Page 30 of Hello Handsome
Focusing back in on her, I said, “Sorry, what did I miss?”
She smiled at me. “I said I need to go check on the catering. Would you mind peeking around and telling Rhett and Maggieto speed it up if you see them? I’m sure they just stole a few moments for themselves.”
I chuckled. “Sure thing.”
Grateful for a mission, I walked farther into Rhett and Magnolia’s newly built house. It was so much nicer than the little house I lived in. It used to be my mom’s. The same house I grew up in, and probably the house I’d die in. (Something I didn’t much want to think about.)
I checked around the kitchen and the living room, treading softly over hardwood floors, but when I didn’t see the bride and groom, I started upstairs. A few stairs up, I saw someone in a suit; well, his legs at least. This low on the steps, I couldn’t see his face.
“Is that you, Rhett?” I called, continuing up the stairs.
But the man who greeted me was Gray Madigan.
All those minutes in the bathroom had been useless. My heart instantly started beating faster.
He said, “Sorry, Jack sent me up here to look for the happy couple.”
A loud moan echoed through an upstairs bedroom farther down the hall, and both our cheeks flushed red.
“Maybe we should...” He stepped down the stairs, but I moved up, trying to get out of his way, and now we were in the stairwell, chest to chest.
With the sounds coming from upstairs and having Gray this close, abandoned and neglected parts of me fired back to life. My lips parted, but no words came out.
“I—” I swore his eyes flicked down… to my chest, my lips.
Heat pooled to my core, begging me to forget logic and take whatever scraps of Gray’s heart and body he could give me.
But just as I was about to give in, he seemed to realize we were both still standing there and stepped past me. “Why don’t we turn back and say we tried?”
I smiled, barely catching my breath as I gained some space. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he turned back to me. “Will you add a dance with me to your evening plan? I’d love to spin you around the dance floor.”
The roller coaster ride my heart was on with this man? I wasn’t sure I could take it. But he stood there waiting for my answer, and I had to decide… Stay on the roller coaster with him or step off like I’d wanted to and say we’re better off as friends.
20
GRAY
Her dark-red paintedlips parted as she considered my question.
I knew my admission earlier, about missing Maya, had affected her feelings. It was clear by how quickly she’d run off to the bathroom. I’d followed her as soon as I could. And then there was that unmistakable heat between us…
I thought she wanted to be just friends for a while, but maybe I read the situation wrong.
Maybe Hayes was right to swear off relationships–this was so damn confusing. I didn’t know what to do. How to make her happy.
“What kind of dance?” she finally asked as we walked to the back door.
My chest tightened in response. Was a dance pushing too far for her comfort?
Not wanting to disrespect her boundaries, I finally said, “I’ll take whatever dance makes you smile.”
She looked down as her lips twitched into a shy smile I loved. “You’re a charmer, Gray Madigan.”
“If you say so.” We exited the back door, and I extended my arm for her. She had on heels, and I knew the ground wasuneven from here to the shop. With the sun fully disappeared over the horizon and only a floodlight casting a golden glow over the grounds, a steadying hand would be helpful.
Never mind that I liked the feel of her touch.
