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Wait, what?
I stared at him. “Hold on, I just want to make sure I heard you right. You want todateme?”
“Yes.” His gaze didn’t waver, and his tone sounded 100 percent certain.
“Me?” I repeated in disbelief.
One side of his mouth hitched up. “Yes, Gracie. You. My best friend. The one woman who’s always meant more to me than anyone else—besides my mother, of course.”
“But….” My mouth opened and closed soundlessly. “You never….”
I didn’t understand what was happening. I’d been sure he was about to tell me he knew how I felt and that I needed to get over it. I never could have seen this coming.
“Wait a sec.” I held up my hand as if I were directing traffic. “What do you mean, I didn’t seem interested when you tried to bring it up?”
He shifted in place. Cleared his throat. “Uh, well, you ran out of the house. I’m not sure how else I was meant to interpret that.”
“Oh my god.” One by one, things began to fall into place. “I thought you’d overheard my conversation with Cissy.”
He frowned. “What conversation?”
“Um.” I clapped my hand to my mouth.Way to out yourself. “I told her something personal. I thought you were going to ask me about it, and I was embarrassed, so I left. I’m sorry.”
His smile began to widen. “No harm done. So does that mean you might be open to the idea?”
I looked down, suddenly feeling shy. “Yes.” It felt like a massive confession. “But this seems to have come out of nowhere, and I don’t want to lose you if things become awkward. This isn’t a misguided reaction to me being in danger, is it?”
He moved closer, and the weight of his hand settled on my thigh, his palm hot against my skin even through a layer of fabric. “It might seem like it’s come out of nowhere, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I know my own mind, and I know what I want.” He tipped my chin up. “That’s you.”
I kissed him.
I couldn’t say who moved first, but I found myself on his lap with his arms around me while we tentatively explored each other’s lips. His were softer than I’d expected. As our faces brushed together, his stubble rasped pleasantly against the skin of my cheek.
We took our time. The kiss wasn’t rushed, but gentle and sweet. Almost chaste. It was, without a doubt, the best kiss of my life because Nate Braddock was attached to the lips that were on mine. Nate, whom I’d loved forever. Nate, with his gorgeous blue eyes and rugged good looks. His gruff demeanor and hot temper only showed how much he cared.
We drew apart, our mouths separated by an inch, exchanging breath. It was more intimate than any sexual encounter I’d ever had.
“Wow,” I breathed.
Nate brushed his lips over mine again. “You’re incredible, Gracie. Exactly like I knew you would be.”
I kissed him again, just because I could. Because after years of holding myself back, I was finally allowed to touch him and kiss him the way I wanted. Emotion swelled in my chest, robbing me of my ability to speak.
Don’t get ahead of yourself,I told myself.He asked you on a date, not to marry him. One step at a time.
But this one step had been a long time coming, and a girl was allowed to dream, right?
37
NATE
Wakingwith Grace in my arms felt like heaven. After we’d eaten dinner, we’d fallen into bed early, but nothing had happened except sleep. We were both clothed, and our snuggling was purely for comfort and to enjoy being close to each other. It was innocent. Still, we’d never have done this as friends. We might have shared a bed if the need arose, but we wouldn’t have cuddled. We’d have each done our best to pretend we were alone.
I liked holding her against my body, listening to her soft breaths, and inhaling her sweet scent. She murmured something in her sleep, and I smiled at the intimacy of this shared moment. I dropped a light kiss on her shoulder and closed my eyes. I’d need to get out of bed soon, but for now, I wanted to remain cocooned and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.
I wasn’t sure where we went from here. It wasn’t as if we were two strangers who’d started dating from scratch. We had years of history. Did that mean the normal dating timeline didn’t apply, or should I treat dating as something separate from our friendship?
“Why are you thinking so hard?” Grace asked sleepily. She rolled toward me and rested her forehead against mine. Her eyelashes fluttered as she cleared the sleep from her eyes.
