Husband With Benefits-Chapter 906: Laughter

Grant started laughing—a deep, uncontrollable laugh that shook his shoulders and echoed around the room, almost turning other people’s heads. He couldn’t help it. The love of her life was a horse. All the tears she’d shed, the way her voice had cracked when she’d been sobbing in his arms...no, in the office—it had all been for Todd. And the ironical part, an insidious voice whispered in the back of his mind, was that he’d been jealous. Jealous of a horse. He shoved the thought aside, determined not to let it take root. No, this wasn’t about that. It was just the sheer absurdity of the situation.

Innocensa tilted her head, her eyes narrowing as she stared up at him. "Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?" Her tone wavered between confusion and irritation. "Try getting sniffed all over by something twice your size,and then tell me how funny it is! Let me remind you to even his last day, Todd was taller than me."

Her indignant comment only made him laugh harder, almost making him double over.

Finally, Grant managed to shake his head, though the grin plastered across his face refused to fade. He sucked in a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and attempted to compose himself. "When you came into the office crying for him earlier," he began, his voice still unsteady from suppressed laughter, "I thought Todd was the name of your childhood sweetheart or something. I figured you’d lost the guy you intended to marry..." He paused, his grin widening. "But Todd is a horse!"

Innocensa gasped, her jaw dropping as she processed his words. "Wait. You thought...?"

Grant nodded, his shoulders shaking with laughter again. "Yeah. I thought Todd was some the love of your life, and I felt genuinely sorry for you. Turns out, he was just a four-legged, hay-eating beast."

She crossed her arms over her chest and sent a glare at him that could have melted ice.. "Todd is not just any horse. He’s practically family. He’s been with me since I was seven. Didn’t you hear a word I said? And for your information, Todd was more loyal and understanding than most people I know."

"I’m sure he’ was a great guy—err, horse. But you have to admit, from my perspective, this whole thing is just—" He broke off, shaking his head in disbelief. "It’s a bit much."

Innocensa groaned, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Unbelievable. Here I am, mourning Todd’s absence, and you’re turning it into some kind of comedy routine."

"I’m not laughing at you," Grant said, his tone softening as he tried to regain control of the situation. "Okay, maybe I am a little. But seriously, can you blame me? The way you were crying, anyone would’ve thought it was a person." ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Innocensa shook his head but then could only smile. It was possible for anyone to be mistaken. After all, he could not have expected her to be like that because of an animal. No one would even know what it felt like. Also, at least now whenever she thought of Todd, she would remember this instance and maybe smile fondly about it, instead of simply missing him too much. Her horse was helping her keep focus even in death...

But then, another thought struck Innocensa like lightning. Her gaze sharpened, and she jabbed a finger in Grant’s direction, her tone incredulous and her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Wait just a minute," she demanded, her voice rising with a mixture of disbelief and accusation. "I kissed you in the office, and you—" She threw her hands up in exasperation for emphasis before pointing back at him, "—you devoured me right back, despite thinking I was crying over some lost love? What kind of person did you take me for?"

Grant winced...He should have kept his mouth shut and not confessed," I thought I was a despicable man to have kissed you when you were feeling vulnerable and thankful..."

Innocensa’s jaw dropped, her mouth working soundlessly for a moment as she processed his words. Then, with a dramatic flourish, she knocked on the table in front of her and leaned forward, narrowing her eyes like a predator sizing up its prey. "You, mister," she began, her voice dripping with faux sweetness, "Ah! I don’t even have the words for you right now. But, just for your future information, please make a note of this."

She paused for effect, her finger wagging in the air like a teacher scolding a wayward student. "When I kiss you, it will definitely be because I want to. No amount of gratitude or vulnerability or anything else will ever make me respond to you like that unless it’s entirely because I want it. If I am feeling thankful, I will gift you a fruit basket. Got it?"

Grant blinked at her, his brain scrambling to catch up with her words. "You mean... if we kiss again in the future?" he asked cautiously, unsure if he was digging himself deeper into a hole or finding a way out of one.

Innocensa harrumphed, crossed her arms and lifted her chin in mock indignation. "Nope. When we kiss in the future," she corrected him. "Because we will. In fact, that kiss would have been a lot closer in your timeline if you hadn’t just confessed to... all of that." She gestured vaguely at him. "So now? Congratulations. You’ve successfully postponed our next kiss to when we have an official date—whenever that might be."

Grant blinked again, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "You’re... really confident about this, aren’t you?" he finally managed to say.

Innocensa laughed then and stood up. "Of course, I’m confident," she declared, "You’re always staring at me when you think I’m not looking, and, spoiler alert, I’m doing the same thing to you when I know you’re not paying attention. You’ve probably undressed me in your mind more times than I care to count—don’t even try to deny it—and, for the record, I’ve done the same with you."

"And now,"she announced dramatically, "I’m going to walk away from here in a huff, because you, Grant, are a complete and utter dum-dum." She turned on her heel but paused to glance over her shoulder, her grin now tinged with mischief. "Feel free to stew over all of this for a while. Then, when you’re done fretting, go ahead and ask me out for that date."