“Here.” I hand him a sandwich, and he grins at me.
“You make this?” he asks, and I nod. He opens it and takes a huge bite and groans with delight. The sound does something to me. It has me wanting to rub up against him, but I control myself and eat my breakfast sandwich.
“Thanks for this. It was delicious,” he says after he eats a second one. “I better get back to work.”
I reach, grabbing his big warm hand, and intertwine our fingers together.
“How about we get back to work?” I offer, and he is quiet and looks at me for a long moment.
“Anything you want, baby, it’s yours.”
I grin at that, and we get to work.
A couple of hours fly by as we work together cleaning the horse stalls and collecting eggs from the chicken coop. The entire time we talk and laugh, and with each moment, I fall deeper for Grayson. Around one, we head back to the main house and have sandwiches and a couple of cookies. I bump his hip with mine while I stand next to him because he insists on washing the dishes for me. He turns off the water and leans against the kitchen counter. He looks relaxed with one leg over the other as he looks at me.
“What?” I ask, touching my lips. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No. I was just thinking…” His voice drifts off, but his eyes never waver from looking at me, and curiosity grows.
“What?”
“I want to take you dancing,” he tells me easily, and my brows rise with surprise.
“Dancing?”
“Oh yeah.” He lifts a leg off the other to stand straight and rests his hands at his back pockets. “The Tipsy Cow has a live band, and I want you to go with me.” The ease I had been feeling disappears, and I cross my arms over my chest.
“Umm…”
“Come on, baby.” He slowly takes a couple of steps toward me, but I take a couple back.
“I don’t think I can. I don’t go out, Grayson.” I shake my head. Why does he want to do this? Burst our bubble and go out? Doesn’t he know the way people react to me? I start to get too hot and anxious.
“Baby, please go dancing with me.” Something starts to buzz in my ears, and I shake my head. Anxiety and fear swirls through my veins.
“Grayson—” I start to say, but he cups my face, and I let him.
“Please, sweetheart, let me show you off?”
“Are you joking right now?” I squeak.
“No, baby.” He shakes his head and comes over and picks me up, setting me on the counter. “Let me talk.”
“Gray, put me down.”
“No. Listen to me, beautiful.”
“I’m just not sure—”
“Hadley. Listen to me; you're beautiful. So damn beautiful I can't stop looking at you. I can’t look away from you.”
“Grayson, that's very sweet, but my scars, my face…” I start to stutter.
“You’re beautiful, baby.” His thumbs stroke my cheeks, and I breathe in deeply. “Let me take you on a proper date. Dinner, dancing.” I open my mouth, ready to say no, but the yearning in his eyes and the sincerity in his voice stop me. I can’t say no.
“Okay,” I whisper, and he looks at me. Closely. Like he’s waiting for me to take it back immediately, but I don’t. Instead I smile at him and try to relax, try to bat the nerves back. He wants to take me on a date, and I want to go on a date with him. For him, I’ll try.
“Thank you, Hadley.” He smiles and kisses my cheek. “How about I finish up, and you take your time getting ready?”