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The teasing was gone from her voice now, and Grady didn't need to look at her to know the meaning behind those words had shifted.

He hadn't meant the invitation as a proposition. He wanted to cook for Amanda, spend more time with her, and talk more without his daughter hovering nearby and trying to play matchmaker.

But if dinner led to another kiss—or something more—he wouldn’t pretend the thought hadn't crossed his mind.

“What time?” she asked.

“How about six?”

“That works. It'll give me time to shower and check on Aunt Edith.”

The reminder that it was still early afternoon brought him back to the present. They had hours before dinner, and that was probably a good thing. It would give him time to figure out what the hell to cook—and maybe get his thoughts under control while he was at it.

“Any requests?”

“Mm. How about you surprise me?”

“I can do that. Any allergies or anything you absolutely hate?”

“No allergies. But if liver or cauliflower shows up on my plate, I’m leaving.”

He chuckled. “Then we’re good because those are both on my ‘hell no’ list of foods too.”

When they reached Edith’s house, he pulled into the driveway and parked behind the older woman’s pickup. Amanda’s ’Vette was still at the auto-body shop.

He shut off the engine, but she didn’t move to open the door. He wasn't in any hurry to see her leave either, even though he knew she'd be back in his SUV in a few hours.

She unfastened her seat belt, shifted in the seat, and faced him. “Thank you for today.”

“You should thank Rissa.”

“I did.” Her gaze dipped to his mouth. “But I enjoyed being with you.”

The words, combined with where she'd just been looking, left no doubt she wanted another kiss as much as he did.

After releasing his own seat belt, he leaned across the console and kissed her.

She met him without hesitation, leaning closer as one hand came up to his shoulder and her lips parted beneath his. What he'd been thinking about for most of the drive back became a hell of a lot harder to put out of his mind with her mouth on his again.

Within seconds, his mind short-circuited until all he could do was feel. The press of her lips. The stroke of her tongue against his. Her fingers gripping his shoulder as desire coursed through every nerve in his body. His breathing grew ragged, and his cock strained against his zipper as the need to pull her closer took over.

The damn console made that impossible, and that was probably for the best. They were sitting in Edith's driveway in broad daylight, with her aunt somewhere inside the house.

That realization finally broke through the lust clouding his brain. He ended the kiss with far more reluctance than he'd expected, but Amanda stayed close, drawing in an unsteady breath that feathered over his lips while he tried to regain some semblance of control.

“I'll pick you up at six.”

Her mouth curved. “I’ll be ready.”

She got out before he could be a gentleman again, then shut the door and gave him a flirtatious wave. Watching her walk toward Edith’s porch did absolutely nothing to cool him off.

Chapter Twenty-Four

At six o’clock on the nose, Grady stood on Edith’s front porch feeling more nervous than a fifty-four-year-old man had any business feeling. It was ridiculous.

He'd already taken Amanda on a date. He'd kissed her more than once. She knew he was interested, and unless he'd badly misread every signal she'd sent him today, the feeling was mutual.

Tonight was simply dinner.