Page 301 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

Kain laughed, revealing perfect white teeth. “I’m not that strict about my diet. I burn all the calories off quickly. I’m not training for any bodybuilding show. Staying fit keeps me healthy. Plus it keeps the ‘upstairs’ sane, you know?” He tapped his head.

“When you deprive yourself of certain things, you crave them. Balance is good.” Grandpa’s eyes gleamed. “You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. How old are you?”

Oh, goodness. I arched an eyebrow at him, and he gave me an innocent smile.

Why did I get the sense that Grandpa was trying to tell me something? Or hinting something to Kain?

I wasn’t preventing myself from anything. Just because I wasn’t dating didn’t mean I was neglecting my personal life. Or was I overthinking it? This was my grandfather—a man who loved the simple life was maneuvering something behind the scenes. I could feel it. I’d inquire about it later when I had him alone.

“I’m forty-six and have learned how to navigate this crazy world we live in.”

Wow. He was twenty years older than me. Twenty years! I’d never been attracted to anyone that much older. My father was only fifty-eight years old.

“Why aren’t you married?” Grandpa blurted out.

“Grandpa!” Heat bloomed on my face. His straightforwardness was often too much. What if there was a personal reason Kain didn’t want to share? I would hate it if someone put me on the spot like that.

Kain shrugged and flicked a gaze my way. “Just waiting for the right girl.” Then he switched his attention back to Grandpa. “How did you meet the love of your life?”

Grandpa smiled and told him the story of his high school sweetheart. I loved how Kain knew exactly how to steer the attention away from him.

Lunch lasted for three hours. When Kain prepared to leave, it surprised me I wanted him to stay longer.

He rubbed his flat stomach. “That meal was delicious.”

How could someone eat two massive servings and a cupcake and not have even a little belly? I wanted to examine his abdomen. Did he have some kind of internal machine that broke down food and made it disappear?

I didn’t have any defined abs, and mine revealed a bump when I ate two servings of anything. Where did all the food in him go?

I imagined him working out at the gym, where beads of sweat trickled down his chest, stomach, legs, and…

Oh my God, I definitely have a Kain issue.

I looked up, and he was staring down at me. My heart skipped and twirled. Something stirred in me, urging me to be closer to him.

Grandpa was busy putting the leftover food into containers, leaving Kain and me alone in the hallway. My head reached his chin. He was well over six feet tall. His finger smudged the corner of my mouth. “You have a cute little smear of food.”

Heat inflamed my cheeks. How embarrassing was that?

I had no words, especially when he licked the smear from his finger. The heat from my cheeks was nothing compared to the flame in my core. Holy shit.

“I’d like to take you to dinner tonight or tomorrow night? Are you available?” His eyes intensified on me.

He was asking me out again after I had rejected him before. Confidence in a man was attractive, and my resistance wavered.

Something clanked loudly in the kitchen, and we both turned in that direction. I was about to holler to see if Grandpa needed help when he exclaimed, “Just dropped a lid. Sorry, senior moment.”

I clamped a hand over my mouth, preventing a chuckle.

“I can’t resist him.” Kain grinned. “He cracks me up.”

“He’s good with people. No one can resist him,” I said, still tossing his question around in my head.

“I can’t resist you either.” The amusement in his eyes turned into desire.

“I turned you down before. Why do you want to ask me again?”

He tucked his hands into his jean pockets. “I’m going to keep asking until you say yes. You caught my eye months ago, and I haven’t stopped thinking about you. Even after you said no, I’ve been trying to ask you again. So when this ‘lunch’ opportunity came up, I thought fate was on my side.”

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