“If it helps, you’re the only guy kissing me.”
He chuckled. “That does help, actually. You’re the only woman I’m kissing.”
“Are we having this discussion over pizza so you have something to look at besides me?”
He swallowed and washed the bite down with soda. “We’re having this discussion over pizza because I wanted the privacy of my apartment, but a distraction from the fact we’re not far from my bed.”
“Fair enough, though the pizza’s not that good.” She took another bite, and he could tell by the way her brows were drawn in that she was thinking. “I would like for us to be a couple.”
“I feel like there’s a but at the end of that sentence.”
“It’s weird to be dating when we were...already past that. I think that’s why we’re having trouble with what we have. But I don’t want to rush it. I hurt you, Grant. That didn’t just disappear because you’re happy to see me again.”
“No, it didn’t,” he said honestly. “But knowing why helps, and I’ll get past it.”
“With time. And you rescued me—literally—and almost everything I have, I have thanks to you and the people in your life. I need a little time to feel like I’m back on my own two feet so we both know I’m not just with you because it was easy. And eventually we’ll get back to where we were, but better, because I won’t be hiding anything.” She smiled. “Back to where we were sounds funny. We were dating. But we were further along in the process, I guess, so that’s what I mean.”
He opened his mouth, but then shoved pizza in it instead of speaking. He wasn’t going to tell her about the ring. There was no reason for her to know they’d been far enough along in the process that he’d been planning to propose. It would only hurt her and make her feel more guilty than she already did.
And if the day came he did buy her a ring, he didn’t want the first almost-proposal casting a shadow over the second.
“So we’re a couple?” he clarified after he’d wiped his mouth. She nodded. “Good. Exclusive?”
“Of course. But we’re not going to fast-forward through the dating even though we did it once. We’re taking it slow.”
“Agreed.” He lifted another slice out of the box and offered it to her. When she shook her head, he put it on his plate. Then he gave her a long look over the rim of his soda glass before setting it down. “How slow, exactly? I’m just asking because the first time we dated, it was a long time before you let me round the bases, if you know what I mean.”
She blushed. “You were very patient. I was impressed, actually. And judging from stuff I’ve heard, that was unusual for you.”
“It was not easy. But you, I was willing to wait for. And I’ll wait again, if that’s what you want. You’re worth it.”
Her expression softened. “I don’t think either of us wants to wait this time.”
“Hell, I didn’t want to wait the first time.” He winked at her. “I guess I should finish my pizza first, though.”
She laughed and took another slice out of the box. “On second thought, I guess waiting a few more minutes won’t hurt.”
* * *
Wren took her time in the bathroom, trying to calm her nerves. It was stupid to be nervous. Grant had seen her naked a bunch of times, and she definitely didn’t have to worry the sex would be disappointing. But she had the jitters and staring at herself in the mirror wasn’t helping.
Because this was far from her first time in his bathroom, she knew he had a stockpile of toothbrushes in the bottom drawer of his vanity. Not because he liked to have them on hand for a string of overnight guests, but because every time he went to the dentist they gave him one, even though they weren’t the kind he usually used.
“They’re free,” he’d told her the first time she’d stayed over and needed one. “You never know when you’re going to drop one in a toilet or something.”
After unwrapping one, she brushed her teeth and helped herself to his mouthwash. Spicy pizza with extra garlic in the crust was a great choice before making out with somebody, she mused, making herself chuckle softly.
When she left the bathroom, Grant was sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table and the remote control in his hand.
“I wasn’t sure you were coming back,” he teased.
“You don’t have a window in your bathroom and you don’t keep any food in there, so I would have come out eventually.”
He lifted his arm when she got to the couch so she could curl up against his side. “All part of my master plan. It keeps people from spending too much time in my bathroom.”
“Is that usually a problem for you?”
“No.” He tapped his temple with his free hand. “Because I don’t keep food in there.”
