Page 18 of From Grumpy to Forever

“She’s new.” Quinn pointed over my shoulder. “Doesn’t look like a tourist, though. Too sad.”

“Sad?” Curious, I spun in my seat to see who Quinn was pointing at.

Avery.

She’d traded her coffee-stained T-shirt and sinfully short cutoff shorts for a pretty blue wrap dress and strappy sandals. She looked gorgeous.

But Quinn was right. She also looked sad.

In the brief time I’d known Avery, she’d never once looked sad. Quite the opposite. She was the happiest, smiliest person I’d ever met.

With the exception of earlier when I could have sworn she was about to cry when her swing fell down. But I’d chalked that up to the shock of falling on her ass.

But this…

“She’s really pretty.” Quinn dove into our game of people-watching, completely unaware that the woman we were currently watching was on her way to meet us for an ice cream.

“She is,” I agreed.

“I bet if she smiled, she’d be gorgeous.”

“She is.”

“You mean she would be.”

I turned in my chair to see Quinn giving me a strange look. “No,” I said. “She is gorgeous when she smiles. Her name is Avery. And she’s my new boss. She’s meeting us here.”

Quinn’s mouth fell open dramatically. “She’s your boss?”

“She is.” I grabbed a paper napkin and wiped my face before standing. “So be on your best behavior, okay?”

“Uncle Reid,” Quinn leaned back in her chair, “I’m always on my best behavior.”

I shot her a look at the same time the bells over the door chimed. I turned to greet Avery, who, just as I’d told my niece, was gorgeous with her bright smile on her face.

Even if it didn’t reach her eyes this time.

* * *

Avery

“You’re right, Uncle Reid. She is gorgeous.”

The girl Reid had just introduced as his niece flashed a mischievous grin at her uncle. I couldn’t help but laugh. Especially when Reid tripped all over his words.

“That’s not really what I said. Or how it was said. But…”

He looked up and met my eyes, causing me to laugh again. It felt good after the meeting I’d just walked out of.

“She is gorgeous,” he finished with a smile and a shrug. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh,” I shook my head, “please don’t apologize for paying me a compliment.” I winked at Quinn. “A woman never gets tired of hearing them. Do we, Quinn?”

She shook her head and licked her blue ice cream. “Nope. We women like to hear how pretty we are.”

“Okay, okay.” Reid tried to change the subject. “Avery, can I get you an ice cream? It’s the best in town.”

“Or anywhere,” Quinn added.

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