A Shower of Arrows

Chapter Nine: Photos

Grace had just dropped Lacey off at her parents house and drove to work. She had organised all the interviews scheduled for today. When she walked up to the shop, Oliver was leaning against the door holding two coffees and a bag from the bakery. 

He smiled when he saw Grace approaching. That smile will give her a heart attack one day. 

Grace stopped in front of Oliver, who bent down and kissed her cheek. 

"I thought you would want breakfast." He held up the coffee and bakery bags. "I also thought we should talk."

 Grace opened the door and walked through the store and into her office. It was finally finished. The only thing we needed to do was fill up the shelves and then the store will be ready to open. 

"About what happened - " 

"I think we need to talk about - " 

They started talking at the same time. Then stopped and smiled at each other. 

"Oliver tell me your thoughts on the situation and then I'll tell you mine."

Oliver smiled at Grace, who's heart went crazy. He sat down on the couch in Grace's office and pulled her hand into his.

"Grace, I've never been good at expressing my feelings but I'll give it a go. Grace you're beautiful, kind, loving, generous, funny, intelligent and I could go on for hours. Ever since you I saw you, I can't get you out of my head. I want this to work, but I also understand this has to be difficult for you, so I'm willing to wait if that's what you need."

Grace leaned over Oliver's leg and kissed him softly. 

"I thought you said you can't express your emotion? That sounded perfect to me. I moved here for a fresh start with my daughter and to be honest, I wasn't even thinking about getting into a relationship but then I met you. I feel a connection between us and I feel like I want to explore it. The only reason I'm hesitant is Lacey. I can't have a revolving door of guys coming in and out of her life. She deserves better than that. You need to know that she is my priority and that will not change. I would like to not tell her about this until we have figured if this will work. But if you accept us then I would like to see where this goes."

Oliver leaned over to Grace and kissed her. Grace had one hand in his hair and another around his waist. Oliver wrapped his arms around Grace's waist and deepened the kiss. Grace could feel sparks between them and she was wondering how she could ever stop kissing him. Oliver shifted their position so Grace was laying underneath him and he was over the top of her. Oliver's hands were roaming over her body and Grace was doing the same to him. Grace began unbuttoning his shirt when someone knocked on the door.

"Grace. Are you in there?" 

It was Nate. Oliver and Grace quickly untangled themselves from each other. She fixed her hair and straightened her shirt, hoping she looked presentable. Grace giggled at him to which he rolled his eyes and poked a face at her. 

Grace opened the door a fraction and saw Nate standing there. 

"Hey Grace, how's-" Oliver stopped talking and looked at Grace's face. " Grace is someone in there with you?" Before she could protest, Nate barged the door open and saw Oliver sitting at the desk. He looked between the two of us and slowly a smirk appeared on his face. 

"Looks like you're taking the intimate approach to interviewing."

Grace went bright red. 

"Shut up Nate."

Nate's grin got even bigger, he looked like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Grace grabbed Nate by the shoulders and marched him out of the office.