Page 10 of The Jellybean Dilemma

“And peppermint mocha.” He gestured to the cup nearest me, a broad grin bringing out his dimple. “Your favorite.” I stared long enough that his face fell. “That’s right, isn’t it? You haven’t—”

“No. I mean, yes, those are still my favorites.” I frowned, staring at the sandwich in my lap. “I’m just surprised you remembered.”

This time he put the car in reverse, lightly resting a hand behind my head as he backed up. “Well, you ordered the same things for six years. Kind of hard to forget.”

A smile played on my lips, and I waited until we merged onto the highway before I tried my coffee. “Mmm, it’s delicious. It’s like—”

He finished my sentence with me. “Winter in a cup.” His eyes twinkled as I stared at him in surprise. “I haven’t forgotten you, Jellybean.”

The sweet words made my throat feel tight, but I hid it with a bite of my sandwich, which was also delicious. Avery’s comments echoed in my head, and hope blossomed within me that maybe she was right. Maybe my attraction wasn’t quite as one-sided as I’d thought. I’d have to be on the lookout for more signs.

As I took another bite of my sandwich, I thought about how much Greg knew about me. It made me realize how little I knew about him. He’d always been taciturn about his personal life, ignoring my pestering questions until I’d given up.

Now, though, I had the perfect excuse to get him to open up. “Okay, so tell me about your family. What am I getting myself into?”

“My family…” He took a bite of his sandwich, taking his time before he answered. “Well, not much to say about my dad. He’s a businessman, in the lumber industry. Hard working, hard nosed. Just…hard.”

I heard a lot in what he didn’t say, in how his shoulders tensed, how each word was clipped. He and his dad had some issues, for sure.

“Mom is the backbone of our family. She works with Dad, just as hard, if not harder than him.” A grin eased across his face, his grip on the steering wheel relaxing slightly. “I’m excited to see her again, but I’m most excited to see Mandy, my sister. We text a lot, FaceTime some, but it’s been ages since we’ve been together.” His expression grew wistful, and he quickly took a sip of coffee. “I haven’t even met this guy she’s marrying. Not in person.”

I wonder what happened that kept him away for so long. “What’s our story going to be?”

His frown created a furrow in his forehead. “What do you mean?”

I balled up my trash and threw it in the bag, then tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “I mean, what are you telling your family about us? Are we just friends? Am I your girlfriend?” I shot him a teasing grin. “Did you kidnap your employer’s daughter to drag her up here in the dead of winter just so you wouldn’t have to be set up with your mom’s friends’ daughters?”

“Definitely the last one.” His delivery was so matter-of-fact I couldn’t help but laugh.

The boots made my feet too warm, so I kicked them off. I brought one leg up, resting my foot on the seat so my knee pressed against my chest. I propped my arm up on it and twirled a strand of hair around my finger. “Well, I think it’s important to get our story straight. I don’t want to go into this thinking I’m here for the week only to come out of it hearing I’m engaged,” I teased. “I mean, I just got out of a crazy engagement, so I’m not at all ready for that.” A hint of heavy truth weighted my tone, and Greg shot me a discerning look.

But he let it slide. “Damn. Guess I’d better tell Mom to put away the ring.”

His comment caught me so off guard, the coffee I’d just sipped almost came out of my nose. I managed to swallow in between sputtering and coughing.

He chuckled at my reaction, and I gaped at him, taking in the adorable dimple in his right cheek. Flirtatious Greg—that was new.

And dangerous.

Greg drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as we worked on our mutual backstory. “Uncle Harry will know who you are, but he also knows I’ve been driving for your brother. How about we just tell him something close to the truth, that we met up again through a mutual friend?” He paused to glance over at me. “I’m thinking Avery.”

I nodded.

“We started spending more time together. You happened to be free, so we decided this was going to be our first big trip together.”

Wow, he’s such a guy. I huffed as I shook my head.

“What?”

“Do you really think your mom and sister are going to buy that?” I said dryly.

He frowned. “Well, I did until you said it like that.”

My heel started to go numb, so I dropped my right foot to the floor and pulled my left one up. “Okay, think about telling Avery that you and I are dating. How would that conversation go?”

The sigh he let out almost blew us backward. “So many questions.”

“Exactly. We need to discuss details. Sticking close to the truth is a great idea, because we’ll remember it. But being vague?” I shook my head. “That won’t do.”

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