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“I didn’t expect you either, Tish. That first time I met you, even though I asked for your number, I figured I’d probably never see you again. What were the odds?” he mused.
I let out a soft laugh. “Probably not great.” For the first time in a long time, I let my heart do the talking. “I don’t usually do casual relationships. And –”
Griffin reached over, catching my hand, where I was nervously tracing along the side of the table between us. “I don’t know what this is, or what we’re meant to be, but you’re not just casual for me. I’d like a chance to see where this might go.”
My heart didn’t even know what to do with those words, much less the intent look in his eyes. All I could do was whisper, “Okay. I’d like that chance too.”
He squeezed my hand before lifting it and turning it over to drop a kiss in the center of my palm. If I hadn’t been seated, I would’ve melted to the floor. He released my hand and the moment passed. We started to eat again, but I was still spinning inside.
While I was trying to get my body to cool down, Griffin pushed his empty bowl away and took a swallow of water, tracing his finger in a circle around the base of his glass after he set it down. “So, we didn’t clarify one thing.”
I finished my last bite. “What’s that?”
“Are we keeping this secret?”
My mind wanted to say we should, but my heart didn’t want that. And for once, my heart won. I shook my head.
Griffin’s smile was slow and sent heat spiraling through me. Restless and a little anxious, I stood to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Griffin quietly helped me clean up. I finished drying my hands on the dish towel and turned to face him.
“Thank you.”
He closed the dishwasher. “For what?”
“Making dinner again.” I twisted the towel in my hands and rested my hips against the counter. “And, uh, having an actual conversation about us.”
I wasn’t devastated or brokenhearted by Paul disappearing from my life. We’d been at the beginning of a relationship. And yet, what he did created fractures in trust for me.
Griffin was quiet before he nodded. “You can thank Holly for that.”
“Holly?” I snorted.
He shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “She made me realize this town is small enough that we should probably have that conversation.”
He stepped closer, reaching for the towel in my hands and setting it on the counter before caging me between his arms. He leveled his gaze with mine as he leaned forward. His scent curled around me, a little crisp and woodsy. I didn’t think I’d ever noticed how a man smelled before. Griffin was intoxicating, injecting a burst of oxygen into the fire already burning inside of me.
“You look beautiful today,” he murmured as he dipped his head and grazed his teeth along the side of my neck.
“I’m just wearing my work clothes…” I gasped when he nipped at my earlobe and trailed his thumb over my collarbone. Every touch felt like licks of fire on my skin.
“I love your work clothes,” he murmured. “I’d like to get you out of them as fast as I can though.”
I could barely breathe and gasped something unintelligible just before he claimed my mouth in another hot kiss. By the time he lifted his head, I was practically on fire and had unzipped his jeans with my hand molded over his thick length.
“I need —” I began just as Teddy’s cry came through the baby monitor.
I groaned. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”
I ran down the hallway, sprinting through my bedroom into Teddy’s nursery. He looked up at me, blinking his sleepy eyes. “Hey there,” I whispered. I smoothed my hand over his hair.
He bounced his heels. I lifted him up to press a kiss on his temple. I loved the way he felt when he was tired, so soft and warm. He molded himself to me and maybe a minute passed before he was sound asleep again.
I held my breath when I eased him back into the crib, relieved when he stayed asleep. When I turned around to walk out, Griffin was standing in the doorway. He didn’t say a word, he simply smiled and stepped back.
It felt like changing lanes in my body. As soon as the door was almost closed behind me, Griffin caught one of my hands and reeled me close, smoothly sliding his other arm around my waist and over the curve of my bottom. When I felt the swell of his cock against my belly, my sex clenched.
“Sorry about the interruption,” I said breathlessly.
“Sweetness,” he murmured along the side of my neck as he teased me with lazy kisses that sent shivers all up and down my body. “You don’t need to apologize.” He lifted his head, his gaze serious. “Although if you’re not in the mood…”
