Page 8 of Kiss the Girl
“Why?”
There was something blunt about the way she phrased the question, like she didn’t believe me. “You sound surprised.”
“I don’t see Creekville as the kind of place people want to grow up and move to. More like grow up and move away from.”
“You didn’t like growing up here?”
“I did.” She gave a restless flick of her hand, and I wasn’t sure what the gesture meant. Impatience? Dismissal? “It’s great if you like small towns. I’ve gotten used to cities. I prefer them.”
“Why?” I turned the question around on her with the same bluntness.
“You first,” she said. “You haven’t explained why Creekville.”
“That’s not really a conversation for dinner.”
She cocked her head. “Sounds like a story.”
A long, painful one. I gave her a sanitized version of it. “I’m not in Creekville, actually. I only work here. I liked Mineral. I like small towns. I like knowing the families and the community. But it started to feel too small.”Somany people in my business. So. Many. “I talked my sister into moving to Granger so I’d have a shorter drive to work in Creekville. Similar vibe, but…”
“But fewer people who’ve known everything about you including your weight at birth?”
“Right.” I studied her, watching the slight lines in her face. “Which is why I don’t live here. Didn’t want to bump into students when I’m on a grocery run, you know? Granger is a good compromise. Is there a reason you can’t leave though?” She had to be close to my age, maybe 26 or 27. Maybe college and a career hadn’t been in her cards. Brooke had told me about Grace’s personality, but not a lot about her background. “Are you looking for a career change? You can’t throw a rock without hitting a college in Virginia. Maybe you could do night classes, or—” I broke off as a smile curved her lips. “I said something dumb, didn’t I?”
“I resigned from a position at Boeing on their aerospace design team to come home and help out my parents.” She smirked at me. No other way to describe that smile.
“Not just dumb. Condescending and possibly sexist too.” I lifted the tablecloth and tried to peer beneath it. “You think I can fit under there until dinner is over?”
“The sexism is super weird because I definitely don’t deal with that every single day as a woman running a hardware store.” She would have had every right to sound bitter about it, but her tone only held weary amusement.
“I think Brooke was being a better friend to me than she was to you when she suggested setting us up.”
Grace outright laughed. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Her instincts weren’t terrible. If I were sticking around, it might have been a good idea.”
That statement was to a compliment what sparkling water was to soda—a pale imitation of the real thing—but it somehow made me want to strut off and high five the first bro-looking dude I saw. I tried to play it cool. “You leaving Creekville soon?”
She sighed, her smile fading, and I wanted to find a way to put it back on her face. “Maybe. I don’t know. I hope so. It depends on my dad’s health. There are a lot of variables.”
It definitely didn’t seem like the time to ask her to explain further, so I tried for a lighter subject. “Would it be such a bad idea to hang out between now and whenever you leave?”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “Do we really need to? I don’t remember how the bases go, but I think we’ve already gotten to second.”
I’d just taken a casual swig of my wine, and I choked on it. It was the second time I’d done that in front of her. “That was an actual accident,” I promised with a slight gasp.
“You got a drinking problem?” she asked, eyeing me.
I grabbed a napkin and blotted at my chin. “You should see me at a water fountain. A disaster.”
She rested her chin in her palm and her lips curved into a sexy smile, the late spring breeze playing with strands of her hair. “You seem like a cool guy. If I were a fling kind of girl, I’d say yes. You’d be a cute distraction. But I’m not. And since I’m eventually going back to Charleston and Boeing, I’m going to concentrate on the hardware store and my dad. I’ll tell Brooke she guessed right, though.”
It stung. It was the second time she’d rejected me, and I had to respect that, even if I could see how easy it would be to fall for a woman like her. Pretty, smart,andfunny. Maybe it was for the best. I’d probably be dead meat if we dated because that was a lethal combination for me. I smiled at her. “This is me, slightly disappointed but accepting your verdict.”
Her gaze flickered past me to Brooke. “She’s starting to look stressed. I’d better go run interference like I promised.”
And I watched her extremely cute behind walk away.
* * *
I unlocked my apartment door and slipped inside. I’d been dreading the rehearsal dinner, but it had been fine. Maybe Brooke was finally desensitizing me to my wedding-related PTSD with her constant chatter on our lunch breaks, or maybe it was because my ex, Lauren, and I hadn’t made it quite as far as the rehearsal dinner before she called off our wedding. But either way, it hadn’t been as triggering as I’d expected it to be.
