His Saving Grace

Chapter 5

JAMES

I stand by my floor to ceiling window, looking out onto the city while I wait for the businesses to finish shutting down for the day.

I’m the head of this building, responsible for hundreds of people, yet I feel so small up here, watching the world go by beneath me. I mean nothing to a single one of the thousands of people hurrying along the pavements below. Sometimes I wonder if I mean anything to anybody. If I do, I shouldn’t. Because I’m a selfish bastard.

I turn at the sound of a knock on my door, followed immediately by Bell strolling straight into my office without permission.

It riles me and my expression surely shows it. “I’m busy,” I snap, feeling a small stab of guilt when Bells’s gaze drops to the floor.

“Oh,” she all but whispers. “I just thought, I mean everyone’s left so…never mind.”

I sigh deeply through my nose, annoyed with myself for being an unnecessary t**t. “I have a headache,” I lie. It’s the nearest to an apology I can muster. “But I’ll see you tomorrow. Helen needs a few extra days before she can come back.”

A twinkle of hope glistens in her eyes and it makes me wonder if I should find someone else to assist me tomorrow.

“Sure. See you tomorrow.” She smiles as she walks away and I try to return it but the muscles in my face seem to have broken.

Once alone, I switch off the lights to the top floor and lock up my office, briefcase in hand, before beginning the five-minute walk to my car. I see Grace Honda standing next to a Ford Fiesta, which probably older than she is, as I approach the car park.

That inexplicable tightening occurs in my throat again at the sight of her, but I force myself to ignore it and climb into my Mercedes.

It’s an effort not to stare at her, but I manage it. Tossing my keys into the drawer beneath the stereo, I press the keyless ignition button and reverse out of my space. It’s only when I drive past Grace and catch a glimpse of her kicking her tyre with her converse in my rear-view mirror that I back up and open my window.

Clearly, fate wants me to talk to this girl again, so who am I to argue? “Car trouble?” I call out, leaning over the centre console.

Grace huffs and kicks the clapped-out car once more. “Won’t start.” She sounds angry and I don’t know if it’s because of the car, or because she’s talking to me.

Probably a little bit of both, I decide, feeling smugger than I should that I’m able to provoke such a reaction from her. “Have you called for help?”

“I don’t have roadside cover. Just go. I’ll sort something out.”

“Do you need a ride home?”

“No,” she says, refusing to look at me as she pulls out her phone and makes a call.

I’m intrigued as to why she has such an attitude towards me. So we f****d? Big deal. She didn’t say no, that night. And last time I know she’s not married. And in fact I’m sure I remember her saying yes, God yes, f**k yes, more than once.

After holding the phone to her ear for a minute or so, she huffs and starts tapping the screen again. She makes another call, and nobody answers that one either.

“You sure you don’t want that ride?”

She rolls her eyes and I smile because I know I’ve won. Tucking her phone back into her jacket, she gives her car one last kick before approaching mine with her head down.

“Where do you live?” I ask as she slides into the passenger seat. She takes hold of her seatbelt and guides it over her voluptuous chest. I gulp when I saw it. Suddenly, I’m glad I brought my car today. I walk to work most days because I usually spend the weekdays at my apartment in the city, but I spent the weekend at my place in Alderley Edge and came straight from there.

“Ancoats.”

It’s out of my way but I don’t tell him that. Pulling out of the car park, I turn in the opposite direction of where I live. Grace gapes out of her window, her hands drumming nervously against her knees.

“Where are you from?” I ask. I don’t know why I’m interested, but I can’t help wanting to know more about her.

“Rochdale.”

Hmm. “You don’t have the broad accent.”

“Sorry,” she mutters, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“Brothers and sisters?”

“Brother.”

“Boyfriend?” I ask because I’m wondering if that’s why she’s so pissed off that we had s*x.

“No.”

“Do you always stick to one word answers?”

“Not to people I like.”

A wicked grin pulls on one side of my mouth. “Well that was five words. Guess you do like me after all.”

“Whatever.”

Whatever? Seriously? What is she, twelve? I find it oddly adorable.

I give up on trying to make conversation…for now. Using my thumb, I activate the stereo with the buttons on my steering wheel. It connects automatically to my iPhone and Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T’s floods the car. I crank up the volume, expecting a reaction from Grace but she doesn’t even flinch. So I start singing, belting the words with as much power as my lungs will allow.

Still, I get nothing. Not even a sideways glance in my direction. So, I do something she can’t possibly ignore. Fiddling with the controls, I skip through the tracks until I land on Maybe Tomorrow by the Stereophonics, and then turn it up even louder.

“I know you know this one,” I yell over the music before breaking out into the first verse. Risking a glance to my left, I notice she’s shifted in her seat, turning away from me. It’s not the reaction I’m pushing for, but it’s a reaction nonetheless and I take it with a proud smile.

When the song begins to die down, I turn off the stereo. “You weren’t too shy to sing on Friday night.”

“Stop comparing me to that night!” she snaps, finally looking at me. “That wasn’t me.”

Her answer forces my brow to furrow. I feel like she’s punched a hole in my chest. “You sure look like her. Maybe I should take another look at your p***y to make sure.”

“Next left,” she says, pointing to the turning I need to take, ignoring me completely.

I don’t understand this woman at all. I shouldn’t even give a s**t, but I do, and it’s frustrating me. “Do you want me to apologise for f*****g you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then why are you being so hostile towards me? I’m doing you a favour here, and you’re being a bitch.”

Eyes focused on the road, I can’t see her expression, but I hear her sigh through her nose. “Look,” she begins, her tone relaxed for the first time. “I know about your reputation and I don’t want any part of it. If I’d known who you were on Friday I never would’ve-”

“My reputation?” I interrupt, curious and slightly amused.

“That you have a thing for f*****g your way through the office juniors. Well, I’m not going to be one of them.” She sighs again, sounding flustered. “Not again, anyway.”

“It’s not true,” I say. Her knees fall towards the middle of the car and I feel her gaze burning into my cheek. “I don’t discriminate. I’m happy to f**k management, too.”

I see her shake her head in the corner of my eye and, as a result, we’re back to single word answers again. “Sure.”

As told, I turn left and wait for her next command. Presumably, I’ve blown any chance of deeper conversation. At least, I tried keeping quiet, but I just can’t seem to help myself. “Were you a virgin?” I ask, wondering if that’s why she’s so uptight about what happened.

“No!” she barks, sounding almost offended. The fervency of her voice makes me believe her. “Please,” she adds, her tone begging. “Can we just forget about Friday?”

I don’t want to, and I won’t. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” She points to the windscreen. “It’s those flats over there.”

I make the effort not to scrunch my nose at the unsavoury surroundings. I hit the accelerator a little harder, jumping the amber traffic light before it turns red. If I were to pause in this part of the city for too long, my alloys would be gone before I could yell thief.

Grace clicks off her seatbelt as the car starts to slow, jumping out the very second it stops. She goes to close the door but hesitates, holding on to the handle as she bends down so I can see her face. “Um, thanks,” she mutters, hardly convincing. “See you around.”

Oh, you can be sure of that. Before I can say my thoughts aloud, the door is slammed closed and she’s jogging away from me. Gripping the wheel, I tip my head back and wait for my erratic pulse to calm.

This girl is going to be a tough one to c***k, but I will succeed. I have to. Only then, will this bewildering curiosity subside so I can move onto the next.

Damn you, Grace Honda.

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