Page 75 of Kiss the Girl
A chorus of thank yous met her. “I’ll call you later,” Grace said over the noise and Tabitha nodded and ended the call.
“My work here is done.” Grace smiled at me. “Christmas Town is saved. Now they have to work on their costumes, and you’re all set.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Raising my voice, I called to the boys, “Figure out whose parents can help with the costumes and report to me when I get back.”
I walked her to the gym door. “Thanks again. At some point, I’ll even the score.”
We’d stopped in the doorway so I could keep an ear out for the boys, but she stepped out of their view.
“I already told you how you can make it up to me.” Her smile was…saucy. There was no other word for it.
I glanced over my shoulder and lowered my voice even though there was no chance the boys would hear us. “Here’s a thing I figured out, Grace. You are literally irresistible, so you better make sure you understand what you’re asking for.”
Her jaw dropped a tiny bit, and it was hard not to take it as an invitation to pick up where we’d left off on Friday.
I finally had the upper hand. I gave her a slow smile. “I’ll stop by after work, Grace.”
She swallowed. Hard.
I grinned and watched her scurry away until she was out of sight.
Chapter Twenty-One
Grace
Whew. Was it hot out here or was that just Noah?
I escaped the gym and headed to the grocery store to pick up some fixings for an easy stir-fry. Noah had looked at me like he was planning to make me the main course, but I should probably feed him some real dinner before moving on to…dessert.
This whole situation was so ridiculous. I was seventeen again with my first crush. Giddy. Untethered. Wibbly-wobbly like a helium balloon.
I called Tabitha to distract myself from dwelling too much on Noah coming over.
“Hey, thanks for helping out,” I said when she answered.
“No problem. You caught me at a good time. How did Thanksgiving go, anyway?”
“It was fine. Miss Lily put on a beautiful spread and the company was good.”
“Mom says you have a new man?”
That was interesting. Tabitha dodged my mom’s calls more than she and I even tried to dodge each other’s.
“Uh, long story.”
“I have time.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re only pretending to date. It was Noah’s dumb idea because he wants to convince his boss he has roots here, and he thinks dating a local girl will do that.”
“You’re dumb for agreeing to it.”
“Not really. Turns out Noah and I like making out.”
“So you’re real dating?”
“No.”
There was a long silence. “Uh, do you do entertainment-type things together and also kiss each other?”
