Page 47 of The Boyfriend Effect (Frisky Business 1)
“Yep,” Hayes grumbles.
I pocket my phone, beaming from ear to ear. Outside in the courtyard, Don and Rosie are seated closely together on a bench in deep conversation, serious expressions on their faces. Rosie places one hand on Don’s, a gesture of compassion.
This is going to be awesome.When Hayes arrives, I meet him at the front door and escort him to the cafeteria, where Don and Rosie are huddled together at a small table, thick as thieves. Hayes freezes at the sight, so I give him a soft pat on the shoulder before pulling over two chairs to join them.
“Hello, Don. I’m Rosie’s grandson. It’s nice to meet you,” Hayes says stiffly, offering his hand to Don like a robot might.
Don accepts the handshake, his expression stoic save for the signature sparkle in his stormy blue eyes. “No formalities necessary, Hayes. Your grandmother has spoken of you and only you for the past three hours, so I feel like I already know you.”
Rosie giggles, swatting Don on the arm. “Oh, stop it. As if you didn’t show me a whole photo album’s worth of your students’ graduation pictures.”
“Only because you asked,” he says with a wink.
From the way she melts, I can tell that Rosie is absolutely smitten.
“I’m impressed,” I say. “Don is a man of mystery. For the longest time, I didn’t even know if he spoke.”
“You’re new here, kid,” he mumbles with a smile, a faint blush spreading across his wrinkled cheeks.
I can’t help but clasp one of his warm hands between mine and give it a gentle squeeze. “That’s how he tells me he loves me,” I say, clarifying for the group.
“I see. Is he taken?” Rosie asks, humor twinkling in her eyes.
“Not at all, Rosie.” I sigh with feigned disappointment. “Don turned me down years ago.”
While the three of us laugh, Hayes shifts uncomfortably in his seat. I guess I should try to bring him into the conversation. But before I have the chance to come up with a strategy, he finally opens his mouth.
“What do you do, Don?”
“Oh, a little bit of this and that. Crossword puzzles and afternoon naps, mostly.”
“Ha,” Hayes says with a fake laugh. “I meant before Riverside. What did you do for a living?”
“I was a college professor at U of M, teaching the classics. Roman and Greek history, literature, et cetera. Lucky for me, your grandmother is quite the mythology buff herself.”
Hayes says nothing in response, staring him down like he’s deciding whether it’s morally reprehensible to beat up an old man.
I reach under the table to rub his knee comfortingly. Relax.
“What do you do?” Don asks, genuinely interested.
Uh-oh.
“I own a sex-toy shop here on the north side.” Hayes’s voice is loud, proud, and brimming with cockiness. He probably thinks mentioning anything openly sexual will scare Don away. Clearly, he doesn’t know the man.
“Fantastic,” Don says in a low voice, clapping his hands softly together. “I have about a dozen erotic posters for you to look at—renderings of ancient Roman frescoes. I’m not allowed to put them up here. Would you want to put some of them up in your shop?”
Hayes is stunned into silence, his mouth twitching. Meanwhile, Rosie and I share a pleasantly surprised look.
“That would be perfect for the shop,” I say, jumping in. “They could make a collage on the back wall.”
The conversation continues easily from there, Hayes pitching in now and then in an attempt to recover his pride. I know that all he wants is to be sure Don’s intentions are pure, but there’s still time for that.
At the end of our visit, Rosie and Don say their good-byes with the promise to have another date on Saturday.
“We should have a double date,” Rosie exclaims with a confident expression that boasts of her problem-solving superpower. She and Hayes really are blood relatives, aren’t they?
“That sounds fun,” I say with a smile.
And it really does. On a double date, I can get in all the cute couple-watching I want, and Hayes can monitor the progression of their relationship. Not to mention that I’ve been itching to spend more time with Hayes, in and out of bed.
Don waves good-bye from the front doors as Hayes helps his grandmother into the front seat of the car. I’m about to turn around and head back indoors when his hand reaches for mine, spinning me back around. His fingers play lightly with the buttons on my dress, sending shivers across my skin.
“Hey,” he growls softly, with the sexy little smirk he reserves just for me.
“Hey.” I giggle back, a little breathless.
“Can I take you out tonight? No double date. Just the two of us.” His tongue peeks out to wet his bottom lip.
I run one finger between his pecs, down his cotton T-shirt, appreciating the firm feel of his chiseled torso. “I’d like that,” I murmur, the twitch in my core impossible to ignore.
