Secrets, Lies, and Summer Skies

Chapter Sixteen

The boy stood and looked Grayson up and down as though trying to get the measure of him. Grayson might have been holding coffees and had a paper bag tucked under his arm, but it didn't make him any less intimidating. If he put our snacks down and engaged the kid in a fight, it was obvious who'd win.

Not that I wanted things to go that far.

Neither did Grayson, it seemed. He merely stared the boy down and, in a frighteningly measured voice, repeated, "I told you to get lost, kid."

"Come on, man," the boy laughed. "I was just asking her to hang out with us. It's not like I was hitting on her or anything."

"You literally just said if something happens, then whatever to me," I reminded him.

Grayson raised a brow. "Is that what passes for a line, these days?"

"Do you get your dad to scare off every guy?" the boy asked as though Grayson wasn't even there.

"Dad?" Grayson looked back at me and read the frustration in my expression. He handed me a cardboard coffee cup which was covered with the zoo logo. With his free hand, he laced his fingers through mine, brought my hand to his lips, and kissed my knuckles tenderly. It was a subtle gesture and one which would go unnoticed by most people watching us. "She's not my daughter, little boy. And, like she just told you, she's not interested. Maybe you should respect her decision and leave before you look stupider than you already do."

"As if that's possible," I muttered.

The boy blushed so furiously that even his ears turned red. Maybe I shouldn't have thought of him as a boy. He looked around my age, if not a year younger. Still, as he turned heel and hurried off to his friends like he'd been scolded, he certainly seemed like a child. Without another word, Grayson set down his coffee and the paper bag on the bench. That the contents of my purse were on the ground hadn't escaped my notice, and he crouched down to gather them up on my behalf.

"I can do that," I said.

"Sit," he instructed. "Your feet must be killing you. I've got this."

Again, I obliged and returned to the bench; the coffee clasped in my hands. Grayson made quick work of picking everything up. He was almost done when something caught his eye. It was a small black box I kept in the bottom of my purse. I had no idea how it'd worked its way out onto the floor, but Grayson picked it up and turned it over in his fingers.

"Is this...?" He popped it open. Inside was a small silver charm in the shape of an apple. "You still have this?"

"Of course, I've still got it." Embarrassment washed over me. It shouldn't have. He'd given it to me as a gift when I'd left for college. I'd poked fun at his choice at the time, so maybe it seemed silly that I still had it. "I didn't put it on a bracelet or anything in case I lost it, so I just... I just kept it in my purse and took it into my tests like a good luck charm."

Grayson placed a hand on the back of the bench and leaned in to kiss me. My eyes widened when our lips met. There was nothing subtle about this gesture, it was all affection and passion, and nobody could mistake the intention behind it or the nature of our relationship.

When he pulled away, he murmured, "You're adorable, you know that?"

"Grayson, people can see us."

"I don't care." Grayson pressed his lips against mine briefly. "It's a date, Kitten. Not a crime. Like you keep saying, we're both adults, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but–"

"No one here is gonna tell your dad. I promise. They have no idea who we are." He smiled. "Besides, I can't have anyone else thinking you're my daughter and hitting on you again."