Page 44 of You First
“That sounds good.” She was farther away from him now than when she’d sat beside him on his couch, but the energy between them had completely changed. Was it all in his head? Or did she feel it, too? Gray had no doubt he carried enough desire to charge the air for both of them, so it was possible he was fooling himself.
But what if he wasn’t?
“Want to try it?” She offered him her cup, making his heartbeat quicken. “I swear, I don’t have cooties.”
He took it from her. “I never would have thought you had cooties.” And he won the smile.
Feeling a little dizzy, he put her straw between his lips and sucked. Honeyed tropical flavors flooded his mouth.
This is what she’d taste like if I kissed her now.The thought grabbed him by the balls.
“Mmm,” he moaned, unable to help himself.
“So good, right?” she asked, grinning. “I would have gotten you one, but not everyone likes white chocolate. I figured yours was the safer bet.”
“Have you tried mine?” he asked, trying to recover.
“No, but it’s oka—”
“Would you like to?” He held his smoothie out to her, praying she’d take it from him, wanting whatever way he could to reach out to her. He was playing with fire, torturing himself, but he was already burning, so it didn’t matter.
She glanced at his cup and then to him. “You sure?”
He would have spoon-fed it to her if she would’ve let him. “Yes. Take it.”
She took it, and while she drank, Gray drew in a slow breath through his nose and reminded himself that he wanted to be a gentleman. Meredith deserved a gentleman. She deserved respect and care. He did respect her, and he did care for her. But he still loved watching her enjoy his drink.
“Wow. That’s good too,” she said, wiping her lips with her knuckle.
“C’mon. You’ve earned a break. Let’s go finish these in the living room,” he said, leading the way. He half expected her to protest and find some other chore that needed doing, but she followed him instead.
His couch was a disheveled mess from his agony-nap. Gray set down his smoothie to straighten it, but Meredith beat him to it.
“Here, let me get that,” she said, snatching up the blanket and folding it.
Gray rushed to right the cushions before she could do that, too. “Sit down, for heaven’s sake,” he muttered.
She giggled, but once she’d folded the blanket into a neat square and set it in the middle of the couch, she did sit.
Gray took the far end, leaving a whole cushion and the folded blanket between them — a safe distance.
“Did the dogs behave?” he asked, picking up his smoothie again. He could make small talk. He could be casual. At least, he could pretend.
She took a long pull from her smoothie and sat back, finally relaxing. “They were very good. Right up until the moment they lunged into the kitchen, and I lost my grip,” she said, holding up her now half-empty cup.
“I’m still willing to share,” he vowed, winning himself another wide smile.
“No, you’ve earned it. Whenever I’m having a bad day, my best friend Brooke brings me something from CC’s,” she said, meeting his eyes. “It always cheers me up.”
Gray raised his smoothie. “So this is to cheer me up?”
Meredith shrugged, her shy smile like a touch across his chest. “I hope so.”
It had definitely cheered him up, but he felt even lighter now. “Does that mean we’re friends?” he dared to ask.
This time, her smile grew. “I hope so,” she said again.
It wasn’t everything, but it also was. Because it was everything he could have under the circumstances. And if they were friends, hecouldcome down from his study every time she visited and pull her into the living room for coffee. And he could get to know more about her. And, perhaps, under the right circumstances, he could reach for her hand.
