Chapter Thirty
Thirty
ENERGY WHIPPED THROUGH GRAYSON’S BLOODSTREAM, through every cell of his body, and they hadn’t done more than bathe together yet.
He liked making her smile and laugh and give him those sexy little sighs of contentment.
They kept looking at each other as they got ready: another intimacy he’d forgotten he enjoyed.
She wore an off-the-shoulder dress in the palest shade of green.
It cinched at the waist and flared out in a retro way.
She’d given in to the curls caused by the steam from the bath.
He chose a pair of dark gray slacks and a dress shirt, no tie.
“Where are we going for dinner?” she asked, fastening a flower-shaped earring.
“There’s a vineyard up the street with a restaurant attached. It has great reviews.”
“Thank you for tonight,” she said, fastening the other earring as she walked over to him.
Stepping into her was becoming as automatic as breathing. “Tonight isn’t over yet.”
When she tipped her head back, he saw fewer shadows in her gaze than when he’d first met her. Maybe she’d open up a bit to him tonight.
“It’s already the best date I’ve ever had.”
He laughed, pulled her close, looping his arms around her waist. “Then you are dating the wrong men.”
Her gaze turned serious. “Until now.”
Grayson’s heart did one of those double beats and he had to close himself off to the urgency running through him, the need to tell her that he was falling in a way he’d planned not to.
“Let’s go eat,” he said gruffly.
Harbor Ridge was a quiet community on the water with elevated beach-style homes and streets that held neighborhood BBQs and block parties.
It reminded Gray, to some degree, of the area he and Lana had lived in.
They’d lived in a luxury condo in the same development as her father.
He’d wanted to embrace the community feel of it, but Lana had her own set of friends, ones she and her family had known for years.
Gray had never felt truly comfortable and though he didn’t want, or mean, to compare, he realized that Charlie was so much easier to be with. He didn’t feel like he had to prove himself or live up to an unattainable standard. He felt like himself. Only better.
They were seated at an outdoor table overlooking the water. The sun had set a short time earlier and now they were treated to what looked like an artist’s rendering of a painted sky: bold streaks of pinks, oranges, and reds against the summer blue.
The waiter placed the menus on the table, followed by a wine menu that he pulled from his apron pocket.
“I’ll give you two a couple of minutes.”
He disappeared between the other tables, all full of guests having conversations and sharing what looked like delicious meals.
Charlie picked up the food menu and held it to her chest, leaning in like she was sharing a secret. “This place is gorgeous and the food smells amazing, but Levi is such a great cook, it’ll be hard to outdo him.”
Laughing, Gray picked up his glass of water. “He’ll love to hear that. He actually worked at a very upscale restaurant before coming home. We’re lucky to have him.”
“I agree.”
“Do you want wine?” He took a sip of his water, set it down, then passed her the wine menu. “You probably know more than I do.”
Charlie tilted her head, taking that menu as well. “I’m not much of a wine drinker, actually. I don’t mind it, but I’m no expert.” She scanned the menu. “Oh. They have a nice one from California. Will that work?”
“Absolutely. A taste of home for you.”
They ordered two glasses of the wine, salmon for her, and a steak for Gray. When the wine came, he lifted his glass.
“To unexpected adventures.”
Charlie tapped his glass with hers, watching over the rim as she took a sip.
Once they’d both set their glasses down, he reached out for her hand, surprised by the desire to be close to her as often as possible.
He’d gone several years without even receiving a hug from a woman who wasn’t related to him or going to be.
This was different, and he’d forgotten how much he loved physical affection.
Another loss in a long line of them when he’d walked away from his marriage.
Something he hadn’t thought about missing. Until now.
“Ollie seems to be doing okay,” Charlie said, breaking into his thoughts.
Gray nodded. “She had a moment the other night, I guess, at bedtime. I’m sure it’ll come and go. Being the oldest of three, I know I wasn’t always overly receptive to my younger siblings.”
