Page 13 of Sold to My Best Friend's Dad

She watched as he opened the door, tossing his briefcase in the foyer and running both hands through his hair. His brows were furrowed, and he let out an irritated growl when he exhaled.

“Grayson?”

He looked up and his face instantly changed, a small smile appearing on his lips.

“You look like an angel.”

“Everything okay?”

He took another big breath, then walked over to the sofa in the living room. The entire house was open concept. He dropped down and scrubbed his hands down his face.

“Bad day at work.”

“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

Grayson shook his head. “Don’t worry about today. My head’s too fucked up to enjoy anything. We’ll have our fun tomorrow.”

Instead of leaving to get dressed and head home, she approached him from behind the sofa and began to massage his shoulders. He groaned and leaned back, his eyes closed.

“That feels amazing. You have no idea,” he said.

“You’re tense, too tense,” she said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I wouldn’t want to bore you. Just an impossible-to-please client.”

“Then don’t please them. I mean, you’re obviously doing well for yourself. Will this one client break the bank? If not, you have to decide if it’s worth having stressful days like this. It’s your company, you can choose the clients you accept.”

He unbuttoned his shirt, then pulled it off, leaning back in the same position.

It felt so good to run her hands over his warm, firm skin. He had an amazing body. She imagined he must work out downstairs every chance he had.

“This is life, right?”

“Exactly,” she said.

“Beautiful and smart.”

She continued to massage his neck, shoulders, and arms. Clara just wanted to help, to ease his tension. For him to refuse the chance to play with her sexually said a lot about his state of mind.

“You hungry?” he asked.

“Sorry?”

“Have you eaten?”

“I had lunch, not dinner.” Clara didn’t want a full stomach because she had no idea what he’d planned to do with her one day to the next.

He shifted on the couch, taking one of her hands, motioning her to join him. She walked around and sat next to Grayson.

“I’d take you out to dinner, but tonight my head’s not in the game. How about I order in something?”

Clara smiled. “Okay, that sounds good.”

“We can watch a movie, call the night a write-off,” he said.

She shook her head. “I don’t think it’s a write-off. It’s perfect. I just want to be with you.”

He looked at her, really looked at her, as if nothing in the world mattered except what she’d just said. He cupped her face, using his thumb to caress her cheek. “Fuck, I don’t deserve you,” he said. “I’ve been an asshole all these years. Wasted so much time.”

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