Page 14 of Not In The Christmas Plan
“What?” I ask defensively when he doesn’t look away. Those eyes of his see too much, and it’s a battle not to hide.
“I just… nothing.” He trails off and places the terry cloth robe he’d been folding down.
I wait a few more seconds, giving him room to finish what he was going to say. But he doesn’t so I go back to my clothes, aware of every movement I make and watching Grant from the corner of my eye.
So I got a little sentimental over some baby clothes. God forbid a girl mourn the life she thought she was going to have.
“Did you see the packet of hangers anywhere?” Grant asks.
“Hangers? I’m pretty sure I saw some in the closet.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He gets up and goes to the nursery upstairs and a minute later I hear his footsteps coming back down the steps.
“We can use these for their dresses,” he says while holding the hangers out. Like everything else, they’re small and appear even more so in his big hands.
“Of course,” I say, wondering why I didn’t think of that. It’s such a simple, no-brainer idea, and yet Grant had to be the one to point it out. “Where did you pick up all this knowledge about babies? You’re supposed to be the guy who knows about running plays and numbers on and off the court. Now you’re talking about changing table locations and folding swaddle blankets like a pro. That’s the kind of stuff you learn when you are an actual parent.” I pause. “Wait—do you have kids?”
Is Grant somebody’s daddy? He was only in the NBA a few years before rupturing his ACL and retiring, but who knows what he got up to during that time. We never discussed his love life during game nights.
One side of his mouth curves and he shakes his head like he’s aware of my thoughts and suspicions. “No, I don’t have any kids.” He places a purple dress with an overlay of glitter tulle on a hanger then looks at me from the corner of his eye. “At least not any that I know of.”
“You are so unserious.”
He chuckles. “No, but really. No kids. Destiny came to live with me when she broke up with Todd. She was six months pregnant, so I helped her with pretty much everything for a while.”
Destiny, Grant and Braxton’s baby sister. She lives out of state so the only time I met her was at Ivy and Braxton’s wedding. I remember her hair full of curls, her infectious laugh, and her adorable toddler.
“You’ve got first-hand experience with newborns because of your sister, and not because you’re hiding away any kids,” I tease. “I’ll file that under ‘Things I Never Knew About Grant’.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he shoots back.
That playful grin is gone, and he watches me expectantly, inviting me to ask more questions. I know there’s more depth to him than simply being the easy-going guy who cracks jokes and lives to get under my skin, but I also know feeding into my curiosity would put me on a slippery slope. In just the past couple of days we’ve spent together, the jumble of emotions I normally get around him has faded, the attraction ramped up. But what if I get too close, misjudge his easy laughs like I misjudged Eddie’s virtue, and end up the worse for it?
With effort, I shrug before tearing my gaze from his and focusing on the clothes in my lap.
Grant sighs. “Aiden.”
I shoot him a quizzical look. “Excuse me?”
“Since you won’t ask about me, even though I know you’re dying to know, I’ll tell you more about my family. My nephew’s name is Aiden and he’s four. He likes Legos and always beats me in Nerf gun fights. I keep my phone stacked with the latest games because Little Man shakes me down for it every time I come around.”
My lips twitch at the thought of big ol’ Grant having to surrender his phone to someone who doesn’t even rich his hip.
“I’m sure the games you download for him are strictly for educational purposes,” I say. Clearly, he’s not going to stop talking so I may as well indulge him.
His eyes flash with a pleasure that makes me feel warm all over. “Of course. Nothing but the best.”
“How often do you get to see him? They live in North Carolina, right? Or was it Florida?”
“Florida. And not as often as I’d like. Maybe once or twice a year now. That’s where I was on Halloween, in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t, but thanks for the info.”
“Uh huh, sure,” he murmurs, unconvinced.
Fine, I did wonder why he hadn’t tried making an impromptu visit while we were running birth plan drills. Grant’s the kind of guy who’d unabashedly knock on the door and show up with something ridiculous like a redclown wig and shiny grill. Or a scandalous firefighter costume.
