“What are you doing?” As grumpy as I am, my curiosity is still piqued.

“Telling all my three point three million Instagram followers that I just discovered an awesome new yoga studio.”

Holy Hendricks.

I’m speechless, my jaw hanging loosely. I never liked to use my brother’s celebrity status to help me. Seemed wrong somehow and he never offered. Grant just did it––didn’t offer. He did it for me.

“Grant…” is all I can get out. He drops his phone on the chair and whips off his belt, then pulls down his zipper. I snap out of the haze of gratitude I was wandering in and realize he’s taking off his pants. “Are you really getting naked??”

He shrugs. “You’ve seen me naked before. I want to go for a swim.”

Yeah. Except that was before I was panting after you like an alley cat in heat, I want to say. His slow striptease has robbed me of the power of speech, however. The briefs come off and I’m indeed panting like an alley cat in heat. Everything on me is turning on, getting warm, cutting loose.

He dives into the pool and starts swimming. Two laps and he stops at the edge, clearing his nose and brushing his hair back.

“Come in. The water’s nice,” he says, bobbing in the deep end.

“Said every boy who ever wanted to get laid,” I volley back with a smirk.

He gives me a sexy one-sided smile. “I promise not to molest you. Come in.”

Without thinking too hard about it, I strip down to my underwear and sports bra and jump in. The water’s warm. It lulls me into a false sense of safety, strips down my defenses. Feelings I shouldn’t be feeling sneak up on me.

I watch Grant swim back and forth a few more times. In the water all those glistening muscles are even more drool-worthy. There’s an innate grace to the way Grant moves. It’s no wonder he’s such an amazing athlete. When he resurfaces, he swims up within inches of touching me.

The air is undeniably charged between us, with the anticipation of what may come. We’ve been dancing around each other for weeks and it feels like it’s all coming to a head.

I lean against the side with my elbows on the stone, still warm from the sun it absorbed all day. He swims up next to me, facing out at Roxy, and plants his elbows on the patio as well. Roxy never one to be ignored, walks up and starts licking Grants face. He laughs and pushes her away.

“What made you take a chance on her?”

When she tries to lick him again, he takes Roxy’s big head in his hands and rubs, her big pink tongue hanging out as she eats up all the love and attention Grant is showering on her.

“The rescue is a really good one. They assured us she wasn’t aggressive. Frankly I wasn’t completely sold.” I sigh, thinking back on how desperate for love Roxy was back then, starved for affection. “Black Pits are the hardest to adopt out because they look so scary. They’re most likely to be euthanized. She pushed her thin body up against the bars so hard to get to Sam, licking him and crying to get out. I had a good feeling about it…and then she looked at me and…” My mouth slams shut.

“And what?”

I turn in the water, facing Roxy. Not before I catch the look of utter rapt attention on Grant’s face. He’s hanging on my every word. And Grant’s attention is formidable. As if the world is reduced to that one point of focus. Nervously, I bounce on the balls of my feet.

“And she, umm, kinda reminded me of me,” I admit, watching my dog trying to get more face time with her crush. I can’t look at him. If I look at him and see pity, I may start to cry.

“Kind and generous.”

My head swivels around, my gaze actively searching his face for any signs that he’s being sarcastic, that he’s teasing me. And I can’t find a trace. What I do find is something indefinable, something good and wholesome that makes the truth spill out. “Desperate for a second chance.”

For a beat we stare at each other, neither of us voicing the undeniable truth that something is happening between us…something deep and real and scary.

He pins me to the side of the pool, his arms framing mine, and leans closer. I can’t pry my eyes away from his lips, full and slick with water.

“You make me want to try,” he quietly confesses.

I’ve told myself a thousand times to stop thinking about the way he looks at me. Or that he’s so sweet with Sam it brings tears to my eyes every time I watch those two interact. Or that Roxy fell hard and fast in love with him from the outset and everyone knows dogs are the best judges of character.

Tags: P. Dangelico Hard to Love Romance
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