Page 44 of Mismatched Mates

“That dolphins sometimes play with puffer fish because even though they’re poisonous to us, they release chemicals that make the dolphins feel good.”

My glance at Grant became a glare. “Is that right?”

He held his hands up, palms out defensively. “I was scraping the barrel.”

“He also said he could beat us in a race,” Brandon said. “But I don’t believe him because coach said we were two of the fastest boys he’d ever seen.”

I tipped my head back and laughed.

“I’ll prove you wrong,” Grant said to them, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into him. “Butlater. I think the happy couple going to have their first dance.”

“Gross,” I heard Brandon whisper in Lance’s ear. Then he looked up at Grant. “Are you Mom’s boyfriend?”

Grant’s arm tightened around me, and I could feel the way I stiffened. Kids were never supposed to be a part of this, although I’d obviously overlooked that detail in my vain attempt to save face.

“Sure am,” Grant said lightly, and something warm spread through my chest. “Is that okay?”

Lance shrugged. “I guess so.”

I leaned closer to Grant, lowering my voice. “From Lance, that is the biggest seal of approval he could give.”

“Indifference?”

“If you don’t recognize that as nine-year-old enthusiasm I don’t think this is going to work out,” I whispered back. He raised one eyebrow and smiled.

“I’ll get to learning.”

At the head of the barn, the music started up—Can’t Stop Falling in Loveplayed through the speakers—and Luke took to the stage with Victoria. I grabbed Grant’s hand and took hold of the boys, tugging them through the crowd so we were right at the front.

I glanced over at Luke and Victoria, who were lost in each other's eyes as they swayed to the music. "They do look perfect together, don't they?"

Grant nodded, his gaze never leaving my face. "They do. But I find my attention drawn elsewhere."

My pulse quickened at his words. I tried to maintain my composure, falling back on our familiar banter. "Careful there, Elston. People might think you're actually enjoying my company."

He leaned in slightly, his scent enveloping me. "And they would be absolutely right."

His arm tightened around me a little, pulling me into his body, and every nerve ending in my body fired. This was absolutely the wrong sort of place for lust, but apparently my bear had different ideas.

She’d always been different with Grant. More immediate, more intense, and somehow more emotionally charged.

We needed to talk about what would happen after this, but I couldn’t bear to break the moment Victoria and Luke had crafted. They twirled, her skirt dancing around her legs, and he looked down at her with such an expression of naked adoration that I felt tears building.

But this time, with Grant’s arms around me, his hard body against my back, and my two boys leaning inside my side, I didn’t have that hollow feeling from before. The sense that my happiness was somehow compromised by something I lacked.

Right then, I didn’t lack a thing.

“Us next?” Grant said, his breath hot against my ear.

“Huh?”

“Up there. Dancing.”

“I’m not very good at dancing.”

He leaned back and winked at me. “Don’t worry. I am.”

The boys lost interest, wandering off to where the caterers were beginning to set up the food, and when the music struck up again and Victoria beckoned for us to join her on the dance floor, I didn’t sit back down. The old me probably would have, unwilling to leave my comfort zone. But this was the new me, and it didn’t feel as though I was breaking free of my comfort zone as Grant slid his arms around me.

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