Page 65 of Holding Out

“Hey.You want to get some dinner?”

“Like, just us?”

The shy way she asked that—given everything else that had happened between them—made him smile.“I was thinking we could invite Nate, Alia, Robbie, Jake, Mira, Sam—you want me to call Hunter and Trina, too?And their girls?CJ?Yes, just us.That okay with you?”

“Yeah,” she said, lips tipping up.

He kissed her again and this time she kissed back.He had to call a hard stop on it several beats later before he ended up with both his hands up her shirt and the two of them panting audibly in the KidsUp lobby.

“I have to go back to the desk for,” she consulted her watch, “an hour and a half.But you could pick me up after that?”

He grinned.“Deal.”

He mether when her day ended and drove her to the Tierney Bay Diner.

“This place used to be a dive, and then my friends Lily and Kincaid bought it and fixed it up really nice.”

She looked around at the decor, big and brightly lit with a nautical theme, like someone’s ritzy beach cottage.A sign saidPlease Be Seated, so they slid into an empty booth across from each other, and a red-headed waitress with freckles and a ponytail brought them menus.

Lily was cooking, but she came out anyway and greeted them, trailed by Kincaid.“Hey,” she said.

“This is Becca,” Griff said.“Becca, this is Lily.And Kincaid.”

Becca shook their hands.“This place is beautiful.”

Lily smiled back at her.The two were an incongruous pair—Kincaid an ex-con and lawyer, tattooed and as big as a linebacker; Lily, a chef by training, petite and pixie-faced.They were crazy about each other and their restaurant.

“Wait till you taste the food,” Griff told Becca.

“Wish I could sit for a minute with you guys,” Lily said, “but it’s crazy back there.”

“No worries,” Griff said.“We’ll come some time when it’s quieter and eat pie and chat.”

“I’d like that,” Lily said.“We both would.”

Kincaid—who hadn’t said much—put his arm around her waist, tugged her close, and nodded.

A few minutes later, Lily brought them a couple of special burgers.“Just for you guys,” she said, and winked at Becca.

“She’s nice,” Becca said, after Lily left them.

“You’re nice,” Griff said, and he meant it, in the best possible way.She was sweet and kind and good, and it made him feel so fucking great to spend time with her.

She beamed at him and he didn’t know what to do with his hands or his feet or the surge of feeling in his chest.

Lily’s burgers were like no others—thick, tender, and juicy, and these were loaded up with caramelized onions, bacon, blue cheese, and some special sauce that made Griff’s mouth water obscenely.

“There’s a job I think I have a really good chance at,” Becca said, when she could talk between bites.

“Yeah?”

It made no sense to feel surprised and a little disappointed.He’d known she was looking for a job in Seattle, but he guessed he hadn’t expected it to happen so fast.

“Nice salon not too far from where I live.I liked the people.”

“Ah.That’s great.”Because he was happy for her.Hewas.

“I’mnotselling myself short.”

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