“I-I’m not,” I stammer as I step back to let him inside.
He steps through the threshold, shutting the door behind him. His presence seems so grand in my small apartment. I don’t know why I think that as I take him in. He’s tall, but not overly tall, maybe six feet. His body isn’t lithe nor is it bulky. He clearly works out beyond jumping around a stage and performing. His arms sport muscles that make me want to touch them. And even right now as he stands in my apartment wearing gym shorts, a gray college shirt, and a baseball cap, he still looks like sex on a stick.
“Stop gawking at my sexiness and go put on some gym clothes,” he says.
I roll my eyes and turn to go to my bedroom. I feel a “thwack” on my ass, and I turn in shock.
“You just slapped my ass!” I yell. I don’t know why I yell it as he’s standing three feet from me.
“Damn right I did, now get a move on,” he growls.
“Alpha much,” I grumble under my breath as I walk to my room.
“I heard that.”
“I hope you did,” I reply in a sing-song voice.
I hear him chuckle and sit down on my couch which makes a squeaking sound when anyone sits on it. I sort through the pile of clothes on my chair until I find a new outfit. I change and come back out. This time I have on my favorite USC t-shirt, a cute cotton pair of shorts that technically you could wear to the gym, but you could also wear them out to grab a coffee or run to the store, and I complete the ensemble with a sweatshirt I got at one of my favorite band’s concerts last year.
“Voltage Drop,” Grady states, “they’re good. We played with them at a music festival last year.”
“I know,” I say. “I was there.”
Grady cocks his head to one side, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve seen us in concert?”
I nod. “Yeah, I don’t live under a rock.”
He grins. “I didn’t think you did. What did you think?”
I shrug. “You were good.” I don’t want to admit that he was amazing, and I may have drooled a bit when he ripped off his t-shirt halfway through their set. I may have also been jealous of the girl in the first row who caught said shirt, although I would never admit it to him. Grady exudes cockiness. I know he knows that he’s good looking. He doesn’t need reminding from me.
“Good?”
I blush and curse my fair skin for its tendencies to give away my inner thoughts. His smirk tells me he sees through my bullshit answer.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to steer the conversation to a safer topic.
“I’ll tell you if you tell me the truth.”
“About what?” I feign innocence.
“Nice try, but you know ‘what.’”
I sigh. “Fine, you were amazing. The show was great. I still have a ticket stub on my dresser mirror. Happy?”
“Show me,” he commands.
I grab his hand, tugging him up and he obliges as he follows me to my room. I point at the dresser before the mortification of the mess I created earlier dawns on me.
“OK, you saw it, let’s go,” I say quickly as I try to push him back to the door.
He doesn’t budge. Instead, he surveys the room slowly. Thank God, aside from the clothes pile on my chair, my room is somewhat neat.
“So, this is where the magic happens?” he remarks as his eyes finish roaming my room and land squarely on my face.
“Yep. Now, your turn. Where are we going?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips out of frustration.
He chuckles. “You are fucking adorable when you are irritated.”
I sigh and yank on my ponytail. Maybe he really is a jackass. Maybe the little glimpse that I thought I got of the real him, was as deep as he gets. Maybe I’m making a huge mistake by going on date number two.
“Stop overthinking things. I have a day planned. I want it to be a surprise. Let’s go,” he demands as he holds out a hand to me. I look at it for a long moment, weighing my options. But who am I fooling, of course, I’m going to go with him. I’ve come this far, might as well finish what I started.
I take his hand as we walk to his car. I’m surprised to find a picnic basket in the back seat. I decide to play along and not ask questions since he clearly took the time to plan this day.
“You ready?” he asks as he settles into the driver’s seat.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply giving him a small smile.
“Then hold on to your seat, because we are about to embark on an epic day of fun,” he announces as he throws the car into drive and speeds out of the parking spot.
Chapter Sixteen
Grady
I don’t know why the thought of Emma at one of my concerts makes me giddy, but it does. She’s seen me on stage, and from the blush, I bet I took my shirt off; I have a tendency to do that. I let Emma play DJ as I drive us to our destination. I ask her about how her semester is going and she tells me about her studies and classes. I can tell she loves learning and her anecdotes have me laughing. The conversation flows easily. I find myself just enjoying Emma’s company. She’s smart and savvy and she has what my grandmother would call chutzpah or gall. She’s brave and not afraid to be herself. I can sense she’s still timid about her expertise, but she’s a student and that’s to be expected when you are still learning your craft. Yet, she’s so open and honest. She doesn’t blow smoke up my ass like most of the groupies that I hook up with and she’s not completely wrapped up in herself like some of the models that I’ve dated. She’s down to earth and real, and that is hard to find in Hollywood. I can see why my mom was so taken by her.
I pull up to the vineyard, and she squeals with delight. “Really?”
I chuckle. “Yep. We can have some wine and picnic and then I thought we’d go for a leisurely hike around Topanga State Park.”
She laughs. “Shouldn’t we hike first?”
“Aren’t you hungry?” I ask her.
Her grin is my answer.
“Well, then, we have to eat.”
“I suppose, but only one bottle of wine,” she declares as I park the car.
I pull out the picnic basket and take her hand, leading her to the tasting room. I watch her reaction to each wine we taste. She’s one of those people who can’t hide their true emotions, and it delights me to see how true to herself she is.
Once she’s tasted a few, we decide on a bottle and a second one for after our hike. I lead her to a spot I found a few years ago, nestled amongst the grapes on the hill and I lay out a blanket, carefully unpacking the food.
“Wow, I didn’t peg you as the romantic type,” she admits as she settles herself on the blanket.
I smirk. “I know how to woo a woman,” I add with a wink.
She rolls her eyes. “I mean, wine and some food at a vineyard is nice, but there’s more to it than that.”
“Don’t underestimate me yet. The date is just starting,” I counter as I open the wine bottle and pour us each a glass.
“Well, then, to our second date,” she says, raising a glass to mine. We look into each other’s eyes for a long moment before drinking the wine. I don’t know what she’s thinking, and I hope she can’t see through my thoughts because all of them are dirty and none of them should be said out loud, yet.