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Stay here in Stoney Creek indefinitely?
I mean, I know that I’m crazy about him and I want to get to know him better, once his pesky divorce is out of the way.
None of this was what I expected.
But for once, I let my heart have what it wants. And it wants Grayson Bassett.
I’m falling hard for this man and I don’t know how long I can keep my real feelings at bay. He probably doesn’t even want to get into anything permanent after the divorce from hell, and I get that. But it also sucks that women like Keira get to try and ruin good men for anyone else. I’m glad Gray, for the most part, has risen above it and while he does have grumpy elements, he hasn’t let it totally affect his life.
He’s trying to move on. He’s picked himself up and moved back home, is working for the family business, and wants a family.
All the things that I’ve also craved my entire life, but it’s taken me until recently to realize that. And that all I want in life could be right here in Stoney Creek.
I just don’t want to scare Gray off, not that he seems like he’d be put off. Far from it. He wants the big picture, he told me that night in New York. I just don’t want to set my heart up for a fall if I’m not the one.
Could I be the one?
Everything happens for a reason, so they say. And I know that no matter what, Gray has a piece of my heart, and that’s a lot to have at stake.
30
Grayson
A week passes by, then another. Keira and her lawyer remain silent, leaving me unsure if it's good or bad. In the past, not hearing from her meant nothing good. But I’m also not going to live my life based on what my ex-wife is doing, thinking or plotting.
I couldn’t care less, and if she wants to go before a judge, I’m all for it. The prenup contention won’t hold up in court, of that much I’m sure.
I also decide to take Hartley out to Coyote Run the following weekend. I gather a picnic, a rug, and a bottle of wine in my truck, ready for a night out.
We’ve been seeing each other in secret. The terms of our relationship swiftly changing after the night she spent in my bed.
I knew then I didn't want to let her go, and since we can't be seen in public together as a couple, we spend nights either at my place or hers. While I fucking love having her all to myself, I also want to shout it from the rooftops that she’s my girl and we’re together. Hartley Chambers is a woman to love.
Call me a hopeless romantic, but I never lost sight of the fact that I still want what I want. Despite being put off dating after my breakup, Hartley has completely changed my perspective. I’m falling for her in a big way, and while I know she enjoys my company and we’re like two lovesick teenagers, I also love spending time with her. Listening to stories about her upbringing in Boston and the brother that she can’t stand but tolerates for the sake of their father.
When her car rolls up at my place just before dusk, I pull her into my arms and we kiss.
“Feels like I haven’t seen you in forever,” I say into her hair.
“You saw me only yesterday,” she reminds me.
“It’s never enough time.”
She peeks over my shoulder, standing on her tiptoes as she peers into the back of my truck. “Are we going somewhere?”
“I thought you might like to see Coyote Run. I packed us a picnic.”
“You really went all out.”
“Even country boys can make an impression,” I quip as she unwraps herself from me.
I glance down at her body, a smirk on my face. She’s wearing sweats, a t-shirt and a plaid loose button up over the top. “I think I like you as a farm girl. It’s sexy.”
She laughs out loud. “There is nothing sexy about smelling like horse manure, being covered in hay and sweating like a pig.”
I pique a brow. “Have you taken up a new job I don’t know about?”
She rolls her eyes. “No, I helped Trudy while Gaitley was rounding up cattle, and Easton is away for a few days. I’ve always wanted to learn more about horses and she suggested it the other week when we had dinner.”