She leaned her other elbow on the table, giving him her full attention. “Really? You seem like a great big brother. Though your siblings seem pretty awesome, too.”
“We’re lucky. We’re all friends as well as siblings. But we’ve had our ups and downs. It was hard on my parents once all of us had left home. Beckett was the only one of us who was sure he’d return. When Jilly and I did, it was with a lot of baggage, so that was hard on everyone, too.”
Charlie tilted her head into the palm of her hand. “I’m learning that sometimes you have to go away to figure things out so you can come back … better.”
Gray leaned a forearm on the table. “Better than what, Charlie?”
She pulled her hand back, fidgeted with her napkin, and glanced at him through lowered lids. “Since I confided in Ollie,” she said on a laugh, “I can admit that I got in a pretty big fight with my mom over her news that she’d planned to marry a man who had two daughters who were … are awful to me.”
His shoulders stiffened, protective instincts surging through him. “Awful to you how?”
Charlie looked out at the water for several minutes and Gray wondered if he should change the topic, lighten things.
But he didn’t want to hide behind the brevity of their relationship.
The duration of something didn’t make it any more or less real.
He cared for this woman and knew, because it was who he was at his core and probably the reason he’d protected himself from falling for anyone until her, that he always would.
She turned back to him. “I didn’t react well when my mom told me the news. They used that against me.”
He could tell she was being deliberately vague. “And how did your mom react to that?”
Charlie picked up her wine but didn’t drink; just stared at the liquid. “Oh, she felt bad about it. So did her ex-fiancé, but, at the time, I felt pretty alone.”
“I’m sorry, Charlie.”
She looked up with a fake smile. “I survived.”
“Ex-fiancé?”
She set her wine down without drinking it. “Turns out, there were things she didn’t like about him aside from his daughters. She ended things.”
Gray’s skin felt too tight. “So, you could go home, then?” He didn’t want her to. God, he really didn’t want her to.
Shaking her head, she folded her arms on the table. “No. Not yet. I’ve signed the contract with the school. I’m here until at least December.”
He’d gone from being certain he couldn’t and wouldn’t ever do long term again to feeling like months would pass in days. It wasn’t enough time with her. He wanted more and the thought pressed on him like a boot on his windpipe.
“I know you want to see the apartment over here, but there are also several spots on Smile if you’re just looking for one less ferry ride in your daily commute,” Gray said, not liking the idea of her so far away.
“I’ll admit, the two ferries each way for the days I’m teaching was part of why I agreed to look at this place. I’m not sure, though, that I want to be completely isolated.” She gave him a less-weighted smile. “I did see a few ads on the General Store’s chalkboard.”
The chalkboard was always a hit with tourists. It hung at the back of the General Store and housed information on all sorts of random Smile details: who was selling what, community parties, big events, reminders, ads for dog sitters or babysitters.
“Smileys do like their routines. Presley’s done a great job setting up a website, Instagram, and Facebook, but people still flock to the store for their news and gossip.”
The waiter came, carrying their dinners, and they both dug in.
“I don’t know if I could get up in front of a group of students and impart knowledge,” Gray said after swallowing his first bite of delicious steak.
Charlie’s brows arched in question while she finished chewing. “How can you say that? You take people on tours and hikes. That’s teaching.”
He laughed. “I guess, but there are no tests on it or any real stakes. I mean, the worst thing that’ll happen if I’m a lousy fishing guide is we head back without fish.”
Her smile lit up her face, tugging the strings around his heart tighter. “But then you’d tell tales of the one that got away, right?”
Those words slid over him, more poignant than she’d meant for them to be. “Exactly. But in my retelling, it only got away because I let it go.” If she noticed his tone was a bit gruff, she didn’t show it.
Charlie closed her eyes and let out a little mmm sound at her next bite. When she opened them, she grinned. “This is incredible. I’m getting completely spoiled by all the amazing meals I’m having.”
