Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
“Nice place, huh?” Grant’s voice behind me startles me and causes me to jump to my feet. I spin around and see him towering over me. His green eyes scour my body, pausing at my breasts for a moment before continuing up.
Yeah, there’s no question that he was hitting on me back up in the room. He definitely wants me, and I’m not sure what to do with that information. Slowly, he starts to saunter toward me.
“Yeah, it’s nice…” I reply slowly.
“Do I have something on my face?” he asks.
“What?” I reply. “N-no.”
He reaches me, then takes me by the chin and forces me to look at him. “Are you sure, Allie?”
“Y-yes.” I’m stammering like an idiot.
“Then why wouldn’t you look at me during dinner?” I open my mouth and immediately close it as my heart sinks. So he did notice. I thought I was being discreet, but it turns out this man not only has gorgeous eyes—he has eagle eyes too.
“Oh, I wasn’t…I wasn’t trying to not look at you,” I lie. My voice sounds like I’m totally lying too. If I was in a police interrogation right now, I’d be obviously guilty.
“Right.” Grant nods. “Well, I was looking at you.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I noticed.”
He’s still got his hand on my chin and is eyeing without any shame whatsoever. “You have something on your face, Allie,” he says, his lips twisting into a slight grin.
Oh, no.
“Oh, God. I do?” My stomach sinks. I go to reach up to wipe away whatever it is, but Grant catches my hand in his and holds it tenderly as he looks directly into my eyes.
“Yes,” he nods. “Beauty. And it’s all over your face.”
The moment hangs between us, then both of us burst out laughing.
“Holy dad joke, Batman,” I giggle. Grant shrugs, still massaging my hand with his.
“Hey, nothing like a good dad joke,” he says. “But I was also being serious.”
His eyes are absolutely smoldering as I look up at them. I feel so tiny standing here close to him, with my hand in his, having just basically run away from him to get some space of my own.
“You’re…good at this,” I finally say after standing there awkwardly before him for some time.
“Good at what?” he replies, but he knows exactly what I mean.
“How many girls have you picked up with that line?” I ask.
“Zero,” he says, shaking his head.
“Bullshit.”
“I swear,” he replies quickly. “I just wanted to make you laugh, Allie. And compliment you at the same time.”
The hairs on my arms are standing up, and I’m pretty sure I have goosebumps too. That’s not a reaction I’ve ever experienced from interacting with a man before. But then again, I’ve never been hit on like this by a man before—especially one this good-looking.
“Well, I don’t believe you,” I reply. “But thank you anyway.”
“You think I’m a liar?” He smiles back, teasing. “That’s not very nice.”
“I—I didn’t say that–”
“Well, that must be what you think if you don’t believe me.”
Oh God. He’s backing me into a corner. I’m starting to get a fuzzy feeling in my stomach and get lightheaded at the same time.
“I…I…” My mouth has gone dry. I feel like I’m twelve again, standing in front of that garage after being set up by my so-called friends. I can practically hear them laughing behind me right at this very moment.
But this isn’t seven years ago. I’m not a little girl any longer. Grant finds me attractive now, and I’m having visions of his sexy body without that suit on keep invading my mind, and there’s nothing I can do to stop them.
I should do something. I should act on that.
But I can’t. I’m a quivering, stuttering, anxious mess with even less courage than I had when I was twelve. Something snaps within me, and I panic.
“I have to go,” I say as I push past him into the house. “I’m sorry.”
6
Grant
Dinner is over, dessert is finished. Everyone except for a handful of people are done with their drinks and have gone up to bed. I chased after Allie after she ran inside, but not very far as I didn’t want to make a big scene at McKenzie’s wedding.
So I let her go and figured I would meet up with her later and we could talk things over. But when I went up to the room—our room—she wasn’t there either.
It’s not like I came on that strong there on the back porch. Allie must be a really innocent girl to be that afraid of me. There’s no way she’s still that embarrassed about something that happened seven years ago between us.
Just thinking about that is getting me all excited. But the thought that Allie is actually an untouched beauty, young and ripe and rooming with me, has all kinds of dirty thoughts running through my mind.