Page 70 of The One You Want

I shifted, embarrassed all over again. “It did make me uncomfortable,” I admitted. Just not entirely for the reasons he thought. “But really, I’m over it. I just realized I had different interests I wanted to focus on. I’ve been selling my jewelry over at the Artisan Markets on the mainland, and that takes up a lot oftime.”

His eyes lit up. “Really? That’s wonderful. When’s the next one? I’ll have to stop by and see yourstuff.”

I shifted on my feet. There was a time when Cal Miller telling me he was going to come visit my booth at the market would have sent me into a tailspin of giddy excitement and nerves. Now? I found that I couldn’t careless.

I offered him a perfectly polite smile. “That would be nice. We just moved to the fall schedule—every other Saturday through the middle of November. You should stop by.”Or don’t,I thought to myself. It really made no difference tome.

Luckily, we had reached the front of the line and he turned to order his donuts, cutting off the conversation and leaving me free to wonder over the massive shift in my thinking in just a few shortweeks.

For so long I had considered Cal Miller to be the epitome of the perfect man. He was handsome and charming and confident. He loved animals and was kind to his neighbors. He seemed like the totalpackage.

But I hadn’t reallyknownhim. I hadn’t known what he was truly passionate about, hadn’t known what his favorite holiday or season was. Had never heard him wax poetic about soup or talk to an inanimate object. I bit back a laugh, thinking aboutGrant.

And just like that, it finally snapped into place, that serious, unreadable thing I had seen in his eyes a moment ago when he reminded me that being seen by my grandparents was thepoint.

It had been aquestion. He was asking me to tell him that he was wrong. Because this was starting to feel real for him,too.

I looked back across the lawn, my eyes immediately finding Grant’s. He was watching me from the caramel apple line, his eyes intense even from this distance, and just like that, the cord that had been tightening between us ever since we wrestled for that notebooksnapped.

I didn’t even think to say goodbye to Dr. Miller as I left my place in line. The only thing on my mind was getting to Grant. And, apparently, he felt the same way, because he abandoned his quest for dessert to meet me in themiddle.

I had no idea what I was going to say to him. Part of me thought I’d just throw my arms around him and see how he reacted. Part of me prayed that he would pull me into an immediatekiss.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, I opened my mouth and blurted out, “Come back to my condo with metonight.”

He stared at me with those dark eyes and now I could clearly see the desire flashing in them. He didn’t say a word, merely grabbed my hand and pulled me off down the path, hurrying towards my building on theshore.

We stumbled into my apartment, the sound of our breathless laughter echoing around the dark entryway. We had basically sprinted all the way here and that, apparently, struck us both as so hilarious that we couldn’t stopgiggling.

“I can’t remember ever feeling like this,” I said, leaning against him. And it was true—when in my life had I ever felt so silly and free and excited and settled all at the same time? I was about to describe it to him, the odd and wonderful mix of emotions swirling through me, but he didn’t give me the chance. His lips were crashing down on mine, covering my mouth, and it was all I could do to stayupright.

“You’re so beautiful when you’re happy,” he murmured against my lips. “So fucking beautiful,Jenny.”

“I thought you didn’t swear like that around women,” I pointed out, laughing again, and I saw his eyes flash in thedarkness.

“Maybethiswoman makes me lose control,” he whispered, his voice so low and velvety that goose bumps broke out over myskin.

“Grant,” I whispered, unsure of what, exactly, I wanted him to do. But he seemed to know my mind better than I did, because he leaned down again and pressed his lips to mine, this time moving me so my back was against the wall and pressing himself againstme.

He felt so damn good, all warm and tall and broad. I pressed my hand to the taut skin of his neck just below his beard, feeling the rapid flutter of his pulse below my fingertips. The idea that he was just as affected by this as I was sent a fresh surge of desire through me—and a confidence I couldn’t ever remember feelingbefore.

A confidence so strong that I didn’t think twice about pushing him back so I could slip out from under his arm. I felt no stab of fear when I took his hand and led him through the dark of my condo towards the bedroom. And there wasn’t a single shred of doubt when I dropped my hands to the hem of my dress and pulled it up and off over myhead.

He stood there in front of me, the only light in the room the lamplight from outside filtering through the window, and stared at me like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with me. Like he wasn’t sure how he had gotten lucky enough to be the person in this room withme.

That only made me want him more. And it made me feel even braver than I’d felt a few moments ago. More brave, maybe, than I had felt in all my life. Brave enough that I held my hand out towards him and pulled him close. Brave enough to sink down onto the bed withhim.

Brave enough to stay there, exploring him, loving him, for the rest of thenight.