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I didn’t want to look.
When I lowered my gaze, I found a new reply from Killian that said, “Is that so?” and below that, G had replied as me, sending him my live fucking location, accompanied by a message that said, “I would like to try your tedious coffee.”
“G! Wha—why would you do that? How did you even know how to do that?”
“I want to meet your doctor. And I may be old, but I’m not dead. They had a lovely young gentleman come to teach us how to do all sorts of things with our telephones a few weeks ago. Jason, his name was. Lovely manners.”
“He’s not my doctor. And he’s not coming here, so get that idea out of your head.”
Except…I hadn’t read the latest reply from Killian.
Three words.
On my way.
“Oh, my. Josh. You didn’t tell me your doctor was so handsome.” My grandma batted her wispy lashes at a visibly disconcerted Killian—that was, until his expression shuttered.
She was right, though. He was very fucking handsome. He looked hot as fuck in the suits and smart clothes he wore for work, but today, he’d gone casual with dark-blue jeans that hugged his legs, polished tan loafers, and a forest-green soft knitted jumper that somehow enhanced his light eyes. He’d pushed up the sleeves, and seeing those strong forearms with his dark hair and those capable hands with the knuckles flexing was making my mind go in directions that were very inappropriate when one’s grandmother was in the same room.
Killian rubbed a hand over the stubble of his jaw, his gaze sliding to mine before going back to my grandma. He cleared his throat, clearly wondering why on earth I’d invited him here—which I hadn’t. Thanks, G.
I sighed. “G. Stop making this weird. I can’t take you anywhere.” Tucking my arm through hers, I faced Killian. “I guess it’s down to me to make the introductions. Grandma, this is Killian. Killian, this is my grandma, Glynis.”
Killian’s face remained impassive, but I could see the muscle ticking in his jaw. I didn’t blame him. Having him meet the woman who raised me was not something I’d ever expected to happen, and I was at as much of a loss as he was. She knew some of my friends, sure—Niccolò was her favourite—but she’d never met any of the men I’d slept with.
He recovered quickly, though. “Glynis. It’s a pleasure.” Gently clasping her hand, he lifted it to his lips, and something inside me warmed. “If I’d have known I was going to meet you—in fact, please excuse me for a moment.” He backed away from us and disappeared out of the door. As soon as he was gone, I turned to my grandma.
“I can’t believe you did that! What’s he going to think? He thinks I invited him here to meet you, and he’s not—we’re not like that! He’s—he’s?—”
“Don’t get so worked up, dear.” She patted my arm. “I saw the way he looked at you when he walked in.”
“How did he look at me?”
A soft, indulgent smile curved over her lips. “It was as if no one else existed in that moment. You were all he saw.”
I shook my head with a disbelieving laugh. G saw what she wanted to see. “He didn’t look at me like that.”
She ignored my comment, instead looking towards the door that Killian had disappeared through. “Another older man, hmm? You do seem to gravitate towards them, or so Niccolò tells me.”
That little fucker. “G.”
Her humour died away. “You know age is nothing but a number, darling. Your grandad was thirteen years older than me.”
“I know that, and I know you don’t care about age. But that’s not what this is, okay? Killian only came because he was being polite.”
“Hmm. We’ll see,” was all she said. I managed to change the subject to the latest gossip in the retirement complex, and the interrogation was dropped. For now.
When Killian returned a short while later, he cleared his throat as he stopped in front of G, producing a bouquet of flowers in whites and yellows and oranges from behind his back. “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady,” he said, presenting the bouquet to my grandma with a flourish. My heart skipped a beat at seeing this man—who I now knew had such a thoughtful side—effortlessly charming my grandma.How and where he’d managed to get them so quickly, I had no idea, nor why he’d even thought to do so, but the delight in G’s face brought a lump to my throat.
Thanks, I mouthed as my grandma motioned for him to stoop so she could press a kiss to his cheek. He flushed, glancing over at me before returning his attention to G, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
I didn’t get a chance to say anything more to him because my grandma immediately beckoned one of the staff members over, asking them for some water and a vase for the flowers “this wonderful gentleman” had brought for her. When the flowers had been dealt with, G turned on the charm, somehow managing to find out more about Killian in a few minutes than I’d found out in all our interactions together. Some of it I knew already, but some of the information was new.
Dr. Killian Wilder. Thirty years old, with a PhD in business management. No close family and had lived alone since the age of seventeen. A principal lecturer who was hoping to gain a professorship and become the head of LSU’s business school.
He answered my grandma’s questions with endless patience, even though it was clear that he was uncomfortable with being put on the spot. G eventually noticed my discreet hand and eye signals and excused herself.
When she was gone, Killian glanced over at me. “Can I have a word?”
