We arrive just a few minutes later because “downtown” is really just an expression here more than an actual destination. We find parking right away, and Grayson hops out quickly enough to race around and open my door for me.
“I’m perfectly capable of opening my own doors, you know.” A sentiment that doesn’t stop me from leaning on him as I jump down into the slushy snow.
“Trust me, Emmy. I’m well aware of all the many things you are capable of.”
“Are you making a sex joke on our first date?”
He slips his hand under my coat, clutching my ass and pulling me into him. His head dips down, lingering a fraction of an inch away from my lips. Our breaths mingle and he turns his head, skirting his mouth down my neck, sucking lightly on my slightly exposed collarbone.
And each of my frozen extremities melts into a gooey puddle.
He pulls away from me suddenly, leaving me even colder than I already was. “Ready for dinner?”
“Huh?” Apparently my brain also has frozen to the point of losing all function, not that I ever had much to begin with in the presence of Grayson West.
He chuckles and pulls me into his side, guiding me intothe pub, which is right in front of us because parking here is plentiful and convenient—a foreign phenomenon.
The warmth of the interior instantly envelops me, and I sigh at the comfort of it. The pub is decked out in old gray stone and wooden beams, and there’s a huge fireplace roaring with flames. There’s a long bar made of a dark polished wood, but Grayson leads me over to a booth near the fire, like the very smart man he is. We settle into the comfortably cracked burgundy leather and order a round of beers when our server stops by a minute later.
I wait for him to bring it up—the big relationship-sized elephant in the pub. But he doesn’t and so I don’t, and instead we have a delightfully pleasant conversation while we eat fish and chips and drink our beers. And it’s nice. Not just because I’m dreading the awkward “Where do we stand?” conversation, but because I actually like talking with him.
After our plates are cleaned and cleared, and with just the final sips of beer remaining in our steins, Grayson levels me with a serious look. But he doesn’t say what I expect, what I’ve been waiting for.
Instead, he leans forward, reaching for my hand across the table. “Will you tell me about your dad, Ems? I know the basics, of course, and what happened, but I don’t know much about your relationship with him.”
My heart stops in my chest for just a minute as I have that realization. The one that sneaks up on me every once in a while. The realization that he’s gone.
He squeezes my hand. “You don’t have to, of course, but I’d like to hear about him if you want to tell me.”
I nod, taking in a long breath, steadying my nerves andmy voice before I open my mouth to speak. “He died four years ago. Heart attack. It was pretty sudden. One day he was completely healthy, and the next day he was gone. But you probably knew most of that.”
Grayson keeps a tight hold on my hand but doesn’t interrupt me.
“He was the greatest.” The words choke out of me, not just because it’s still hard to talk about my dad, but because I now know Grayson’s struggles with his own dad. Yes, I lost mine much too soon, but while he was here, he was everything I needed him to be. “Supportive and caring and loving. Never missed a school play or a dance recital, even when showing up caused a lot of stares and awkward photos. Took me book shopping and taught me how to ride a bike. Everything I could’ve ever wanted him to be.”
“He sounds like an amazing man.” The emotions are layered in Grayson’s voice and in the tight smile he gives me.
“He was. I was very lucky to have him in my life.”
“How’s your relationship with your mom?”
I roll my eyes but pair it with a smile. “She’s irritating in the best possible way. Pushy and overinvolved, but hilarious and has the biggest heart.” My smile fades just a tad. “I can’t imagine what it was like for her, what it’s still like for her. They really, truly loved each other. Soulmates, as cliché as it sounds.” An ache appears, right at the center of my chest. Obviously, I know how hard it must have been for my mom to lose the love of her life—she and my dad were the kind of couple I write movies about, so perfectly suited for only each other. But not having experiencedanything close to that myself, I could never really imagine the full extent of her pain.
Now, as I look across the table at this beautiful man, I think I might have an inkling of an idea.
And it’s at that moment when the tears spring to my eyes.
Grayson hands me a napkin, still keeping a hold on my hand, his thumb tracing a soothing pattern over my knuckles. “Ready to go?”
I wipe my eyes and nod, grateful he seems to know exactly what I need in the moment. “Thank you for asking about him. And for listening.”
“Of course. I want to know about everything, and everyone, that’s important to you, Ems.” Grayson clears his throat, and the mood shifts. “You wanna walk for a little while before we head back?”
I fake a smile, knowing that it won’t be long before Grayson turns it real. “Only if there’s somewhere to grab hot chocolate along the way.” I scooch out of the booth and hold out my hand to him.
He takes it, sliding his own way out and tucking my hand into the crook of his elbow. “I promise we’ll find you something warm and sweet.”
“Are you expecting me to go for the obvious and say you’re the only thing warm and sweet I need?”
