The next two weeks moved in that ridiculously slow speed that I was struggling to get used to. I wasn’t accustomed to each moment dragging by slowly, like nails lightly scraping through hair and lips slowly moving across skin. But Grayson’s presence made everything easier.

Each morning while I tossed vanilla and flour together, cracked eggs and added sugar, pinching salt to add to the pancake mixture, I thought about the laugh that Grayson sometimes did, where he held his arms around his waist tightly and scrunched his face together as tears threatened to spill from the sides of his eyes. I flipped omelets while thinking about the shades of blues I’d seen in Grayson’s eyes—everything from a soft, pastel blue to the deepest sea shades—and while I mixed coffees and cocoas, I thought about the cinnamon taste of Grayson’s mouth.

When I swept, I had to keep my lips pressed tightly together so I wouldn’t think about all the times Grayson came to the diner to try and help me close up. I had to avert my eyes from the magazines when I was at the grocery store; sure I’d buy every last one if Grayson’s face was on them.

By the second week, we spent every evening together. Some were spent pursuing Madeline’s shelves at The Bookies, reading out lines that were particularly good to each other as our legs intertwined and our hands held each other. Others, I grilled supper for us while Grayson complained about the industry he’d been in since he was a kid.

It surprised me sometimes how much Grayson seemed to dislike about his job. Of course, I should have realized that being a celebrity wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. A lot of pressure, of course, and a lack of privacy. He had confessed that he was nervous that someone would tip off the paparazzi about his vacation, that he’d have his time here cut short by his least favorite part of his life. After he told me that, I had stopped asking him to go out to the movies or dinner someplace that wasn’t the diner. I didn’t want him to leave anymore than he wanted to.

I groaned when the coffee spilled from my hands, coating the counter with the dry grounds. He was supposed to stop by after my shift today—it was two weeks after our first date, and Alana was going to close since she’d taken the last few days off and he had been planning a date for us. It was the first one that I hadn’t planned, even though mostly we just watched a movie in my living room and kissed when Madeline went to bed.

I felt like a teenager most nights, panting on the futon with my—well, boyfriend wasn’t quite the word I should use. But he definitely wasn’t just my friend, either.

I shook my head. I was nervous. I wondered if I’d ever get over these butterflies in my stomach or if it was just part of the package.

The door opened, the bell jingling, and I jumped. More coffee spilled.

“Jeez,” Alana laughed as she passed me to drop off her coat and bag in the back. “Someone’s jumpy!”

I rolled my eyes, then went and swept the grounds into my hand and cleaned up my mess while Alana went and washed up. She came back, leaning her hip against the doorframe and her eyebrow raised as she dried her hands on a washcloth.

“What’s up, Jade?”

She refilled the coffee pot like I had been trying to do, pouring in the coffee and then the water before flipping the switch.

“So,” I said, pointedly ignoring her scoff. “The place shouldn’t be too busy tonight.”

Alana continued to watch me as she moved around, tidying up the space near the register and coffee pots. “I think I can handle it, boss lady.”

I smiled to myself, checking to make sure none of the customers needed a refill or anything before I left them to Alana.

I had worried, a while ago, that Alana would resent me for taking her father’s spot as manager in the diner. It was, after all, her legacy, not mine. But Alana knew what Kyle meant to me and what this diner meant to me. She had her boys and Todd; I had Kyle’s.

But, it seemed, that I had worried for nothing. Alana didn’t mind having me as a boss any more than she minded having me as a roommate when we were teenagers, and I moved in with them. Alana was always good like that.

“So,” she said, effectively interrupting my reminiscing. “What’s this fancy date?” I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on my lips. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Grayson’s planning it.”

“Ooh,” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows. I laughed, and her own answering smile was soft. She opened her mouth before hesitating and closing it again.

I sighed and turned around, leaning my back on the counter so I could cross my arms and fix her with my best cousin stare. One raised eyebrow, chin slightly jutted—she wilted a bit, and I struggled to contain my grin that the look still worked on her. “What is it, Alana?”

She tapped her foot on the floor a few times before sighing heavily. “Just—I’m happy for you. He seems to make you really happy.”

I relaxed, my face spasming until I let the smile morph my expression. I dropped one arm, the other raising to run my hand across my face in a pointless effort to hide my blush.

Alana patted my arm, knowing me well enough to know I’d never be able to reply, her low chuckle matching my own laugh. “Go have fun,” she said, shoving me a bit. She dropped her hand and smiled at me.

“Okay,” I raised my shoulders, ducking my head a little even as my blush burned brighter. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alana.”

“See you, Jade.”

I raced home, nerves and excitement too strong for me to be bothered by the rain that started to lightly splatter on me. The walk was brisk, and I was home in no time, jumping into the shower and scrubbing at my hair vigorously.

