I bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t laugh, but Virginia rolled her eyes.
“Stop being so eccentric, Jeff, and mind your language. You’ll scare her off,” she told him.
He barked out another laugh. “West’ll do that by himself. She’s way too pretty for him. Look at her. She should be in those commercials I tell you I don’t record.”
“Can I get anyone a drink?” Virginia asked to break through his ramblings, her lips pursed. She was clearly amused but just good at hiding it.
I politely declined, but West took a coffee, and as soon as she’d disappeared, he turned to his grandfather and asked, “What commercials are you recording this time?”
“Them Victoria Secret ones.” He cackled, leaning back in the chair and loudly tapping his cane against the floor once. “Got some right beauties on ‘em.”
So. Five minutes in and West’s grandfather thought I should be a Victoria Secret model. That might have been one of the most flattering things that’d ever been said to me.
“How’s Beckett?” he asked. “Still sleeping with the ladies?” He punctuated it with the waggle of his eyebrows.
Again, I had to force myself not to laugh.
“If, by ladies, you mean strippers,” West replied dryly, “then no. I told him he had to stop.”
“Pish! This is why you’re the boring one.” His grandfather looked to me. “How did you meet?”
I clicked my tongue and looked at West. “At my best friend’s bachelorette party.”
“O-ho!” His grandfather laughed.
I was sure I’d never met a happier person in my life.
“At the bachelorette party, eh?” More eyebrow waggles.
Oh my god. I couldn’t hold it in any longer, and my giggles burst out of me.
“There it is,” he exclaimed proudly. “She’s succumbing to my charm! West, move over, boy. I’m keeping her.”
“Oh, here we go,” Virginia added as she came in. She glanced at me as I finally got my laughter back under control. “You’d think the man was sixty years younger, wouldn’t you?” She handed West his coffee and turned.
“Speak for yourself, woman!” Jeff tapped her backside with his cane. “I’m as young as the women I pretend to feel—and let me tell you, those lingerie adverts are keeping me twenty-one!”
“Those new pills are making you too excitable. I’ll call Dr. Regis in the morning.”
“Don’t you like me excitable, Ginny?” Eyebrow waggles again.
Honestly, I’d never met an elderly man like him.
You could give this man a Facebook page—The Randy Granddad—and he’d probably go viral.
“I think we should fly him to Vegas then sit him outside Rock Solid,” I whispered to West as Virginia told Jeff not to be so crude. “He’d get everybody’s attention.”
He laughed quietly, resting his hand on my knee. “I told you he was crazy. He keeps life interesting, that’s for sure.”
I met his gaze. And so do you, West Rykman. So do you.
“What are you doing?”
“I'm making grilled cheese.”
West raised an eyebrow. “Do you always make grilled cheese on a George Foreman grill?”
I closed the top of the grill down and turned to him. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it grills both sides of the bread evenly so I don't have to flip it over. Plus it does both sides at the same time which means it's done quicker.”
He blinked at me for a long moment, and I swore I saw a light bulb ping over his head. “That's both lazy and genius.”
“I'm going to ignore the part where you called me lazy.” I sniffed and peeked inside. Almost done. “It's genius. Do you know how many times I've burned one side of the sandwich?” I lifted the grill again and using the spatula, carefully guided the sandwich out onto the chopping board.
West boxed me against the kitchen counter and gripped the edge of the counter. He watched over my shoulder as I sliced the sandwich in half and cheese oozed out of the middle. “I have to admit, that looks better than doing it the normal way.”
“Mhmm.” I smiled, put the slices on a plate, and turned. I only just avoided his hard body forcing the plate up and against my chest. “Here. I know you said you didn't want one, but now I think you do.”
He grinned down at me and took the plate from me. “You think right, angel. Thank you.” He leaned down to kiss me, then sat at the kitchen island.
I rolled my eyes as I turned back to the grill. He was a typical man. It was exactly why I'd sliced twice as much cheddar as I'd needed.
And so what? Yes, I was maybe a little strange in how I made my grilled cheese. Allie had said the same thing until she tried it, and now she won't eat it any other way.
There was method to my madness, and both the method and the madness were brilliant.
I put the second sandwich under the grill. “Well?”
“It might just be the best one I've ever eaten.”
I smiled over my shoulder. “I told you. It gets it perfect.”
“And it really does get done quick, doesn't it?” He put the empty plate next to me.