Page 47 of Mine To Keep (Southern Wedding)

“Well, lucky for you my ass follows my body, so I will be there,” she teases, and she yawns.

“Go to sleep,” I say softly. “I’ll text you tomorrow.”

“Okay, night,” she mumbles before she hangs up.

I put my phone on the side table, falling asleep right after she hangs up. The whole day I’m out of the house with Meadow. We go shopping for food, then I take her out to the park, where we fly her kite, making her run after it for an hour. When we get back home, I feed her quickly, then take her back outside to go bike riding. By the time she eats dinner, she’s begging to go to bed. Seven o’clock comes and she’s asleep in a matter of minutes. I have enough time to shower and walk downstairs before the doorbell rings.

I smile big when I walk over and pull open the door, seeing Grace standing there. She’s wearing a gold satin skirt with a white shirt, a short jean jacket, and black high heels on her feet. Her hair is pushed back from her face. “Hi.” That’s the only thing I let her say before dragging her inside and devouring her mouth.

twenty-one

Grace

“Hi,” he says. His whole face lights up, making the nervous energy I had inside me all day suddenly disappear. He slides his hand into mine, pulling me into his hold. I don’t even have time to laugh before his mouth is on mine. His tongue attacks mine, or maybe it’s my tongue that attacks his. Either way, the soft kiss I thought we were going to have in his entranceway is hot and heavy. It could be that for the last two days, our kisses were sparse, and I was running late on Friday, so the fifteen minutes we usually made out for was a mere two minutes. My hands grip his white T-shirt, trying to get closer to him. “Hi,” I finally reply, practically panting for him.

My hand comes up to his face, my fingers wiping my lip gloss off his lips. His arms tighten around my waist. “Welcome to my home.”

“Thank you for having me,” I say softly. “Is Meadow sleeping?”

“Out like a light,” he confirms. “I made sure I tired her out.” I chuckle. “I might have needed a nap.” His hands slide off my hips. “Let me get your jacket.”

“Trying to get me out of my clothes already?” I joke with him, slipping my jean jacket off. “You haven’t even fed me yet.” As I hand him my jacket, his hand comes up to grab it.

“You look beautiful,” he compliments, and I don’t think another man besides one from my family has called me beautiful. Sure, I’ve been called hot, but no man I’ve been dating or have dated has said I was beautiful.

I look down, hoping he doesn’t notice me blushing. “Thank you,” I reply softly before I tuck one side of my hair behind my ear.

He slides my hand in his as he turns and walks into the house, placing my jacket on top of the bottom banister to the winding staircase. “Very regal, Mr. Griffin.” I look up at him. “Has Meadow tried to slide down the railing yet?”

“Not yet,” he says as we walk past his dining room, which has a grand table with a stunning chandelier. My eyes catch the office, and I wonder if he works in there often. “I’ll give you a tour later.” We walk into the family room connected to a massive white kitchen with gray cabinets and stainless-steel appliances.

“This is stunning,” I say as I walk over to the island, running my hand over the white counter with light-gray veins in it. “Very, very sexy.” I look up at him as his eyes shine.

“I’ve never been so jealous of a counter in my life.” He puts his hand on my lower back before bending to kiss my lips. “In case I don’t tell you later or I forget to tell you because I’m so nervous.” He smiles at me shyly, not moving his face away from mine. “I’m happy you came over.” I can’t help the smile that forms on my face with his words.

“I’m happy you asked me,” I say quietly. My hand comes up to hold his face, and my thumb rubs his cheek. “Really, really happy,” I admit, my chest tightening as I lean forward to kiss him softly on the lips.

“If you keep kissing me”—he slides his tongue into mine for a second, sending a shiver up my spine—“we aren’t going to cook anything.”

I laugh as he lets go of my lips and steps away. “I’m trying to decide,” I say as I watch him walk around the island and toward the massive fridge, “if I like the suit Caine or the jeans Caine.” He looks over his shoulder, smirking at me. “I’ll save judgment for the naked Caine.” I wink at him, and he glares. I walk around the island to join him. “Can I help?”

“I don’t think you standing next to me is going to help,” he huffs as he grabs things out of the fridge and places them on the island.

I giggle like a school girl. “I’ll stay on one side, and you can stay on the other,” I barter as he holds my hips to walk around me even though he has enough space to just walk past me. “What are we making?”

“I was thinking we could have some steak.” He opens a couple of drawers, removes some knives, and places them on the counter before grabbing two cutting boards. “I got some shrimp I thought we could throw onto the grill also.”

“Love surf and turf.”

“Are you saying that,” he asks me, putting his hands on his hips, “just to make me feel better?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I actually like steak and shrimp.”

“Good, I started marinating the steak this afternoon and also the shrimp.”

“What can I do to help?” I ask as he walks around the kitchen, grabbing things.

“You can prep the salad while I throw this on the grill,” he states. “How do you like your steak?”

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