Free Red Velvet (Silk Stocking Inn #1) by Tess Oliver, Anna Hart Page B

slipping on my high heels, especially remembering the comment Grayson had made about them, but I brushed that idea off pretty fast. They would have looked out of place under the cotton dress. Besides, barefoot felt pretty damn nice.
    I’d heard the shower in the hallway bathroom turn off just moments before I’d stepped into my own. I could only assume Grayson would be joining us for pot roast. It had been a long time since I’d met a man who had me spinning. In fact, the last time someone had me this excited and lightheaded, I was in high school. My main crush, Steve Portman, the football quarterback, had asked me to the Valentine’s dance. The night turned out to be disappointing because my crush turned out to be a self-centered bore. But I’d been giddy and elated right up until reality smacked me back down to earth.
    I already knew the man in the bedroom down the hall was no self-centered bore. I couldn’t wait to see him.
    A brisk breeze flowed through the open bedroom window. I walked over to close it. The bright blue sky of the day was turning gray with nightfall. I squinted to get a closer look at the horizon. It wasn’t a thick, strange fog like the weather anomaly that had led me to the inn but, rather, a cluster of sinister looking dark clouds that marred the evening sky.
    Growing up, few things scared me like a thunderstorm. My fear had sprung from a terrible winter night when Leti and I had waited for my parents to get home from work. In the midst of a huge clap of thunder, the howling wind had pushed the giant pine tree in our front yard over. Its branches shot through the kitchen window, narrowly missing me as I scrambled away. It was a terrifying moment in time that I still occasionally relived, particularly during severe weather.
    But tonight I wasn’t a little girl sitting at a kitchen table waiting for her parents. Tonight I was spending the evening with a man who I couldn’t push out of my mind. Even after the intimate time we’d shared in the gazebo, I was hardly able to contain myself when I thought about seeing Grayson. I wasn’t completely sure when I’d turned the corner into mild lunacy over this guy, but it had happened. It was probably a good thing this was just a weekend fling. I couldn’t imagine what kind of havoc a man like Grayson would have on my otherwise mostly planned out life.
    The reflection in the mirror blinked back at me. My cheeks were pink from the sunshine and from thinking about Grayson. I hadn’t seen myself look this relaxed and happy in a long time. My shoulders drooped some as I thought about my structured, over-planned life and future. Would a little havoc and a few left turns really be all that bad?
    A knock at my door pulled me out of my somber thoughts.
    “Hey, Jessi, I’m going down to dinner.” Grayson’s smooth deep tone came through the door.
    “I’ll go down with you.” I walked to the door and swung it open. His hair was still wet, and he’d pulled on a black sweater and jeans. Yep, a little havoc might not be a bad thing at all, especially when it came in such a dreamy package.
    Grayson looked equally pleased with my attire. His gaze dropped down the dress to my bare feet. He laughed. “I like it.”
    I held out my arms. “The dress?”
    “And everything that goes with it.” Without warning, he circled his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. “I missed you, V.P..”
    I lifted up on my toes and kissed his mouth lightly. “Missed me? You’ve seen me three times today, and during one of those times, you saw a lot of me. I’m still feeling the sweet tenderness from that particular meeting.”
    He kissed me long and deep. Even with the delicious scents climbing the stairs and circling the narrow hallway, it seemed entirely possible that we wouldn’t make it down to dinner. Then Coco’s voice brought the kiss to a reluctant halt.
    “Jessi, Grayson, if you two are up there, I’ve set dinner up in the dining room. Apple pie is