Page 15 of Getting the Grinder
“What? You got a bottle of my favorite wine?”
She just noticed me pull the bottle of red wine from one of the bags I’m unpacking. I make a show of pulling a second bottle from the bag, too.
“Whoa! Are you calling me an alcoholic? Also, where’s the corkscrew?”
I look around the kitchen, realizing something important is missing. “Shit, where’s Darling?”
I sprint into the living room, where I find him lying on the couch, Noodle curled up against his belly. They’re both asleep.
“I need to get a picture of that for Suki,” Mara says from behind me.
Birdie pads into the room from the kitchen, sitting down so she’s brushing up against the side of my shoe and ankle. She likes to always have some part of her body in contact with mine.
Mara takes a photo, then gives me a devilish grin. “We should prank Carter and Suki.”
“I’m down, what do you have in mind?”
“Let’s send them a pic of the two of us and tell them we’ve decided we like each other.”
I bust out laughing. “They’ll never buy it.”
“Maybe not, but we should at least be able to get them to wonder.”
“Carter will shit his swim trunks.”
She turns and rushes into the kitchen. “The wine will help!”
I furrow my brow. “It’ll help you, but what about me?”
When I walk back into the kitchen, Birdie on my heels, Mara is using a corkscrew to open the wine. I scoff.
“Thought you didn’t know where it was.”
“Foolish mortal. I always know. And I have an emergency corkscrew in the island just in case Suki moves this one on me.”
“Bullshit.”
Arching a brow, she sets it down, opens one of the drawers in the island, and pulls out another corkscrew.
I nod, impressed. “Your commitment to intoxication is impressive.”
“God, you’re annoying.” She glares at me. “I’m not the lush you make me out to be.”
“Sometimes you are. But I’m not judging. I’ve made an asshole out of myself while drunk before, too. Like one time I walked into a bathroom while a pretty woman was showering and now she hates me.”
A smile dances on her lips as she says, “Get over here and make it look like you like me.”
She holds up her phone, opening the camera and angling it for a selfie.
“We should kiss,” I say. “That would convince them.”
She clears her throat. “Just put your arm around me. I’ll lean in.”
I’m a lot bigger than her, so when she leans in toward my chest, my arm wraps all the way around to her stomach. I hold her close, not missing her intake of breath.
She’s soft and warm, and I think she hates me less than she did yesterday. Her closeness makes me aware of my pounding heart. I’ve always found her very attractive, but I really do find her sharpness to be a turnoff.
Tell that to my dick, though. It goes from stiff to fully hard as she moves her long, dark hair in front of one of her shoulders, exposing her neck to me.
