Page 44 of New Girl in Town
He pointed at my feet. “But for you to have socks, you need actual shoes that don’t double as pool wear. And that means shopping.”
“Fine, but I’m wearing these shoes to do it,” I huffed and crossed my arms, both at odds with the broad smile on my face. It was nice to be thought of. Even if Grant was bossing me just a touch, it was out of concern. I knew Colorado had inclement and sudden weather changes that called for caution and preparation, as evidenced by my wintry arrival.
I’d known I needed new shoes, and socks….and gloves, and pretty much everything, but the fact that Grant still wanted to take me to do such a thing when I’d been putting it off was touching.
I’d been worried that things between us would be...different. Strained. It wasn’t every day that you had to look the man you’d let do scandalous and delicious things to you for a night, in the eye next morning. It would be if we were in a relationship, but Grant and I weren’t. I paused in my apartment, wallet in hand, and bit my lip.
We weren’t.Right?
I shook my head at myself. One spontaneous fooling around session did not a relationship make. But a shopping trip? That was a different story. Grant waited for me at the bottom of the stairs, and I gave him a curious look when I stepped down beside him.
“What?” he asked, taking in my tilted head and narrowed eyes. Were we in a relationship? I suddenly wasn’t sure anymore.
“Nothing,” I said, and stepped past him with a breezy wave. I wasn’t quite ready to bring something up like that. “Where are we going on this shopping extravaganza, because if you get me shopping don’t think it—”
“Hey.” He caught my hand and tugged me to a stop. “Hold on for a second.”
I turned to face him, my eyes dropping down to his hands, and images of those hands—of the way those hands had looked on me, had felt like when he’d caressed me, those fingers alternating between soft and rough in a seamless transition that had left me dizzy from pleasure—sprang to mind. My cheeks burned and I cleared my throat.
“What is it?” I asked.
“About last night…” he began, his voice soft, and I could feel my guard threatening to snap into place. I’d heard that tone before from men when they wanted to let me down. From boys in college, from men I’d had dalliances with in my younger days, men who were the age Grant was now.
“Yeah?” I said, keep my voice even as I struggled not to jump straight to any conclusions.
“I just wanted to say it was amazing.” He raised his gaze, spearing me with those blue eyes that always saw far more than I liked, and gave me a tender smile. “You were beautiful, Aurora.”
I blinked in surprise and swallowed hard. There was an earnest light in his eyes that was hard to meet, but I forced myself not to look away.
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand and stepped closer to him. His free hand came to rest on my hip, and he smiled down at me.
“Are you going to let me make you dinner after we get you appropriate footwear?”
Make me dinner? Unless my understanding of dating was so outdated that I was in the last century, then this man was not letting me down gently.
“You'll be wowed by my skills,” he continued on, hands sliding along my hip so that his fingers brushed the top of my jeans, “and there’s a bottle of wine in this scenario, of course.”
I laughed, leaning into his touch. “Of course there is. Then what happens?”
“Then you let me take my time with you like I did last night. Let me get back to exploring you, tasting you, because baby, I’m hooked deep now.”
“I’m hooked too,” I admitted, letting go of his hand and slipping my arms around his neck with a shy smile.
“I want to learn everything you like. Make you come apart under my hands and then put you back together before you let me do it again. I wanna see you make that pretty face you do when I touch you just right and you lose it. Will you let me do that tonight?” His lips brushed my cheek and I shivered, a blush I couldn’t fight blooming on my cheeks. His voice had gone husky and rough.
“Yes.” I licked my lips. “Yes,” I said again, but this time my voice was firmer. I wanted him to know that I wanted this—wanted myself to know I wanted this. Grant made me feel like a schoolgirl, all butterflies and blushing cheeks, but the truth was I was no longer that girl. I was a woman. I knew what I wanted, and even though it was hard to let myself have what I wanted, I was determined to do so.
And what I wanted was Grant.
* * *
“What is that?”Grant asked, hands on his hips, looking at me like I had grown an extra arm. We were in a tractor supply store—yes, tractor supply—but Grant had insisted it would be the place in town to get my wardrobe winterized—at least to start.
“We can go somewhere fancier after, but trust me on this. You’re going to need heavy boots and a coat, and this place is the best for that.”
I’d slid into the store, courtesy of my tractionless flip flops, and I didn’t miss the side-eye looks from the customers and workers. Okay, so maybe they weren’t the most practical footwear. Blushing at the attention my flip flops had garnered, I’d scrambled after Grant and found a handful of more durable and weather-appropriate shoes, some of which could even be called cute and stylish.
Tractor supply stores. Who knew.
