Chapter Eleven
Within twenty minutes, they sat at a booth across from each other. He watched her fidget with her silverware, her eyes unable to look at him. He reached over the table and twined his fingers with hers.
“Hey, look at me.” He waited for her focus to be on him. “There is no reason to be nervous.”
She continued to squirm, and her lips quivered.
“Pretend Lucky is with us.”
Her brows snapped together in confusion. “Why?”
His thumbs ran over the back of her fingers as he studied her features.
She was so damn pretty. Jennifer again tried to put her hair up after he loosened the braid to keep it away from her face, but like every other time, locks of merlot-colored hair pulled loose and flowed down her back in wild disarray.
Her hands weren’t silky smooth and pampered like a high society woman would be, but they had a few calluses and a tinge of redness from all her work.
His gaze swept over her. He’d bet she had never had a manicure in her life.
He didn’t think he’d ever get sick of looking at her. Grant smiled gently.
“Because you relax when you have an animal around you, or you’re talking about one, but the minute it’s just you and me, you get all tense.”
Jennifer studied him. Her gaze roamed over his strong, masculine features. She released a breath at the gentleness and understanding in his gaze, and her hand tightened on his.
He knew getting her used to him would take time and patience.
He was willing to wait if it meant she ended up with him.
He pulled his eyes from her to the male waiter at their table.
He tried to bite back a growl when the waiter’s gaze stayed locked on Jennifer.
Grant released Jennifer’s hands, sat back in his chair, and cleared his throat to get the guy’s attention.
A red flush spread across the young man’s face.
“Um, sorry, sir. What can I get you?” His gaze trailed back to Jennifer.
Grant tried to swallow back the hot rush of anger, but he could not prevent the livid tick in his jawline.
“The first thing you can do is stop staring at my woman,” he barked.
The waiter jerked and then noticeably swallowed as a deep blush chased across his face. “Of course, sir. I’m sorry.” The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously.
After the waiter left with their orders, they sat and silently gazed at one another before Grant reached across the table and picked up her hands again. He ran his thumbs over the backs of them.
Jennifer stared at his massive hands that held her so gently. He knew his hands were rougher and had more calluses for a white-collar millionaire.
“Why’d you get mad at the waiter?”
Grant’s eyes moved up. “I didn’t like the way he stared at you.”
Jennifer shook her head and frowned. “He wasn’t star—”
Grant nodded his head toward the rest of the restaurant. “Yes, he was. I can’t believe you didn’t notice him or the others who look at you.”
“Others?”
“A few men have been glancing your way since we walked in. The same thing happened at the get-together at the club last week.” He frowned in visible agitation. His thumb slid over her knuckles and sent shivers down her spine.
Jennifer smiled and looked around the restaurant in disbelief. Her smile fell, her eyes widened, and a deep blush spread across her face as she caught sight of a man across the room who stared their way. Her eyes jerked back to Grant’s before she lowered them to the table.
His gaze locked with hers. “I guess I really can’t blame them because I’m the same way, but don’t expect me to like it when other men stare.
” A deep flush swept across his face as his heated gaze touched every part of her body he could see above the table.
“You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?”
Jennifer didn’t answer immediately but bit down on her lower lip and kept her gaze on the table. She tried to pull her hands from his.
“I’m not,” she said, shaking her head.
Grant tightened his grip. “Yes, you are, baby,” he said softly.
The sweetness of his voice pulled her gaze up to him.
He chuckled softly. “If you turn any redder, you’re going to explode. How about we table this discussion for later?” He continued when she nodded her head in relief. “Tell me more about you.”
Jennifer lowered her eyes again. “I’ve told you everything.”
A frown puckered his brows when she tensed up.
“Jennifer, look at me,” he coaxed in a soft voice.
He was pleased when she promptly looked at him.
“You’ve only told me the basics. I want to know everything—your favorite color, foods, movies, what you enjoy doing—from your childhood to your college years. ”
Something tightened in his stomach at the quick flash of despair and fear in her eyes. “Everything’s okay, baby. Nothing can happen to you while I’m with you.”
He caught a flash of desperation before her chin came up.
“Do I get to know everything about you, too?”
His eyes narrowed on hers, and his lips tightened. After a long moment, he realized he’d have to indulge her curiosity about him if he didn’t want to watch her walk away from him. “I’m guessing I will have to share if I want to know about you.”
Jennifer nodded hesitantly. “Yes. I think that’s fair.”
Grant nodded and sighed. “Okay. You are first.”
His hands tightened when she rolled her eyes and tried to pull away from him.
Before she opened her mouth, the waiter was at the table with their drinks. Jennifer watched Grant glue his eyes on the guy until he left. She cleared her throat.
“I’ve told you about college and after?” When he nodded, she continued. “Well, let’s see.” Jennifer looked at their clasped hands and took a deep breath. “I’m an only child. We moved around a lot when I was young.”
“You had a parent in the military?”
She licked her lips nervously. “No. They just got bored easily.”
His brows bunched together. She wasn’t telling him something. “So, how many times did you move?”