I had no idea what Grayson had planned, but I was determined to not smell like waffles and French fries for once. I was going to look sexy, damn it.

By the time five o’clock rolled around, and I was ready to head to Grayson’s hotel, I had changed three times and nearly canceled five. I would be a bit earlier than the five thirty we agreed to, but there was no way I could sit in my apartment any longer. I was too excited.

I’d dropped Grayson off at his hotel plenty of times, but hadn’t actually gone inside. It was grand looking, compared to the little dumps I was used to staying in. I hesitated by the door, glancing at my outfit. Just skinny jeans and a casual green blouse. I would stick out like a sore thumb if I went in there.

I couldn’t bring myself to care.

I rode the elevator, texting him that I was on my way to the room I’d been told to go to. I wasn’t sure if we were going out or staying in, but it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that this was the first real date he had planned and we were going to be together.

My whole body thrummed with anticipation.

I counted the doors slowly, checking my phone half a dozen times to make sure I didn’t accidentally knock on the wrong one. That would be so like me. When I finally reached the door that read 710B, I knocked gently on the wood.

The door flew open nearly immediately. I jumped.

Grayson, in all his glorious, sculpted beauty, was a mess.

I had never seen him so disheveled—shirt unbuttoned and askew, face coated with a sheen of sweat, hair pressed down on his forehead. He was panting a bit, eyes a little wild, and he had a smear of what appeared to be flour decorating his cheek. He didn’t say anything, just clenched the door and stared at me. He wasn’t even wearing shoes. But it was his chiseled chest that had my attention. I couldn’t stop staring.

His heavy breathing filled the silence until I managed to get my head wrapped around the image in front of me.

“Hey,” I said stupidly. He nodded back. We both stood still.

Grayson was the messiest he’d ever been, but he was the sexiest I’d ever seen him.

I was pretty sure I’d never been as attracted to him before.

“Can I come in?” I asked, nearly wincing from the way my voice had raised an octave or two too high. I couldn’t help it; he looked so good. I had never seen him so unpolished, and for the first time, even though he was still crazy beautiful, I felt like maybe I had a shot with this guy. Like maybe he was as normal as the rest of us.

Grayson’s eyes impossibly widened more. He threw himself out of the way, letting out a quick ouch when his side collided with the door. He rubbed at the sore spot and made a grand sweeping gesture. “Of course! I’m sorry, please.”

I entered, slowly, and turned to face him. He seemed to have caught his breath and was watching me, apprehensively.

“You look,” I bit my bottom lip. “Really good.”

Grayson rolled his eyes, my compliment jolting him out of his trance. He closed the door and ran his hand through his hair. “Please,” he grumbled, tugging on the bottom of his shirt to straighten it. “I look like a mess.”

I nearly laughed. That much was true. “Yeah,” I agreed, looking him up and down. “You do.”

His expression darkened, narrowing in on my lips. “Don’t mock me, Hunter.”

“Wouldn’t dare, Sparling,” I teased. I shook my head, shrugging out of my jacket and moving to hang it on the rack that Grayson was standing next to. “You might be a mess, but you’re a hot one.”

I froze.

What the hell was that?

I looked at Grayson, horrified. He stared at me, mouth parted in a silent ‘O’ before the corners started to lift and his eyes flashed.

He took a step toward me, tongue darting out to swipe across his lips, while his eyes clouded and his posture straightened. When he reached me, he kept his eyes on my lips and moved close enough that his breath was ghosting against my lips, as he had done the other day.

The reaction was instant. My knees trembled and my breath caught in my throat, my eyes fluttering closed.

“What was that?” he murmured, lips so close I could practically feel them. My eyes flew open when his hand curled around my hip, pulling me closer to him. His other hand cupped my cheek, thumb swiping across the skin. I felt my body tremble.

“I—” I swallowed, shaking my head. he tugged me even tighter against him, pressing our bodies flush against one another. I bit my lip hard to hold in the moan.

“I think I like you like this,” he murmured, nose running along my jaw slowly. He lowered his mouth to my neck, pressing an open kiss against it. I gasped at the exquisite feeling. “I was trying to cook you dinner. I even bought wine,” he whispered softly in my ear.

He pulled back, his eyes hooded as he stared at my lips. I tried to keep my shivers under control. “But I think I want to change our date. I like you like this, shaking for me.”

My body betrayed me, my hips thrusting a little against him. He was so close, pressing against me. The feeling was heady.

I tried to reach up to capture his lips, but he pulled back, smiling dangerously. “Tell me. Is that okay with you?”

He pulled further away, hands moving up my side, and I nearly whimpered as Grayson retreated. “What?” I couldn’t remember what we were talking about.

His jaw ticked, and I watched him swallow hard. “Is it okay if I change our plans, Jade?”

My name sounded so warm in his mouth. “Yes,” I nodded for emphasis.

He smiled sexily. “Good.”

