Time Out, Valentine Read online

  ****

  Holy fuck could Grant kiss. Definitely manly. And she shouldn’t be feeling all squirmy about it. She thought it would be fun to kiss him again—to prove to herself that she didn’t feel anything. She was wrong. The man kissed as if he practiced on women all night and day. Ha! For all she knew, he was a gigolo.

  Time to think about something else.

  “Let’s dance.” She grabbed his hand and started toward the middle of the room, but he tugged her back.

  “I don’t dance.” His serious yet warm eyes startled her.

  She wanted to kiss him again, so she averted her gaze. “It doesn’t matter. I can show you.” She trailed her finger down his skin where the shirt folded open on top. “It’ll be romantic.”

  He grimaced. “Gyrating beside strangers on a packed dance floor is far from romantic.”

  “You’ve never gyrated with me.” This time he followed, his empty hand on the small of her back. When she turned toward him, moving her body to the music, her hands over her head, he rolled his shoulders in preparation for some dance moves. She had to admit, he intrigued her. She found his glasses sexy tonight—all this time thinking they bothered her—but really they were geek chic.

  He finally moved and the guy danced—liar. His hand grasped her hip, pulling her closer.

  “You do know how to dance.”

  He grinned and, without a word, turned her so her back pressed to his front. They gyrated against each other all right. Gyrating their way to fantasies she shouldn’t have about geeky chicy Grant the Ranter.

  Feeling his chest touching her and his large hands all over her was so erotic. He moved behind her, rubbing her, his hardness not hard to miss, and his breath in her ear had her almost crumbling to the ground. His hand encircled her, feeling her belly ring, tweaking it with the tip of his thumb. She almost came on the spot.

  Never had she felt this with a man who she hadn’t been with intimately. Not that she slept around much, hence the breakup with that dick the previous night. He tried to push her, she resisted, he dumped. So-be-it. Now, she couldn’t remember for the life of her why she decided to give up on men, because Grant and his touchy-hands were looking more appealing by the second.

  He leaned into her, his lips brushing her neck, his glasses poking her ear. “You’re right. This is romantic.”

  Oh, her girly parts sang to the heavens. Her first thought was to thank her boss for pairing her with the worst partner. Her second thought was to get the hell out of there. This was dangerous territory—because her heart melted at his words, at his touches, and at his intense looks. She needed to regroup. Romantic or not—job or not—gyrating led to more devouring, and the night could end up way different than she planned. In a way she couldn’t risk with a co-worker. She didn’t want to deal with that kind of drama at work.

  When the song finished, she twisted around and poked her finger into his collarbone, straggling down to the first button. She allowed herself this little touch because her fingers ached to feel him one more time before she called it a night.

  He leaned down and placed his forehead on hers. As if his thoughts lingered on her own, he said, “We better get going. It’s late and we have an early morning.”

  She blinked in surprise and smiled. No quirky comeback came to her. He totally shook her world, and it scared her. She nodded. “Let’s go.”

  In silence, they exited Club 180, a place she’d never look at the same again, because Grant changed her philosophy. She came in there tonight wanting to play with him, so he’d notice her. She left there feeling the opposite—and noticing him instead. The player had been played.

  Chapter Five

  Grant strode through the electric doors of the Time Out office and made his way to Lexi’s desk. He felt like whistling, the craziest thing, but he suppressed his giddiness as he stood next to her. She perched in front of her computer on that enormous blue yoga ball, staring at the screen with a pained expression, her hair pulled tight, high on her head in a ponytail, the dark edges more apparent in the daylight. Even without her shiny top or five-inch heels, she was sexy as hell.

  He placed the large double mocha latte on her desk. “Morning.” When she looked at him, a question in her eyes, he tapped her desk. “I have lunch planned for us today.”

  She didn’t answer, only looked at the coffee cup, her fingers still on the keyboard. He saluted and walked away.

  “Wait. What’s this?” She stood, leaning over the desk so that her unbelievably perfect cleavage thrust up from the confines of the clinging black V-necked tee-shirt.

