Page 50 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell

She turned off the mixer and looked at him over her shoulders. Her downtrodden expression was one he’d seen too much of lately, and he didn’t like it. Gracie was always being a smiling smart-ass, and he wanted to get her back to that woman. The confident, sexy girl who drove him crazy and challenged him at every turn.

“Seriously, you don’t have to do that. This was all a stupid idea to begin with.”

“Well, I’m telling you that I still need your help, and I’m a guy who doesn’t like to be in anyone’s debt. You just leave it to me.”

“She’s not going to crack—”

“Oh ye of little faith, I will make you a deal. If I win your parents over, you have to go on an adventure with me.”

Her green eyes narrowed, and he realized she was still in his arms, letting him hold her back against him.

“What kind of adventure?”

“You’ll see when I win.”

Chapter Seventeen

“It’s hard to let people see who you really are.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.

Eric stood on Gracie’s porch with a bottle of wine, a bouquet of flowers, and a bag from Jensen’s Diner. Gracie had texted him what her parents liked after he’d left, and he was prepared to put his plan into action.

He rang the doorbell and waited nervously for them to answer. It wasn’t that he was scared of Gracie’s parents; he’d known them most of his life. It was more that he might have exaggerated his parental appeal to Gracie. He’d never actually tried to woo someone’s folks…but it couldn’t be that hard, right? He’d watched enough movies.

Fine, so he’d had to call Mike Stevens for advice, and he’d suggested bringing flowers for Gracie’s mom. It had been humiliating, especially since Mike hadn’t been afraid to tease him a bit about it. Eric had allowed the small revenge, especially after giving Mike such a hard time, but his main motivation had been making Gracie happy. She had been so keyed up about it, and he’d wanted to make her feel better.

The door swung open, and now, faced with her father’s blank expression and her mother’s frown, he wondered if he was in over his head.

“Mr. and Mrs. McAllister, how are you?” He held out the flowers and wine to Gracie’s mother. “These are for you. Gracie had to finish a few last-minute orders at The Local Bean, so I offered to bring dinner over.”

Mrs. McAllister took the wine and flowers. “Thank you, Eric, that was very thoughtful.”

“Well, come on in, kid, no sense in standing out there in the cold,” Mr. McAllister said.

Eric stepped inside after stomping the snow off his boots. “I got the Philly cheesesteak for you and the barbeque ranch chicken sandwich for Mrs. McAllister.”

Gracie’s dad’s face lit up. “Great, I’m starving. And please, I’m Ken and she’s Franny. No need to be so formal.”

“Thank you, sir.” Eric set the food on the counter and shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it over one of the dining room chairs. “So, Gracie says you’re staying with her for a couple of weeks?”

“We’ll be visiting friends too. We don’t want to be in anyone’s way,” Franny said.

Her tone was filled with a hostility Eric didn’t understand, and he tried to reassure her. “You won’t be. I know that Gracie is really excited to have you here. She was actually trying to buy a bigger place, but things fell through.”

Both of her parents stilled.

“Gracie was going to buy a house? Where?” Ken asked.

Eric noticed the pinch in Franny’s mouth and figured they probably hadn’t known that Gracie was trying to buy. “On Cherry Tree, I think. It was a for sale by owner, but they went with someone else.”

Several moments of heavy silence ticked by, and Eric almost unbuttoned his flannel so he could breathe through the tension.

Finally, Gracie’s dad, who seemed the easier-going of the two, broke the quiet. “Well, that’s some interesting news. Should we wait for Gracie or go ahead and eat?”

“We might as well start now. I’m sure Eric already knows our daughter is avoiding us. I’ll just go wash my hands.”

Franny’s awkward announcement and departure left Eric alone with Ken.

Eric decided to rip off the Band-Aid by being candid. “I’m guessing your wife isn’t pleased Gracie and I are seeing each other?”

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