Page 51 of Grant’s Blaze

“Yeah, okay. I like it there. It’s way nicer than my bungalow, but it still feels like home because it’s not far from Seal Beach.”

“I’ll have Joel bring a key over to Abstract before you leave today. I’m sure you’ll be heading home before me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I can swing by and pick it up from you. Please don’t make a special trip.”

“We’ll see.”

I didn’t bother arguing about it further. He was as stubborn as Sebastian when it came to doing things his way, and I’d watched that man work Abbigail over so many times. I always wondered why she fought him on everything when he was just trying to take care of her, and I would think, God, you dumbass, just let him do it.

So now when I heard myself doing the same thing, I had to yank myself back by the collar and stop. And if I were honest with myself, it felt really good to be taken care of to the extent these men went to.

Sean took care of me too, just in a very different way. He and I did so much growing up together. With that came a lot of discovering who I was, what I believed at my core, and what I wanted from my partner. After I figured out what I wanted from a man, he did his best to be that man. It was completely ass backwards when I thought about it now, but that was what happened when you got married young. Neither of us wanted to split up, and inherently, we were very compatible, so it wasn’t that big of a stretch. Especially since we were already committed to one another.

The difference with Grant was that I now knew so much more about myself and who I was fundamentally. I knew where I needed a partner to fit into my life and what I needed from another person.

Trying to force someone into being the things you needed when they didn’t naturally fit wouldn’t really work out for anyone.

As decided, Grant and I met at his home in Naples. This was my favorite place the man owned. The Brentwood condo had a lot of potential, if for nothing else but the location. But that place needed to be renovated in the worst way, and my man was a fancy guy and liked his fancy things, so we rarely stayed there.

“Hey, handsome,” I said when he answered his phone.

“Hey, beautiful. Are you here?”

I smiled just hearing his voice. I couldn’t wait to feel his arms around me. “Yes, just turned on your street.”

“Perfect. I’ll go open the garage door so you can pull right in.”

“Now that’s what I call service. I’ll see you in a few seconds.” I disconnected the call just as he came into view. My God, he took my breath away.

I barely had time to unfasten my seat belt before Grant opened my door and hauled me out of Kendall. The man swept me off my feet and up into his arms. He bumped my door shut with his ass, and I let out a schoolgirl giggle and quickly buried my face in his neck.

“Oh my God,” I mumbled into his delicious-smelling skin. I could just inhale near that spot for the rest of the night and be a happy woman. The distraction of smelling my favorite cologne worked, because my embarrassment morphed into arousal in no time.

When I completed a trail of kisses up to his ear, I whispered, “I can walk.”

“No way. I don’t want to let you go. Maybe ever.” He watched my reaction very closely. Based on my history, I couldn’t blame him. He probably thought I would knee him in the balls and make a break for the front door.

Instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed a little tighter. With a contented sigh, I husked, “Mmm, okay.”

Grant leaned way back to look at me.

“What?” I grinned.

“I don’t know. I wanted to be sure you weren’t playing a trick on me or that I picked up the right girl out in my garage.”

“How awkward would that be right now?” We both chuckled at the thought. “But seriously, do you still have a lot of stray girls coming through your garage that you’d be worried you grabbed the wrong one?”

“Do you really have to ask such nonsense, Rio Katrina?”

“No,” I answered quietly and scrunched my nose up. I didn’t want to argue, fight, or disagree. Not even in the smallest degree. “I’m still working on me. You know that. I think, overall, though, I’m doing really good, Grant. And I have you to thank for that. I know I have work to put in, and I’m showing up for it. Every single day, I swear I am.”

“Baby.” He sat on the arm of the sofa and dragged me to stand right in front of him until our noses were almost touching. “You’re breathtaking. God, sorry.” He gave his head a little shake, and it was so adorable, and—I don’t know? Touching, maybe. To see a man react to my physical presence that way was really overwhelming. I didn’t know what to say in response.

“Grant—”

“No, hear me out. Please.” Scooping my hands up in his strong ones, he brought my fingers to his lips and delivered a few soft kisses to each hand before speaking again. “I get sidetracked when I look into your eyes because I swear I can see my own heart and soul inside you.”

Oh shit. I could already feel the tears stinging the backs of my eyes. What was this all about? I swallowed roughly and pushed those suckers down with all my might and listened very intently. This was not the time to drift off. Even I could tell that.