The Seduction Vow Read online

  Before they got out of the car to go into the bar Tara had chosen, Graci wriggled and tugged at the top, which constricted her ribs. “We’re not even the same size. I look like a sausage squished in a casing that’s too tight.”

  “You look hot. Just take shallow breaths,” Tara advised.

  “She’s right. You’re a hottie.” Corinne winked. “You know better than to argue with Tara. It’s easier to go with her flow when she’s got a plan.”

  The bar was crowded, and Graci had a flashback to that night last week when she’d made her first foray into single life. It wasn’t a pleasant flashback—except for the memory of blue, blue eyes and a kind smile.

  But this time she was with her girls under Tara’s expert guidance. The crowd at the bar was three deep, and the waitstaff zipped around like rats on speed, but somehow Tara placed an order, and they had their drinks within minutes. Then she actually found them a table near the stage, where a local band was tuning up.

  The Horseheads. Dumb name. Then Graci caught sight of the guy warming up on the keyboard. She stopped in the middle of taking off her coat and stared at her rescuer from the other night, the brave, brave man who’d sacrificed himself to escort an almost puking girl to the restroom.

  His hands flew over the keys, playing some intricate little melody. He stopped and adjusted something on another board, then ran through the riff again. The bass player came over and said something to him. They laughed and talked together.

  Corinne tugged on her coat sleeve. “Hey, what’s up? Are you going to sit down?”

  Graci dropped her coat over the back of a chair but her knees wouldn’t bend and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the keyboard player’s lean form.

  The bassist wandered off, playing some chords, while her hero refocused on his sound test. His stage attire was pretty much the same as the other night, jeans and a worn vintage T, something Graci might have labeled a rag. The stage lights bleached his pale skin, making the tats pop, and gave his brown hair a reddish cast. Just as she wondered if she’d imagined such extraordinary eyes, he looked up, and a beam of light reflected neon blue.

  She swallowed. Her body thrummed with a low vibration like the sound of that bass. She dropped into her chair with a thud.

  “What is it? You know one of those guys?” Tara asked. “I’m friends with the lead guitarist, Tom. That’s why we’re here. I’ll introduce you to the band when they’re on break.”

  Her words were drowned in the opening chords of the first song. The music ended any attempt at conversation, so Graci leaned back in her seat and simply watched. Though stuck behind two banks of electronics, the keyboardist managed to remain a magnetic and sexy presence, at least to her. He danced within the framework of his keyboards and sang harmony into a mic. Graci was hardly musically gifted, but she could pick out which voice was his when they all blended together.

  Corinne leaned close and yelled in her ear, “You got a crush on that keyboard player? You haven’t taken your eyes off him.”

  “No. I, uh, just think I recognize him from somewhere. I’m trying to figure out where,” Graci shouted back.

  No way in hell was she going to tell these two about the other night’s incident, which would only lead to explaining why she’d been there and her vague plan to chuck her virginity to the first randy stranger who caught her fancy. Corinne would caution her to think about what she was considering. Tara would egg her on. Graci didn’t want the pressure of either reaction. Whether she went through with this crazy item on her checklist or not must be her decision.

  By the time several fast-paced, beat-driven songs were over, Graci realized she couldn’t meet the band or her secret night of shame would come out. Besides, she couldn’t face her handsome stranger again, even though she badly wanted to know his name and look into those sapphire eyes again. She’d hide in the restroom or go to the bar when they took their break.

  The next song was a ballad, the tune mournful and lyrics about an empty house and broken windows where the wind blew in. If she’d heard such a song last week, Graci would’ve broken down crying, but tonight she was so fascinated by the keyboard player’s lips forming the words and the way his voice hitched with emotion on the refrain that melancholy was the last thing on her mind. Heavy, languid limbs melted into her seat and her skin tingled feverishly while her heart pulsed along with the beat. Longing, desire, and lust suffused her in a heady cocktail.

