Page 61 of Class Act

My entire face blazed, and I folded my arms. “I promise to spill my guts at dinner later, but not here and not with him standing barely a few lanes away.”

Well. That response had them all giving each other dumbfounded looks and glancing between me and Ford. I was the quietest member of this troupe, so having me tell them I had juice to spill was intriguing enough to keep them from knowing how to react. Ruby had meant it as a tease. Of course it had been a terrible tactical error on my part, because now Meredith smelled blood. And there was nothing Meredith liked more than making people uncomfortable. Add in the fact that Ruby was guessing at a hidden romance brewing, and I was never going to make it through this without being humiliated.

“No, no, we’ll back off,” Meredith said in an epic lie. “But, I do think I’ll at least wave to him. Just to, you know, be friendly.”

Ruby, still holding the ax, said, “Me too. It’s the neighborly thing to do.”

Then my two dark-haired friends--one all bony limbs and determination, the other all voluptuous curves and silliness--called his name until they had his attention and then waved like he was a celebrity or their long-lost best friend. Aryn looked at me with empathy, and Lizzie sidled up close, supporting me with her presence.

“And to think I told Ford that extroverts don’t bother me,” I said, attempting to joke over the worried knot in my throat.

I didn’t know if Ford wanted my friends to know about him or not. We hadn’t gotten to any sort of real talk about our ‘relationship’. We’d been chatting, creating a sort of tentative friendship. Of course, through those conversations he knew how close I was to these women but still . . .

“I’m acknowledging you said that and telling you that I’ll wait to ask you about it, but know that in my head I’m thinking ‘whaaat? When did she tell him that?’” Lizzie said.

“This has gotten much more interesting,” Aryn said as Ford waved back and then turned to say something to the two other men.

“It’s fine,” I said, trying to convince myself as he started walking toward where my little group was standing.

“Maybe mentioning his hidden depths wasn’t a good move,” Lizzie said.

Aryn’s eyes were bright but sympathetic. “Massive miscalculation.”

“They’re mostly harmless and only doing it to get under my skin. What’s the worst than can happen?” My voice came out much shakier than I’d intended.

“My brain can’t think that big,” Lizzie sighed playfully. “Meredith and Ruby aren’t a predictable duo.”

Ford removed his suit jacket as he made his way to where we were, hooking it over one arm and then unbuttoning his sleeves and rolling them up. I was drooling so hard I needed a bib . . . and all my friends were watching me do it.

Meredith met him with a big grin, and Ruby sort of nudged her way in, talking at her top speed, which had Ford tilting his head like he was attempting to work out a problem. The two ladies talked, and Ford simply watched for a few seconds, never changing his expression from one of polite interest, before looking over their heads at me.

A tingle started in the base of my spine, remembering the way his eyes had looked before he’d pressed his lips to mine and lit me up inside. I clasped my hands together in front of me, wishing I knew what he was thinking right now. My cheeks heated. One side of his mouth tugged up, and I understood that he found the situation amusing.

Only in that moment did I realize I’d not been listening to what they were saying to him. My stomach swooped, and I leaned closer to Aryn.

“What are they saying to him?” I asked.

“A whole lot of nothing, really. Ruby’s telling him her favorite ax weights--who knew that was a thing--and Meredith asked about his business. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, and it’s constantly shifting.”

That explained why he hadn’t yet spoken.

Until he did.

“Hi, Hailey,” he said, his voice amused and warm as he basically interrupted their monologuing.

A smile bloomed on my face, and all my friends looked at me. They knew me well enough to see from my expression that stuff had happened.

“Hi, Ford,” I replied.

Silence claimed us while my friends looked back and forth between us, and I took in everything about him that I could, from his mussed hair to the tired expression hidden behind his eyes. I could tell it had been a long week for him, and I wanted to ease his burden. I wanted to close the distance between us and wrap him up in my arms.

“Did you know there’s a company that turns cremated remains into an ocean reef?” Lizzie blurted.

It was then that I realized how heavy and curious the silence had grown. I blinked and looked away from Ford, avoiding everyone else’s eyes.

Meredith jumped on her odd statement. “You don’t say?”

Aryn was also looking at her, so Lizzie grinned and swallowed. “Yeah. Let’s say your dad was a big fan of the ocean and wants to be buried at sea, you can have him cremated and call this company that will mix his ashes with concrete to form this ball thing. Then they encase that in a reef ball or something and drop it into the ocean. It becomes a fish habitat and the start of a new section of reef. The circle of life.”

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