Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
On the Reid front, Grayson knew she’d also taken a lot of time off from work to be with him and had spent every evening in his room while Sydney ran home to eat and shower. After the way he’d treated her, in the sense of rebuffing her advances, Grayson knew he didn’t deserve someone like Reid. Yet he wanted to change and prove to her that he did, or that he could be worthy of her love and affection, as a couple. The wall between them needed to crumble, and it would once he found a way to do it.
“Well, this is a beautiful surprise,” he said as he reached for her hand. She gave it willingly for a second or two and then pulled away. Grayson stood, stretched, and slung his arm around her shoulders. This move wasn’t out of the question for him, so the likelihood of her shrugging him off was slim.
“How was your appointment?”
“Great,” he said enthusiastically. “Did the usual blood work and x-rays. The new ticker is doing its job. Doc says it sounds good, and I gotta tell you, Sully, I like the way it makes me feel.”
“Sully” was the nickname he’d given her when they’d first met, and each time he called her “Sully,” her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink, and she batted her eyelashes in response. Grayson was fairly sure she had no idea the latter happened, and he wasn’t about to tell her.
“That’s good,” she said. “Anything else? Blood pressure good?”
“Perfect,” he said. “Healthy as a horse.”
“That’s really great news, Grayson.”
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. She stepped back and pulled him closer to her to clear the path for others. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.
“Nothing at all, Sully.” He pushed her hair off her shoulder and smiled. “Remember when I was in the hospital, and I asked if you wanted to go on a date?”
She gave him a noncommittal nod.
“I’m serious, Reid. That is, unless you don’t want to explore this with me, which I’d totally understand.”
“Grayson . . .” She paused and bit her lower lip. “I don’t think this is the place to have this conversation.”
He looked up and down the street, and then across it. “Then we’ll have it at the park or on the subway or at my apartment. It doesn’t matter where, but we’re having it unless you tell me you’re not interested, because I’d get it if you weren’t. I was a dick, and while I had my personal reasons for being such, that doesn’t negate that I hurt you, and I want to fix things. Or make it up to you.”
“Make it up to me or date me?”
“Both. One and then the other or at the same time. Whatever you’ll allow.”
Reid huffed and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. “Why now?”
“Because someone’s given me the gift of life, a second chance at doing this the right way, and I don’t want to waste a single second of it. And in all those seconds, I want them to be filled with you by my side. Not only as my best friend, but as a lover and partner as well.”
She eyed him warily. He accepted the scrutiny. He deserved it and more. But he’d give her time, because he now had it in spades. As long as he maintained a healthy lifestyle, his new heart would give him another twenty years, and by then, advancements in medicine would afford him another twenty or so. Grayson wasn’t worried.
They started walking again. At the street corner, when it was time for them to walk, he placed his hand in the middle of her back. He wanted to hold her hand but feared rejection. This was as good as it was going to get for the time being. If they were going to date or even have a relationship, he’d have to move at Reid’s pace and not his. His pace of jumping right back into the sack wasn’t going to work. They’d already been there, and his recollection of the night was nothing short of magical. He was the one who’d pumped the brakes on anything developing. Even a friends-with-benefits-type relationship. Those never turned out the way the parties thought they would. It was inevitable that someone would end up hurt.
Now all he had to do was not mess things up.
For the first time since his surgery, Grayson swiped his Metro card and boarded the subway. His healed incision allowed him more exposure to the elements and society. They found a two-seater and sat down. Normally, he would sit on the aisle. It was the right thing to do, but Reid insisted he sit near the window.
“There’s always a chance someone comes by with a large bag or something and bumps you.”