  When the song was over, she felt positively dazed. She yearned for a touch. For his touch. What would those clever musical fingers feel like moving over her body? Her immediate powerful reaction shocked her. Graciela Ramirez wasn’t the sort of woman to tumble headfirst into an impossible crush. But maybe New Graci was.

  “Come on, bitches. Time to dance.” Tara leaped to her feet as the tempo picked up again.

  Corinne bounded after her, arms waving already, happy to join in. Graci followed, shuffling back and forth in her usual awkward way. Weren’t Latinas supposed to have natural rhythm? What had happened to hers? Even her mama could dance better.

  But New Graci wasn’t bound by inhibitions, she reminded herself. Just DANCE! She forced her hips to sway, her feet to move, her arms to weave through the air creating sexy patterns—not semaphore signs like Corinne’s—and soon her body was grooving like everyone else’s.

  After a couple more songs, the lead singer thanked everyone for coming, and the band took a break. Hot and sweaty from dancing, Graci excused herself and dashed for the restroom.

  The line to the ladies’ was long so she went to the bar instead and waited in line, studying a poster on the wall for the Horseheads. Such a dumb name, but they were really good, her crush on the keyboard player aside.

  “Hey. It’s you. I thought I saw you on the dance floor.”

  Shit! Graci froze in place as if a cop had called stop or I’ll shoot. She hadn’t been too drunk the other night not to recognize the low, rough rumble that made the hairs on her neck rise. For a split second, she considered pretending not to hear him. But that was an Old Graci sort of weak-assed move—sort of like running away to hide in the restroom.

  She turned and faced a chest. A T-shirt damp with sweat clung to the muscles beneath. Heat lanced through her at the sight and at the faint smell of his body, which teased her nose enticingly.

  She lifted her chin and looked up into The Eyes. “Oh. Hi. I thought it was you too, but I wasn’t sure.”

  He smiled, showing even white teeth. No, one of them was slightly crooked, which, for some reason, made his smile even sexier. “Yeah, it’s me.” He stuck out his hand. “Neal Murray.”

  Graci hadn’t caught the name when the lead singer introduced the band. Neal. Murray.

  He was still standing there offering his hand. She quickly took it.

  “Graciela Ramirez. But just call me Graci.”

  No electric spark crackle when their hands touched, but she did feel heat building down between her legs as his hot palm slid against hers.

  He let go and wiped his hand on the side of his jeans. “Sorry. I’m kind of sweaty.”

  She waved it off. “Forget it. After the state you saw me in, a little sweat is nothing. I want to apologize again for plowing into you, then almost throwing up on you.”

  Great recap, Graciela. Keep on reminding him what a doofus you were.

  “Naw. You didn’t do anything. You just had a bad night. You looked so sad, I wanted to wrap you up in a blanket and feed you cookies or something.” He winced, his nose cutely crinkling. “Wow. That was weird. Sorry.”

  Weird maybe, but also very charming. He was clearly the kind of person who thought things and let them tumble right out of his mouth. A little like Tara. Maybe it was a creative-person thing.

  “No. It’s sweet,” she said. “I probably could’ve used a few cookies to cut the alcohol. And you’re right. I was sad. But I’m getting better.”

  “Bad breakup?” he guessed.

  She nodded. “Is there a good one
?”

  He laughed, flashing her that adorable crooked canine again. She liked how his facial hair outlined his mouth in a fringe of light brown, and wondered if his face would feel soft or scratchy to the touch. Joey’s skin had been as smooth as the back of her hand. For a heartbeat, she ached at the memory of his kisses, but the twinge quickly faded.

  “I’m sorry. It’s a rough time,” Neal said. “I went around with a deer-in-the-headlights stare for months after my breakup. Felt like I’d been run over by a truck and never saw it coming.”

  “Recent?” Graci asked.

  “No. A long while back. But it was the big one, you know? The one that mattered.” He glanced at the bar. “Looks like we’re up. Can I buy you a drink?”

  “Oh.” She was suddenly flustered. Couldn’t remember what she’d been drinking at the table or if she’d even touched it. “Just a diet Coke. Thanks. But I should be the one buying you something. You must be really thirsty.”

