Chapter 11
Cori
I felt better in the morning. Shaken? Yes. But better. The sight of Grant sleeping on the couch when I came down the next day was a big part of that. Because he was still there. He stayed just like he said he would, and I didn’t think he’d ever truly know how much that meant.
If I hadn’t known that he was in the living room, I would have been in a panic, listening for the door downstairs and the moment when Joel broke through it. No matter how unrealistic that possibility was.
Grant simply smiled and left when he woke, waving off my offer of coffee. We were meeting soon to drive over to the wedding, and I was nervous. Not just because of yesterday and what Joel had threatened, but because of that hug last night.
Though calling that a hug was like calling a tsunami a wave. It felt like everything. Grant hadn’t fully held me during the hailstorm. And feeling the way I fit into his arms made me realize yet again how much I’d been missing. And if I felt that much with only that minimal amount of contact? I wasn’t fully prepared for what I would feel when we went further.
As far as I was concerned, it was when and not if.
I canceled the few appointments I had at the clinic. I wasn’t up to it. I was already going to have so much on my plate for the wedding; I didn’t want to deal with anything else. Instead, I stayed in bed most of the day and read a book until it was time to get ready.
Now I was putting the final touches on my makeup and hair. Thankfully it wasn’t cold today. Like summer had decided to make one last hurrah just for Grace and Harlan.
The dress I chose—and which had been approved by Lena—was a deep teal that matched the streaks in my hair. It slipped off one shoulder, and the skirt gathered in a high waist before dropping all the way to the floor. I felt beautiful and graceful in it. And after Grant had looked at me like that in Deja Brew, I wanted to see the way he would react to the dress.
My hair fell in curls around my shoulders, and my makeup wasn’t quite as dramatic as what Lena had done on me. But it was certainly more than I wore every day.
On the bathroom counter, my phone chimed. It was time. I didn’t want to wait until Grant knocked on the door. That was a little too prom for me, so I grabbed my clutch and my jacket for later in the evening and headed downstairs. And I made very sure that the door was locked behind me.
The sound of a door shutting across the way drew my attention, and all the breath I had left my chest. Grant hadn’t seen me yet, but I could see him. And…oh my God.
He was wearing a tuxedo. There was a reason they were called porn for women. It was an outfit almost universally associated with strength and power—a good tuxedo could charm the clothes right off someone.
I wasn’t ashamed to say that I was one of those people.
And this tuxedo wasn’t one that was rented or off the rack. No, this one was tailored to fit Grant exactly. Slim hips and broader shoulders. It showed off the solid build I already knew he had in a way that I hadn’t been prepared for. He looked like someone from my past life. Like a man I might encounter at one of my parents’ parties.
But it was knowing he wasn’t anything like those men that made all the difference.
Grant turned and saw me on my porch, and his face went slack with shock. I recognized that stunned look from the other day in Deja Brew, and if he were closer, I could imagine the kind of heat that I would find in that gaze. The storm of butterflies was back in my stomach, and the terror and sickness of last night washed away as he came down the steps and across our yards to me.
I was glad that I was going with him. Happy that he’d asked me. Desperately sad that I hadn’t noticed this man in the way he deserved to be before now.
His eyes didn’t stop exploring me, from my toes to my hair to the exposed skin of my collarbone. In an impulsive move, I’d brushed on the lightest shimmer across my shoulders, hoping it would look pretty under the lights at the reception. There weren’t a whole lot of occasions to get dressed up in Garnet Bend if you didn’t count church, and that wasn’t the same.
When I’d stepped out of my room, I’d felt pretty. The way Grant was looking at me? It made me feel beautiful.
“Cori, you look unbelievable.”
“Thank you,” I said, not fighting the blush that I could feel rise to my cheeks. “I can say the same thing about you. It’s a shame you don’t get to wear that more often.”
He smiled. “Well, at least once more when Evelyn and Lucas finally get to the altar.”
“I’ll look forward to seeing it again.”
For a moment, we just stood there, taking each other in, until we both laughed. “I guess we should go,” I said. “You’re in the wedding. We can’t be late.”
We were going a little early so that Grant could be with the groomsmen. And even though I wasn’t in the wedding, Lena had invited me back to the bridal suite so I didn’t have to sit in the church alone. Waiting.
Today, I was glad for that more than ever. Alone was the last thing I wanted to be.
“Yeah. Shall we?” Grant turned and offered me his arm, and my stomach did a little flip. I knew that I shouldn’t be comparing behavior, because on the most basic and fundamental level, there was absolutely nothing worth comparing between Grant and Joel. But I couldn’t help but think about the last time I’d been dragged into going to a big family function.
Not once had my ex offered me his arm or opened a door for me. He’d spent most of the night on his phone and talking with my family—ignoring me.
Grant had already shown me more courtesy before we got into his truck than Joel had that entire night.
Grant walked me around his truck and opened the passenger door. He helped me step up into the cab and then made sure that my skirt—which was slightly too long—didn’t get caught. I had a moment where I felt like a heroine in a Jane Austen novel.
He lifted my skirt out of the way, and it slipped up, revealing my shoe and ankle. For the smallest second, he froze, and I never realized a moment like that could be so…charged. Erotic. Now I understood the scandal of revealing mostly innocent skin.
The moment was lost as he left to walk around to the driver’s side, and I thought I saw Joel’s truck drive slowly by. No, that couldn’t be right. I shook off that bad feeling.
“Everything okay?” Grant asked as he climbed in.
I forced myself to relax. “Yeah, everything’s great.”
With a breathtaking smile, he started the truck and headed toward Grace and Harlan’s ranch.
This wedding was a mixture of Grace’s practicality and Lena’s whimsy. Now that Ruby Round Ranch wasn’t a functioning ranch, it was actually the perfect place to hold the wedding and was big enough to have a separate ceremony space and a tent for the reception. The wedding would take place right at sunset, and then we would all party into the night. Or at least that was what Lena told me was going to happen.
“On a scale of one to ten,” I said, “how much do you think Lena is freaking out right now?”
Grant laughed, and my stomach did another flip. I hadn’t fully noticed the richness of his laugh before and the way it could simply draw you in. “Is there an eleven or twelve on that scale? Because she’s either got it completely under control, or she’ll be as jumpy as a barn cat.”
“Guess we’ll find out soon. I’m hoping that she’s got everything under control.”
“Me too,” he said. “But knowing Lena, she’s got everything under control and is still freaking out anyway.”
I smiled. “You’re not wrong.”
The silence was easy between us, but I still wanted to tell him before we made it to the ranch and other people were around. “Thank you again, Grant. For last night. And for asking me to the wedding.”
He looked over, and I caught the seriousness in his eyes before they returned to the road. “You’re welcome. But neither of those are things that you need to thank me for.”
“I wanted to.”
A small smile appeared on his lips. “It was and will be my pleasure.”
Something about the way he said the word pleasure had delightful little chills running down my spine. I hoped it would be his pleasure in a much more literal way sooner than later, but I shoved the thought from my head. After last night and the possibility that I’d seen Joel snooping around earlier today—
No. I wasn’t going to think about it. Today was about my friends getting married. Nothing more. I wasn’t going to think about Joel at all and would focus on this simmering tension between Grant and me later. Sometime more appropriate. It wasn’t like I was never going to see him when we lived next door to each other.