Page 28 of Home Safe

My smile widens. I hope her teasing is a positive sign. “I look forward to it. Hope to talk to you soon.”

She follows me to the front door but beats me to open it as I put on my coat. “I’ll check to make sure no one is outside for you,” she says, poking her head out the door. “Coast is clear.”

“Thanks,” I tell her, and my chest tightens. She took that extra step to ensure our privacy so intuitively, but I hope that extra necessary step doesn’t tip the scales away from the possibility of an “us.”

Because I really want to explore that possibility.

Chapter thirteen

Danae

Kara nearly screams but manages to rein herself in. We’re sitting in her music room eating lunch, and I filled her in on Griffin’s date request last night. I feel guilty taking up our forty-five minutes of lunch to talk instead of letting her work on lesson plans, but my conversation with Griffin is eating me alive.

“Ron is going to lose his mind when he finds out you’re going on a date with Griffin West,” Kara states.

“You’re not telling Ron anything yet because I haven’t even decided if I’m going to say yes or no,” I say, narrowing my eyes at her. “You’re still sworn to secrecy.”

“Look, Danae, I know you don’t like baseball—” Kara begins.

I cut in, “Loathebaseball.”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, youloathebaseball, but you shouldn’t let your prejudice stop you from saying yes to a date with a perfectly agreeable guy.”

Now I roll my eyes. “This is not aPride and Prejudicesituation, Kara. Prejudice has nothing to do with my hesitation about dating Griffin.”

“Oh, so you mean it’s not prejudice to automatically write him off because he’s an athlete? Or because he probably has some level of wealth? That sounds like prejudice to me, Miss Judgy-Pants,” Kara says.

I reluctantly admit, “Fine. Maybe I have a couple of negative gut reactions to his . . . station in life. But it’s not only that. He flat-out told me that the reason he was asking me on a date is because his life is too hectic to spend time as friends first. Because he’ll be leaving soon for like two months! And we both know how chaotic baseball schedules are. Plus, I saw firsthand how much attention he gets out in public—and that was just a tiny bookstore! I’m not sure I can handle that kind of circus. Especially not after welcoming Jason into my life so recently.”

Kara stares at me.

“What?” I ask.

“I’m not saying those are invalid rationalizations. But it sounds like you’re working really hard to list out every possible negative thing about Griffin. Which makes me think there are some positives that you’re attracted to but aren’t admitting,” she says.

All the clear polish is gone from my index finger, so I move my thumb to my ring finger. I shrug, not making eye contact.

“What are the positives, Danae? I know you made a list last night. Tell me what they are,” Kara demands before taking a bite of her sandwich. When I don’t answer right away, she adds, “I don’t mean to rush you, but we are down to fifteen minutes. So, I am rushing you.”

I sigh. “He has this very magnetic quality to him. Not like he’stryingto be charming in a false way. More like . . . he makes you feel as though he genuinely enjoys talking with you. Like he really, truly wants to hear the answers to the questions he asks because you’re so interesting. And, of course, the fact that he does this camp for kids in foster care every year shows a certain level of understanding he has for my situation. I can sense it in the way he talks to me about Jason. I’m sure that his understanding comes from Samantha and her younger brother joining his family through adoption. He has personal experience with the foster system, even if it’s not exactly the same as my experience.”

When I pause, Kara motions for me to continue. “Go on. I can tell there’s more.”

“I like the way he interacts with other people, at least what I’ve seen so far. He is precious with Jason. And he handled the ladies at my book club so kindly when they mobbed him. It’s obvious that he andSamantha have a close connection, and even watching him interact with that other teammate was endearing.”

“Wait, what other teammate? Who else did you meet?” Kara asks.

“Um, I don’t remember who he was. He said something in Spanish while we were talking to Samantha. Maybe Andrés or something?” I say.

Kara holds her hands up in disbelief. “You got to meet Adrian Ortiz too? The Crowns' star third baseman? Ortiz and West are the baseball world’s favorite duo! Even non-Kansas City fans love them! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this!”

I huff. “Kara. I do not pay attention to baseball. I didn’t even know who Griffin was, remember?”

Kara rubs her temples. “I know, I know. I just cannot believe you. I’m sorry, back to what you were saying. What else was in the ‘pro’ column of the list?”

Blowing out a breath, I add, “He drives a Jeep.”

“Huh?” Kara questions.

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