  He gestured toward the stage where the band was camped at a nearby table. “They bring us a round on the house. I’m set.”

  Which meant that he hadn’t joined the line at the bar to get a drink. He’d spotted her and come to talk to her. A little sparkle of delight shimmered through her.

  “Your friends are over there too. I saw you dancing with Tara and that other girl. Will you come and sit with us?” he asked.

  “Then you know Tara?”

  “Not really. She’s a friend of Tom’s. I’ve seen her around.”

  Graci bit her lip. “Would you please not mention the other night? It’s embarrassing.”

  “Absolutely not.” He crossed his heart. “We can pretend we just met tonight.”

  “When I came up to you to tell you how great your playing is,” she added. “You guys are really good. I love your music.” And your voice, which is kind of like the love child of sandpaper and velvet.

  “Thanks. We have fun.” Neal stepped up to the bar and ordered her pop.

  Graci watched him from behind this time. His jeans rode low on his hips, and his T-shirt hiked up in back so she had a really good view of how the denim molded his ass.

  She dragged her gaze up quickly when he turned around with her drink, but he still caught her looking. She could tell by the flicker of amusement in his eyes.

  “So, Graci Ramirez, it was a pleasure meeting you just tonight,” he said with mock formality.

  “Nice to meet you, Neal Murray.” The glass of pop was cold and damp in her hand. She wanted to rub it against her steaming face to cool her down. It certainly wasn’t the dancing that had her so hot and bothered.

  Neal was the polar opposite of everything Joey. Laid-back, cool, and funny, the musician showed up all the flaws in her anal-retentive, hyperorganized ex. No wonder she and Joey had failed as a match. They were too similar, both too controlled and orderly. Joey had gone seeking someone to shake him up. Now she was doing the same.

  Maybe Neal was exactly the sort of man who could help her with her little virginity problem. All she had to do was surrender to panting lust for a change, and the deed should be accomplished long before her deadline.

  Chapter Four

  “So you forgive me and you’ll come to my wedding?” Bree sounded as breathless and distracted as always. The years since the last time Graci had heard that voice fell away, and she might have been in college again, listening to Bree tell one of her always amusing adventures.

  Graci spoke into her headset as she swung slowly back and forth in her office chair. “Will you forgive me for shutting you out? I know you guys were just being honest, but at the time, I couldn’t hear anything negative about Joey. And I don’t believe he was always so horrible. There was good in him too. It’s just that you guys saw the way things could go. You called it.”

  “I totally get now why you felt you had to choose between him and us. You know why? Because I’m in love, Graci. For the first time I’m really in love.” Bree’s joy erupted in a happiness geyser. “And if you guys meet Tony and don’t like him, I don’t even wanna know.”

  Graci remembered the long, long, very looong string of boyfriends and occasional girlfriends Bree had been with over the years.

  “Ha! I can hear you thinking it’s impossible. That’s pretty much everybody’s reaction, but Tony is different. I can’t explain it. In theory, we don’t seem like much of a match, but he’s perfect for me. He’s just…Tony, you know? And I love him. In all the years you’ve known me, have you ever heard me say that about someone before?”

  “No,” Graci had to admit. “You’ve said you really liked various people you dated, but I’ve never heard you use the word love.”

  “That’s because this time is different. I trust Tony with all of me, you know? This is for real.”

  Bree had never sounded so passionately sincere. But complete trust in any man sounded pretty scary to Graci just now after what she’d been through.

  Still, she wouldn’t withhold the support Bree needed from her. “That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you,” she replied enthusiastically.

  She leaned back in her office chair and gazed at the wall of her cubicle decorated with photos of her mom, dad, and brothers, Hugo and Luis. She’d stripped all Joey pictures and recently added one of herself and her friends, taken the summer after graduation, before they scattered to different colleges and different lives.

  “How’s Adya?” Graci asked. “Tara and Corinne haven’t heard from her in a while, but I figured you two always stayed pretty close.”