  He took the two steps back to her, scratching his chin. “Lunch. Assignment.”

  She held her coffee, her eyes wide. “You got me a coffee?”

  Great. Now, like all the women he’d ever been with, especially his last girlfriend, Becky, Lexi was going to complain that she didn’t like it or that it was too small or the wrong coffeehouse. He shrugged. “I was getting myself one and you had one yesterday.”

  “You remembered what I like.” She walked around the desk, standing in front of him, her skin-tight dark jeans plastered to her firm long legs, taunting him. Hell, she was irresistible not even trying. Even better, she wasn’t complaining. A smile played on her lips—reminding him of relishing in them the night before.

  “I told you, I pay attention.” He winked and sipped his coffee.

  “Thanks.” She studied him, and he studied her right back. The air between them crackled, much as it did last night. Was she remembering his lips on hers? He couldn’t stop thinking about it, that was for damn sure. Those petal pink lips, with soft feathery kisses and her kittenish sighs.

  He leaned into her ear to whisper, “Is this you being nice at work?”

  Quirking an eyebrow at him and tilting her chin to look into his eyes, she answered, “No, it’s you being nice.”

  “I’m not one of those ex boyfriends of yours, Lexi.”

  “Hmm.” A heavy sniff sounded between them.

  He smirked. “Are you smelling me again?”

  “No, I—” She began to make an excuse when Jeremy walked by, slowing down to watch them.

  “Lunch. Twelve,” Grant ordered. He marched to his desk, away from the stares that surrounded them. His face warmed at the thought of being on display in front of everyone.

  Once he had his laptop open and instructions given to his assistant, Jeremy appeared by his side. “How’s it going?” A look of humor crossed his face, but only for an instant, enough for Grant to know he had his suspicions.

  Grant looked around and then down the room to where Lexi worked at her desk. “Can I speak to you in private?”

  “Sure. Come to my office.”

  Grant stood and followed him to the office. Jeremy closed the door and sat on the sofa while Grant paced in front of him.

  “Something wrong?” Jeremy asked.

  Grant stopped and pointed to his friend. “You’ve had this planned, didn’t you?”

  Jeremy leisurely placed his arm across the back of the sofa. “Are you talking about the assignment? Sure, we planned it.”

  “Don’t give me that goddamned innocent crap.” Grant gestured to the outside office area. “Lexi. Me. I mean, look at her.”

  “Sit down, dude. In fact, calm down.”

  Grant sat across from him in a chair that seemed too small and uncomfortable. He ran his hand down his face, then rested his arms on his knees. “She’s sexy as hell, and I actually enjoy being with her.”

  His friend leaned forward to look him in the eye. “It’s about time you move past Becky and get on with your life.”

  Grant furrowed his brows. “This has nothing to do with Becky.” He didn’t want to even think about his ex-girlfriend, especially when all he thought about since yesterday was Sexy Lexi. Funny. His usual type was a quiet, demure preppy woman, not Lexi’s type…outgoing, tough, and edgy. Now that he’d gotten to know her, she was warm, cautious yet unreserved. Qualities that he now thought were p
erfect. And man, she was hot. Her lithe body, the feel of smooth skin under his hands, her flirty gazes—he wanted her. His hands on her body all night, rubbing her soft shoulders, her taut stomach, her bellybutton ring, made his cock hard just thinking about it again.

  Jeremy cleared his throat. “Everything okay, buddy?”

  “You two knew we’d hit it off, didn’t you? How would you know that? We’re complete opposites.”

  Jeremy laughed and held out his arms. “Jennifer knows people. She’s been telling me to set you up since you started here. This assignment opened the door to do just that.”

  “I don’t know if I should be pissed or grateful.”

  Jeremy snorted. “Just be careful. Lexi’s been burned in the past. She has trust issues. Take it slow with her.”

  Grant shook his head. There was definitely something holding her back since the initial pairing—the trust issues with past boyfriends, but their warm kisses, touching, and laughing together the night before had him in a state. Working together or not, they had a connection. Her kisses proved it.

