I’ve never felt so wanted before. So genuinely wanted before in my life. My parents always treated me like I was a daughter they’d accidentally had and just felt like it was their duty to raise. The few boys who were sort of interested in me throughout my life were always interested in me because their friends were interested in my friends, and as it turns out, my only “real” boyfriend, Reed, was only interested in taking my virginity so he could add me to his list of conquests.
But Grant…Grant makes me feel like the center of the universe. When he looks at me, it’s like he could care less about what’s going on around us; I’m the only thing that matters. When I speak, he’s not distracted; he’s only listening to me. And when he touches me, it’s like we’re bound by some invisible universal connection that was always there just waiting to be discovered.
I can’t explain it, but as silly as it sounds, I’m almost sure that as I stare at him from across the sunny sands of the beach where he and I lie, that I’m falling in love.
“You’re sure you don’t have to go to the office today?” I ask Grant, marveling at his Adonis physique, shining like a god beside me. “I don’t want to be the reason your firm loses a big case or whatever.”
“You won’t be,” he chuckles. “We’re working on a big lawsuit against Fall Banks Construction right now. They’re being accused of using hazardous materials on their sites and not disclosing the information to their residents.”
“Oh, God…”
“Yeah, it could be a huge payout for us and the residents,” he says. “But right now, most of the firm is tied up with a lot of research work. I won’t be needed until tomorrow, which means I have all day to spend with you.”
He takes my wrist in his hand and pulls me on top of him. My inner thighs are hot as he grabs my butt and squeezes and whispers in my ear, “I wish this was a nude beach.”
“You’re naughty,” I whisper back.
“But then again, that would mean all these other guys would get a look at you, so I take that back. Only I get to see that perfect body of yours.”
“Stop,” I giggle. “You’re too…too…”
“Too what?”
“You can’t mean that.”
“Mean what?” Grant asks.
“I’m not…perfect. I haven’t even had a boyfriend until Reed, and we all know why Reed wanted me—”
“Stop,” Grant says. “You are only eighteen years old, gorgeous. I’m thirty-nine. I’ve seen a lot of women in my life—”
“I bet you have…”
“And I know perfection when I see it,” he says, running his hands up my body. “And you. You are absolute perfection. Whatever boys saw you and chose not to make you their girl made the biggest mistakes of their lives, but I thank them for it. Because it meant that I got to have you.”
I groan. Yeah, I’m melting inside. Melting and experiencing more hormonal reactions than I ever thought possible. Do I want to have this man’s babies? Yeah, I kind of do. My tummy is doing somersaults and cartwheels as he pulls me in closer for a kiss, and when our tongues meet, I feel a rush of moisture between my thighs.
“Stop,” I say with the happiest sigh of contentment in the world. “I just can’t handle all of this.”
“All of what?”
“All of you,” I laugh.
“That’s funny,” he replies, tracing the lines of my body with his fingers. “Because that’s just what I was going to say about you.”
His hunger for me has me burning. I’ve never felt so special before. I can hardly contain myself. I’m smiling and trying not to turn into a mess of little girly giggles as I curl up into a little ball on top of him. We are on a public beach, I know that, but there’s so many things I want him to do to me right now.
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.
“I’m full,” I say.
“Enjoy your meal?”
“Yes.” I nod, feeling giddy. Grant pulls his chair closer and runs a hand up my dress under the table.
“You don’t know how badly I want to take you home tonight, but…”
“But you’re a big-time attorney and you have work in the morning,” I reply. “I know. You know, I’m a big-time barista, and I also have work in the morning.”
“Oh, is that right?” Grant chuckles. “I’ll have to come down there one day during one of your shifts and fill up the tip jar.”
His fingers move up past my knee, causing my tummy to do a somersault. I close my legs and frown. “No more of that, mister. You’re going to get me all hot and bothered and I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“Sorry,” he laughs, pulling his hand back and setting it on the table. “I just can’t help myself around you. How about I see you tomorrow after work?”
I take a deep breath and lean forward over the table.
“I think that sounds wonderful. If you have time, of course. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your big case.”
Grant runs his fingers through my hair, causing me to close my eyes and practically purr with happiness.
“Tomorrow it is then, gorgeous.”
I nod, overwhelmed with delight. “Tomorrow.”
