Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
S hiloh shut down the laptop and threw her arms over her head. “Finally,” she groaned, stretching from one side to the other. “All the T ’s are crossed, the I ’s dotted…all I need is for the Thurgood’s to sign.”
Melissa huffed. “So…next week, then?”
Shiloh wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at her secretary. “Think positive, Mel. We’re the ‘Friendliest’ shop on Main, not the ‘Most Pessimistic.’”
“I’m friendly,” Melissa argued. “Just because I splash it with a heavy dose of truth doesn’t mean I’m not friendly.”
Shiloh laughed quietly. “I suppose that’s open to interpretation.”
“I suppose you oughta know,” Melissa shot back. “Where do you think I learned it?”
Shiloh narrowed her eyes. “Mel…if you’re insulting your boss, you better be more careful. You’re liable to end up in the streets.”
Melissa tilted her head and studied the ceiling, tapping her bottom lip. “The streets… Haven’t tried that one before. Maybe I should. They might be nice this time of year.”
Shiloh threw another paper, and Melissa tossed one back, leading both women to break out in laughter. “Don’t quit your day job. You’d make a terrible baseball player.”
“Then I guess you can’t fire me,” she teased.
Shiloh stood up and pushed away from her desk. “Nice to have that settled for another day.” She gathered her computer bag and packed away all her things, heading toward the door. “Lock up when you’re done, please.”
“And just who are you in a hurry to see?” Melissa asked.
Shiloh put her back to the door and let her emotions show in her smile. “No one. I’m going to go work on the house. Why do you ask?”
Melissa shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed. “I’ve known you too long, Missy. You’ve got a man.” A slow smile spread across the older woman’s face. “It’s one of the ones who came yesterday, isn’t it?” Her eyes widened. “One of the twins? Really?”
Shiloh rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? A McCoy twin? They’re practically family. Their brother married my best friend.”
Melissa frowned. “Who was that other one? The tall, brooding one?”
Shiloh smirked and pushed the door open slightly. “His name’s Granger.”
Melissa gave her a look. “The one with grass all over his shirt?”
Shiloh nodded.
“And he’s the reason you’re grinning like a loon?”
“Maybe.”
Melissa nodded firmly. “Then keep him. I’ve known few men in this world who can make you act like a giddy schoolgirl.”
Shiloh winked. “I think I might.” With Melissa chuckling behind her, Shiloh went out into the overcast afternoon and headed to her car. She was feeling light and free this morning.
Grady had texted to say the restraining order had been delivered. Arthur had, of course, put up a fuss, declaring he was the victim in the situation and that the letter had been nothing but a joke, but Grady had delivered the papers anyway.
With Arthur taken care of and a brand new relationship just starting to blossom, Shiloh was ready to tackle the world.
And she would start by heading to the house with a picnic lunch in the trunk. Last night had been amazing, despite how it started. Fear had brought Granger to her, but choice had them both staying.
Shiloh laughed to herself as she pulled into traffic. “Giddy schoolgirl is right,” she muttered into her empty car. It had been a long time since she’d been this happy.
Watching Serenity receive her happy-ever-after had been close, but this time, Shiloh got to experience the twitterpated feeling for herself, rather than watch her best friend go through it.
It was everything she hoped it would be.
Pulling onto the side of the road, Shiloh grabbed her gear and headed toward the house. She winced as she got outside, the sound of roofing guns echoing through the area with enough noise to raise the dead.
Several men stood on the roof, all of them stopping to watch her walk up. “Way to go, gents!” Shiloh shouted, giving them a salute. “It’s looking good.”
She grinned at the chuckles from her greeting and hurried into the house, walking straight through to the back. She needed to change her clothes before she could get to work, but right now, Shiloh was growing increasingly desperate for a different greeting.
“Shiloh!” Zane came running across the yard as soon as Shiloh opened the back slider and nearly knocked her over by swinging his arms around her waist.
Shiloh couldn’t have pulled the grin from her face if her life had depended on it. Zane was a stinker sometimes, but darn it, if she wasn’t growing to love the boy. She would never have guessed just how much a child’s hug would do for her mood.
