He was just great—a really great guy.

One shot turned into two, and then two into three, and when you added the dirty martini that I had sucked down, I was feeling no pain. The photographer was still there, and as I got tipsier, I got friendlier as well. I had started out the evening sitting next to Jack, and by the time I noticed it was already after eight o’clock, I was sitting fully in his lap, his arms wrapped around me tightly, and I was trying to get him to suck the pimento out of the olive from my cocktail. I happened to be holding the olive between my teeth. The photographer saw this as a perfect opportunity to get some candids, and away he clicked.

Jack saw I’d had enough to drink, so he complied with my pimento request because he knew I wouldn’t let it go. Once he completed this task and Rebecca and I stopped laughing, the photographer insisted on getting one of the two us, just smiling at each other. I realized that I had no pictures of the two of us that were not on TMZ, and suddenly all I wanted was that shot, one great shot to take with me to New York.

We posed a little, making it fun, and the last click of his camera got one of us looking straight into the lens, pressed together, me still sitting on his lap.

Once taken, I yawned suddenly, and Jack took notice. He leaned in and whispered to me, “Hey, Nuts Girl, let’s get out of here. I need some quiet time alone with you. I missed my girl today.” He kissed my neck, and I shivered.

I put my mouth next to his ear, and whispered, “I had a drink. I had several, in fact. Now let’s go back to the room so you can f**k me six ways from Sunday.” Of course, I hadn’t whispered as quietly as I thought I did, and everyone at the table heard it. Loud giggling broke out all around.

He stared at me, the green darkening in the most wicked way, and then quickly threw a handful of cash down on the table. “‘Night all.” He grinned and hurriedly helped me up.

“See ya!” I said, giving a sloppy high five to Rebecca as Jack walked me quickly from the bar, leaving everyone to stare after us with amused looks on their faces.

“I freaking love her,” I heard Rebecca say as we walked out.

We walked through the gardens toward our cottage, tiki torches lighting our way, and at some point I decided it would be a good idea to jump on his back and make him carry me, piggyback style. I kissed his neck as we walked and squeezed him between my legs—which wasn’t a good idea, because he’d just run his hands up my legs and almost under my shorts, when a group of women, about my age or maybe a little older, walked by on their way toward the restaurant. They stared at me, on the back of this very young and very hot guy, with his hands all over me, and they looked impressed.

They smirked at me, and one of them actually gave me a “You rock!” and a high five as they passed, and I laughed aloud.

“You sure are giving a lot of high fives tonight there, Nuts Girl,” he teased over his shoulder as I played with his hair. I sighed and rested my chin on his shoulder as he took out the key to let us in.

“Well, what can I say? They love me in Santa Barbara!” I sang, Ethel Merman style.

“Wow. That was loud and right in my ear.”

“Shut it, Hamilton, or you will get the entire Oklahoma score tonight, and don’t think I don’t know all the words to every song.” I laughed, ducking down as we walked inside. He kept me on his back as he put his bag down and plugged in his cell phone.

“Are you going to get down anytime soon?” he asked, walking over to the patio doors and sliding them open.

“No, I like it up here,” I answered promptly and launched into a song from Oklahoma. “Don’t throw bouquets at me … ”

“Grace … ”

I continued, louder, and added a tongue in his ear.

“Gracie … ”

The song went on, an actual Oklahoma twang now making itself known.

“A few shots and I get a musical?”

“People will say we’re in love,” I continued to sing, playful still.

“Oh man, you really do know all the words … ” He grimaced, but swung me around to his front and placed me on the railing of the patio.

I sang on, thinking about the words of the song, losing the twang and adding my heart.

He was quiet now, moving to stand between my legs, with his head cocked to one side like the dog in that stereo ad, smiling at me.

I ended the song, wrapping my legs around him and pulling him closer to me. He leaned his forehead toward mine, resting against me. We were both quiet for a minute, and I giggled. “This is why I don’t do shots. They make me go all Broadway.”