  “I don’t know,” Bree replied. “Honestly, I’m worried about her. Adya’s always been a bit closed off, but over the past year, it’s as if she’s fallen off the face of the earth. When she stopped answering my calls and texts, I even tried calling her mom, but the number wasn’t in service. My wedding invitation hasn’t been returned, so I guess she still checks that post office box. I don’t know what else I can do. Call the Seattle police and have them check on her? Is that too extreme?”

  “It’s pretty extreme,” Graci agreed. “Maybe she’s just caught up in her life. We all get super busy sometimes. ”

  “Not so busy we can’t send a text. I keep trying to think of something I might have done or said to piss her off. At least with you, I knew exactly why we fell out of touch, and even then we still sent Christmas cards.”

  “Maybe she’s just moved on and doesn’t care to keep up with old friends anymore. It happens,” Graci said what she’d been thinking recently when her attempts to prompt a response from Adya failed too.

  “Maybe.” Bree sighed, but then her tone brightened, sounding more like the airy, effervescent Bree Graci knew. “But enough of that. I want you to tell me about this hot musician Tara says you have a crush on.”

  Grace sat forward in her chair. “What? Why would she say that? I don’t. We only met the other night and hung out a little after their set. All of us. In a group. I don’t have a crush on Neal.”

  “What’s he look like? Were there sparks? Tell me everything.”

  There’d been plenty of sparks, but Graci wasn’t about to turn her attraction to Neal into an anecdote. “We met. We talked. He was nice. We exchanged numbers. Maybe we’ll go out for coffee. That’s it.”

  “I don’t know. Both Tara and Corinne said there was a definite vibe going on. The two of you sneaking looks at each other. A sort of lust haze floating in the air,” Bree teased.

  Both of them looking? That meant she wasn’t imagining that Neal was interested in her, which was sort of thrilling and sort of scary too. “Well, they’re nuts. God’s sake, Bree, I was with Joey for three years. I’m barely ready to dip a pinkie toe back into the dating pool.”

  “That’s all it takes. One pinkie toe, and if the right guy nibbles on it, you could have a real good time.”

  “I have other things besides guys on my to-do list.” Graci breezed past the topic, since there was no way she was going to tell about her plan to lose her virginity. “I’m all about reinventing
myself. The other day, I ate lunch in the restaurant at the top of Carew Tower. Sat in a window seat and everything, and I hardly had any vertigo. I’m working on conquering my fear of heights.”

  “I’m so proud of you.”

  “And I signed up for a cake-decorating class. I always thought it sounded like fun. I’m going to do lots of other things too.”

  “That’s fantastic,” Bree said. “Not many people could pull it together so soon after a breakup. It’s great that you’re diving into life.”

  “See, even The Rock can change,” Graci joked.

  “I always loved The Rock, loved that I could depend on you to be exactly who you are. Trying new things is great. You should definitely keep doing it. But don’t change too much, okay?” Bree’s voice hugged her over the phone.

  Graci checked the time. “Damn. I have to get back to work, and we didn’t even touch on your wedding plans. I want to hear all about them.”

  “Next time,” Bree promised. “I’m so glad we’re friends again. Can’t wait to see all of you guys when you come out here.”

  “I’m looking forward to it too.” And to showing you that the new Graci is better than the old. I’m not going to be the voice of caution in the group anymore. At the bachelorette party, I’ll be the one dancing on table tops for a change.

  And what the hell, she’d be the one going for coffee with Neal after all. She had his number. She’d give him a call.

  ****

  Meeting Neal outside the café he suggested, Graci was able to get a good look at him for the first time. Both other times they’d met in bars with low lighting intended to hide flaws. Maybe in the bright light of day she’d discover his shabbiness wasn’t so chic and his scruffiness was just plain slobby. But nope. He was even more attractive with the sunlight bringing out red and gold glints in his brown hair and making his eyes shine.

  She’d become so fixated on those eyes and the spell they cast over her, they’d nearly become an entity all their own. Now it was time to find out a little more about the man behind blue eyes, like the song said.