5. Harley
Chapter Five
HARLEY
That night, I glanced over at Cat and Grant sitting on opposite sides of the sectional, bickering over what to watch. I was at a small table where I often worked on my laptop in the evenings.
“Just pick something, or I'll be the tiebreaker,” I called over.
Cat glanced at me. “What do you want to watch? Let's vote.”
I shook my head quickly. “Surely you two can solve this. When it comes to television, you two turn into ten-year-olds.”
Grant narrowed his eyes before he burst out laughing. That was the thing about him. He was a pretty easygoing guy, which made him all that much more attractive. I still hadn't been able to put the sight of his bare chest out of my mind.
“Do you want to play cards?” Cat asked.
“Why did card night stop out here?” I asked.
“Because we're the only people left,” Grant said dryly.
“Are we not worthy of card night?” Cat countered.
“No, but we have to invite everybody over,” Grant pointed out. “You should do girls’ night cards,” he added as he leaned back into the couch cushions.
“It used to be mostly guys, right?” I asked.
“Well yeah. Until you got here, it was all guys. Nora stayed here for a while, but then she built her cabin and moved out because she got sick of all the guys.”
“How many of you were here?”
Grant lifted a hand, counting on his fingers. “Well, there was me, Gabriel, Elias, Tucker, and Diego, so there were five of us.”
“But there aren't five bedrooms,” I pointed out.
“Yeah. Tucker and Diego shared the biggest bedroom for a while.”
“Really?” Cat asked.
“Yeah, didn't you notice there used to be two twin beds? We turned it into a pool room when only three of us were left,” he explained.
Cat snickered. “Such a guy house. No wonder Nora wanted to move out.”
“It was totally a guy house,” Grant replied with a shrug.
“Let’s invite all the girls out soon,” I offered.
She squealed. “I'm in. I'll make appetizers.”
“Perfect,” I replied.
Grant grinned between us. “I guess that'll be one of my nights out then.”
“You're always out,” Cat said sharply.
“Why do you care?” he countered.
“I don't,” Cat retorted.
Cat tossed a throw pillow in his direction.
They quieted and settled on a comedy show while I continued to tap away on my laptop, adjusting some things on the website I was working on for another business in downtown Diamond Creek.
When I had decided to come up here on a whim, I'd honestly thought most of my business would be online clients from a distance.
While that did keep me busy, I had lots of local business.
People here definitely wanted to support local businesses, and I benefited from that.
Hours later, I was alone in the living room.
Grant and Cat had gone to bed. I tended to be a night owl.
I also had a tendency to be an early riser.
In short, I didn't sleep well. I had been fighting off a sense of restlessness all day. It had been an innocent enough conversation earlier, but Daphne and Cammi had gotten under my skin with their heartwarming teasing about falling in love. I didn’t want to care.
I also didn’t want to be crushing on Grant because that was freaking annoying.
With a sigh, I tapped the save button and powered down my laptop before closing it.
I stood to walk into the kitchen to get something.
Abruptly, my breath became short, and my heartbeat felt funny.
It felt as if the beats were out of order and skipping between too fast and too slow.
Moments later, I was gasping for air and found myself on the floor beside the couch.
I didn’t have a clear idea of how I ended up there.
“Harley?” Grant's voice reached me from the base of the stairs.
I looked over, my thoughts were muddled and fuzzy. “Yeah?”
He crossed the room swiftly in long strides, kneeling beside me. “What the hell happened? You fell.”
I didn’t normally sit down in the middle of the floor like this, but I wanted to argue the point. The next thing I knew, he was checking my pulse, and I was trying not to get pissed off.
“I feel fine,” I insisted.
“Did you faint? Have you eaten today? Your pulse feels okay.”
“It's fine. I'm fine.” I was sort of lying because internally, I was freaking right the hell out.
“I think we should get you up on the couch for a few minutes.”
“Oh my God. You do not need to monitor me,” I said.
Grant didn’t care how I felt. “Deal with it.”
A few minutes later, we were both sitting on the couch. He'd fetched me a glass of water. I thanked him earnestly because I had needed the water. I was mentally trying to figure out what lie I would make up to get out of this.
“I think you're right. My blood sugar must have been low,” I offered in response to something he’d said moments earlier.
He was sitting a little too close for my comfort. Between checking my temperature and running me through questions to rule out a concussion, my comfort level had been obliterated.
“Dear God, you're so annoying,” I said when he reached for my wrist to check my pulse again.
“We’re all trained in first responder stuff because we fly in the middle of fucking nowhere half the time. If something happens, we have to be able to handle the basics.”
“I know,” I finally said. “But I'm fine. I'm right here. I’m not in the middle of nowhere.”
Grant arched a brow, and I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I guess we kind of are, but you're here. We're in a house.”
“Do you have a doctor here?”
“No.”
I sighed. That was another small problem.
I should be seeing a doctor, but I didn't want to discuss that.
Not with Grant. For the first time ever, I decided to distract myself by actually enjoying how he looked all up close and personal with the chiseled lines of his face, the hint of stubble gracing his jaw, and his sexy eyes.
He narrowed his gaze. “You should have a regular doctor. Hang on.” He reached for his phone on the coffee table. “That's why I came downstairs. I forgot my phone.”
“You need your phone when you sleep?”
He shrugged. “When I can't sleep, I play word games. It puts me to sleep real quick.”
I couldn't help but laugh at that. Another moment later, my own phone vibrated where it sat nearby on the coffee table. “What did you send me?”
“Dr. Quinn Haynes. He’s a great guy. He runs the family practice in Diamond Creek. We all go to him.”
“Mmm. How's your shoulder?” I asked when I saw him turn and wince slightly.
“Much better. It’s still sore, but it's definitely better.”
“I'm glad you're okay.”
“Yeah, me too. Thank you again.”
“What for? Chasing the moose off with a shovel and a rock?”
“Yeah,” he said, flashing a quick grin.
It felt like the air heated around us. As I said, he was right there beside me. I didn't know if it was just me or if he avoided me as well, but I was usually careful not to let myself get too close to Grant.
Now, my belly flipped with tingles radiating through my body. My heart raced, although it was for all the wrong reasons this time. As he looked down at me, I made a foolish but crucial decision.
I lifted a hand, dragging my fingertip along his jawline. “Just so you know, Grant, you’re kind of hot.”
“Excuse me?” His voice came out husky, and butterflies tickled my belly.
If I'd been standing, my knees would’ve given out. I felt all melty inside. I could be a bold girl when I wanted, so I leaned up, pressing a kiss right where my fingertips had just been.
I drew back, staring at him, daring myself and daring him. In another second, his head was dipping down as I leaned up. The second our lips met, it felt as if flames burst to life between us.
Grant muttered something, then angled his head sideways, fitting his mouth over mine. Oh hell, Grant just had to go and be an amazing kisser. His tongue swept boldly into my mouth, and I gasped. His hand slid into my hair, angling my head to the side.
He was all commanding, yanking the control right out of my hands.
I had no idea how long we kissed, but a sound snapped into my awareness, and we broke apart.
I reflectively glanced over, realizing Cat had just walked from her bedroom into the bathroom.
We were both gasping for air and staring at each other.
“What the fuck, Harley?” he rasped.
“What?” I returned, straightening. “I wanted to kiss you. And don't lie. You wanted to kiss me too.”
Grant blinked before running a hand through his hair as he let out a ragged sigh. “Fuck.”
He stood to walk upstairs, spinning back to say, “Call the doctor.”