  Hell, it’d been a long time since he dated anyone. He had been with Becky for a year. He tried to make it work; he owed her that much, plus he hated to fail at anything, including relationships. But there were some things no amount of effort could fix, and Becky was one of them. He didn’t call it off sooner because she was his boss’s daughter.

  He thought of Lexi and her smile this morning. Her surprised eyes lighting up when they talked. She may have been hurt in the past, but so had he. Maybe they were worth a shot. He only hoped she thought the same.

  ****

  “So where are we going?” Lexi’s heartbeat accelerated as they left the office building. She’d studiously avoided Grant all morning, but when he showed up at her desk earlier, all sweet and stuff, she couldn’t keep her mind off him. Plus, he wore casual clothes today, which was unexpected, and appealing. His dark blue Save the Daleks tee-shirt fit across his chest perfectly, making her remember touching his chest in her dreams. If only.

  He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and smiled. “It’ll be a surprise, but we need to stop at the carts to grab food first.”

  She nodded and pointed along the street toward downtown, away from the Pearl District in the opposite direction of the Time Out office. “There’s food carts that way.”

  “Let’s go.” His glasses gleamed under the sunlight as he turned to walk in the direction of their take-out lunch.

  After ordering a to-go gyro sandwich for her and Grant’s Philly steak sandwich, they headed to the Metro rail.

  “I’m not very good with surprises. Want to give me a little hint?” She sat in an empty seat on the train.

  He scooted next to her, their shoulders touching, and dammit if her heart didn’t hitch it up a notch. “I like to surprise you. Isn’t that the romantic part of the date?”

  She almost forgot. “Romance. Right.” This was all an assignment and not a real date. And that pissed her off. He wasn’t doing all this to be nice; he was trying to write that article and ultimately win a trip to Mexico. Shit. She let her mind get all wishy-washy, dreaming her little dreams, sighing about a geeky guy who didn’t really like her.

  “Hey, why quiet all of a sudden?” His hand grabbed her knee.

  She jerked his hand away and huffed out a breath. “Just hungry.”

  “It’ll be about ten more minutes. We’re going outside downtown.” He checked his phone for messages while she observed his handsome face. What was it about this guy that tugged at her heart? Just two days ago, she never thought about him.

  Oh, hell. That was a complete lie. She thought about him. Watched him sit at his desk, typing away at four keyboards. She’d even checked out his ass when he walked by her workspace to fix the photocopier that kept dying. Worse. She even purposefully jammed the printer so he’d come closer, so she could watch his intent brown eyes and smell that foresty cologne he wore. All this time she pretended he didn’t interest her, because he seemed uninterested in her.

  Now she knew different. Or did she?

  The train rumbled and bumbled through neighborhoods and under an underground tunnel. Finally, they made it. Once off the Metro Rail, a sign pointed to where she’d expected. International Rose Test Garden.

  A goofy grin formed on Grant’s face and he shrugged. “Roses equal romance, right? Girls like that stuff, don’t you?”

  Right. Roses. Romance. Girls. Real smooth, Mr. Grant the Ranter. “Sure.” She shrugged and walked ahead of him, ignoring the confused look on his face.

  He ran to her side. “Hey, what’s wrong? You don’t like roses?”

  “I just need to eat.” She walked faster, down the entrance path, to the middle of the rose garden. And it was gorgeous. Roses of all colors bloomed here—scarlet, magenta, buttercup yellow. Everywhere her eyes could see. The day happened to be gorgeous, too. The sun shining brightly around them, which was odd for Portland this time of year. Why did everything have to appear perfect? Even the man standing next to her, a small smile on his face, his eyebrows raised and those chic glasses on his nose.

  The pulse in her neck beat double-time and her head started to ache. She didn’t want perfect. Not when Grant only did this for the assignment.

  “There’s a place over there.” He pointed to a spot under a huge pine tree, shaded from the burning sun and next to a whole batch of baby pink roses.