“I like when you’re all Broadway, sweet girl.”

We were quiet for another minute, and then I pulled away.

“Let’s order some dinner so we can get to the sexy times sooner,” I said, clapping my hands and breaking the spell that Rodgers and Hammerstein always cast.

I moved past him to get the room service menu when he caught my hand.

I stood, half in and half out of the doorway, with him tugging on my hand.

“Hey, Gracie. Where you running off to?” he asked, pulling me toward him.

“I’m not running anywhere,” I answered as he wrapped his arms around my waist. Feeling emboldened, I continued, “Wanna know a secret?”

“What’s that, love?” he asked, sweeping a series of gentle kisses along my jaw.

“It’s not that much of a secret, but I want you to know … ” I started, but he interrupted me.

“Hey, if you’re going to say what I think you’re going to say … wait, are you going to say it?” he asked, smiling down at me.

“Yes, yes, I think so.” I grinned shyly back.

“Well, then I think we should say it at the same time, yes?” he suggested.

“Count of three?” I asked. He nodded.

“One … ” I started.

“Two … ” he said, eyes twinkling.

“Three,” we said together. We both paused, smiling hugely, and then I took a deep breath.

“Jack, I love you.”

“I know,” he said at the same time.

Ass …

“Ass!” I said, smacking him on the arm.

“That was great!” he laughed. I turned and started to walk off the patio in a mock huff, feeling his arms grab at me and not let me go. I smiled since my back was to him and he couldn’t see.

“Gracie, Gracie, Gracie. You know how I feel.” He chuckled, turning me around to face him.

“Say it, George. I want to hear you say it,” I teased, scratching his scalp the way I knew he loved.

“Well, lately I find myself quite in love with you, Sheridan,” he said, tracing my mouth with his fingertips.

I kissed them, and then said, “Mmm, I love you too, Hamilton. I really, really do.”

He kissed me then, slowly and sweetly, and then pulled away a little to look at me.

“You didn’t just say it because I got you drunk, right?” he asked, grinning sexily.

“No dear, I got drunk all on my own. Now can we please order dinner?”

“Let’s go get the menu, Nuts Girl.” He laughed, taking my hand and leading me into the cottage.

“I don’t need to look at the menu, just order me a grilled cheese and a chocolate shake. And ask them to bring more candy, please,” I instructed, heading toward the bedroom to change into something more comfortable.

“Grilled cheese, shake, got it,” he answered, grabbing the phone.

“And see if they have any energy drinks, something with ginseng,” I called back to him from the other room.

“You want an energy drink and a shake?” he asked.

“No, silly. The ginseng is for you, to keep up your stamina.” I laughed, changing into one of the hotel robes. I heard him muttering about not needing help with his stamina. He was right about that.

“Oh, and George?” I asked, poking my head around the corner just in time to see him put the phone down again, rolling his eyes slightly at me when he saw me.

“Yes, bossy?” he asked, smiling through his clenched teeth.

“I love you,” I said, blowing him a kiss.

“I love you, too,” he answered, catching my kiss and placing it on his cheek.

Yeah, we were pretty freaking great.

Chapter 23

As promised, we ate our room service in bed, clad only in our hotel robes. I insisted that he be bare beneath, making it easier for me and my trusty oonie to pounce after dinner. We laughed and talked, and I even let him have a few bites of my grilled cheese. The shake I kept for myself. Grace does not share ice cream. She does, however, talk about herself in the third person.

By the time we were done and he wheeled the cart away, I was thoroughly sated and happy. I giggled and applauded when he began performing an impromptu striptease on his way back into the bedroom, and I even hummed a burlesque bump-n-grind tune while he danced about. I hooted and hollered, and threw a flower that had been left by housekeeping in appreciation of the show.

He was truly one of the funniest guys I had ever met. I hoped that as his fame increased his fans would get to see that side of him. He wasn’t just a pretty face. He was damn smart and had one of the quickest wits I’d ever encountered.

