Page 3 of Kiss the Girl
“Good to hear.” Miss Lily settled into her chair as if a burden really had been lifted from her shoulders. “I miss seeing him around the hardware store. Not that you aren’t as capable as he is. And better-looking too. Maybe I’ll send Landon over there to buy me some…”
“Some what?” I asked when she trailed off. “What could Landon possibly come in to get that you couldn’t pick out more easily yourself?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to think of something that’s obscure enough to keep you both looking for at least a half an hour.Together.”
She was teasing me. Probably? But she’d tricked Ian into investigating Brooke to get her oldest grandson married off, and I didn’t want to take any chances. I glanced around for an escape, something that would convince her not to sic Landon on me. I spotted him chatting with a guy I didn’t recognize.
Hmmm. The best defense was a good offense.
Time to flip the script on Miss Lily.
“You’re right,” I said.
Her eyebrow rose. “I usually am.” She cleared her throat. “Er, what am I right about?”
“I think I’m going to go catch up with Landon.”
“That’s an excellent idea.”
I excused myself and slid back from the table, striding over to her younger grandson.
“Hey, Landon.”
“Hey, Grace. Long-time, no see.”
“Hey,” I said to the guy he was talking to. I didn’t recognize him, but I definitely would have known if I’d met him before. He had the wholesome good looks that meant he’d probably been captain of his high school baseball team and homecoming king. He’d be exactly what I would go for if I weren’t hellbent on getting out of this town as soon as my dad could take back over the store. And if he didn’t have a blank look on his face, like he’d already checked out.
“Head’s up,” I said, as I slid my arm through Landon’s, his eyebrows shooting up like his grandmother’s had. “Your gran has decided to fix us up, so I told her I was going to beat her to it, but I don’t want to go out with you, so now I’m standing here faking.”
The cute guy choked on his drink. Landon rolled his eyes. “Grace, let me introduce you to the third coolest guy at this party. Noah Redmond, meet Grace Winters, queen of the hardware store. Grace, this is—”
“Noah, Brooke’s friend.” I gave him a polite smile, but inwardly, I groaned. I’d just foiled Miss Lily’s attempted matchmaking only to fall right into Brooke’s. She’d tried twice to talk me into a setup with Noah, the PE teacher at her high school.
“Hi, Grace. Nice to meet you.” His face wasn’t blank now. In fact, he looked like he was fighting hard to keep it straight and losing.
And for the second time that night, I froze. I recognized that voice laced with laughter. I’d just heard it in the garden.
Chapter Two
Noah
I stifled a laugh when a woman in a familiar-looking blue dress sidled over to Landon. I didn’t recognize her face, but there was a fair chance I knew what underwear she was wearing.
By the red flush creeping up her neck, it was clear she knew my voice, but how did she know my name already? I would remember meeting her. She was petite—not much over five foot—with dark, medium-length hair and a butt I would definitely have noticed if our paths had crossed.
Oh, wait…Landon had called her Grace. Maybe Brooke had mentioned setting me up with a friend named Grace a while back? But she’d dropped it, and I’d forgotten until now. Dang. I should have taken Brooke up on it, even if her friend’s eyes were drilling holes through me.
“Nice to meet you too,” she said.
Grace was a very bad faker. Even Landon picked up on a vibe.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“No.”
“Not at all.”
Grace and I both rushed to speak at the same time, and it made us sound like we were trying too hard to convince him.
