13. Andi
Chapter 13
Andi
I ’m not sure how much of a surprise this party can be with it all out in the open like this. Griffin pulls into a spot in the lot in front of the park, lights and streamers strung all over the pavilion. Already, over two dozen or so people are here. I recognize Taryn, though my only interaction with her wasn’t the best. I wouldn’t say I get nervous to meet people, but being the new girl on the block is a bit intimidating.
I check my hair and makeup in the visor’s mirror, but the kids are impatient and run off before I even have my seat belt unbuckled. Griffin shouts directions at them as he comes around to my side, extending his hand to help me out of the truck. In a cream-colored polo shirt and jeans, he has no right to look so good. He got his hair trimmed yesterday, the sides close-cropped though the grays still shine through, and I’m moving before I think better of it, reaching up to sweep my fingers through the longer strands on the top of his head.
He stays very still, his eyes cataloguing every inch of my face, and I don’t know what else to tell him besides, “You had a hair out of place. Didn’t think you’d like that, Captain.”
He shakes his head, nudging my hand down to palm his cheek, and he leans into it for a moment before shifting away, so I lower my hand to my side. Even though we promised each other weeks ago we’d keep our relationship strictly professional—boss and employee, nanny and single dad—I can’t help it.
I don’t think he can either.
“You seem nervous,” he says, and my stomach flutters at his observation.
It’s both immensely pleasing that he can read me so well and a little frustrating that I can’t hide anything from him. “How’d you know?”
“You wear all your emotions on your face.” He presses his hand against the small of my back, guiding me through the crowd. The warmth of his touch calms me. “I’ll introduce you to everyone. They’ll love you.”
I inexplicably hope they do.
Just as I can’t explain meeting Griffin for the first time, my immediate and undeniable infatuation with the guy who rescued me from the side of the road. The man who has never made me feel anything less than safe and secure. This mature and considerate father who needed someone to look after his children. Whom I have no business falling for, but every time we’re together, it’s like swimming upstream.
It would be so much easier to let go, to give in to the current and be drawn to the ocean. I’m sure he could and would save me.
As we weave through the throng of people, Griffin rattles off names. I meet Ian’s kids, Jasper, Jaybird, and Juniper. There is Eloise, the owner of Sweet Cheeks, the bakery next to Ian’s tattoo shop. Marianne and Clara are here, as well as Taryn’s two kids, Jake and Maddie. Unlike the day she and I met, she appears to be in a better mood. In fact, she tells me she’s heard I’ve been doing a wonderful job with Logan and Grace. Which means Griffin has been talking about me, and I’m infinitely giddy about that.
Especially when Ian shows up to a chorus of cheers. Griffin’s older brother is… Well, he’s hot. A silver fox with a beard, muscles, and tattoos all over. When he finally makes it through the crowd to us, he grips Griffin’s shoulder with a gruff, “Cap.”
“Happy birthday,” Griffin says before hugging him, a few more words I can’t hear exchanged between them. Then Ian turns to me with a raised brow. “And who is this?”
Griffin gestures between us. “Ian, meet Andi. Andi, this is my older brother, Ian.”
“Ah.” Ian takes my hand, his grip firm and warm. “This is the infamous Andi.” His eyes are just as dark as Griffin’s, and he sweeps his gaze over me. Not in any sexual way, more out of curiosity. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting the woman who has my brother upside down and inside out.”
“Fuck off,” Griffin grumbles.
“So defensive.” Then he winks at me, and it kind of…it makes my heart stutter. Ian doesn’t notice because he’s on to greeting the next person, but Griffin certainly does, scowling at me like I’ve offended him.
“What?” I laugh, and he scowls harder. “Your brother is really good-looking.”
“No, he’s not.”
I like jealous Griffin. Ruffled Captain Stone.
“You’re jealous.” I knock my hand into his thick shoulder, and he stares down at me like he doesn’t mind my teasing. Likes it, even.
He opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by someone calling his name. He glances over his shoulder to acknowledge them then murmurs to me, “Be right back.”
He lightly pinches my wrist before he marches off, and I watch as he effortlessly carries bags of ice from the trunk of Taryn’s car to dump them into a cooler. They have a short conversation, and he tosses his arm around her shoulders, an action that warms my heart. Since I’m not close to my family, it’s nice to see the Stone family interact.
Although I don’t know any of them all that well, I can tell they love and care for one another. A vague notion of being accepted into their circle filters through my brain. I have no idea how I would do that or if I’d even be welcome, but I stand off to the side taking in the party as a whole. Lots of laughter and smiling faces.
It’s a home.
“Andi, do you want to play with us?”
I spin around to find Logan, Grace, and their cousin Maddie. They’ve got a frisbee, and I shrug.
“Sure.” I follow them out to the grassy area and throw it around for a while, learning Maddie is twelve and has terrible aim since I’m constantly running to grab the plastic disk until I’m out of breath.
“All right,” I say, laughing. “I need a break. Let’s go grab something to eat.”
