Page 13 of Undoing the Grumpy Guy

“Yes, I would like children.” His smile turns slightly bitter. “If a relationship ever gets to that point.”

Questions tumble about in my head. Like why isn’t he married, and are his pecs as firm as they look, stretching the front of his shirt out?

Thankfully I’m saved from blurting anything else out as the small orange cat at Reed’s feet chooses that moment to spring up on the table and send the plate of cookies scattering and dumping the rest of my no longer so hot chocolate in my lap.

Reed is on his feet in an instant, pressing napkins into my hands and trying to stem the flow of brown liquid before it completely rolls off the table onto my pants.

“I’m fine. It wasn’t hot, just messy.” Using the napkins, I try to sop up the worst of the mess. “Good thing my pants are already brown.”

Taking the sodden napkins from me, Reed finishes cleaning up the table and plops the whole mess onto the plate.

“Just leave it,” the cashier calls out, coming forward with a roll of paper towels and a bottle of spray cleaner.

Peeling a few bills out of his black wallet, Reed tosses them on his side of the table that remained unscathed and ushers me out.

My pants are sticking wetly to my thighs and butt, each step making me cringe, but I’m more painfully aware of the nice, spotless, tan seats in Reed’s big Mercedes SUV.

“Your seats,” I say, gesturing to my pants and his vehicle.

“Hold on.” He goes around to the back and produces a green towel that he drapes over the seat. Once I’m safely inside, he closes the door and goes around to his side.

“Sorry,” I mumble while pinching the corduroy and trying to lift the tacky wet fabric off my legs.

“Whatever are you sorry for?”

Turning, I find his gaze on me along with a soft look I haven’t seen him have before. “For ruining our afternoon.”

Snorting, Reed shakes his head. “You didn’t ruin anything, so there’s nothing to be sorry for. We’ll go back to your apartment so you can clean up and change and if you still want, we can go somewhere else.” His lips quirk up in a charming and boyish grin. “Somewhere without cats, since you’re not the cat momma I thought you were.”

My laughter joins his husky chuckles, and it feels good. I was so nervous around Reed on our first date, and honestly I worried I would always be slightly off or on edge around him. But I’m not.

This feels normal and I like that.

When we get back to my apartment, a flutter of nervousness hits me in the elevator, but for a far different reason. Earlier, I wished I could be bold and that I would have taken that kiss further.

Now’s my chance and I’m going to go for it.

CHAPTER SEVEN

REED

At Winnie’s apartment, she invites me into the living room while she goes to change.

Glancing around the room, this is pure Winnie. Everything is soft and inviting, full of various textures and colors, all of it putting me at ease and making me want to close my eyes as I sink into the faux-leather couch with its multitude of throw pillows and crocheted blankets.

To combat that, I pull out my phone and start playing Timber Masters, one of the popular app games that has sucked me and millions of others in. I’m one hundred points from leveling up and frustrated that I can’t land on the necessary spot. I scroll over to the buy option and do a one tap purchase.

“That’s cheating!” Winnie exclaims from behind me.

Fumbling my phone, I quickly exit out of the app.

“Reed, did you just buy those tokens?”

Whipping around, I start to defend myself when I take in what she’s wearing, or rather what she’s not. Gone is the corduroy pants and tank top, instead a shimmery pink pair of silk shorts sits low on her hips, exposing the long bare length of her legs while a flimsy camisole top covers her chest but does nothing to disguise the hard points of her nipples that draw my gaze.

Shifting on the couch, I can’t take my eyes off of her. The crotch of my pants doesn’t have enough give to accommodate my swelling erection, but the discomfort helps keep me from dragging her down.

“Winnie.” My voice comes out as a husky croak that barely sounds human. Swallowing hard, I attempt to keep my gaze on her face and the long tumble of blonde hair now free from its earlier topknot and swirling around her, yet my damn eyes keep returning to her nipples.

---