“Mmm…” Shiloh gave him a tight squeeze, rocking a little from side to side. “I’ve missed my bow-tie boy today.” Pushing him back just enough to see his face, Shiloh studied the hazel eyes and messy hair. “You look like you’ve been helping Daddy.”
Zane nodded. “Yeah. I’m pulling weeds.” Zane scrunched his lightly freckled nose. “He said we’ll be done soon, and then we can start to design the flower beds.”
“Well, that’ll be nice. I love flowers.”
Zane shrugged. “At least I get to dig in the dirt. That’s better than pulling weeds.”
“True that,” Shiloh said with a laugh. She looked up just in time to see Granger step onto the tiny back patio. He was, once again, covered in grass and lawn debris, but he was the most attractive sight Shiloh had ever laid eyes on. “Hello, handsome,” she said, her tone softer than intended and lacking its usual playfulness.
One side of Granger’s mouth pulled up in a boyish grin. “Hello, beautiful.”
Zane let go of Shiloh and stomped away, grumbling under his breath something about mushy adults.
Shiloh stepped forward, but Granger countered. “I’m filthy,” he explained.
She shrugged. “Clothes are washable. Moments are forever.”
His half grin turned into a full one. “That might be the best excuse for a hello kiss that I’ve ever heard.”
“Then put it to good use,” Shiloh demanded. “Because I need to get to work and earn my keep.”
Chuckling, Granger stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her waist, then bent his head and swept Shiloh away to paradise.
She’d kissed a few men in her time, but Granger’s attention seemed to reach deeper into Shiloh’s heart and soul than anything she’d ever experienced before. Part of her worried she was falling too fast…but the impulsive side of her was giggling with glee.
Shiloh never did things by halves, which made falling for Granger all the more wonderful. Now she had to hope that he was willing to keep up with her pace.
It was going to be far too easy to get used to this.
Granger’s hand flexed against Shiloh’s back, and it took every ounce of self restraint he had to pull back from kissing her when she rose up on tiptoe and gripped his t-shirt in her hands for a better hold.
“We better stop,” Granger whispered, his voice involuntarily husky.
“What if I don’t want to?” Shiloh whispered back.
He closed his eyes, breathing in carefully measured breaths. She was seriously going to be the death of him. “We have an audience.”
Shiloh’s eyes flared, and she quickly stepped back. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, giving Zane an awkward wave. “I totally lost myself in that kiss and forgot Zane was here.”
“While the guy in me wants to take that as a compliment,” Granger huffed, “I’m afraid we need to keep the PDA to a minimum in front of the little guy.”
Zane was glaring at them from the far corner of the yard, and Granger sighed. This was going to be a mess. He’d never dated anyone since the divorce, and Zane probably had no idea what to do with all of it.
The sound of roofing guns echoed through the backyard, and Granger almost groaned. The other workers could have seen them as well.
Tate would never let Granger hear the end of it.
“I totally agree,” Shiloh said quickly, still keeping her voice down. She turned wide, worried eyes to Granger. “Do you think I should go speak to him? I’m new at the whole adult-child relationship and have no idea how to handle this.”
Granger’s tense muscles relaxed a fraction. He couldn’t help but admire how honest Shiloh was about her knowledge or her lack of experience. She knew exactly who she was and was confident in that, but she also admitted where she fell short.
It left Granger feeling safe in knowing exactly where he stood in their relationship, and that was a welcome change from his romantic encounters in the past.
“I should probably talk to him,” Granger said, running a hand through his dirty, sweaty hair. “But I’ll admit, I’m at a loss here too. I’ve never had to introduce him to a girlfriend.”
Shiloh nodded slowly and took a deep breath. “Maybe we should do it together? I always wished my mom was completely upfront with me as a kid. Let’s hear Zane out and talk to him about it.”
Granger looked back at Zane who was now picking pieces of grass and shredding them. “Yeah…okay. We can give that a try.”
Zane liked Shiloh, hopefully, they could work this out. It would be a terrible start to their relationship if Zane hated it from the beginning.
They walked across the grass, and Granger made sure to keep his hands to himself, though he absolutely wanted to hold Shiloh’s hand. Granger wasn’t sure if it was just because it had been so long since he’d touched a woman or if it was Shiloh, herself, but now that he’d given into his attraction, it was much harder to say no than it was before.
