Seduced The Unexpected Virgin - By Emily McKay Page 0,73
might disappoint her. But he didn’t have any choice. For a minute, though, he just wanted to memorize the smile on her face.
Her grandmother—the old battle-ax didn’t like him, which chapped his hide since she seemed to like everyone else in town—stood behind her granddaughter with narrow eyes and a tight frown. “Have her home before midnight. Just because her parents work the late shift doesn’t mean she can run around town doing whatever she wants.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He put on his best manners, for Sarah’s sake. Grouchy granny Kathleen Richards hugged her granddaughter, whispering something in her ear. No doubt something bad about him. Kathleen worked as Ronald Worth’s assistant, so she wasn’t particularly high up on Rafe’s list of favorite people, either. But he would do whatever it took to wrangle his way into her good graces since that was the key to Grandma Kat loosening the reins when Sarah wasn’t at work.
The two Richards women kept their heads close together. Kathleen’s was the same color of red but cut short and with some silver in it, kinda like the threads in Sarah’s sweater. Finally, Grandma Kat finished whatever it was she had to say and stepped back.
He pulled his left hand out from behind his back, with a pink tulip in his fist. “For you, ma’am. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Kathleen’s green eyes lit with surprise, then suspicion. Still, she smiled politely enough. “Thank you, young man. That’s very thoughtful of you. But you still have to have her home by midnight.”
Nodding, Rafe laughed lightly. “Of course.”
Sarah stepped out on the front porch, closing the door behind her. “Sorry about that. Grandma Kat is just overprotective.”
“I’m glad you have someone watching out for you when your parents are working late.” True enough. Between him and Grandma Kat, they made sure Sarah didn’t do something reckless like walk home by herself from work.
“Yeah, well, she’s never been the kind of person to hide what she’s feeling.” Sarah tugged the sweater around her arms, the night breeze lifting her curls. “She may be feisty, but she’s up front and honest.”
“Like her granddaughter.” Although thank God the grand-daughter seemed to like him more than the grandmother.
“Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She tugged the tie that he’d borrowed from his dad. His dad’s only jacket hadn’t fit though, so Rafe was stuck with just a shirt and work khakis to go with it.
“As long as you’re smiling, Sarah, I’m good with however you want to take it.” He watched the way her green eyes grinned right along with her mouth. He lost track of how long he stared while the porch swing creaked in the wind.
Then she tipped her head to the side, curls swaying to the side. “What else is behind your back?”
He pulled his fist around in front of him, clutching the bouquet full of flowers, most of which he didn’t even know the names of, but it looked like a burst of color with pinks, yellows, purples and reds. It was freaking huge and he probably owed Mr. Rodriguez extra work for all of this. But he wasn’t one bit sorry when he saw the way Sarah’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, Rafe!” she squealed and her feet did a speedy, impromptu tap dance on the wooden porch. She gave him a quick kiss, then gathered up the flowers to her nose, inhaling deeply.
She moaned with a pleasure that made his groin pull tight as he imagined other ways to bring the kittenish sound from her throat. Or maybe it was the kiss that sent his pulse skyrocketing. Either way, he was one uncomfortable dude.
“Oh, Rafe!” she said again with an obvious excitement that couldn’t be missed or faked. “These are amazing. I can’t believe you did this, and ohmigosh, you are such a good secret keeper since you didn’t even give me a hint all day.”
“I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Very much so.” She smiled at him over the flowers, the porch light playing with the hints of gold in her red hair. “Is this what I smelled in your car this morning?”
“You’ve got me there.”
She scrunched her nose. “I can’t believe I was such a jealous brat.”
“I would feel the same if I thought you were seeing someone else.” Rafe couldn’t shake the image of how Quentin Dobbs had looked at her. He knew she wouldn’t lie to him, but still. The guy liked her and didn’t make any secret of it even though the whole world knew Sarah was dating