriar banded together for their community.

  The music quieted, and an older woman called for attention from the stage. Lila recognized her from the group of gossiping women at the bakery, with her gray hair pulled back in a braid, and a sensible knit cardigan. “Thank you everyone for coming out tonight to celebrate our annual Spring Fling. This year, It’s time for the main event! Can I please have our strapping volunteers up here?”

  There were hoots and applause as the reluctant bachelors made their way onstage.

  “That’s Franny,” Brooke murmured. “She’s the real power in town, and don’t let the Mayor tell you otherwise.”

  Lila smiled. “Who else do I need to know about?” she whispered back.

  “Hmmm . . .” Brooke looked around. “Well, you know June, she’s Poppy’s aunt. Watch out for her punch.”

  “Already warned.” Lila held up her soda.

  “And Debra over there is the unofficial event planner.” Brooke nodded to a woman wearing a bright print scarf. “So if you see her coming in your direction, run. Unless you want to be decorating every lamppost in town with individual plastic snowflakes. Or tiny sunflowers. Or American flags. This town loves to accessorize.”

  “Debra, décor. Got it.” Lila smiled. “I think they’re ready,” she said, nodding at the stage. Griffin and the other guys had been arranged into a lineup, and the crowd was already cheering for the show to begin.

  “Come on, let’s get to the front,” Brooke said, grinning. She pulled out her cellphone. “I want to capture every single moment of this for posterity.”

  “Good idea,” Mac said, joining them as they made a beeline for the front row. “I can torment Jake forever. Ooh, look, Alice saved us seats.”

  Lila followed as they joined the rest of the women. “Popcorn?” Summer offered, already munching on a handful. Lila took some and settled in her seat.

  “Which one is yours?” she asked, nodding to the stage.

  Summer grinned. “The miserable British one.”

  Lila winced, already wondering if she’d pushed the joke too far with Griffin. “Poor guy.”

  “Are you kidding?” Summer snorted. “He loves the spotlight, really. Look at him, already hamming it up.”

  She was right. The initial reluctance had disappeared, and now all the guys were smiling and joking around. Griffin met her eyes from the stage, and gave her a smirking look, like there was going to be trouble later.

  Good, sexy trouble, she hoped.

  “First up tonight is local football legend Jake Sullivan,” Debra announced, to applause. Mac put her fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing wolf whistle as Jake sauntered across stage and waved. “This NFL pro can teach you how to make a perfect passing throw. Do I hear thirty dollars. Thirty dollars for an evening with this gentleman?”

  “Thirty!” Mac gamely called.

  “Forty!” came a bid from further back in the room, which started a flurry of other offers—until Mac bowed out at a hundred, leaving an excited soccer mom to claim Jake for an afternoon throwing the ball around with her sons.

  Now that the floodgates were open, the auction proceeded hard and fast. The private wine-tasting with Riley went for over three hundred dollars, Grayson almost was auctioned off to a group of giggling teenage girls before Summer stepped in to save him, and Alice even snapped up Cooper’s serv
ices, since she had some bookcases that needed mending. Finally, it was Griffin’s turn.

  “Now, ladies, who needs some planting this spring?” Debra asked, as Griffin ambled to the front of the line. “Griffin Forrester is here to tend to your gardens, and whatever else needs his magic touch.” There were hoots of appreciation, and Debra smirked. “Settle down. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but this is a family event. But in case you were wondering, Griffin is a single man, isn’t that right?”

  Lila had to laugh as he gamely struck a pose.

  “What do you think?” Alice asked her, grinning. “Are you going to save him?”

  “I’m not sure yet . . .” Lila smiled.

  “Let’s start the bidding at fifty dollars.”

  “Fifty!” someone immediately called.

  “Seventy-five.”

  “A hundred!”

  Griffin was clearly in demand. Maybe the women of Sweetbriar Cove really did need some landscaping done . . . or it was Griffin’s other attributes that had them in a frenzy.

  Lila fluttered a wave. “One hundred and fifty,” she finally called.

  “Two hundred!” someone else yelled. Lila turned, looking for her rival. “Who’s that?” she asked, and Alice craned her neck to see.

