Page 39 of Forbidden Kisses
The waitress laid their plates of barbecued chicken in front of them. “Enjoy!”
Always a flirt, his father winked at the young woman. “Thanks, sweetheart. We will.”
They both dug in. After a few minutes of devouring the wings on their plates, Jack stopped and looked up at his father. “Thanks for understanding, Dad.”
“No need to get mushy on me.” His father frowned.
“Right.” Jack laughed under his breath and continued eating. A weight had been lifted off his chest in the last hour. Chris would’ve been lining up drinks at the bar to celebrate. Doing this without his best friend wasn’t ideal. Chris should be here. They should be going out on this next adventure together. But wherever Chris was, Jack was sure his friend was smiling right now.
“So about that next client. I know a guy who might need his pier expanded. I’ll have him call you,” his father said.
“Great.” Jack smiled to himself and took another bite from a wing, excited and eager to tell Grace all about his news. She was becoming his new confidant. And a lot more than that if he was honest with himself.
Chapter 10
Grace plopped down behind her desk the next morning, after what was becoming her regular coffee and muffin visit with Krista at the Blushing Bay Café, and stared at the folded white paper in front of her. Someone had left a note on her desk. Her name was scrawled across the front in Jack’s handwriting. A little jolt of excitement rode up inside her. Mixed with the caffeine she’d just inhaled at the café, she was fully alert. She unfolded the paper and read.
Meet me on the dock behind my house tonight. I’d like to take you on a date.
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and bit down softly. They couldn’t be seen in public together right now, so Jack was improvising. They’d only been together inside her apartment. What if someone saw them? A date was a step up from meeting for sex. What if things went wrong between them? She wasn’t ready for things to come crashing down around her just yet.
Stop trying to talk yourself out of being happy, Grace.Just let it happen.
A shadow fell over her.
“Whatcha reading?” Noah asked, standing behind her.
Grace jumped, nearly spilling out of her desk chair. She clutched the note to her chest. “Nothing.”
Noah lifted a brow, obviously not buying it. “Miss Donner,” he said in his best schoolteacher voice. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to confiscate that.” He reached to swipe the note out of her hand and Grace rolled her chair backward, making him stumble forward.
“Okay, now I really gotta see what’s written on that piece of paper. You’re being way too defensive,” he said.
Grace shook her head, then stuffed the note down the front of her T-shirt as he came for her again.
Noah froze and put his hands up in defeat. “That’s a cheap trick and you know it,” he said, teasing her.
Grace laughed. “Are you ever going to grow up?”
“Not if I can help it.” He winked at her and pulled a chair from the other side of the room toward her desk. Sitting, he folded his body forward and propped his elbows on his knees.
“Uh-oh. You look serious. What’s wrong?” Grace asked.
Noah shrugged. “You just told me to grow up, so now I’m being serious. Make up your mind.”
She swatted him playfully. “Okay. Serious. What’s going on?”
“I need a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
Noah shrugged. “There’s this girl I want to ask out. She’s kind of out of my league, though.”
Grace shifted uncomfortably as Jack’s note scraped along her skin. “Wait a minute. Noah Sawyer, the Blushing Bay ladies’ man, is saying that someone is out of his league? I find that incredibly hard to believe. And why are you talking to me about her?” A slow smile began to crawl across her lips. “Unless I know her.” Krista came to mind. Noah and Krista had been close since they were walking age. Grace had always known that Krista wanted to be more than friends, even if she would never admit it. “Do I know her?” Grace asked.
Her mind was suddenly processing at a hundred miles a minute. If Noah started dating someone unexpected, he’d be more likely to understand how Grace and Jack could fall for each other. He and Krista were as good as family to each other, too. Noah would understand and the need for hiding would be over.
“You know her,” Noah confirmed.
