Page 25 of Now and Forever
Relieved that was all he was looking at, Golden nodded. "Yeah, the thing is a beast. It's so big and sturdy it can't be removed from the room unless you hired a welder to break through the iron or something."
"I see," he said quietly, slowly pulling his gaze from her room and back to the rest of the house.
"Here is the bathroom." She gestured to the open door further down the hall. "It's clean and stocked."
Grayson paused next to her and looked down at her thoughtfully. "Your home reminds me a lot of mine."
She tilted her head to the side. "How so?" He lived in a mansion with countless rooms and an indoor and outdoor swimming pool. How in the world could they be the same?
"They’re both empty." He didn't wait for her to answer before walking to the bathroom.
Golden stood there for a moment letting his words sink in. She looked around the place. He wasn't wrong. Even with all its furniture and endless little odds and ends the place had had life back then, unlike now.
Golden's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and she turned to see Grayson coming out dressed in a pair of navy-blue jogging pants and a silver-blue shirt that clung to his defined chest and narrow waist. Dragging her eyes away she sent a feeble prayer to God to simply give her a break.
An hour later they were both dripping in sweat as they pulled the last of the vines out from the flower bed.
Standing back, Golden wiped her forehead with the back of her gloved hand and stared at the now clear bed. "That looks a lot better."
"It should, it has our blood, sweat, and your tears in it," Grayson remarked dryly, swiping at some of the various small cuts on his arm caused by the unruly rose bush.
"I thought there was something in my eye!" She shot back. He had teased her about her watering eyes as they both yanked out weeds.
Grayson gave her a patronizing nod that reminded her of Gaige. This was where that heathen boy got it from, she thought with a smile. Grayson was right, he looked like a gentleman on the outside but there was a bit of twisted darkness deep inside.
Grabbing the tools from the ground, she looked up at the darkening sky. The sun was setting fast; they had finished at the perfect time. "Let's go inside and clean up and I'll order delivery from my favorite little gyro place up the street. My treat since you helped me out tremendously."
Coming over to her, Grayson gently grabbed the tools from her hands. In the exchange, the back of his hand grazed across her breast. But Grayson's face gave no indication he noticed. "I'll take these," he said.
Golden bit the inside of her lip and prayed her hardening nipples weren't showing through her sports bra and t-shirt.
Inside they both went to their respective bathrooms.
As soon as she shut the door, Golden pressed a fist to her mouth and squealed quietly. Was Grayson really in her house showering right now?
Turning her face up to the ceiling she closed her eyes with a satisfied expression. "Thank you, God," she whispered. Because even if this wasn't quite like her dreams it was as close as it would ever be.
Making a quick call to the gyro shop, Golden secured the order and hopped into the shower. It wasn't until after her shower she realized she screwed up. With only her dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, she had no clean clothes to change into, and worse yet—she forgot to close her bedroom door. She had obviously lived alone for too many years.
Wrapping the big towel around her tightly, Golden peeked her head out of the bathroom and looked out the open bedroom door. From what little she could see of the living room it seemed empty. Maybe he was still in the bathroom. Ready to test her luck and dash across the room to her closet, the doorbell rang.
Curse them and their fast delivery times!
With her hand still secured around her towel, Golden stepped out of her room to go to the door but stopped suddenly. Coming from the other side of the living room, wearing another set offresh clean gym clothes that clung to his slightly damp chest and his wet hair slicked back giving his whiskey blond hair a look of burnished gold, Grayson stopped for a second and looked at her. His blue eyes sharpened into steel as he took in her state of dress.
He pointed over her head to her bedroom. "Go change, I'll get it," he commanded.
She began to do what he said and stopped. "But I need to pay," she said pointing to her purse even as he pulled out a clip of money from his pocket. "It was supposed to be my treat."
Grayson looked back at her over his shoulder, one blue eye cutting toward her. "It will be my treat if the delivery guy doesn't see you wearing only a towel."
"I would have hidden behind the door," she countered.
"Golden," the sheer warning in his tone told her she was pushing it and she promptly turned around and closed her bedroom door.
Golden never changed so fast in her life, although she still made sure to throw some product in her wet curls and spray a bit of fragrance on before she popped out of her room.
"Sorry about that," she mumbled to Grayson as she took the bags of food from his hands and led him to the couch.