  “Uh-oh,” she murmured. “Lindy Johnson, our resident cougar. I handled her third divorce last year, and rumor has it she’s on the prowl.”

  Clearly, Griffin had heard her reputation too, because he sent Lila a desperate look.

  “Two fifty,” Lila bid, but Lindy wasn’t giving up her prize hunk so easily.

  “Three hundred.”

  Debra looked gleeful. “Well, we have a real match here. Do I hear three fifty?”

  Lila nodded.

  “Four hundred!” Lindy bid from the back of the room.

  Lila paused a moment. Lindy was so enthusiastic. This was supposed to be a community event, and she didn’t want to be the Hollywood outsider, swooping in with her checkbook and ruining the fun.

  “Do I hear four fifty?” Debra asked. “Going once, going twice . . .”

  Griffin shot her another look, and Lila decided to take pity on him. “Six hundred!” she called, and gave a smile of pure relief as Debra declared,

  “Sold!”

  Griffin made his way off stage to join her. “You had me worried there,” he murmured. “Now what do you say we get out of here before someone demands a rematch?”

  “Lead the way.”

  Lila said goodbye to her friends and then found Griffin at the doors—cornered by her new rival.

  “She’s a lucky girl,” Lindy was saying, inching closer to Griffin. “And to think, I almost had you . . . building my new patio,” she added with a wink.

  Griffin cleared his throat. “Why don’t you give Andy a call?” he suggested. “I’m fully booked right now.”

  “The good ones always are.” Lindy gave Lila an envious look, then fluttered her fingers in a goodbye wave. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

  Griffin hustled Lila away so fast, she almost stumbled on the front steps. “Someone’s got a fan,” she teased.

  “She’s been trying to hire me for months,” Griffin said. “The first time I showed up to meet, she met me in her bathrobe. Which wasn’t tied shut.”

  Lila laughed. “Oh no! What did you do?”

  “Looked everywhere else but her,” he replied wryly. “And then told her I didn’t have any room on my schedule.”

  “It’s tough being so in demand,” she teased. “Everyone wants a piece of you.”

  “Well, you’re the one who won me.” Griffin slowed his pace long enough to slip an arm around Lila’s waist. His touch sent electricity racing through her, and even though the gesture was perfectly innocent, it felt almost shameless to have her pulse racing like this out in public, for anyone to see.

  “So . . . what would you like to do with your evening?” he asked, giving her a sultry smile.

  Lila flushed. Drag him straight home to bed? No, that was too forward. “I do have this craving . . .” she started.

  Griffin gave her a smirk. “Oh really?”

  Lila laughed and hit him playfully. “For fries! Hot, greasy fries. And a milkshake. Is there a fast food place around here?”

  “Don’t let Declan hear you say that.” Griffin smiled. “But yes, I can manage that. One drive-thru, coming right up.”

  * * *

  The scent of fries was irresistible; Lila was halfway through her bag before they’d even made it out of the drive-thru parking lot. “And there I was, thinking I’d have to woo you with fancy dinners and five-star dates,” Griffin teased, glancing over from the driver’s seat.

  Lila shrugged happily. “What can I say? I’m a cheap date,” she joked, taking a slurp of her vanilla milkshake.

  “They must have left that part out of all your celebrity profiles,” Griffin said, “Movie star, Lila, chowed down on Mickey D’s finest as we discussed her latest roles,” he mimicked. “And there I was thinking all you big stars were strictly lobster and caviar.”

  Lila knew he was probably just kidding around, but she felt a pang of insecurity. “You know all that stuff isn’t real, right?” she asked. “It’s all smoke and mirrors, a big illusion.”

  “I know,” Griffin said casually. “But still, you have to admit, it’s a long way from the Beverly Hills Hotel to French fries in Sweetbriar Cove.”

  “True.” Lila tried to laugh off her fears. “They would have been bidding in the thousands on that auction back in LA. I feel like I won you at a bargain price.”

  “See, maybe I’m the cheap date, too.” Griffin grinned.