The kids agree, and we help ourselves to plates of food then settle at one of the long tables. Logan shovels macaroni salad into his mouth while Maddie and Grace chat about some TV show. My own plate is piled high, but I’m too distracted by the woman I notice with Griffin. She’s standing awfully close to him, smiling about something.
“Who’s that with your dad?” I ask, all casual-like.
Logan pauses long enough from eating to follow my line of sight. “Ugh. That’s Elsa.”
“Like… Frozen ?”
Grace shakes her head. “Yes, but she’s nothing like that Elsa. Except they’re both blond.”
“She’s Dad’s ex-girlfriend,” Logan explains around a mouthful of food. “She’s the worst.”
I raise my eyebrows at that. This Elsa woman is tall and willowy with long, straight blond hair. Even from here, I can tell she’s gorgeous in an intimidating way that highlights all my own insecurities.
“How come?”
“We overheard her talking on the phone one day, telling someone that if she ever married Dad, she’d send me and Gracie to boarding school.”
My mouth drops open in shock. “Seriously?”
Not that the twins couldn’t be terrors, but boarding school is not the answer. Obviously. I mean, I solved the puzzle of their bad behavior. It wasn’t that hard to understand.
“It always felt like she didn’t like us, but we never even played any tricks on her,” Grace whispers to me. “So she didn’t like us for no reason.”
And that is reason enough for me not to like her.
“Did your dad know that?”
“We never told him,” Logan says after chugging half a can of Coke.
“But he broke up with her?” I guess, and the kids shrug. I turn back to Griffin and Elsa, irritation simmering in my gut. The thought of him with someone so clearly awful makes me want to march over there and tell her off. But that would be ridiculous, right? I have no claim over him.
I force myself to finish my food, even though I’ve lost my appetite. The kids are done eating too, and since I’m in need of a distraction so I don’t do something stupid, I tug on Logan’s arm. “Come dance with me.”
There’s music playing, a ska band from the ’90s, I think, and he makes a face. “What? No way!”
“Oh, come on!” I stand, pulling him up with me. “It’ll be fun.”
He fights me the whole way as I drag him to a little open space under the pavilion. “Dancing is not fun.”
“Yes, it is.” I hold his hands, urging him to move. He doesn’t. Merely stands there, glaring at me like I’m embarrassing him.
But it’s a rite of passage.
“I don’t know how to dance,” he grumbles, and I grin.
“Good thing for you, I do. Your future girlfriends will appreciate that I taught you. Now, look, all you have to do is find the beat. Stick with this side-to-side motion. Yeah, like that.”
He keeps his head down, following me as I lead him, step-touching right to left.
“You can get fancy, like this,” I say, opening our arms out wide and then pulling them in between us, forcing him to step toward me, and he crashes into me. I laugh. “Not like that.”
“This is so dumb,” he mutters.
“No, it’s not. You just have to avoid stepping on my feet.”
He fights a smile and starts to loosen up, so I make a suggestion. “Can I teach you a two-step? It’s super simple.” When he shrugs indifferently, I show him how to hold his arms, and for once, I’m glad I’m so short. There isn’t too much of a difference between us when he reaches up to hold my right hand. I explain that he should lead. “You’re going to guide me with a little bit of pressure to show me what direction to go in.”
He listens intently as I show him how to take two quick steps to the side and then one slow to the other. “Get it, two-step?”
“Ha-ha,” he says, with a roll of his eyes like he’s too cool for this, even though I can feel how damp his palms are.
“Let’s try it. You lead, ’kay?”
He nods and all but shoves me to the left. I laugh, trying and failing to make this simple two-step work. Even though he’s smaller than me, it doesn’t feel great when he keeps stepping on my toes. I playfully shriek whenever he does, earning a mumbled apology and half smile. I want him to have fun. Which he seems to be having, especially when he attempts a spin move.
“Look at you!” I toss my head back to laugh when he smashes into me again, and that’s when I notice Griffin watching us, his gaze hot on me, even as Elsa is still talking to him. My steps fizzle out as I’m unable to tear my gaze away from him. Logan tries to pivot us again, and he steps on my foot, hard this time.
I bend over, hissing in my pain, and he immediately jumps away. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it.”
“I know, buddy. It’s all right. It’s?—”
“Mind if I cut in?”
Both Logan and I look up to find his dad next to us, and Logan eagerly hands over the reins. “See ya!”
“Thanks for the dance,” I call after him as he runs off. Right into Ian’s daughter, Juniper. From the little I know of her, she’s in college and the apple of her father’s and brothers’ eyes.
“Not so fast, Romeo,” she says, pulling him into her. “Dance with me. I love this song.”
“Not you too!”
I bite back a laugh then sweep my attention around, noting how others are joining in dancing, so it doesn’t feel like all eyes are on me when I take Griffin’s hand.
His are the only eyes I want on me.
Those unblinking dark pools remain on me as his warm palm engulfs mine, his other hand on my lower back. And I fall into him, easily letting him take control and walk me in a circle, his eyes never leaving mine. It’s unrelenting and hard to breathe with this force between us. Pushing us together.