She shrugged. Her attention roamed around the restaurant before it came back to him.
“I lost count after eight times, and I was too young to count the earlier years. It got worse after my mom died.”
“When was that?”
“I was ten or eleven.” She exhaled raggedly.
“Then what happened?” His stomach got tighter at the despondent expressions that shadowed her beautiful, delicate face.
“We moved every few months. My dad never seemed to settle. His drinking worsened after my mom’s death, so keeping a job was hard for him. I also suspect he was stealing and making the wrong people angry because a few times we left quickly and at night.”
Grant sat quietly as he digested what she said. “You were so young. Who took care of you?”
Her gaze snapped to him and then back down. “I did.”
“How? Who made sure you had food and clothing? How did you accomplish school?”
Jennifer looked everywhere but at him, and for the time being, he allowed it.
“I used an Internet school program. That way, I could do it wherever we went. All the libraries, thankfully, had computers I could use, and most of the people were very nice and helpful.”
He loosened his grip when he saw her cringe. “And what about food, clothing?”
“Some of the churches were good for clothing, and some had food programs. I always found ways.”
“But you went without food?” he asked in a deceptively mild voice. He knew how that felt because he’d gone hungry a lot as a child. The thought of her going through that made his stomach cramp.
Jennifer’s hands jerked, and then she shrugged. “Not a lot.”
He hated that she hadn’t told him the whole truth and had gone through some of the dark days he had as a child. “So, how did you get here?”
Her shoulders tensed, and tears gathered in her eyes. “Can we talk about something else now?”
Grant studied her carefully. He knew he wouldn’t like the next phase of her story.
“Sure. We’ll talk about this more when we’re alone.”
Jennifer shrugged, looked down at her lap, and hid her face. She then leaned back so the waiter could set their plates down in front of them.
“Will there be anything else, sir?” The young man made sure to keep his gaze on Grant.
Grant just shook his head, unable to take his gaze off Jennifer, and the waiter walked away. Grant took a small bite of spicy food.
“Jennifer, take a bite,” he said after he swallowed.
Jennifer cut a small piece of burrito off and tried to chew. The knot in her throat prevented it from going down easily. She picked up her water, took several sips, and tried to push down the food.
Vicious fury toward himself hit as he watched her struggle. “Are you still hungry, sweetheart?”
Jennifer shook her head without looking at him and set her fork down by her plate.
He reached across the table to catch one of her hands. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I’ll have this boxed up, and we can take it home and eat it later when we’re hungry again.” He lifted his arm, and the waiter came quickly.
The waiter stood nervously beside Grant. “Is there a problem, sir?”
Grant never took his gaze off Jennifer.
“No. Can you box this up for us? We need to leave. And I’ll take the check.”
The waiter lifted the plates and rushed off. He was back within minutes with the bag of food and the check.
Grant threw a hundred-dollar bill down on the check and stood and pulled Jennifer up against him. He wrapped an arm around her and swept the bag with the other hand. They made their way through the restaurant and out to his car without a word.
Only when he had her belted and started the car did he turn to her. He ran a thumb down her cheek before he gripped her chin and turned it toward him.
“I really am sorry, baby.”
Jennifer tried to smile but stopped when her lip quivered. “It’s okay, Grant. You didn’t know I was so sensitive. It’s something I need to work on. I’m sorry I ruined lunch.”
“You didn’t ruin anything, baby. Where would you like to go? Maybe a walk somewhere?”
She shook her head. “No, I have to get back to Lucky. But I would love to go on a walk sometime.” She relaxed back into the seat when he started to drive toward her house.
He followed her in and helped her unlock the door when her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
He placed the bag of food on the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room and watched as she led Lucky outside to do his business.
He waited patiently for Jennifer to fill the dog’s food and the water bowls before she turned to him.
“Can you eat now?”
Jennifer chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head. “I don’t think so, but you go ahead and eat.”
He walked over to her slowly, so she didn’t stiffen up. When he stood with less than a foot between them, he raised a hand to cup the side of her face. He bent, and his lips took hers gently, persuading, not pushing them to open to him.
Jennifer’s eyes fell shut. She moaned softly and grabbed onto his thick wrist with both of hers.
Grant’s other arm curved around her waist and pulled her against his chest, deepening the kiss until they were both breathless. He raised his head and groaned at the seductive, needy look on her face.
“Do you have anything to do for the rest of the day?”
She opened her eyes slowly to stare at him. She shook her head.
“Not really. Just some paperwork.”
He pulled her tighter against him with both arms. One of his hands slid slowly up and down her back and induced a shiver through her.
“How about we put the food in the fridge and eat it later? I’ll watch something on TV while you do a little work.”
She took a moment before she nodded. “Okay. Are you sure you don’t have anything to do? Won’t you get bored?”
Grant thought of the pile of papers on his desk and the hundred or so emails he needed to return.
“No, nothing that important. I would rather spend the day with you, and I don’t care what we’re doing as long as I’m with you,” he assured her.