Her belief in him was overwhelming, stoking the emotions she’d been stirring all evening.
“Same time tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.
Hell yes was on the tip of his tongue, but he held it back. “Jules, we probably shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.” Frustrated at how out of control his emotions felt, he raked a hand through his hair, trying to figure out the answer. “Because you’re you and I’m me. Because of island gossip, Archer.” He wasn’t afraid of Archer, for Pete’s sake. He was grasping at straws for an excuse he didn’t want to make.
She parked her hand on her hip. “So you’d rather have dinner with Archer than with me?” Her words dripped with sarcasm.
“No, of course not.”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is. We both have to eat, and I want to hear more of your stories. If you’re worried about gossip, don’t be. I can shut that down with one group text.” Jules had been the queen of group texts since she was a kid. She pressed her hand to the center of his chest, a challenge and a plea swimming in her eyes. “Come on, Grant. We already have a salad and chips.”
Her hopeful eyes and her hot little hand that felt too damn good blurred the line between what he should do and what he wanted. “Okay, same time tomorrow.”
“Yay!”
She threw her arms around him, and he instinctively embraced her, lifting her off her feet. She smelled like heaven and felt even better as she slid back down to her feet, grinning like she’d won the lottery. For a moment, he could do little more than fight the urge to lower his lips to hers and devour her chatty, sexy mouth.
“We’ll go someplace different tomorrow,” she said, turning to unlock the door. “Where is your favorite place to eat?”
“My place,” he said more to himself than to her.
“Great! I’ll bring dinner.”
“No, we don’t have to eat at my place. I was just—”
“Don’t be silly. You like to eat at home, so La Shack it is. I’ll pick up food to go with our salad and chips on the way over.”
“No, Jules. You eat the salad and chips for lunch, and I’ll pick up dinner. What do you like to eat?”
“Anything. Pizza, salad, burgers, whatever. I’m easy.” She pushed open the door and took the bag from him. “Before I forget, you should call Belly and congratulate her. She just got a big sponsorship deal.” With an adorable shrug and a sexy grin, she said, “See you tomorrow!” and headed inside, leaving his head spinning and his body reeling.
As he descended the stairs, he wondered how he’d allowed himself to be bamboozled by her. But he already knew the answer. Jules was the sweetest, sexiest woman on earth, and her pixie dust was pure magic.
He pushed through the door at the bottom of the stairs, stepping into the brisk night air, knowing he shouldn’t have agreed to dinner but feeling better than he had in a long damn time.
He pulled out his phone as he headed for his truck and called his sister.
“Grant?” Bellamy said cautiously. “Is everything okay?”
It killed him to hear the worry in her voice, when she used to answer his calls with cheerfulness that rivaled Jules’s. “Yeah, squirt. It’s great. I heard you got a big sponsorship deal. It doesn’t require you wearing lingerie, does it?”
Bellamy laughed, and it was the greatest sound on earth.
Second greatest, next to the sound of a certain sneaky pixie talking circles around him.
Chapter Six
GRANT PULLED ON a clean shirt after his shower Friday evening, wishing he’d said anything but his place when Jules had asked about his favorite place to eat. Now here he was getting cleaned up like this was a date and wondering how he was going to keep his distance when everything she did and said made him want to get closer to her.
Crash ran into the bedroom and stopped so fast he slid on the hardwood floor. He turned with Jules’s bow in his mouth and stared up at Grant.
“What? Stop gloating about the damn bow.”
Crash stepped closer, his tail curving around Grant’s calf, and purred. He knew the cat would run as soon as he tried to pick him up, but he did it anyway. He slid one hand under Crash’s belly and was shocked that the cat didn’t bolt. Grant lifted him into his arms and glowered at him. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to get on my good side since Jules is coming over.” The most ridiculous streak of jealousy ran through Grant. “She’s pretty fucking great, but don’t get used to her.” Easier said than done. I know.
He scratched the cat’s head and carried him into the living room. He’d moved his painting supplies into the empty guest room, but now the living room looked even more barren. He didn’t even have a table for them to eat on.
“What the hell am I doing, Crash?” The cat purred. “I’m in no position to entertain Jules here, much less in my fantasies.” Great. Now I’m talking to a cat. “I need to put a stop to this thing with Jules before it goes too far.”
The cat dug his nails into his arms and leaped onto the floor, sprinting into the bedroom. Grant gritted out a curse. The damn cat was attached to her after one brief petting session. Imagine what Grant would be like after one kiss. One fuck. His cock thrummed at that idea.
If that wasn’t the biggest red flag of all, he didn’t know what was.
He told himself to end whatever this was with Jules, tonight, and repeated it like a mantra until the knock at the door sounded, and Jules’s bright smile greeted him, obliterating everything else—including that determination. She was stunning with the sides of her hair pinned up in one of those ponytails in the center of her head, the rest of her hair spilling past the shoulders of the suede jacket she wore over an enormous oatmeal sweater that looked soft and warm. There was nothing sexy about her outfit, but on her it was insanely appealing. It made him want to start a fire and cozy up with her in front of it.
What the ever-loving fuck?
His eyes slid down the length of the sleek curves wrapped in denim, sending heat to his groin. Now, that’s more like it.
“Hey, Pix. You look great. Come—”
She threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. “Thank you for calling Bellamy last night. You really made her night.”
“Yeah, we had a good call.” Damn, he’d call her every night if that was his reward.
And there it was. The reason he needed to get his head on straight. Being around Jules was a slippery slope that went from feeling better than he ever had to wanting to feel her.
She strutted past him and put the enormous canvas bag she was carrying on the couch. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought you a few goodies.”
“I told you I’d get dinner. Let me take your coat.” He helped her off with it and hung it on a hook by the door.
“I didn’t bring food. Just a few fun little gifts I thought might brighten up your place.”
“It’s already brighter with you in it.” Where the hell did that come from?
Her cheeks pinked up. “Thanks. My dad calls me his lightning bug, or Bug, because he says I light up the night.”