  He pulled up outside Rose Cottage, and Lila realized she’d been so busy inhaling her fries, she hadn’t had time to feel nervous about where the night might lead. “Coffee?” she asked, climbing down from the Jeep.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Griffin followed her to the door. She unlocked and stepped inside, setting her drink down as she reached for the lights . . .

  But Griffin reached for her first.

  “Hey,” he whispered, gently tugging her closer. It was dark in the shadows, and Lila melted into his arms. She kissed him, tasting the sugar from his milkshake, temptingly sweet, and laced with pure Griffin.

  All day, she’d been waiting for this. And now, it was even better than she’d imagined.

  He pressed her back against the wall, the kiss deepening, but unhurried, luxurious. She arched up, feeling the length of his body against her, and the solid weight of him, his hands sliding over her curves in a leisurely stroke.

  When they came up for air, she was already dizzy with desire. She blinked. “Umm, about that coffee . . .” she began, trying to remember how to function as a human being and not a swooning puddle of hormones.

  Griffin just kissed her again. “It can wait,” he murmured, trailing his lips down her throat and nuzzling in the sensitive hollow of her collarbone. Lila sighed with pleasure. It could absolutely wait. Because right now, she had more delicious things in mind . . .

  They stumbled back down the hallway, kissing hotly, bumping into a table, and nearly sending a lamp hurtling to the floor. Lila broke away, giggling.

  “Upstairs?” he suggested, then paused. “Or not,” he added, with a lopsided grin. “Whatever you want.”

  He was being a gentleman, and to Lila, that only made him sexier.

  “Upstairs,” she decided, taking his hand and leading him up the narrow, creaking staircase. Her heart was racing, and she wondered if she was rushing it, diving headlong into something without knowing where it could possibly go. But when Griffin pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, everything melted away.

  She just wanted him. And that was the only thing that mattered.

  They tumbled back into the room and onto the bed. “Ouch,” Lila winced, as she hit the hard surface. “Sorry,” she added, rolling to the side. “I’ve ordered a new mattress. This one is like a plank.�
��

  “Maybe it just needs breaking in,” Griffin replied with a smirk.

  She laughed, relaxing. “And I suppose you can help with that?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  He lay her down and kissed her, but this time, there was a note of reckless heat between them, bodies pressing, hands reaching hard. Lila ran her hands over his body, greedy for the touch of him, and when she tugged at his shirt, Griffin paused to yank it off over his head. She took him in, the moonlight casting a silver glow over his naked torso, and felt a shiver of pure lust snake through her bloodstream.

  She slowly unbuttoned her blouse.

  Lila could feel Griffin’s eyes on her, a trail of fire tracing over every inch of skin as she slowly, teasingly revealed herself to him. She’d displayed herself before, on movie sets and magazine shoots, giving her best angles and most sultry gaze, but this was different. This felt breathless, and reckless, and powerful. And as Griffin gazed at her, Lila grew bolder. She let her fingertips brush over her skin, exploring, delving, until he gave a ragged groan and then reached for her again, kissing a blazing path over her neck, her shoulders . . . licking over the lace of her bra, and then, when she slipped that aside too, her bare skin.

  Lila was giddy, from the hot, wild ache of it. She explored his body, tasting her way across the muscular planes, and peeling off his jeans. She closed her hand around him and playfully squeezed tighter as Griffin panted against her. In answer, he slid one hand between her thighs, teasing her until she was molten and crazy for him.

  “Griffin,” she gasped against him, arching up, needing more.

  “Mmmhmm?” he teased her, circling so softly she could have sobbed with need.

  “Please,” she whispered, biting down on his earlobe. “Please.”

  “What do you need, beautiful?” he asked, his lips teasing her skin. “This?” His strokes turned faster, probing deeper. “Here?”

  Lila moaned. She bucked into his hand, impatient now, panting for release. He released her long enough to find a condom in his wallet. Then he was back, enfolding her, kissing her until she was breathless.

  He parted her thighs and surged into her, and Lila gave herself up to it. Everything melted away in the heat of the moment, and the exquisite friction of his thrusts. She arched up, clutching him, losing herself completely in the slide of their bodies and the reckless thrill. She was mindless, boneless, a whirling spiral of heat and sensation.