He’d never known his grandmother. She’d died when his dad was in high school. But reading this...if he had to guess where his father’s kindness had come from, it was definitely her.
“That was fun,” she said. “You have a great reading voice. I think you should consider doing some sort of audio thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Hmm mmm,” she said, turning around so that she knelt between his legs. “Why did you did you bring me here?”
He glanced down at the curve of her neckline where the slight swell of her breasts was visible and then back up to her face. Why? He wasn’t entirely sure. But he knew he had to say something.
“I don’t know. I want you,” he said with blunt honesty. “And you are tied to this town and not a casual person. And I hate this place...so I figured I should try to see if I could like it here.”
“Is it working?” she asked.
He wasn’t entirely sure of that. “I still want you.”
“I want you too,” she said. “I’ve only had sex with one person...before that date that went wrong.”
He nodded; that made sense to him.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really. I wasn’t feeling it and said no and he...didn’t stop.”
Despite what he’d been trying to convince himself of earlier, she wasn’t a like any other woman. He knew that. She was passionate and put herself into all things that mattered to her. And that made him want her even more.
The fact that she wasn’t casual might be why he wanted her so badly. Why he felt something more for her other than lust, and why he’d brought her here. He might have told himself and acted to the world like he wanted no part of Gilbert Manor or even Gilbert Corners, but the truth was more nuanced than that.
He hadn’t been able to admit it until Indy. She was making him see himself and this place in a different way. He wasn’t entirely sure he liked it but he also knew he couldn’t walk away from her.
“I’ve had lots of sex and different partners but none of them have been you,” he admitted.
She looked into Conrad’s big blue eyes and fancied that she could see into his soul. But the truth was more complex than that. He was a man who didn’t share himself easily or at all. Since she’d arrived here—actually, since his car had shown up at her house, the day hadn’t gone the way she’d expected. She could tell that Conrad wasn’t as in control as he usually was.
It was nice to see his guard drop. She hadn’t been lying about his gorgeous reading voice; there was a sensitivity to him that he kept carefully hidden. She had a glimpse of it when he’d cooked for her. He was the kind of man who always had his guard up. And hearing how his father and uncle had trodden carefully around their grandfather gave her more of an idea of why he was that way.
He’d been surrounding her while he read, and she had found that his voice was now as much as part of her as her heartbeat or breathing. She wanted him.
“Is there anything in your sexual health history I should know?”
He shook his head, smiling at her. “No. Nothing at all.”
“Sorry, I mean it would be irresponsible not to ask. I know it’s not sexy,” she said.
“It’s not sexy, but your straightforwardness is. And before you ask, I have condoms and I will wear one,” he said.
She felt herself blushing but nodded her thanks. She had been planning to ask. They were in a new relationship and still figuring things out. It might not go further than this one day in Gilbert Manor. Neither of them needed the complication of an unexpected pregnancy.
“Great.”
“Come on. I want to cook for you in a kitchen that’s actually stocked. What’s your favorite meal?” he asked, lifting her up and swinging his legs to the floor. He set her on her feet before standing and leading her out of the library.
“Can we come back here later? I didn’t get to look at all the books,” she said.
“Of course. Favorite meal?”
The hallway they walked through wasn’t as formal as the one they’d entered through. She tried to think of her favorite meal, but he was a chef with a Michelin star and a television show, so she wanted to make it sound like a real meal instead of Kraft Mac & Cheese with cut up hot dogs. She tried to remember the best meal she’d had, and it was either her dad’s barbecue or her mom’s hush puppies.
“It’s nothing sophisticated,” she admitted.