What I loved about him was that he wasn’t ever embarrassed. He always just let go of how silly he sometimes looked. It was absolutely endearing. Who would have guessed the guy who was making women swoon across the country could engage in the silliest robe removal I had ever seen? Certainly not me.

He finally dropped the robe while I screamed in laughter, crawling under the covers at the foot of the bed, now humming his own tune. I watched as his truly bite-able buns disappeared under the comforter, and I squealed as I felt his teeth nip at my ankles. His entire body crept under the covers, and I tracked his progress based on the bites I was receiving, my calf, the side of my knee, the top of my thigh, the inside of my thigh, and finally my Hamilton Brand. This was reached only after he prodded my legs apart with his nose, his hands wrapping around my h*ps and pulling me roughly down the bed. He continued to hum his merry little tune and, at some point, I heard it change into something that sounded like “God Save The Queen.” I began to hum along with him, and I felt him smile against my skin.

Once he hit the Promised Land, however, he stopped humming, and I began to moan as he kissed me, tracing the entirety of my sex with his tongue and lips, being agonizingly gentle. I sighed, arching my back like a cat and stretching my arms over my head. Sometimes, he would work me slow and long, and I could tell this was going to be one of those times.

Those nights were always un-freaking-believable.

He spread my legs wider, hooking them over his shoulders and continued his gentle caressing. His tongue made delicate circles around me, working up and down and making me moan deeply. His fingers opened me further, leaving me completely vulnerable to whatever he wanted to do.

He was so good at this, but instead of letting me have a quick release, he would take me just to where my legs began to shake, and then he would back off, blowing cool breath on me, making me shiver and cry out.

By the time he had almost made me come the fourth time, I was begging for it. Just before he brought me to the place where I would finally see stars, he moved quickly up my body, poking his head out from under the covers and slipping fantastically into me.

He entered me slowly, deeply, and I was able to watch his face as he nudged his way inside. We both cried out as he sank in, inch by inch, taking what seemed like an hour to finally be in me. We sighed together, and I wrapped my legs around his waist tighter, desperate to have him as deeply as I could take him in. I looked up at him, his face earnest as he slipped in and out, his blond curls hanging down all crazy and sexy, and his strong arms as he held himself over me. He sucked in his bottom lip and bit down on it with his teeth as I bucked up to meet him.

Beautiful.

“Oh, God, Jack, that is … oh, God.” I struggled to find the words to ade-quately explain how good he felt inside me, and I couldn’t. He continued his slow, methodical movements, designed to make me shiver and shake beneath him as I listened to his throaty moans. He hooked my right leg up over his shoulder, and with this new angle, I felt him go even deeper, hitting my J-Spot, which made me cry out instantly.

“Come for me, Gracie, please … I need to feel you come,” he begged, his h*ps speeding up as he felt my walls begin to squeeze him more firmly. His brows came together as he continued to pump into me firmly, constantly and with no let up as I raced toward my orgasm.

This time, I came crazy quiet. Having been worked to the brink of pleasur-able insanity, I was actually silent. I shook wordlessly, totally caught up in my body and his body, and the effect he had on me. I only came once, and it was like a star exploding. I heard him shout my name as he emptied into me, releasing a great moan as he held himself over me.

He folded into himself, sinking down to bury his head into my neck, and I held him as it was his turn to shake. I held him tightly to me, with my legs and my arms refusing to let him leave my body. I held him as tightly as I could, taking all of his weight and his sighs and his shakes as he completely relaxed into me.

I ran my nails up and down his back and finally into his hair as he sighed his Jack’s Happy Sound into my skin, warming it as he did with his sweet breath.

We stayed like that for several minutes when he finally lifted his head from my breast. I brushed his hair back from his forehead and kissed him softly.

“Can I tell you something?” I asked.

“Of course.” He smiled.

“I love you,” I replied, kissing him again.

“I love you too, Gracie,” he sighed into my kisses. We cuddled for an hour, wrapped up together and eating hotel chocolate.