Page 59 of Somewhere You Belong

Grady glares at me once more before they leave, and then I spend the next thirty minutes finishing my prep work, all the while thinking about how I’m going to repay Penn for sharing my personal business with Parker and Grady.

But thinking about Penn leads me to think about Willow, wondering what she’s up to. Our last few interactions have been so hot andcold, I swear, I can’t figure out where the hell we stand with each other. One minute, she looks like she’s plotting my murder, and the next she’s thanking me for doing something for her—building her a chair, buying that fucking scarecrow, or bringing her a box of old painting supplies.

Part of me wants to go over there and check on her after the other night and offer to help with something around the house like Penn suggested. But I’m not sure if that would make things better or worse with her.

I don’t know what else to do. At this point, I can essentially kiss my chance of getting her to sell the house to me goodbye, especially because my dick wants much more than that from her. He wants to know her on every intimate level she’ll show me.

She has layers. I can see slivers of them exposed each time we speak.

She’s strong, but fragile. She’s fierce, but funny. She’s stubborn, but knows when to accept defeat, even though she doesn’t want to.

And there’s something she’s keeping close to the vest, a part of her I feel like she doesn’t let anyone ever see.

But God, do I want to be the one who does.

Chapter twelve

Willow

“Are you sure I don’t look overdressed?” I slide my palms down over my navy blue dress again, nerves running all through my body.

“You look amazing, Willow. Seriously. Stop questioning it. In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you with your hair down and it looks fantastic,” Astrid assures me as she sizes me up once more with her eyes in approval.

It’s the night of the veterans’ dinner in Carrington Cove, and I’m definitely regretting the decision to attend right now. Dressed in a body-hugging navy dress with a lace overlay that offers just the right amount of cleavage, I’m standing in Astrid’s living room, trying to come up with an excuse to get me out of this.

It’s been a few weeks since our beach day, but we’ve hung out several times since then and she still loves teasing me about Dallas. She’s honestly the closest friend I’ve made in ages, comparable to Shauna only, or Katrina, my assistant.

I smooth my hand down the half of my hair I left down, feeling even more self-conscience about it now. My bun is a piece of the armor that helps me play the part of a successful businesswoman, a fact that it took me a long time not to be ashamed of.

But tonight isn’t about business.

Tonight is about community and friendship, which is something I have very little experience with and I feel is pressing down on me with each passing second as we wait to leave.

And tonight, I’ll see Dallas for the first time since our little tryst at his bar last week.

And he likes it when my hair is down.

The doorbell ringing behind me pulls me from my thoughts.

“That must be my mom.” Astrid steps around me, her short red dress sparkling as she moves. Her dark brown hair is down as well in soft curls, falling just below her shoulders. I’ve never seen her this dressed up and she looks stunning, not that she isn’t beautiful any other day. I overheard a young man in the grocery store the other day describe her as a MILF, and I definitely agree—Astrid is a knockout in that girl-next-door kind of way.

“Hi, baby.” Her mother enters the room, kissing Astrid on the cheek and then turns to me with wide eyes. “Oh, you must be Willow.”

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you…”

“Melissa,” she finishes for me, reaching out to shake my hand. “Astrid has told me a lot about you, but it’s great to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.”

“She also told me that you own the Bayshore house now, huh?”

“Yes, the house is mine, although it’s proving to be a lot of work and I’m not sure what I was thinking taking that on.”

Melissa smiles at me. “I think it’s great that you’re choosing to bring some life back into that place. It’s been vacant for such a long time.”

“Well, Willow has faced a few challenges since she got here, but it’s nothing she can’t handle,” Astrid adds, forcing me to smile at her sentiment.

“I’m not going to let a few geese stand in my way,” I add, which makes them both laugh.

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