Page 5 of Saving Grace
“Do you mind?” Matt grumbled, sitting up while holding the pillow across his nether regions.
Millie raised a brow. “Nothing I haven’t seen before … but if it makes you feel better.” After a dramatic pause, she continued, “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Matt waited until she was out of his room before getting out of bed. He grabbed his jeans off the floor and stabbed his legs into them. Walking over to the utility room and opening the dryer, he pulled out a long-sleeved tee. The aroma of coffee and bacon assailed his nostrils. Millie sure knew how to get a person out of bed.
Making his way to the kitchen, he saw his visitor pouring freshly-brewed coffee into a mug.
“What brings you to visit my sorry ass this Sunday morning?” he asked. Even if he was annoyed with his rude awakening, he knew Millie wouldn’t show up without reason. A knot of apprehension formed in the pit of his stomach. “Are Cassie and Trent okay?”
“Don’t worry about them.” Millie waved her hand in a dismissive manner. “As far as I know, they’re enjoying their honeymoon in Fiji.”
His younger sister and the sheriff of Buckland County tied the knot a week and a half ago. It’d been a small affair of friends and family, but everyone was still on high alert now that their town had become more conspicuous because of the biker war a few months ago.
“Is it Kate?” A pang of sadness gnawed at him as he worried over his twin. He always worried about her, especially since he didn’t understand the choices she had made. Choices that had hurt a lot of people. At least she showed up for Cassie and Trent’s wedding, although Matt wondered if it would have been better if she’d stayed away.
“I haven’t heard from Kate since the wedding,” Millie said with a tinge of gloom before her face hardened and she pierced him with shrewd eyes. “No, I’m here because of Grace.”
Matt tried to look bored. “What about her?”
“I wish you’d cut the crap, Foster. What happened between you two?”
“Watch it, Millie. I’m close to telling you it’s none of your business,” Matt replied. “Fuck it. It’s really none of your business.”
“I see how you look at her.”
“Oh, you’re an expert now on Matt Foster’s one-night fucks.”
A flush stole over Millie’s face and it definitely wasn’t from embarrassment over his crude words.
“That there tells me she’s more than that,” Millie gritted through her teeth. It took a lot to make the other woman angry and Matt seemed to be an expert doing it. “But I’m thinking now if she really deserves better than you.”
“She really does,” Matt mumbled into his coffee. “Now that we agree, can I eat my breakfast in peace?”
“Ass,” Millie hissed, shoving the takeout container toward him. “You’re a stubborn ass. I don’t know why I waste my time hoping you’ll grow up.”
“Thirty-six years old, Millie. I’m as grown up as I’ll ever be.” He flipped open the lid of the container and grabbed a sliver of bacon. Nothing made a hangover better than caffeine and greasy food.
He ignored the exasperated huff from Millie and concentrated on devouring the eggs and pancakes. Matt could feel the woman’s heavy glare, but he didn’t care about that either. He was who he was. He’d never been in a relationship and he wasn’t about to start. He had a healthy sexual appetite, and he had regular hookups as well as a smattering of one-night stands. Did any of those women push for more? Sure, they did, but he’d also made it clear that sex was all he could offer.
“What are you afraid of?” Millie pressed. Clearly, she wasn’t letting this go. “We’ve all lost someone we love because of who we are. We’re always going to have enemies. Trent nearly lost Cassie one too many times and yet he held on and look how happy they are now.”
Matt didn’t point out that it was he who’d put doubt in Cassie’s head about the sheriff. He’d also admit grudgingly that Trent Stone had proven him wrong. The man was calm under pressure and got the smarts to keep up with the town of Misty Grove—a town of ex-assassins.
“Their situation is different. I’ve made more enemies than anyone in this town.”
“And you think Grace doesn’t have any of her own?”
Millie was one of the few people who knew Grace’s real profession.
“Are you saying we’re two of a kind?” he challenged. “I’m not buying any more trouble for Misty Grove after I brought on the last one. If Grace is on some drug lord’s hit list, she’s on her own.”
“You don’t really think that. You’re not as heartless as you want people to believe.”
Matt felt uncomfortable. Millie had a way of seeing right through him. When he’d thought Kate had died, the heartache was so crippling that he started shutting people out to avoid feeling such loss again. For their kind, losing a twin was catastrophic. If the grief wasn’t contained, they could turn into lethal killing machines driven by anger. For Matt, he just turned into an asshole because he found it an effective method of keeping people away. Well, most people anyway. Apparently his rudeness had no effect on persistent nosey former assassins like Millie.
“You’ve changed a bit, you know,” the diner owner continued. “Ever since we found out Kate was alive, I’ve seen you smile more often.”
“Now you’re psychoanalyzing,” Matt responded with exasperation. The pancake tasted like cardboard. Great. Now his appetite was ruined and his head throbbed more than ever. His chair scraped back as he tossed the fork on the table. “Are we done here? I appreciate the breakfast, Millie, but if it’s going to come with a side of your bullshit, just save it. Okay?”