Page 20 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 2

Grayson gave a firm nod. “Let’s eat.” He uncovered the dish between us. It was a huge tray of spinach- and chickpea-stuffed portobello mushrooms with roasted garlic quinoa pilaf, lemon tahini drizzle, and sides of balsamic glazed brussels sprouts and herb-infused roasted sweet potatoes.

“Has this been here since this morning?” I asked.

The sparkle in Grayson’s eyes was pure naughtiness. “I wouldn’t know. Racoons could have dragged it in.” His smile lingered while I chuckled. “The staff left a few minutes before we arrived,” he assured me. “I was punctual, for once.” We shared a little smile, or a hint of it, and he started serving us. Matter-of-factly, Grayson returned to our earlier conversation. “It’s exaggerated, I think, whatever you’ve heard. But, I mean, I’ve been around the block.” He served me a portion and then filled his plate. “More wine?”

I hadn’t realized I’d finished it. He refilled my glass. “Thanks.”

“I guess you could call it being a playboy, but who isn’t?” He looked at me mischievously.

My heart clenched. “There are people who aren’t.”

“Prove it,” he demanded jokingly. “Show me those people.”

I bought myself some time by taking a bite of the stuffed mushrooms. They were delicious. “Are you a vegetarian?” I asked, noting the lack of meat on the table.

“No,” Grayson said. “But I forgot to ask if you were. Better safe than sorry.”

“Are you that careful with all your dates?” I couldn’t help but grin. Properly grin. It hurt my muscles. Who was that attuned to other people’s needs? What sort of a person thought of everything?

“You assume I go on many dates,” Grayson said and laughed. “I don’t. Last year, I was like an excited golden retriever, just let off his leash. I was picking up guys left and right. But that gets old. And that doesn’t require the effort of going on an actual date.”

“That’s true,” I agreed. If I could just relax and take this for what it was, I would say this was the kind of date I had been missing. But I couldn’t. I waited for the secret motives to surface. I waited for him to make a move and get shot down. Or worse, I waited for him to convince me and to wake up tomorrow regretting the whole thing, feeling empty inside and detached from him and the world.

“You’ve got a reputation, too, I think,” Grayson said.

I sipped my wine. “Lies. Slander.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Not all of it. Or?”

I shook my head. “Ah, I don’t know what you heard. I’ve been with people. Obviously.”

“That should prove my point,” Grayson said, popping another mushroom into his mouth. For dramatic suspense, he didn’t speak for a long while, chewing innocently and looking at me. I went from tense to laughing in the time it took him to speak again. “Not everything you hear is true. We’ve both done our fair share of screwing around. And here we are anyway.”

I thought about it while we ate. It was a nice, light dinner and paired with an excellent wine. “Here,” I mused. “You know what this place is, right?” I looked around. It was designed as an aphrodisiac. Every little detail was fully devoted to romance and intimacy. There were no sounds coming through from the outside. The windows were tinted so nobody could see through them from the neighboring houseboats.

“I mean, that’s not the only purpose,” Grayson said. He almost scolded me with his tone. Like I was the one hinting at something else happening. “Besides, I promised your friends to bring you home in one piece.”

I almost spat. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. “Are you suggesting that us sleeping together would rip me apart? I’ve got a newsflash for you.”

“Do tell,” he said, and his eyes sparkled.

I pressed my lips tightly and kept my silence.

Grayson was the first to clear his plate. He waited a minute while I finished eating, then picked up his glass and the bottle. “Let’s get cozy.”

I followed him to the spacious sectional on the far end of the houseboat. I could see the bathroom with an elegant walk-in shower tucked in at the bottom of the stairs. It was discreetly placed there. My attention went to the stairs and up to the loft. It was a date boat. It was a sex boat. Those were the facts.

Why does that scare you? The voice asking me that was my own. I didn’t know. Maybe because I still needed to figure myself out. Maybe because it had always been a bad omen. Maybe because I had never gone beyond the first date with anyone.

“Avery, are you alright?” Grayson asked. We were sitting about an arm’s length apart. He leaned closer to me and examined my face with that warm, fall-brown gaze.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah.” I couldn’t have fooled a toddler with that.

Grayson pulled his lower lip between his teeth and set his glass on the small coffee table before the sofa. “It’s just that you got really tense all of a sudden.”

I clenched my teeth. “I’m fine.”

“Alright. But if you’re not, it would be okay,” he said.