Page 86 of Holding Out

Did he say that?Old Becca asked.Or does he just want more sex?

Becca took a deep breath.“Can I—can I take until tomorrow morning to think about it?”

There was a small but fraught silence on the other end of the line before Wendy said, “Of course.If you need to.”

“You’re in on Saturdays, right?”

“Yes.I’ll be in tomorrow morning from ten till noon.”Her buoyantly friendly voice had tightened down, and Becca regretted the loss of the warmth, even though—

Even though she didn’t want the salon job.She wanted to stay here and be a real auntie to Robbie and all of Nate and Alia’s kids who came after him.She wanted to work for Jake, helping the veterans restart their old lives or jump-start their new lives.She wanted to volunteer with Nate—maybe even take a part-time job with him—tutoring kids like Jed.Kids likeher.

And she wanted, ohGod, she wanted, to give this thing with Griff a chance ...

She heard herself explaining to Jenina why there was no “thing” with Griff.Why there was nothing to give a chanceto.

But things had changed since then, hadn’t they?Last night, she’d felt it: Everything had changed.

“I’ll call before noon.I promise,” she told Wendy.

“Okay.I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”

They exchanged friendly goodbyes, and she hung up the phone.

Jake poked his head out of his office.“I have a few more things to finish up,” he said.“And then I’m going to head over to Friday Night Dinner.But you should go.There aren’t any more appointments and it’s five-oh-five on a Friday and—” He grinned.“Get the hell out of here.”

“Thanks,” she said.

She shut down her computer and cleaned up her desk, surveyed the waiting room to make sure it would be ready for Monday morning’s appointments, and headed downstairs.She was hurrying across the parking lot toward her car when a flash of silver caught her attention in the direction of the veterans’ lodgings.She turned her head to look.

It took a minute to make sense of what she was seeing—a man and a woman coming down the stairs from the rooms, which by itself was unusual because so many of the men who came here were single and there were so few women around.Maybe it was the unusualness of the sight that held Becca’s attention, or maybe some part of her brain that recognized, even from a distance, the rumpled hair, the black T-shirt, the well-worn jeans, the build that had become so familiar to her that she could pick him out of a lineup with her eyes closed.

It was Griff, with Marina by his side, the two of them caught up in an obviously intense conversation.Coming backfrom his room.Three hours after they’d left together “to talk.”And there was intimacy in every line of their bodies, the two of them leaning toward each other, eyes locked on each other’s faces.

She was going to throw up.Or pass out.Or just stand here staring at them until they caught her, and that would be awful.

As she watched, they reached the bottom of the stairs, and Griff opened his arms and pulled Marina in.

Move!New Becca bellowed.And Becca did, turning toward the car, clicking the door remote, sliding into the seat, pulling out of the parking space and out of the lot.

Did he see you?

She looked back in the mirror just before she lost sight of them, but Griff was too intent on the woman in his arms to notice anything else.

40

There was a knock on the door of his room.

“Come in,” Griff said.

Jake appeared in the doorway and surveyed the room.It was crammed with Griff’s stuff.All the empty space—and there had never been much—was occupied now, with Griff’s clothes, books, CDs.His skis leaned against one wall, golf clubs against another.Griff himself was sitting in the recliner he’d loved and Marina had hated, which was covered with some slightly shaggy velvety blue material.Two bookcases flanked him, one on either side.They’d been the only furniture he’d owned before Marina.

He’d been sitting in the recliner for probably forty-five minutes, feeling too flattened to move.

“Having a yard sale?”Jake quipped.Then he must have gotten a better read on Griff’s expression, because his smile slipped away.“Dude.What’s going on here?”

Griff closed his eyes.“Marina is getting married.”

“Oh,shit,” Jake said.

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