I didn’t know if she was making fun of me or being genuine. “Thanks, I think.”
“Oh, don’t let your ego betray you now, handsome, I’m being for real. This place is,” she looked around the dimly lit restaurant with soft instrumental music playing in the background, giving couples plenty of privacy to talk and flirt, the long white tablecloths and the single rose that decorated each table, and smiled. “It’s very romantic. Be careful Grant, I might get the wrong idea about all this.” Her words were teasing but there was a hint of fear in her voice that made me sit up a little bit taller.
“You should be careful, Brenna because I think you’re finally starting to get the right idea.”
She sucked in a breath and shook her head. “Grant, please.”
“What? I don’t know how much more obvious I can be about my intentions, Brenna. I want you. I want to spend time with you, in and out of the bedroom. I want to be the reason you smile and, my god the reason you laugh. I just can’t seem to get enough of your laugh.”
She smiled, sitting back in her seat with a little sigh. “Grant, you make me smile all the time.”
“I know, but I want to be the main reason you smile. I want you to think about me and flash one of those big goofy grins that makes your girlfriends jealous. I want you to close your eyes and see my face, smiling at you, tasting you. Kissing you.”
“Grant!” Her blue eyes went wide and she looked around the restaurant to see if anyone was more interested in our conversation than their own. “People can hear you.”
“And if they have eyes, they know damn well why I want to devour you.” She’d dressed up for our date, casting off her sexy country cowgirl look in favor of a tiny red dress that had my mind focused on getting her alone and peeling that dress off her curves. “Have I mentioned how beautiful you look tonight?”
Brenna smiled and looked down but not before I spotted the flush turning her skin a sexy shade of pink. “A time or two, but a girl never gets tired of hearing that all of her hard work is appreciated.”
“Very appreciated.” I lifted my tumbler of whiskey with a grin. “To you, Brenna, for giving me a deep appreciation for the appeal of cowgirl boots.” She had on white boots with red tassels that I certainly wanted to see her wearing with nothing else.
“I’ll definitely drink to that.” She let out a soft, sexy giggle and took a long sip of bourbon. “Now that we’ve gotten the compliments and complications out of the way, tell me how fatherhood is treating you Grant?”
I knew what she was doing, subtly reminding me of the main reason she was on the fence about being with me, and I knew it was up to me to show her I was handling the new job of single fatherhood as well as any other single parent. “Pretty good, actually. I mean most days I still think I’m failing her, but Mariana trusts me more with each passing day and I have to tell you, Brenna, it feels like a pretty big victory.”
“Yeah? That’s great to hear!”
“It feels even better to say, knowing its true. She’s starting to ask for things like a normal little girl who’s confident it won’t get her sent away. She’s showing signs of becoming an even bigger smartass, which is amusing and annoying.”
Brenna’s laugh exploded out of her, drawing a few smiles and stares from other tables. At first, she was oblivious and then she offered up apologetic smiles before turning a wide, beaming smile my way. “You sound like a parent, Grant. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. It feels good.”
“I’m happy for you. Mariana is a great kid.”
“She is and even though I was terrified at first, I’m glad she’s here.” Mariana had changed my life in so many ways but I didn’t regret any of them. “Now if only I could convince this pretty salon owner that I want her for her crazy sayings, sexy twang, and a penchant for cowgirl boots, not to mention her sexy, husky laugh.”
She let out a long sigh and smiled. “I believe you, Grant.”
Her words shocked the hell out of me. “You do?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
I leaned forward and took her hand in mine. “I’m going to need a little more information than that, Brenna.”
She let out an amused laugh