Inappropriate - Vi Keeland Page 0,40

he tightened some ropes and carried out a set of portable stairs and set them on the dock. The next time he went into the cabin, I took a deep breath and got out of the car.

His boat was docked next to last, probably thirty boats down at the far end of the marina. I’d made it about ten when he emerged from the cabin again. He caught sight of me right away and stood watching me make my way toward him. I became self-conscious about each step. And whatever nerves had settled in the car came back with a roar. Though I wouldn’t let him see me stress. So I straightened my spine and added a little bounce to my walk that I knew would make the bottom of my sundress shimmy from side to side.

“Hey.” I stood on the dock next to the boat, and Grant offered a hand so I could board using the stairs he’d set out. “Well, these certainly make it easier. Especially in these wedges.”

Grant didn’t let go of my hand once I was safely onboard. “Had to dust off those stairs. Never use ’em.”

“I could have climbed on like we did the other night. You didn’t have to dig them out. Sorry if I’m a little early. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get here, and I wanted to stop and pick this up.” I handed him the bottle of wine.

“Thank you. I was wondering how long you were going to sit in the car and watch me.”

My eyes widened. Shit. He’d seen me. “I wasn’t checking you out, if that’s what you think. I was just really early and didn’t want to impose.”

He pushed his sunglasses down on his nose so I could see his eyes. “That’s too bad. You’re welcome to check me out whenever you want. It would only be fair since I won’t be able to stop looking at you in that dress.”

I’d changed three times and settled on a spaghetti strap white and navy sundress with a V-neck. It showed off more cleavage than I normally put on display, but my roommate had talked me into wearing it. Now I was glad I’d listened.

“Come on. I’ll give you the tour and open the wine.”

I followed Grant into the cabin. We’d stayed outside the other night with his grandfather, so it was the first time I was seeing the inside and where he lived. The room we entered was a big living room. It had a wraparound couch, two matching chairs, a long credenza, and a big-screen television. The living room I shared with Mia was probably the same size.

“It’s easy to forget you’re on a boat in here, isn’t it?”

He pointed to the wall-to-wall windows. “There are two different shades that come down. One blocks out some of the sun and keeps it cool, but you can still see outside through them, and the other totally blacks out the outside. You can’t tell if it’s day or night when those are down, much less where you are.”

I followed Grant into the kitchen and was surprised to find it was almost as big as the living room. “I don’t know why, but I expected a small galley kitchen, not something like this.”

“It was smaller originally. There used to be a bedroom up here, but I took out the wall and opened it up. I like to cook.”

I raised a brow. “You cook?”

“Why does that surprise you?”

“I don’t know. I guess it just seems so domestic. I took you more for the type that went to restaurants and grabbed takeout.”

“My mom was Italian and cooked a big meal every night. The kitchen was the center of the house growing up. We had foster kids coming and going, and she used cooking to get us all together at least once a day.”

I smiled. “That’s really nice.”

“I did pick up food tonight on my way home, but not because I can’t cook. I was running late, and you didn’t want a date, so I figured that meant I shouldn’t sneak in a full meal.”

Grant showed me the rest of the boat: a small bedroom downstairs that he’d turned into an office, a guest bedroom, two bathrooms, and then he opened the door to a giant master bedroom.

“This is huge.”

“That’s the kind of thing I like to hear in here.” He winked.

I took a few steps in and looked around. The room had dark wood and a king-size bed with