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Following his lead, I let my mouth slip into a small smile. His confidence is contagious, and his easy-going but teasing demeanor is intoxicating. I’ve been warned by my coworkers that these types of events could be tedious when we get presented and used as a piece of meat, but I don’t think that this event will be anything like that. Not with Grayden by my side.
“I guess we better start with a glass of wine to loosen me up a bit,” I suggest, feeling proud of myself when I coax out a soft chuckle from him.
“As long as you remember who you’re sharing a room with, I’m good with you drinking as many glasses as you want,” he says with a low and thick voice.
I swallow hard. He’s a master at rattling me. His words alone are enough to make my stomach do weird flips.
Without taking his eyes off me, he leans closer as he reaches for my glass. His mouth is so close, and I open mine in anticipation, but he pulls back with my glass of wine in his hands. He offers it to me with a smirk.
“Thank you,” I say a bit breathlessly, and bring the glass straight to my lips, taking a big sip without waiting for him.
Grayden chuckles softly. He reaches for his own glass, slightly lifting it my way in a toasting gesture before drinking from it. He tilts his head back, giving me a view of his throat that bobs as he swallows.
“Hot damn,” I mutter under my breath. It was low enough only for me to hear, but Grayden raises his brow, making me think that I probably said it louder than I first thought.
The rest of the dinner goes by without a hitch, except Liam ignoring me the whole time. While I don’t mind him not speaking to me, I do feel bad if he thought I was leading him on. Dr. Smith’s wife, Lorraine is an absolute sweetheart, though she’s been grilling us since the first course, and continued long after.
“How did you two meet?” Lorraine asks, leaning forward to better hear us over the now louder music, after our dessert plates have been cleared. The north side of the room is being turned into a dance floor.
Grayden and I look at each other. While I’m sure there’s panic in my eyes, his are shining with mischief and a confident smile plays on his lips. The silence stretches too long. They’re onto us.
“Helia’s too embarrassed to admit it, but I’m not,” Grayden says at last, turning his eyes to Lorraine. He leans forward and puts a hand around his mouth as if telling her a secret. At my side, Jessica and Melissa also slide closer, their attention fully on Grayden. “It was on a dating app.”
“No way!” Jessica exclaims, her eyes wide. She throws me an accusing look. “You hate those things.”
“Which is why she probably didn’t tell us,” Melissa tells Jessica with a shrug. “You can be a bit judgy sometimes.”
“I’m not,” Jessica argues, then shakes her head and lets out a resigned sigh. “Okay, yeah. I guess I can be a little judgy.”
“We still love you,” I tell her and reach over to give her hand a comforting squeeze.
“That’s not all,” Grayden continues, enjoying the attention. I look at him with alarm. My brows furrow in concern, but he pretends not to see it as he says, “Would you believe me if I told you that she’s one of those people who start a conversation quoting a Taylor Swift song?”
“Seriously?” Jessica asks in disbelief, her eyes widening to comical proportions. He’s pushed it too far and they’ll call him out on a lie.
“I’m not surprised,” Melissa says, and I jerk my head her way before I can stop myself. “Whenever we were in a car together and Taylor’s song came on, Helia was always singing it.”
“I did not!” I argue, then quickly cover my mouth, realizing my mistake.
“You’re right,” Melissa agrees with a soft laugh. “Calling it singing is probably a bit too generous.”
“It’s like two cats fighting,” Jessica joins in, a big smile on her face.
“Anyway,” Grayden interrupts before I can defend my honor. “Does that answer your question?”
“And then some,” Lorraine agrees with an amused chuckle. She lovingly glances at her husband who’s deep into the conversation with Liam. “Matthew and I were high school sweethearts.”
“When you know, you know,” Grayden replies and lifts his glass for a toast. “To true love!”
“To true love,” Jessica, Melissa, Lorraine, and I echo with our own glasses raised to meet his.
Grayden sets his down and slides his chair back. He gets up, offering me a hand. I glance at it, then up at him with a questioning look in my eyes.
“Care for a dance?” he asks with a low voice that does funny things to my stomach. His lips turn up into a flirty smile and he raises his right brow ever so slightly as if in challenge.
“I hope you can keep up,” I reply as I take his hand, accepting the challenge. Jessica lets out a low whistle and Grayden laughs.
Hand in hand, he guides me to the north side of the room where three other couples are dancing. The song ends when we arrive and as if I’m being transported back to the dance lessons that my family forced me to take, the starting notes of Johann Strauss’s The Blue Danube sound.