Intent on ignoring his growing feelings for this woman, he offered her a bite of his steak. His eyes locked on the way her lips wrapped around his fork, slid the bite into her mouth. And made another one of those enticing sounds.
The rest of the meal was a mix of banter and heated looks, little snippets of information each of them volunteered. A sample. Nothing hearty. Just enough to continue to pull the other in.
By the time they finished, Grayson felt an edgy, restless sort of contentment. A radiating happiness to be exactly where he was but an amplified awareness of how much more difficult it was becoming to put roadblocks on his feelings.
They opted for a walk after dinner along a path by the marina. This close to the water, the air held a bit of a chill.
Grayson put his arm around Charlie, pulling her into his side and looking down at her. “This okay?”
She grinned up at him. “I suppose I can allow it. Since you smell so good, you’re warm, and I’ve got a bit of a crush on you.”
Laughter rumbled out of him. “A crush, huh?”
She scrunched her nose adorably. “Probably not the terminology the kids are using these days. Though some of the words they use scare me, so I’m okay with crush.”
“Yeah, listening to the kids talk, some of the phrases they use make me worry about this generation.”
“Uh-oh. When you start talking about generations like that, it’s a sign of getting old.”
He liked the feel of her tucked up against him. “I will gladly tell kids to get off my lawn and turn the damn music down.”
Her soft laughter filled him with a sense of warmth.
They walked with their arms wrapped around each other and Gray felt settled in a way he hadn’t in a long time.
His life wasn’t chaos right now. His business was thriving, his family was doing well, and he’d proven to himself that his past hadn’t completely wrecked him.
He’d emerged from the ashes. A little dusty and worse for wear, but he’d survived.
And there were days he hadn’t been sure he would.
“What are you thinking about?” Charlie squeezed her arm around him.
They’d walked a fair distance from the restaurant. A few other people strolled along the path and several people were on boats in the marina and out on the water.
“Honestly?” He looked down again, continued when she nodded. “When my marriage ended, I thought that part of me was finished. I didn’t want to get to know anyone, get close, date. I definitely didn’t want to care about someone or be the reason they laughed and smiled.”
Charlie’s fingers dug into his waist with his words. “I don’t have the same reasons but I understand the sentiments. My life has been so focused on my career, I didn’t care about anything outside of it.”
They stopped under an arbor of flowers and twinkle lights. Grayson turned into her, sliding his arms down around her waist.
Gray leaned down, brushed the tip of his nose along the bridge of hers, feeling her soft breath against his lips. He closed his eyes and their mouths found each other like magnets unable to resist. Her fingers gripped the fabric of his shirt, her body pressed into his like she wanted to be closer.
He lifted his head, his breath uneven. “I have a crush on you, too, Charlie.”
She laughed softly, let her forehead fall onto his chest. “You’re teasing me.”
Gray dropped his chin, bringing his mouth to her ear. “Maybe a little, but that doesn’t make it less true.”
When she lifted her head, her gaze was as bright as the twinkle lights above them.
“The only things I know for certain,” she said, her words slow, deliberate, and quiet, “are that I’m here, for sure, until December, and that I’m grateful I came because instead of just being an escape, it’s become an adventure.
And you’re the best part of it. I’d like to go back to the hotel and spend the night with you …
not sleeping. That’s not something I take lightly. I care about you, Grayson.”
His heart hammered like a woodpecker on speed. Using both hands, he brushed her hair back from her face so he could see it better.
“I care about you, too, Charlie. More than I imagined I was capable of. I want what you just said, and it’s not something I take lightly either.
It’s been a pretty long time for me, if I’m being honest. But I want more than tonight.
I know you have a life to go back to, but while you’re here, I want to be with you.
In any way I can, as often as I can. That might make it harder when you leave, but one good thing I learned from my past is that moments are fleeting so you have to hang on to the good ones when you get a chance. ”
“While I’m here, I’m yours, Grayson.”
And he was hers. The worry in the back of his head, and deep in his heart, was that he’d still be hers when she was long gone.