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“I make no such promise,” I teased. “It sounds like the perfect piece of intel that could be useful at a later date.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
I shrugged. “I might. Depends on what kind of favor I need and how insistent you are that you won’t do it. Otherwise, your secret is safe-ish with me.”
“Good to know.” He winked and bumped my shoulder. “Guess I’ll just have to figure out a way to make you promise to keep that pretty little mouth shut.”
And just like that, I wanted him.
Again.
Grant
“You’re good with her.” Brenna wore a small smile as she looked at Mariana skipping ahead of us through the Book Festival, smiling and waving at all the new faces who stopped to greet her.
I shrugged off the compliment, but coming from Brenna, I let the words sooth my self-doubts. “We are a work in progress on most days. Sometimes she calls me ‘Dad’ with this kind of unsure voice that reminds me we’re basically strangers. Others, she calls me Grant like we’re old friends. It’s strange.”
She let out a loud, throaty laugh and let one hand drop to my shoulder, causing an undeniable zing to shoot through my body. “That pretty much sums up parenting if you ask my sister. Strange.”
“Yeah?” It was nice to hear that my struggles weren’t necessarily due to my own shortcomings.
She nodded and ran a hand through her blond hair, today styled in springy curls that gave her a sexy girl next door quality that was even more appealing than the sexy cowgirl. “Oh yeah. I swear half the time I look forward to her calls is to hear all that crazy things the kids get up to. Molly Ann went through a phase where she called her Jessie May instead of Mama and I thought my cool-headed sister would blow a gasket!” She laughed again at the memory and my longing for her shot high up into the sky.
“I missed this,” I told her in a moment of honesty. “Just talking to you and listening to your laugh. It’s nice.”
Her laughter faded but the smile remained, small and wistful. “It is nice.”
“We could hang out sometime, you know. As friends.”
She flashed a wide, knowing smile at my words. “I think we both know that there’s no way in hell we could ever be just friends. I like you Grant, probably more than its wise to like you given…everything. Let’s not ruin it.”
“But what if we made it better?” It wasn’t unheard of to like the woman you were sleeping with, I always did, but it wasn’t the same with Brenna. I genuinely liked her and looked forward to any time I got with her, naked or clothed.
“How would we do that?” I should have expected the question, this was Brenna we were talking about, but it took me too long to answer and she laughed. “Can’t come up with anything other than sex?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just trying to figure out how to explain it. This is all kind of new to me, Brenna.”
“I know.” Her voice was full of sympathy, as if she felt sorry for me, a grown ass man who couldn’t put his feelings into words.
“Hey Brenna?” Mariana tugged on her hand with a shy smile. “Have you read this book?” She held up a copy of Charlotte’s Web.
“I have and I love it. It’s about an unlikely friendship between a pig and a spider.”
Mariana turned her big brown eyes onto me, uncertain as she prepared to make her request. “Can we this one, Dad?”
As if I could deny her anything when she made a sincere request and her sweet voice reminded me of how important my new job was to both of us. “Of course. Keep looking to see if you find any others.” She ran off and I let out a sigh, unaware I’d been holding my breath.
“You love her.” Brenna’s words weren’t in the form of a question, they were stated as fact.
“I do. It hasn’t been long at all but already I love her.” My eyes went wide at the shock in my own voice. “I don’t mean that I didn’t think I would, just-,”
“You didn’t think it would happen so fast?”
I nodded, stunned by the relief that coursed through me at her quick understanding. “Yeah. I thought it would happen over time because I wasn’t expecting her, I didn’t have nine months to look forward to meeting her and falling in love with the idea of her.” Brenna’s blond brows arched in my direction. “I’ve been watching a lot of Netflix.”
The raucous laugh that echoed out of her was worth the embarrassment at my moment of raw honesty. “Good for you. It shows how much it means to you to be a good father. I’m happy for both of you.”
