Chapter Fifteen
Something was different with Cassidy, but Gramps couldn’t put his finger on it. She’d been acting a little strange ever since Taylor, Skylar, and Molly had gone to Mario’s cheerleading practice with her.
He’d hated not being able to go, but Willis had contacted them with information on a possible target. The men had all gathered in the safe room at Silverstone Towing to discuss it.
But the discussion hadn’t gone very smoothly. Eagle kept texting Taylor to check on her and Kevin. Smoke was worried about Molly because she’d been a bit dizzy that morning. She hadn’t thrown up or passed out, but he didn’t stop worrying throughout the meeting. And Bull had argued against any extended missions because he didn’t want to leave Skylar for that long.
All four of them were distracted, and that wasn’t how they needed to be when they were discussing a possible future mission. It was more than obvious that Silverstone was ready for change, but no one had been willing to say what they were probably all thinking.
It was Gramps who had finally ended the meeting when he’d gotten a text from Cassidy saying that Mario’d had a great class and Molly was dropping them off back at their apartment. He had been curious as to why Cassidy had used all caps when she’d spelled great and had looked forward to talking to Mario, to hear for himself how things had gone.
Ever since that day, Gramps had felt Cassidy’s eyes on him more and more. When he’d asked about it, she’d merely shrugged and said everything was fine. Of course, that made Gramps even more nervous. When a woman said something was fine, that meant it probably wasn’t. Which worried him.
They’d gotten back from another cheerleading practice earlier, and he’d splurged and ordered pizza for dinner. They’d all eaten more than their fill, then Mario had excused himself to go upstairs to practice some of the cheers he’d learned that day. For a while, Gramps had heard him up in his room, yelling out the cadences and jumping around. But now it was past ten at night, and everything was quiet upstairs.
He and Cassidy were sitting next to each other, ostensibly watching a comedy show. Gramps had no idea which show it was because all his attention was on the woman next to him.
It was getting harder and harder to keep his hands to himself, particularly since they spent nearly all their time together. She came with him to Silverstone Towing in the mornings and hung around the garage looking after any kids who showed up while he ran some shifts or discussed business with his friends. Then he took her to pick up Mario, and they took him to his practices and ate dinner together, and more often than not, he spent the night at her apartment, sleeping on the couch, or she stayed at his house in a guest room.
But being separated from her at night wasn’t something he could handle much longer. He liked Cassidy. Liked talking with her. Hanging out with her. Watching her laugh at something her son said or did. They didn’t even have to talk; just being near her calmed him.
And he wanted her. More than he could ever remember wanting a woman. All he had to do was glimpse a shadow of her cleavage, and he got hard. He’d masturbated more than he ever had before, simply because it was the only way to keep his cock from being embarrassingly hard all day.
Gramps didn’t want to do anything that would pressure Cassidy. He didn’t want her to be with him because she was grateful to him for rescuing her, or because she felt obligated. He’d never been this unsure with anyone before. He’d always gone after what he’d wanted. But with Cassidy, everything he’d done in the past was thrown out the window.
And now, something was on her mind, and she wasn’t talking to him about it, which drove him crazy. He wanted to slay all her dragons. Make her life as easy as possible. But if she wouldn’t talk to him, he couldn’t help her. Which was unacceptable.
Reaching over, Gramps took her hand in his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed the back. Cassidy looked at him in surprise, but didn’t jerk her hand out of his grip.
“Talk to me,” he urged.
Her brows drew together in confusion. “About what?”
“About what’s been bothering you. About how when I ask if anything’s wrong, you say that everything’s fine. It’s not fine, I can tell. Tell me what’s up so I can help you figure out how to fix it. Is it Mario? I thought school was going well for him.”
Cassidy shook her head. “It is.”
“Then what? Talk to me, Cass.”
He stayed silent and watched as she did her best to gather her courage. He hated that. He wanted her to trust him enough to talk to him about anything, and the fact that she was obviously uneasy was a dagger to the heart.
She took a deep breath, turned to look him in the eye, and said, “I want you.”
Gramps blinked in surprise. “What?”
She blushed but didn’t look away. “A couple weeks ago, you said that you were falling for me. I think I’ve been in love with you since I was fifteen years old,” Cassidy admitted. “I have no idea why you seem to like me. I’m a mess, and I’ve done a lot of stupid things recently. But the last month or so has been the happiest time in my life.”
She pulled her hand out of his—and Gramps was even more shocked when she reached for the button on his jeans. Her hands were shaking, and she fumbled awkwardly with the button. He reached down and grabbed her wrists, holding her still.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked away from him then. Gramps hated that he’d made her feel embarrassed, but he needed to be sure they were on the same page before they continued.
“Look at me,” Gramps ordered.
It took a moment, but Cassidy slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze.
“I haven’t pushed for anything more intimate than we’ve already done because I wanted you to be sure,” he said softly. “When I take you, that’s it. There’s no going back. Just like when I was eighteen and knew if I asked you out that I’d never be able to leave you, I know that if you let me sink into your hot, wet, gorgeous pussy, there won’t ever be anyone else for me. You’re it. I needed to give you time to be one hundred percent sure that’s what you want.
“I’m not Alfred, or Michael, or any other fucktard male who’s screwed you over in the past. I’m bossy, protective, and way too blunt for my own good, but I give you my word that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you and Mario have nothing but good in your life from here on out. If you can’t commit, if you aren’t sure you want a long-term relationship with me, if you can’t see yourself wearing my ring for the rest of your life . . . we need to wait. I’m willing to do so, but I’m not willing to be given paradise only to have it snatched out of my grasp afterward.”
Cassidy stared at him without blinking. Gramps couldn’t read what she was thinking. She’d perfected the art of the poker face. Probably because she’d had to in order to protect herself in the past. It pissed him off.
“I love you, Cassidy,” Gramps went on. “You and Mario. I’ve never felt so alive. Suddenly I have more to live for than my job. I wake up smiling because I know I’ll be seeing you both soon, and I go to bed replaying all the moments we spent together that day. I want you. More than I’ve ever wanted a woman. But that means in all aspects of my life, not just in bed. If ‘I want you’ means ‘only in bed’ . . . my answer is no. I’m not willing to settle for that. I want all of you. Every little piece. The good, bad, and ugly.”