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“Sounds good.” She nodded. “Six?”
I liked that. A take-charge woman. Or maybe it was just that I felt like putty in her hands.
It wasn’t like me at all, but she was going to make me a better man. I just knew it.
5
PIPER
Was this a date? The truth was, I had no idea. I’d agreed to go to this lumberjack’s cabin by myself on a work night. That was all I knew.
This time, I was more modestly dressed. I wore a pair of slacks and a short-sleeved sweater that showed no cleavage at all. But as I glanced down, I couldn’t help but note the way my breasts strained the fabric to its limit. Yeah, it was hard to dress modestly when you had these kinds of curves going on.
The door burst open as I was looking down at my chest. My head snapped up. Unlike last time, Grayson was fully clothed. He wore a gigantic T-shirt that still struggled to conceal his muscles, along with a pair of slightly loose jeans. Had he done that on purpose? Allowing a little extra room for an erection in case I showed up half-naked again?
“Come on in,” he said.
He stepped back to give me room to enter. He didn’t reach out to hug me or even shake my hand. But what did I expect after I’d run out of here like a twelve-year-old who’d just gotten a kiss from a boy she liked?
Stepping inside, my senses were assaulted once again. The smell of soapy wood surrounded me. Then there was the large, open room with minimal furnishings. The table off to the left—our table—now held two placemats and two wineglasses.
“Thank you for offering to make dinner for me,” I said.
He gave a nod and closed the door behind me, holding out a hand. It took me a long moment to realize he wasn’t planning to show affection. He was offering to take my purse.
I handed it to him. “Thank you.”
He nodded again, then hung it on the hook behind him. Next to it was a hook bearing a jacket and another with a coat on it. It was summertime, so I assumed he left that hanging there year round.
“I’m not much of a fancy cook,” he said. “I had some steaks in the freezer. I threw them on the grill. They should be ready in a minute. Have a seat.”
He gestured toward the table as he went outside. I awkwardly walked over to the table and pulled one of the chairs back. It felt weird, sitting at the table by myself with nothing in front of me. Maybe I should have sat on the couch or stood until he came in.
“Hopefully, they’re done enough,” he said. “I didn’t have a way to get in touch with you to find out how you like your meat.”
How I liked my meat. My mind went straight to a naughty place, and I had to force myself to keep a straight face.
“Oh, right,” I said. “You don’t have my phone number.”
“We’ll have to fix that,” he said.
He was still in the kitchen, working. I turned to watch. Should I offer to help or just sit here and gawk at him? He looked so handsome with that dark head of hair and those broad shoulders. It was hard to believe he was the guy who had been my first time.
Suddenly he turned, catching me staring. Worse, my gaze had lowered to his ass, which meant I was now staring directly at his crotch. I quickly jerked my eyes upward, but it was too late. He’d caught me. I knew that by the slight smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“I’m no gourmet chef,” he said. “I just fried up some potatoes and onions to go with it. Do you need steak sauce?”
He set the steak in front of me. I shook my head.
“What do you want to drink?” He stepped back, looking at the glass. “I don’t have wine. Someone gave me those glasses.”
A former girlfriend? He hadn’t talked about his love life. For all I knew, he’d been married before. Jealousy stabbed at my gut, making me feel petty. It was ridiculous to be jealous of a past relationship.
“Water’s fine,” I said.
He headed to the fridge and returned a minute or so later, a beer in one hand and a bottled water in another. As soon as he sat down, I felt it from my head to my toes, the electricity between us. It had been there from the start with him, and I’d felt it again when he showed up at my bar last night. Yes, this was like nothing I’d ever felt.
“I thought maybe I’d scared you off,” he said as he popped open his beer and took a swig. He set it down next to his wineglass. “I thought maybe you’d had second thoughts about what we did.”
