Page 1 of Since I First Laid Eyes On You
Prologue
Grayson
I hear my son enter the house from my place in the kitchen where I'm preparing dinner.
"Dad? You home?" He calls.
"In the kitchen," I answer. "I'm cooking tacos."
"Great," he responds as he enters the kitchen, dropping his bag by the stool he occupies. I look at him, he knows how much I hate that, there is a cupboard by the front door for shoes and bags, yet every time he enters the house, he brings his bag downstairs and leaves it in the kitchen. "I'll take it up in a minute. Christ, Dad, it's hardly the worst thing in the world. I've just graduated from uni; maybe lighten up a bit."
He's right, he has just graduated and I'm incredibly proud of him. Watching him from the crowd was one of the best moments of mylife. He spent a couple more days in Oxford after his graduation from Oxford Brookes, he wanted to unwind with friends and pack up the rest of his apartment.
"How do you feel now you're done?"
"Good, a lot of my friends are stressed about finding jobs. At least I haven't got that to worry about. Working with you is going to make my life a lot easier." I freeze at his words.Not this again.How many times do we have to go over this? His degree is not in finance, or anything related to it, and he cannot just walk into my company - one of the top hedge funds - and think he's going to coast along.
"Edward, we've spoken about this. You need to find yourself a job, a job in something you're passionate about. You're not workingforme."
"What? I thought you were joking. Why have I got to find a job when I can just come and work for you?" His voice rises with his irritation. That attitude is exactly why he won't be working for my company.
"Look, you've got the summer to enjoy yourself and have a think about what it is you want to do. Get your C.V ready and I'll help you when it comes to applying for places. But we both know you wouldn't be happy working for me." I reason with him.
"Fucking ridiculous," he mutters under his breath, taking his phone out and fiddling with something on his screen. I let his attitude slide this time; not willing to engage in a battle with him this evening, it's his first night back.
"You seeing anyone?" I ask. He's not had a steady girlfriend whilst at university, but I know he's dated on and off.
"Yeah, I am actually. Met her my last week, she's just graduated as well. She's hot as fuck, Dad." He smirks and I raise my eyebrows at him, silently reminding him to show more respect. "What? She is," he shrugs, "take a look for yourself." He clicks something on his phoneand turns his screen towards me. I step closer to him and take in the picture; Edward has his arm thrown around a girl. She's dressed in a cap and gown, obviously at her own graduation and they're both grinning at the camera. Everything around me fades, my sole focus is on the absolute beauty in the picture.Fucking hell.I've never seen anyone more stunning in my life. She looks so young, fresh, innocent; she's exquisite.Mine.The unbidden thought enters my mind, taking over every part of my body.Get a grip, Gray, this is your son's girl.It doesn't matter though, everything is screaming inside me that she belongs to me, that this girl is mine, not my sons, not anyone's. Mine.
Chapter 1
Grayson
Fuck me.
No way. I’ve got to be seeing things. It cannot be her. Of all the people, she cannot be sitting next to me on this tin can for the next hour and forty-five minutes. No fucking way.
Her large, chocolate brown eyes look up and connect with mine.Well, shit.I’m screwed, well and truly screwed. My son’s, my only child’s, girlfriend stares back at me. The girl I’ve been pining after since I first saw a picture of her six months ago. The girl I’m jealous of my son for, and the girl who has no clue who I am. Paige. Fucking. Andrews.
With our eyes still locked together I walk to my row, the emergency exit row. At well over six feet tall, it’s the only way this flight won’t cripple me, although the girl seated next to me may do that all on herown. Her cheeks are flushed a light pink and her tongue pokes out to lick at her bottom lip, a lip I want to lick, suck, fucking bite. It must have been a minute since we made eye contact, but we’re still staring at each other. I know why I’m staring at her, but I can’t work out why she would be staring at me. Have I got something on my face? I subtly lift my hand and run it over my stubble, checking for anything that may be there and come up empty, my movement, however, causes her to look away, her cheeks staining a darker pink. I stow my bag in the overhead compartment and take my seat in the middle, next to her place by the window.
I wasn’t imagining it, she was definitely looking at me longer than would be deemed acceptable. Is she attracted to me? I mean I’m twenty-three years older than her, sure I’m fit and look after myself and I certainly don’t have a problem attracting women, but she’s twenty-fucking-two. Most twenty-two-year-olds don’t find forty-five-year-old men hot. Plus, let’s not forget she’s dating my son. My goddamn son.
I tilt my head slightly to take her in out of the corner of my eye, only to find her doing the same, she quickly looks away again and starts fiddling with her phone, her hands have a slight tremble to them. My pulse increases, my breath catching in my throat.Mother-fucker. She’s attracted to me.
As I’m debating whether to say something to her, her phone rings in her hand, startling us both. Before she can swipe accept I see the name on the screen, my son’s name. Edward. She quickly hits the decline button.Huh?Why didn’t she answer him? I’m not always my son’s biggest fan, and I can admit, he can sometimes be a bit of a dick. He seems to think I’m going to hand him a job on a silver platter, however, I can’t help but be a little pissed off on his behalf. Within seconds, the device rings again, and again she hits decline.What. The. Fuck?Does she not want to answer it because she’s sitting next to me? Does she think its rude or something? Not even half a minute later, the device goes off again, Edward, flashing on the screen. She mumbles something unintelligible under her breath and before she can decline, I decide to say something.
“You can get that you know, I don’t mind,” my voice comes out deeper, huskier than usual. This woman affects me in so many ways.
She startles at my voice and turns her body towards me. A slight grimace forming on her face. “It’s not that. I just don’t really want to take the call. He needs to accept things and me answering constantly won’t help him do that.” She sounds like a fucking angel, her voice is so goddamn sweet, she could recite the English dictionary word by word and I wouldn’t tire of it. I’m so distracted by her voice, it takes me a moment to realise what she said. Is she saying what I think?
“What does he need to accept?” Part of me, a very big part of me, hopes she says they’ve broken up, but that would make me a terrible father, right? I shouldn’t wish for my son’s girlfriend to confirm they’re no longer together. Especially not if the reason for me wishing that, is so that she’s available to me.
“That we’ve broken up, that we never really worked and there’s no point in us stringing this out any longer.” My heart flips, it actually flips in my chest and I do an internal fist pump, the relief and guilt are instant. She’s not his anymore, she’s not anyone’s. I’m about to sit on a flight with her to some random place in Scotland and the woman I’ve been thinking of for six months, but couldn’t have, is now single.Yeah, I’m screwed.
“I’m sorry.” That’s the right thing to say right? When someone tells you they’ve broken up with someone? It’s certainly not to grab her, tell her I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her and then kiss the ever-loving shit out of her. Even I know that wouldn’t beappropriate. Is that what I want to do? Absolutely. Is it what I should do? Absolutely not.
“Thank you. But it’s been a long time coming and— sorry, this is not what you want to be hearing about from someone you don’t know.” She’s flustered and embarrassed; it’s adorable.
