Page 58 of Falling for the Bad Boy
I stuck my tongue out at him as I took my hand away from the mic. “Sorry about that. What do you need me to do?”
CHAPTER 25
Oliver
I needed a roll of duct tape. Maybe then I’d prevent myself from spilling my guts to Trinity. We only had a few weeks left together. Why couldn’t I just keep my secrets to myself?
I finished the rest of my sandwich and threw the wrapper in the trash bin, then put the lid back on Trinity’s salad and popped it in my fridge. There were signs of her everywhere in my apartment. And I didn’t mind. Much to my surprise, I actually liked it. I fingered the project she’d been working on. Her cast on was almost there. If she’d just switch up one of the stitches, she’d probably have it.
Unable to resist the urge to fix it, I picked up the needles and yarn. A few minutes later I’d cast on using the stretchy technique my mother had shown me when I was a kid. She used to pay me to knit up scarves and beanies with the wool we spun into yarn at the farm. I hadn’t held a pair of needles in years, but I supposed it was like riding a bike. Once you knew how, your fingers always remembered.
All Trinity needed was a little help. But I couldn’t let her know it was coming from me. I grabbed my phone and snapped a few pictures of the work. Then I ripped it out and shoved her supplies to the side where she’d left them. How could I give her some help without her knowing it was me? I pulled up the website she’d created for the co-op. Maybe I could send an anonymous email. I could pretend to be a potential customer with a question about a project. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to help.
Within minutes I’d created a fake email address. She’d never suspect that GrammaGolden was me in disguise. I attached one of the images showing how I’d cast on for the cowl. Then I made up some question about wanting to knit a gift for a granddaughter and asked if any of the knitting experts at No Limits had ever seen the one in the picture. That ought to give her some anonymous inspiration.
I was pretty pleased with myself as I walked down the stairs to start my shift at Tapped. My good deed might almost make up for the fact that I’d been the one to call the city and report her sign. Though Wyatt was still counting on me to drive Trinity away, my heart wasn’t in it. It hadn’t been from the start. She deserved a chance to make her own success, and I didn’t want to be a part of anything standing in her way.
The afternoon passed slowly, giving me too much time to think about how it was going to feel to have to leave Newbridge. Hopefully my professor would come through with a lead or two. Something that would keep me in the States at least long enough to see Trinity’s grand opening. Wyatt wouldn’t take the news well that I’d changed my mind, but that wasn’t my problem. I never should have agreed to sabotage her in the first place.
I was almost done with my shift when Trinity walked in. We weren’t keeping things between us on the down low anymore, so when she got to the bar she hopped onto a stool and leaned over to pull me into a deep, long kiss. I’d never get tired of the way she felt in my arms.
She broke away first, just far enough so our foreheads still touched. “Guess who’s got good news?”
I grinned. Her excitement hovered around us, wrapping the two of us up together in some sort of magical bubble of happiness that not even thoughts about me having to leave could pop. “Who?”
“Me, silly.” Her hands clasped together behind my head, and she nudged her nose against mine. “My new sign passed inspection.”
“That’s great.” I pressed a kiss to her cheek. “We should celebrate. Gin and tonic?”
She let her hands drop and settled onto the stool. “You know I won’t turn one of those down. Especially not since I taught you the proper way to make them.”
“Proper, huh?” I reached under the bar and pulled out a tumbler. “Proper is the last thing I’d consider you.”
The sound of her laugh lightened my mood. “Oh, and I made progress on my pattern, too.”
My pulse skittered. “Really?”
“Yeah. The weirdest thing happened. I got an email from a nice grandma who’s making a cowl.”
“Oh yeah?” I tried to tamp down the way my heartbeat thundered through my chest as I poured her drink.
“She attached a picture of a cast on she was trying and wanted to know if I knew the name for it.”
I slid the drink across the bar to her. “And do you?”
“No. But when I took a closer look, I realized it might work for my pattern. And guess what?”
“What?” I rested a forearm on the bar and leaned toward her.
“It did.” She reached into the bag she’d slung over the back of the stool and pulled out her project. The needles held the cast on I’d photographed along with a couple of inches worth of work.
“Nice. Looks like you’re well on your way.” And none the wiser to my involvement either, it seemed.
“I am. But there’s still so much to do.”
“You’ll get it done.”
She shook her head. Damn, she looked cute with her mouth quirked into a bit of a frown. A tiny crinkle bisected her brow. I wanted to kiss away her worries, tell her that she ought to have smooth sailing now that I’d decided to tell Wyatt to take his offer and shove it.
