Oh no.I gave Grandpa a disapproving look, but he shrugged innocently. I supposed older folks had no filter and therefore got away with a lot of things.
Why did I get the sense that Grandpa was trying to tell me something? Or was I overthinking it? This was my grandfather—a man who loved the simple life. He was maneuvering something behind the scenes. I couldfeelit. I’d inquire about it later when I had him alone.
“I’m forty-two and have learned how to navigate this crazy world we live in.”
Wow.He was sixteen years older than me.Sixteen years!I’d never been attracted to anyone that much older than me.
“Why aren’t you married?” Grandpa blurted out.
“Grandpa!” Heat bloomed on my face. His straightforwardness was often too much. What if Kain had a personal reason he didn’t want to share? I would hate it if someone put me on the spot like that.
Kain shrugged, his eyes flicking my way. “Just waiting for the right woman.” Then he switched his attention back to Grandpa. “How did you meet the love of your life?”
Smiling, Grandpa told him the story of his high school sweetheart. Kain was good with people, knowing exactly how to steer the attention away from him. I supposed this ability made him successful.
Lunch lasted three hours. When Kain prepared to leave, it surprised me that I wanted him to stay longer.
He rubbed his flat stomach. “That meal was delicious.”
How could someone eat two massive servings and a cupcake and not have even a little belly? Did he have some kind of internal machine that broke down food and made it all disappear?
I didn’t have any defined abs, and mine revealed a bump when I ate two servings of anything. Where did all the food in him go?
I imagined him working out at the gym, beads of sweat trickling down his chest, stomach, legs, and . . .
Oh my God.My wild imagination was dangerous.
I looked up, and he was staring down at me. My heart skipped and twirled as a wave of courage surged in me.
Grandpa was busy putting the leftover food into containers,leaving Kain and me alone in the hallway. We stood close, my head reaching his chin.
He glanced down, and his finger flicked something from the corner of my mouth. “You have a cute little smear of food here.”
Heat inflamed my cheeks. I had no words, especially when he licked the smear off his finger. The heat from my cheeks was nothing compared to the flame burning in my core.Holy shit.
“Are you busy next week? I have a banquet to attend.” His eyes intensified on me.
Earlier, his green eyes had appeared like a calm evergreen forest. But now they held a depth that drew me in. Gold flecks burst in his irises, making them appear as if the forest were coming to life. With every blink, shift of his head, and flicker of emotion, the shades of green transformed a little. For a moment, I envisioned myself inside a sanctuary filled with soothing moss and forest shadows that held wild secrets.
When I didn’t respond, he asked, “Want to accompany me?”
He was asking me out again after I’d rejected him. Confidence in a man was attractive, and my resistance wavered.
Something clanked loudly in the kitchen, and we both turned in that direction. I was about to holler to see if Grandpa needed help when he exclaimed, “Just dropped a lid! Sorry, senior moment.”
I clamped a hand over my mouth, preventing a laugh.
“He’s a rare one.” Kain grinned. “He cracks me up.”
“He’s good with people. No one can resist him,” I said, still tossing his question around in my head.
“I can’t resist you either.” The amusement in his eyes turned into desire.
“I turned you down before. Aren’t you afraid I’m going to say no again?”
“When a man knows what he wants, nothing can stop him from getting it.” He brushed a finger down my cheek, and a shiver skipped down my spine one vertebra at a time. “I wanted you from the very first moment I saw you. That’s never happened before.” He leaned into my ear. “I know you’re attracted to me too.”
I recoiled at his arrogance. “How do you know?”
