Midlife Baby (Small Town Lovers)

Grady stared at me, and I wondered if he was counting my wrinkles because he was silent for so long. He took his time to clear the table and wipe it down before he handed me another bottle of water. “Drink.” Before I could tell him to stop barking orders at me, he turned and bent over to pick up the contents of my purse, and I was struck speechless at the sight of his backside.

It was firm and round, and the tightness of his jeans hugged his thighs in a way that would make any woman get ideas. He wasn’t just a big man, he was fit and graceful, like a lion had taken the form of a man. He turned and handed me the items in his hands. “Um, thank you.”

He gave a short nod. “Let’s get you home.”

I shook my head and dropped my lipstick, compact and cash into my purse. “That’s not necessary. I am perfectly capable of finding my own way home.”

He sighed and clenched his jaw in irritation. “Yeah Margot, I know that you know how to get to your house. But it’s late, and you’re not exactly sober.”

“Not sober, no, but the water, food and the sugar helped. I’m tipsy, if that. And I don’t need a knight in shining armor.”

He laughed, but it wasn’t a real laugh. “Good, because I’m nobody’s knight in armor, or in anything else. I’m just a concerned citizen helping out one of my own, because that’s what we do here in Carson Creek, isn’t it?”

I nodded, surprised by his spirit of community. He’d been in town for a few years now, but still most people—myself included—considered him an outsider.

“And if you don’t come willingly, I’ll be forced to throw you over my shoulder and strap you in. Either way is fine by me, sweetheart.” He strolled away, a move that offered another excellent view of his firm backside encased in perfectly worn denim.

I was half tempted to test out his threat, but there was a reason that I kept my distance from him, that I made sure we never got too close or too friendly. Grady was too much man. He was too hot, and too masculine and too darn charming. He oozed enough sex appeal to fuel my late night fantasies, and after Michael I’d sworn off men. Permanently. “Fine,” I told him agreeably when he returned, and stood with my purse clutched to my chest as if it were my virtue.

“Good girl,” he growled and put a hand to my lower back, giving me gentle nudge down the back hall of the bar and through the rear exit.

I stopped a few feet away from the gorgeous sparkling royal blue vintage sports car with the stark white racing stripes down the middle. “This is your car?”

Grady scowled at me and his hand fell away from my back, leaving me cold. “What’s wrong with my car? Not fancy enough for you? Not luxurious enough?”

“Nothing,” I sighed, realizing that he’d misunderstood my question, or not, I guess based on our history. “I guess I expected you to drive a giant pickup truck, or maybe an SUV.”

He folded his arms and stared me down. “On account of me being such a redneck?”

“No, because you’re such a giant of a man that I didn’t think you could fit in something so small.”

His lips twitched once and split into a smile which quickly turned into a laugh. “That’s what she said.”

I blinked at the joke, and a second later my own laughter bubbled up as I realized what I’d said. “Funny.”

“Yeah,” he sighed and opened the passenger door for me. “I’m very flexible,” he said and wiggled his eyebrows. “And it’s roomier than it looks.”

I slid into the buttery white leather of the passenger seat and hummed appreciatively. “Nice,” I told him sincerely and wiggled my butt against the plush seat. Grady closed the door and I took a moment to look around the pristine car, I realized he was right, it was downright spacious. “Did you fix this car up yourself?”

“Some. My kid sister did most of the restoration. She’s a mechanic and specializes in restoring classic and antique cars, in case you want to get revenge on your ex.” He grinned and I smacked his thigh as his words sank in. “Too soon?”

“No. Is she beautiful?”

“She’s my sister,” he grunted. “And she’s twenty-five.” He squirmed in his seat and turned the key which produced a loud rumble underneath me.

“I could be a cougar. Carlotta told me so.”

Grady’s gaze went to me at the stop sign, his blue eyes raked in every inch of my body with appreciation and his hands gripped the steering wheel tight. “No doubt about that. Just, not with my sister.”

I laughed. “Protective much?”

“Over protective,” he corrected and maneuvered the car towards my small Georgian revival style home. I’d spent a great deal of effort renovating and decorating it to make it my own, knowing Carson Creek would be my forever home after my divorce from Michael. “This is you, right?”