His hands wound themselves in my hair, fingers scraping against my scalp and sweeping away the tendrils of hair to move my mouth closer to his own. This kiss was hard and demanding, something so unlike the others we’d shared. Instead of gentle romance and cinnamon-flavored nerves, this was desperate and fast. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, both of us fighting for dominance in the kiss. I surprised myself as I moved my lips over his with a bruising harshness, pulling back only when my lungs were screaming for air.

He allowed himself to be separated but kept his eyes trained on my swollen lips. I wasn’t much better, my own gaze hard on his pink mouth and nearly all black eyes. He looked predatory, something dangerous and devilish standing in the hotel room.

My hands shook, but I ignored the thick anxiety swimming through my veins as I raised them, pushing at his unbuttoned shirt as he shrugged his shoulders to help me with my mission. My heart hammered in my chest, so fast and loud I thought, briefly, that I might actually pass out. I wouldn’t mind if this were my last moment; standing inches from Grayson Sparling, with fluffy hair messy from his fingers, his lips swollen from our kisses, pupils blown from desire for me. It was so much more than I’d ever expected.

He swallowed, and my eyes narrowed onto the motion, watching his Adam’s apple bob around the swallow. My face flushed with the desire to nip at the skin there, to kiss hard enough that he was bruised and marred from me.

He reached for me, tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip. He popped open the top two buttons on my shirt, grinning at me. He was positively breathtaking, and I vowed, at that moment, to give him whatever he wanted, so long as he was willing to keep looking at me like that. Finished with my buttons, he pulled my blouse open and stared at my exposed body. I was wearing a plain white bra, but his jaw had dropped open in awe.

“If I had known—” Grayson started to say, his voice low, a thick sound like gravel scraping against the road. He stopped himself, swallowed, and then spoke again. “Damn, I knew you were beautiful, Jade, but if I had known this is what you were hiding, I would have tried to get you into my bedroom a long time ago.”

My whole body tensed before releasing in a thousand pinpricks of jostled nerve endings, a shiver running down my spine. Good lord.

My jaw ticked, my hands clenching into fists by my side before I released them, taking a step forward. I wanted to say something, to explain that he was the one who looked good, that he was something—something more. He had said that I mattered, but I wasn’t sure I could believe that. He could have anyone, and in a few weeks when he went back to his real life, the life of a Hollywood star, he would forget all about me.

Until then, I suppose he wanted me. Grayson looked at me with blue eyes darkened to nearly black, wet lips, and a smile that made me tremble, and for now, that was going to be enough. I was going to let this be enough. Even though he was something so much more to me, I was okay with just being this to him. It was more than I deserved and I was grateful for it. For holding hands in a bookstore and smiling over dinners and kisses that begged for more. I was grateful, and this was enough. For now.

But I wasn’t good with words, let alone declarations, so I just pressed as close as I could, and let my lips show him what I felt in a different way.

“God,” he groaned, head lolling back to allow me more access as I attacked his neck, small kisses, little licks and nips against the tender flesh. He gasped, hips rolling hard as I worked.

My ministrations faltered to a stop when he grabbed my hips and rocked his pelvis against mine again, our bodies pressing against each other at a stuttering pace, his hard lines and coiled muscles rutting against my softer ones as the feeling in my veins got hotter and hotter.

He grabbed my chin roughly, pulling me up before kissing me harshly. It wasn’t comfortable, instead all teeth and tongue at a rapid pace that our bodies struggled to keep up with. I slid my hands up his torso, his undershirt hitching on one of my fingers and rising as I dragged my fingernails against his bare abs. When I swiped my thumbs over his exposed nipples, he hissed, head thrown back and hitting hard against the door we had stumbled into. The sound was hard and forced our mouths apart, but I didn’t hesitate. I pressed my lips to the dip of his collarbone, sucking on the skin and smoothing it over with the flat of my tongue as profanities fell from his mouth. I couldn’t believe how forward I was behaving, but I didn’t care.

He pushed me back. I looked up, eyes wide as I took a stumbling step backward, his smile sharp as he took long steps to close the space to follow me. I didn’t realize I was still backing up until the back of my knees hit the edge of the bed. His smirk was punctuated by a flash in his dark eyes, and he pushed me, letting me fall onto the bed before leaning over to kiss the bare skin of my belly.

I nearly blacked out when his lips pressed my hot skin.

I nearly passed out a second time when the phone across the room rang, and he pulled away, growling in frustration.

“Ignore it,” I gasped, throwing my hands to his shoulders to keep him there. His eyes snapped back to mine, and his expression shifted, beautifully dangerous. He stared at me as the phone continued to ring. It finally stopped ringing, and he wasn’t an inch away from my mouth when it started to ring again.

“Damn it,” he muttered, dropping a quick peck onto my mouth before stalking over to the phone, yanking it from its charger. “What?” he snarled.