Yeah, I want that pretty damn bad.

It’s all I seem to think about lately, but after last night, watching her with my little girls, I just know it could be perfect for us if we had the freedom to really dive into this relationship with each other.

The paper crinkles as Gray folds it down to peer at me. Her eyes are unusually large and green this morning, or have they always been like that and I’m just seeing them through new filters this morning? Regardless, they are pinned on me curiously.

“What are you thinking?” she asks me with a smile.

“Lots of things.”

“Like what?”

“Well,” I say with a quick flick of my eyes to the newspaper. “I find it weird someone as progressive as you reads the news in paper form versus digital.”

“I don’t have my iPad,” she says by way of explanation.

“I’m also thinking that you look perfect right now. I think the most perfect I’ve ever seen you look.”

She snorts and pulls the paper back up to cover the lower part of her face. I can’t see the smile I know is there, but I can tell it’s there by the way her eyes are squinting just a bit while she reads. “I think that’s just the afterglow of an orgasm talking,” she says blandly.

“You are so dismissive of romance sometimes,” I chide her before taking a sip of my coffee. “And you always do that…rebuff any type of compliment I try to give you.”

It’s true. If I tell her she looks beautiful, she waves a dismissive hand at me. If I compliment her mind, she blushes. Even an appreciative look from me has her turning shy like a schoolgirl.

When she doesn’t respond to me, I continue to poke at her. “Why is that? Why does it embarrass you when I tell you how hot you are?”

Gray pulls the paper down and wrinkles her nose at me. “Because it’s weird.”

The paper goes back up. I reach across the table and bat at it, causing one side to pull out of her hands and reveal her entire face to me. Now she’s glaring. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

I can’t help but grin when I see red stain her cheeks.

“You have the most gorgeous body. I take one look at you naked and I can’t help but get rock hard.”

“Stop it,” she blusters, now blushing all the way down her neck.

I change tactics, but I know this will embarrass her just as much. “You are the most amazing woman. You are a role model for all young girls who desire to push past the gender boundaries.”

“Okay,” she snaps at me as she folds the paper in half and slams it down onto the table. “You’ve made your point.”

Chuckling, I stretch back in my chair and nudge her foot with mine under the table. “You’re adorable when you’re embarrassed.”

She rolls her eyes. “Blushes never look good on redheads.”

“Totally disagree. But seriously…why does that stuff embarrass you?”

She shrugs and lowers her gaze, her fingers fiddling with her coffee cup.

“Come on, Gray…spill the beans. What’s with the shy act? It doesn’t fit with you.”

Her foot kicks against mine in a frustrated, playful kind of way as she crosses her arms over her chest defensively. “It’s just…I’m not used to that kind of attention, so it’s kind of hard to take.”

“What kind of attention? Flattery?” I ask, genuinely curious. Because it’s hard for me to imagine a woman such as her being ignored by the male species.

Gray blows out a large sigh and looks irritated with me. But she still gives me the scoop, because one thing I’ve come to learn about her…she doesn’t hold back with me. For some reason, it’s easy for her to let go with me, no matter how much she pretends it’s a burden otherwise. She’s never refused me anything I’ve asked so far.

“Okay, so like you’re the first man that isn’t intimidated by me,” she huffs out, and then looks at me as if that explains everything.

“I don’t understand.”

She rolls her eyes, which I find to be beyond adorable, and says, “You’re the first man that I don’t intimidate. All the others…they didn’t know how to handle me. Giving me sincere compliments wasn’t within their bag of tricks, I guess. They were more worried about how to hold a conversation with me without sounding stupid, or once they realized they were getting in my pants, words weren’t exactly necessary.”

I wince internally over that because, one, I don’t like to think of anyone getting in Gray’s pants but me, and two, she clearly never made a connection with anyone she’s ever been vertical with. While on some level that pleases me, it also makes me feel sad for her. She’s been lonely for a long time, maybe without even realizing it.

Standing up from my chair, I walk around the table and hold my hand out to her. She willingly takes it and stands when I give her a tug. It’s a natural move for her, to walk straight into my embrace and press herself against me. I tilt my head and kiss her on her jaw. “It’s something you need to get used to…compliments from me. It’s never going to stop.”

Mmm, she moans in my ear.

“Want to know what else you’re going to have to get used to?” I whisper as I kiss my way down her neck.

“What’s that?” Her fingers come up, tangle in my hair, and fist tightly.

“My face between your legs…making you come with my tongue. Going to do that right now before I have to leave to go pick up the girls.”