Page 29 of Undoing the Grumpy Guy

I grow daring and my hand darts down to the front of his pants. Finding the outline of his dick, I rub and stroke my fingers along it. I’m surprised to find him soft, because just his nearness is turning me on, but I continue to caress him.

With a growl, Reed’s hand seizes mine and yanks it away from his crotch.

“What’s wrong?”

Hard blue eyes glare down at me as he releases my hand. “Knock that off! They have cameras all around.”

I look around the parking lot, not seeing anything that remotely looks like a camera. I’m not doubting him. Most places have cameras, but I’m not sure they would even be able to catch what I was doing.

“Sorry.”

“You can’t do those types of things in public,” he snaps, running an agitated hand through his hair and glaring at me like feeling up the man I’m dating is a heinous offense. “We’re not teenagers, so act like an adult!”

I recoil, feeling like I’ve been struck. What in the world has gotten into Reed?!

“And you weren’t the man kissing me like crazy in the hallway at my apartment?” I retort, feeling more hurt than angry.

The harsh lines on his face soften and he tries to draw me near, but I shrug off his hands. “Look, I’m sorry if I snapped. I’ll be over to get you for dinner at five.”

Pinching my lips, I take a step away from him. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Winnie, don’t be like that.”

“Like what? You accuse me of acting like a teenager, so here I am acting like a moody teenager.” I dig in the pocket of my dress for my keys and stomp around my car to the driver’s side.

Reed hurries after me, slamming his hand on the door.

I glare at his hand, refusing to look at him.

With a huff, he takes his hand off the door. “I’m sorry, please don’t leave like this,” he pleads.

Tightening my lips, I grit out, “Move it, Reed.”

I continue to stare at my car until he takes a few stumbling steps back and then I open up my door and slam it shut after I slide inside. My engine starts up with a quiet rumble and briefly I meet his troubled eyes before I hit reverse, throw it in drive, and tear out of there.

My thoughts are a jumble as I drive, and I can’t help wondering what it is that I did so wrong. I don’t like being snapped at like that. But I’m also not proud of the way I left either. Once I have some time to cool down and can think clearly, I’ll have to call him.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

REED

Standing there, watching Winnie drive away, shame fills me. My image has always been that of a professional, a man who is calm and collected, impassive and, at times unemotional. I’m not one to lash out, and yet with Winnie, I did just that. I lost my cool and allowed my emotions to reign supreme.

While it’s true I can’t be caught in a compromising position like getting a hand job in the parking lot of my grandmother, a former district attorney’s, nursing home, I could have handled things with a lot more decorum. There was no need to fly off the handle like I did, other than embarrassment over my condition, and that’s still not a reason for what I did.

I’d been more concerned over her reaction to my flaccid dick and what she would infer if I failed to get hard, than I was over the careless words that left my mouth.

I’m not careless. In my profession, I can’t afford to be.

Yet I was.

Shit!

Scrubbing at my face, I weigh my options. Clearly, I need to speak with her and apologize profusely.

The hurt in her clear eyes as she drove away was enough to bring me to my knees.

I need to make this right and beg her for another chance. I can’t lose her now that I’ve found her. If I do, I’ll never be truly whole, as she carries my heart in her small and capable hands.

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