Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
We went out to the front of the boat, and Grant set up a tray of all different finger foods he’d bought at the Italian market. It was enough food for three meals.
“Do you always buy enough for ten people? I’m sensing a pattern here between lunch the other day and all of this.”
“The pattern is wanting to make sure you’re taken care of, not being wasteful.”
I smiled. “Are you always this accommodating to your dates?”
“Considering you’re the first woman sitting on my boat for a sunset, I’d have to say no.”
I tilted my head. “What’s your story? You said the other day you haven’t had a relationship in seven years. Is it because you work a lot?”
Grant seemed to consider his words. “Partly. I do work a lot. Contrary to your initial opinion of me—where you assumed I was a spoiled silver spoon who didn’t work—I put in a ten- to twelve-hour day at the office most weekdays and a half day on Saturday.”
“I’m never going to live that email down, am I?”
He shook his head. “Not likely.”
I sighed. “Okay, Mr. Workaholic. So let’s back up. I asked if you hadn’t had a relationship in seven years because you’re busy, and your answer was partly. What’s the other part? For some reason, I feel like you’re leaving out an important piece of the story.”
Grant’s eyes settled on mine for a few heartbeats, but then he looked away to pick up his wine. “I was married. Been divorced for seven years.”
“You must’ve been married young. Or are you older than you look?”
He nodded.
A few minutes ago, he’d seemed relaxed, but his composure totally changed now. His jaw tightened, he avoided eye contact, and his movements were rigid, as if all the muscles in his body had contracted at once.
“I’m twenty-nine. Got married at twenty-one.”
Even though he looked completely uncomfortable discussing the subject, I pushed a bit more. “So you were only married for a year, then?”
He gulped back his wine. “Almost, yes. A few months less.”
“Were you high school sweethearts or something?”
“Sort of. Lily was one of my parents’ foster kids for a while. Actually, she came and went a lot over the years.”
Though he was answering my questions, he wasn’t really offering too much information. I sipped my wine. “Can I ask what happened? Did you grow apart or something?”
Grant was quiet for a moment and then looked me in the eyes. “No, she ruined my life.”
Okay then. He spoke so sternly that it caught me off guard. I had no idea how to respond. Though Grant took care of that for me.
“Why don’t we talk about you? I’m trying to work my way up from drinks to a full-blown date. Dragging out shit about my ex-wife isn’t the way to make that happen.”
“What would you like to know?”
“I don’t know. The game we played in the car on the way home from the fundraiser worked well. Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
The mood had definitely dampened, and Grant was right. We didn’t need to drag all of our skeletons out of the closet the first evening we spent time together. So I said something I thought might tilt the mood back to playful.
“I love accents. Growing up, every time I heard a new one, I’d study it until I nailed it down. Actually, I still do it from time to time.”
Grant looked amused. “Let’s hear Australian.”
I sat up and cleared my throat. “Okay. Let me think.” I tapped my finger to my lip. “This is turn on the air conditioner. It’s hot in here. Chuck awn da egg ignisna. Iz hawt innere.”
Grant laughed. “That’s actually pretty good. How about British?”
“Okay. Here is I don’t often use my cell phone.” I cleared my throat again. “I don’t OF-unh use me MOH-bye-ul.
He chuckled. “Nice.”
“Your turn. Tell me something about you I don’t know.”
He looked at my lips. “I want to devour your mouth.”
I swallowed. “I sort of knew that already.”
Grant kept staring at my lips, and I squirmed. Yet he still didn’t lean in and go for a damn kiss. The way he looked at me, I was about two seconds away from taking it upon myself to make the first move. But then he looked over my shoulder.
“When did that happen?”
I blinked a few times. “What?”
He lifted his chin to point behind me. “That.”
I turned. The sky was the most amazing shade of orange mixed with deep purple hues. “Oh my God. That’s incredible.”
I stood to take in the full view, and Grant stood behind me. We were both silent as we watched the sky light up with color around the setting sun. He snaked a hand around my waist and rested his head on top of mine.
“I know you said you don’t bring dates here, but do you do this often? Appreciate the view, I mean.”