Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 81(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
Why was I so nervous last night? Why didn’t I just let him take me? Why didn’t I just go all the way?
“Come on, let’s go for a dip,” Grant says, lifting me easily into the air.
“A dip!? Grant, wait! No! The water is freezing!”
I scramble in his arms, trying to get away, but it’s hopeless. Grant just laughs as he marches down the sand toward the waves sluffing against the shore.
“No!” I cry out, laughing in protest as he walks straight into the waves and topples over like a falling building. The chill goes straight through me. He releases me, and I kick off the sand and surface, sputtering and gawking at him. “Why would you do that!? It’s freezing!”
Grant laughs, snatches me up in his arms, and kisses me. “It’s good for you! Gets the blood moving. Besides, I had to do something about that insane hard-on you were giving me back there, and cold water was all I could think of.”
He smirks at me, and I notice countless other couples, laughing and smiling as he carries me back up the beach. I can’t help but smile too as he sets me down on our beach towel. The honesty with which he speaks with me, the way he treats me like he owns me and can do what he wants, but still respects me and makes me feel like I have some kind of power over him that I don’t even understand…it’s beautiful.
* * *
A few hours later, we’re in his car on our way to a restaurant. I’m wearing a brand-new black dress and a pair of black heels Grant bought me that both fit perfectly and probably cost more than everything in my bedroom back home combined. If it wasn’t for Grant at my side with his hand on my knee, I’d feel completely out of place as we pull up in front of the building, which has a man in a tie obviously providing valet service.
“Hey,” Grant says, looking right at me. “Relax. It’s just a restaurant.”
“Yeah, where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have probably gotten caviar,” I reply.
“Don’t be silly.” He smiles. “They order the truffle risotto, but they haven’t been here in years. Now come on. Enjoy your meal with me, please? I want to spoil you tonight, is that so wrong?”
“Of course not.” I smile. “You’re too sweet. I just—”
“If at any point you feel uncomfortable, we’ll go back to my house and order pizza or Chinese. Whatever you pick. Deal?”
I leap at the opportunity. “Deal!”
Grant chuckles as we shake on it, then gets out his side of the car and hands his keys to the valet. He then opens the door for me, takes my hand, and leads me up the walk to the restaurant.
How do I explain to this high-powered attorney that I have serious social anxiety when it comes to putting myself into situations like this? Situations where I’m out of my normal social circles and am forced to mingle with people I would never normally mingle with? I wasn’t even sure I would be able to go out with Reed the first time we did, but thankfully, his crew turned out to be just your average college jock frat-boy, so it wasn’t an issue. But this? This is different. I can already tell this place is going to be completely packed with lawyers, CEOs, tech moguls, and possibly the occasional celebrity.
But as Grant holds the door open for me and I step into the restaurant, I quickly realize that none of this is going to be an issue. The entire place is empty. Every table is bare aside from one with a reserved sign on it. I turn to Grant.
“You didn’t.”
He wraps an arm around me and pulls me close. “I sure did. It’s just you and me, gorgeous. Tonight, the place belongs to us.”
I look at Grant, and I no longer see Reed’s “father”; I see a man who I’m very quickly falling in love with. I see a man who I desperately wish I’d met before Reed, a man who is clearly superior in every single way.
There’s a warmth in the center of my chest that’s been there since we met and has continued to steadily grow with every second we’ve spent together. It’s still growing now, threatening to overwhelm me, and when it does, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
Grant Whitney. What an incredible man.
All I can do is shake my head in wonderous disbelief, then take his hand as the host greets us and leads us to our table.
I’m in a daze as we’re waited upon. I barely can understand the menu it’s so fancy and have to follow Grant and our waiter’s recommendations on what to order. We get glazed prawns with walnuts, which is so insanely good I almost explode. Then we share steak and lobster and finish off with a mixed berry tart for dessert. By the time the menu comes, I’m so giddy with happiness that I can barely speak. I’m basically just staring across the table at Grant with a huge, silly smile on my face.