“Hey, bud.” Granger squatted down and gave Zane a smile. “We, uh…couldn’t help but notice that you seem a little upset.”
Zane’s scowl deepened, and he jerked up some more grass.
“Would you like to…talk about it?” There were very few times in his life when Granger felt this awkward. Being a single parent meant that every conversation with Zane came from Granger. But still…he didn’t usually go out of his way to open the lines of communication the same way a woman did.
Zane grunted and pulled more grass.
Granger almost let it go. He wasn’t one to hash out his feelings either, but when he went to stand up, Shiloh put a hand on his back.
“Alright, Big Man,” Shiloh began. “Maybe your dad and I will start, okay?”
Zane ignored her.
“Zane…” Granger warned.
“Your dad and I are dating,” Shiloh said very clearly. “Do you understand what that means?”
Zane kept his head down and shrugged his shoulders.
“Zane,” Granger said again, this time with a firmer tone. “Please answer Miss Baxter.”
“It means you’re boyfriend and girlfriend,” Zane bit out.
“That’s right.” Shiloh bent down as well and Granger almost told her to be careful of her skirt, but he snapped his mouth shut just in time.
She’d already made it clear her clothes weren’t as important as the people around her.
“But do you understand what’s special about our relationship?” Shiloh continued.
Zane’s hand finally stopped picking grass, and he squinted up at her. “What?”
“In our case, our dating also includes you.”
Zane jerked back. “What?”
Shiloh nodded. “You’re the most important person in your dad’s life, so if I’m going to date your dad, it means I also get to date you.”
Granger turned to stare at Shiloh, his eyebrows furrowed. Where was she going with this?
“I’m not your boyfriend,” Zane said quickly.
“No, you’re not,” Shiloh agreed. “But you are important to me. And I want to get to know you more. That’s really what dating is about. Getting to know another person and seeing if you want to spend more time together.”
“I already like you,” Zane responded.
Granger sighed quietly and smiled. Shiloh totally had this in the bag, and dang if that didn’t make her more attractive.
“And I like you.” Shiloh smiled widely. “Is it alright with you if we get to know each other better? I don’t know your favorite color or your favorite dessert. And I think those are pretty important things to know about my best friends.”
Zane’s lips curled downward for just a moment before he gave her a half smile. “Yeah…that’s fine. But I don’t want all the kissy stuff like you did with dad.”
Granger put a fist over his mouth, but he knew his smile was too wide to hide.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Shiloh said, also trying to hide a smile. “Kissing someone the way I kissed your dad should be saved for only one person at a time.”
Zane scrunched his nose again and shrugged. “Then it’s fine, I guess. Does it mean you’re going to be my mom?”
“I…” Shiloh hesitated and turned to Granger, who knew his panic was showing on his face.
He cleared his throat. Shiloh had already done a good job of driving the conversation. He probably needed to step up to the plate. “What it means is exactly what Shiloh explained,” Granger said firmly. “We’re getting to know each other. For adults like us, that might mean holding hands and sometimes kissing. But you won’t have a new mom until I get married, and that sometimes that takes a long time to decide on.”
Granger held his breath while Zane seemed to take in what he said, but in the end, the boy apparently didn’t care all that much.
“Whatever. Can I have a pop?”
Granger tilted his head toward the front of the house. “They’re in the cooler by the garage.”
Jumping to his feet, Zane ran off, and Granger blew out a breath.
“Conversation number-one, down,” Shiloh said, rising to her feet.
“Number one?” Granger stood, groaning and stretching his back. “You think there’ll be more?”
Shiloh leaned her shoulder into his arm. “Probably. But he’s got a lot to take in right now. So, I don’t want to push it.”
Granger looked down at her dark head. “You were good with him, you know? For someone who’s never had children.”
Shiloh glanced up, squinting against the sun. “I spoke to him how I wished my mom spoke to me. I hope I didn’t mess things up. I mean…he’s a little boy, and I was a little girl. They aren’t quite the same.”
Intertwining their fingers, Granger gave her hand a small squeeze. “I thought you did great. We’ll just have to wait it out, I guess.”