Both of us pretending we should stay apart.
But we have this. A dance.
A moment.
His feet leading me, and my heart in his hands.
He surprises me into a giggle when he circles our arms up above our head, spinning me around in a move that is not for beginners.
“I never took you for a dancer,” I say, but instead of answering, he swings me around him, his hand trailing over my middle, his fingers skimming along my stomach. When we face each other again, I ask, “Where’d you learn?”
“I was stationed in Virginia. One of the guys on my team was big into line dancing. We used to give him a lot of shit until we learned how many girls he pulled with it.”
“So, you learned?”
“So, I learned,” he affirms.
“Learned to dance and loves to read. Who even are you, Captain Stone? What other secrets are you hiding?”
He avoids my question with one of his own. “How do you know I love to read?”
“Well, the bookcase in the living room is filled, and since I assume Gracie and Logan aren’t reading The Alchemist or Atomic Habits , I have to guess they’re yours. Hardbacks, too. That means you’re a reader for real, not just a vacation kind.”
He nods but again offers nothing.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice all the Shakespeare,” I add.
“Would that all women had thy wit and understanding.”
What I wouldn’t give to crawl into this man’s brain for a little while. To see what makes him tick.
What I wouldn’t give to crawl into his heart for a long while. To see if maybe I could stay.
“Which one is that quote from?”
“ Much Ado About Nothing . My mom taught high school English. She loved to read. I love to read.” His hands slip from their hold and link at my back, pulling me closer to him, forcing me to reach up, hands clinging to the back of his neck.
This is infinitely more intimate, especially when I can feel his torso expand and fall with each breath. The sunset has painted the sky pink and purple, and with the twinkly lights above us swaying in the slight breeze, it feels like something out of a book. Like someone wrote this moment for us. Like the hundreds of love songs that describe this moment. When a man looks at a woman with sincerity and whispers something to her he would never tell anyone else.
“My mom would send me her favorite Shakespeare with lines or passages highlighted. It kept me connected to her, whether I was in Virginia or on the other side of the world. Or, I guess, in another existence now.”
“That’s beautiful.” I scratch my fingernails over the nape of his neck, the hair there too short for me to toy with, but he seems to like it, lowering his head.
“You’re beautiful,” he rasps, and I duck my chin, overwhelmed by his unremitting honesty and the harsh voice in the back of my mind, reminding me that I’m not good enough. That I never will be.
“Andi.” He tips my face up to his with his fingers under my jaw. “Why are you crying?”
I blink a few times. “Because you’re sweet, and I’m not sure… It’s hard to hear sometimes, is all.”
“It’s hard to hear you’re beautiful?” When I nod, he frowns. “It’s not what you look like. It’s what you are. Your heart. It’s beautiful.”
If I didn’t love him before, I sure do now, and I lean my temple against his shoulder. His grip on me tightens, and we sway in contented silence until I spot Elsa. I temper my voice as I tilt my head back to meet Griffin’s eyes. “Why would you date someone who didn’t like your kids?”
He jerks back. “What?”
“Elsa,” I say quietly. “Your ex-girlfriend.”
He frowns. “I…I’m not sure what you mean.”
On another slow turn, I see her again and sigh. “The kids told me that she wasn’t very nice to them.”
His brows shoot up toward his hairline. “I had no idea.”
“Overheard her saying she would send them to boarding school when she married you. Were you going to marry her?”
His fingers adjust their grip on my waist, as if making sure I can’t go anywhere, and he takes a deep breath before explaining, “We were together for about a year. She was the one serious relationship I had, and, yes, we had talked about marriage, but I never once told her I’d propose. It was a planning sort of conversation, you know?”
I snort. Yeah, I know. Griffin Stone and his schedules.
“If I’d known she ever said that, I would have ended it immediately.”
I nod, peeking over his shoulder to see Elsa is no longer watching us—good—and when I glance back at Griffin, he’s gazing at me with a curious twist to his lips. Not quite a frown, but not quite a smile either.
“You’re really upset about that?” he asks, and I nod.
“I couldn’t believe that you would ever be with someone who wouldn’t treat your kids right.”
He shakes his head, wincing. “I wouldn’t. I only wish they would have told me.”
“If it makes you feel better, I think they would tell you now.”
“It does make me feel better,” he says, gliding one of his hands up my back, so he’s holding me more like a hug, tugging me right up against him. “Also makes me like you even more for defending Logan and Gracie.”
“I will always defend them,” I promise, and he bends like he wants to seal it with a kiss, but stops himself, close enough that his warm breath wafts over my mouth. I am immensely disappointed, but I can’t blame him. One of us has to keep our head.
He doesn’t say anything for long seconds, but by the time he finally does, the song is over, and his fingers release their grip on me. “Thanks for the dance, Andi.”
“Thanks for bringing me to the party, Griff.”
His smile is fleeting, but the gift of witnessing it is enough for now.