Page 29 of Resisting the Grump

She stood, took one step and nearly fell over. My hands were at her waist in the blink of an eye, which made her inhale sharply.

“Can you wait for one goddamned second or let me help you? I don’t need you falling and getting hurt any worse than you already have.”

She half turned toward me, a glare firmly in place as her lips turned down and she jerked away from my hold.

“I’m fine.”

I ran a nervous hand through my hair, realizing I’d snapped too harshly at her.

Once she was tucked into the bathroom, I ran outside to grab the box of groceries and food she’d delivered, right as it started to sprinkle. Bounding back up the steps and back inside, I set everything down on the counter and settled a few perishables in the fridge before letting out a small sigh. I shouldn’t have been such a dick; it wasn’t like she’d want anything to do with me even without my gruff nature…but now.

Sneaking a quick glance toward the hall, where the bathroom was, and hearing the sink turn on, I checked the mirror hanging in the living room. Without thinking, I smoothed a hand through my hair, so it didn’t look so lame. I was out of hair gel, so mine was flat today. She probably dated guys that wore suits and had three-hundred-dollar haircuts; there wasn’t a chance she’d be interested in me.

“You have a nice bathroom.” Rae said kindly, coming out of the restroom looking refreshed and still a little nervous.

I took a second to appreciate how her dark hair framed her face, the long locks trailing past her breasts, which were high and perfectly round. In fact, the way they pushed against her shirt, and the way her hips flared, the denim clinging to her toned thighs, I could feel myself getting worked up over how beautiful she was, which was insanely virginal of me.

Clearing my throat, I grated out, “Thanks, I renovated it last year.”

I moved to the Keurig and refilled the water tank. “I have a few flavors of coffee over here, if you want to pick one.”

I could hear her move behind me, slowly.Nervous.

I hated that I made her feel that way, but it wasn’t like Millie and Roger were talking me up to her while she was in New York, like they had been with me.

“I really should be going. I splashed water on my face and feel much better… I think the aspirin is kicking in.”

Fuck, she wanted to leave again.

I lifted my cup, gesturing toward the ceiling. “It’s pouring outside. Just stay for a few minutes…have some coffee.”

Her blushing face told me she was more nervous than anything else—maybe uncomfortable because she didn’t like me—but we were both adults… We could get past what happened the other day. I sipped my hot drink, trying to keep my eyes anywhere but on her so she’d relax, but it wasn’t easy. She was the prettiest fucking thing I’d seen in a long time, and truth be told, it mademenervous.

Finally, she seemed to let out a sigh, and tucked the hair behind her ears. “What sort of flavors do you have?”

She was elbow to elbow with me, and I could smell her subtle floral scent, which had my thoughts returning to her hair and burying my face in it.

“I have about every flavor, decaf too if you want it.”

She nodded while tracing the different tops of the flavored pods. Just then, the rain started hitting harder against the skylight, making her look up.

“I like that.” She smiled, and it caused my breath to hitch.

I wanted to kiss her.Really fucking badly.

Her eyes lit up as she picked up a hazelnut pecan pod and pushed it into the top of the coffee maker.

“So you recently graduated, right?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee but keeping my back against the counter so we still stood close.

“You trying to pick up where we left off at dinner?” She raised a dark brow in my direction.

I tried not to react, but it was obvious she didn’t like me, and that just fucking grated against my pride.

I simply replied with, “Yep.”

Then there was just silence between us, which again, normally I wouldn’t care about, but I wanted her voice. I wanted to hear her, but maybe talking about what we did the other night wasn’t a good place to start.

“What made you want to move back?”

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