ass all night long,” Grant seethed between gritted teeth.
Cole didn’t consider it for long. Even though he wasn’t able to stand completely upright, he turned around and hobbled back to shore.
Once it was obvious that he wasn’t coming back, I smiled at Grant and said, “My hero!”
To accentuate my words, I leaned down and planted a kiss on his five-o’clock-shadow-covered cheek.
“A hero deserves a kiss right here,” Grant murmured as he pointed to his lips.
Rather than over-thinking it, I brushed my lips lightly against his. He raked a hand through my hair and deepened the kiss. A moan escaped from deep in my throat as I made out with the man of my dreams.
My thoughts swirled together as he pulled me down to sit on his lap. Kissing Grant was even better than I had imagined. Kristen Lawrence was one incredibly lucky lady. Kristen!
I pulled back as soon as I remembered seeing the lovely and talented actress in this precise position earlier today.
Grant tipped his delectable lips up, angling for more kisses, but I stopped him by snapping, “You have a girlfriend.”
I tried to scramble off his lap, but he kept his arms locked around me as he asked in a bewildered voice, “I do?”
Beyond frustrated with him, I said, “I saw you and Kristen kissing today. It was obvious that you two have a serious off-screen relationship.”
Grant had the audacity to bellow with laughter at my expense. When he saw my angry glare, he explained, “Yes, we have a close relationship outside of work, but it’s more like siblings than anything romantic.”
I scrunched up my nose, “If you had a sister, you would slip her the tongue?”
“Gross! No,” he answered, shaking his head at me. “Kristen and I are good friends that are forced to make out a lot for the cameras. We love to tease and prank each other, so over the years, on different movie sets, we’ve started a thing where we see who can eat the stinkiest food before our love scenes together. It helps ease any awkwardness and makes it fun again. There’s never been anything romantic between us.”
“Really?” I asked, almost daring to believe him.
“Really,” he assured me, before adding, “Would I eat sardines and stinky cheese before kissing someone that I was romantically interested in?”
“I hope not,” I chuckled before asking, “How do you two make the love scenes look so real, if you’re trying to keep from gagging over the stench the whole time?”
“I guess we’re good actors.” He beamed at me before turning serious again and said, “I can’t believe I ever allowed Eva to have the power to manipulate us like that. It sounds like she took advantage of both of our insecurities. I’m sorry for my part in letting it happen.”
“It’s not your fault. I should have been more demanding about getting through to see you, instead of taking her word about how you felt,” I offered.
Brushing back a strand of hair that had loosened from my ponytail and was blowing in the breeze coming in off the water, Grant said, “I just couldn’t imagine why someone as marvelous as you would want to be with me now that I’m damaged goods.”
“Damaged?” I asked him, honestly perplexed how he could possibly think that about himself.
When he looked out toward the water and nodded, I used my index finger to angle his chin back toward me, so that he would see and hear my sincerity. “You are the strongest, most resilient person I have ever known. You have been given an enormous challenge, and you’ve handled it like a champ.”
“I was a total jerk at first,” he tossed in.
“Give yourself a break. You were dealing with a lot. Besides, look at you now. You just defended my honor by beating up a large man who had two working legs.”
Downplaying the feat, Grant said, “He’s a pansy that probably sits at a desk, barking orders all day.”
“Perhaps,” I admitted, before adding, “But he also just had his ass handed to him by a man who has had less than a year to adjust to being in a wheelchair.”
“True,” Grant smiled and nodded, unable to keep the look of pride from sweeping across his face and brightening his handsome features.
Changing the subject, Grant said, “I have a question that I’ve been wanting to ask you for a very long time.”
“What’s that?” I asked, not bothering to keep the bubbling anticipation out of my voice.
“Will you go on a real date with me