Page 36 of Rescued Hearts

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Willow waved a hand. “We broke up ages ago, but…”

“I get it. Still stings a little?”

“Exactly!” Willow bobbed her head in agreement.

Gray gave her the side-eye.

Willow nudged him. “What? Are you saying I dodged a bullet?”

“Didn’t you?”

She gave him a classic little sister eye roll and turned back to Willow. “You know how it is. Breakups can be hard.”

“Actually, I recently broke up with my longtime boyfriend before I came to Willowbrook.”

He went still, listening. On their date, he and Honor hadn’t delved into that territory, and she didn’t bring up her possible sighting of her ex either. Now that shadow slanted over his day, making him grip the pliers in his hand harder.

“You look really good for someone going through a breakup.”

He didn’t look directly at Honor but caught her gliding her fingers through her hair. “We were growing apart for a long time. I have standards. He didn’t meet them.”

“That’s why he’s the ex,” Willow commented sagely.

“Exactly!”

Gray relaxed bit by bit. Being the rebound make-out-by-the-truck guy was outside ofhispersonal standards.

He listened to his sister and Honor chat a while longer. When the guys began to grow restless, Honor made a final round through the group, helping them finish their projects so they could take it with them to their rooms. Gray stole peeks at her, watching her touch some of the guys but not others. As if she was aware of who accepted physical contact and who didn’t.

He’d never met anyone like her. He noticed things about her that he never noticed about anybody, and he wasn’t a guy who got involved with a woman long enough to know more than the shape of her underneath him.

And that scared the hell out of him.

Suddenly, Honor was back at his side, the fragrance of lemon and cake washing over his senses.

He pushed away from the table, the bracelet in his fingers. Her wrist was inches away, and goddamn if he didn’t want to fasten the beads around it.

“Thanks for doing this, Honor. We all really enjoyed it.”

Her face was tilted up to his, her eyes fixed on his mouth. Was she thinking about kissing him?

He almost let out a growl.

He needed a minute to get himself under control. “I’ve got some things to do. Willow can help you pack up.”

Was it his imagination or did her eyes dim with disappointment?

He walked away before he could find out.

Chapter Nine

Honor closed the back door of her van, her supplies packed away inside. With her hand lingering on the warm metal, she let out a deep breath.

This was it. The workshop was completed—and a success, in her opinion. It was time to go.

Only she wasn’t ready. She had some unfinished business.

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