  They parked themselves next to the tree and unloaded their take-out lunches from the plastic bags. They ate stretched next to each other, his Converse sneakers next to hers. She found his relaxed composure cute, but she wouldn’t allow her mind to go there.

  When she stopped chewing, he leaned over with a napkin and dabbed the corner of her lips. “You had a spot right there.”

  She didn’t answer, because hell, her tongue stuck in her throat, and her food was about to come back up. That small, intimate touch made her insides turn inside out. Gah!

  When her voice returned, she attempted conversation. “Why here? The rose garden?”

  He shrugged. “I thought you liked roses.” His smile broadened, his white teeth on display. “I’ve smelled you, too, and sometimes it’s kind of rosy. Thought you might like this.”

  He smelled her, too. She couldn’t remember a guy smelling her before.

  Ah, hell, She shook her head. She was daydreaming about a guy smelling her for Christ’s sake. “Look, Grant. You’re doing everything so perfectly, but I know it’s all a show for the assignment. If you want to see the sights or whatever, and meet at the Metro, I’m okay with that.”

  He flinched, froze, then wiped his hands on a napkin. He scooted his glasses higher on his nose and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you.” Then he reached over her, grabbed her cardboard container, and set it to the side. Picking up a napkin, he dabbed her lips again and then whirled her to the ground. “But I don’t like it.”

  He stared into her face, leaning his body over hers and moving her long bangs out of her face. His honey-color eyes stared into hers, and time stood still for a moment. Long enough for her to realize that she really liked this guy—assignment or not. She wrapped her hands around his neck. “Can I devour you?”

  With a groan, he leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. Instinctively, she grasped his head. This meeting of lips, of bodies and souls was hot as hell. The long strokes of his hands down her body warmed her more than the sun filtering through the trees. His body pressed her into the grass. The hardness pressing into her leg elicited a long sigh from her.

  Panting, she pulled back and blinked. “Geez, Grant.”

  Lust-filled eyes bored into her. “Not good?”

  “It’s damn good.” She tugged his head to her again. She couldn’t help herself. Her tongue explored his, darting in and out. Oh, so right. Her body burned for his touch, she wanted to explore more of him that hadn’t been touched—his hard back, his butt, his chest. Her hands pulled up his shirt so she could exp
lore more of his stomach.

  This time, Grant retreated, panting under his breath. “We’re in a public garden.”

  She nodded, her breath uneven. “I know.”

  He’d laughed and adjusted her shirt so her belly wasn’t visible to the world—he’d like to think that belly ring was only for him. His hand lingered at her hip, a soft caress, then brushed up to her face, wiping strands of hair to the side. “You’re the epitome of a perfect woman. Gorgeous curves.” His hand caressed her hip again. “Beautiful smile.” She couldn’t help but smile an answer. “And moody as hell.”

  Wait. Moody? “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You were firing off killer lasers with your eyes about ten minutes ago. Now you’re kissing me as if there was no tomorrow.” He sat up and took a deep breath.

  “You want me to be honest?” She straightened beside him, arranging her long black/blonde hair into a ponytail again.

  Nodding he smiled. “Honesty would be good.”

  “Here’s what scares me.” She looked down, plucked a strand of grass and tore it into pieces. “I really like you.”

  He lifted her chin with his pointer finger. “Good. Then we’re on the same page.”

  “What does that mean?” She bit her lip. He really liked her? This was more than an assignment? For her it was after that kiss, but hearing him say it was like winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Her heart swelled and her girly parts sang.

  “It means we should really try this.” He gestured between them.

  “I can’t believe I like geeky Grant.” She snorted when she realized she said the words aloud.

  “Hey. Didn’t you know? Geeky is the new sexy.” He pushed her to the grass, tilting her chin and smiling into her eyes.

  She drew him tighter and their lips ravaged each other in a full-on make out, like she was back in high school kissing for the first time. When a group of tourists walked by and took pictures of the flowers next to them, she knew they had to stop.

  Grant stood, wiping grass off his super-tight ass, and held out his hand for Lexi. “Let’s walk around the gardens before we get arrested for indecent exposure.”