Page 89 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell

“Stop cussing and thinking everyone is out to get you. Try to act like a gentleman.” She sighed heavily. “Maybe I should have given you some etiquette lessons.”

“The hell are you talking about?” he teased. “I ooze class.”

Gracie rolled her eyes as they stepped onto the elevator. With just the four of them, the silence was deafening, so he broke it.

“How’s it going?”

The woman smiled. “It’s going very well. Where are you headed?”

“The roof,” Gracie said, squeezing his arm. “This guy wrote a book, so we’re going to celebrate.”

“Oh, how lovely. What’s it about?” the woman asked.

“About the little town we live in,” Eric said.

The elevator stopped, and as the two-people stepped out, the woman waved at them. “Good luck.”

Gracie waved, then turned back to him with one eyebrow hiked up. “See, they were nice.”

“Mm-hm.” Eric backed her up against the wall of the elevator and kissed the side of her neck. He heard her sharp intake of breath, and just as the elevator stopped, he pulled away.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re such a tease.”

The doors opened, and Eric took her hand, leading her out onto the roof. There was a table covered with name tags for them to pin to their shirts.

“Your name?” the woman at the table asked.

“Eric Henderson and Gracie McAllister.”

The woman thumbed through the tags and held their badges out when she found them. “Here you go. Have fun, you two. Don’t forget to try the signature cocktail.”

“What is it?” Gracie asked.

The woman held up a glass filled with a bubbly red liquid. “They are calling it a New Year’s Dream. All I know is it tastes like heaven.”

“Yum. I can’t wait.”

Eric put his hand on her back to steer her away and into the crowd. He wanted a drink too, but something stronger than that girly concoction.

“I feel like that guy in the song ‘A Jukebox and a Country Song.’”

Gracie patted him on the arm again. “You’re doing fine. Relax. They’re just people.”

“Not our people,” he grumbled.

They reached the bar just as he heard his name being called. He spotted Neal hailing him and nodded. The other man started pushing his way through the crowd until he stood in front of them. Neal held out his hand in greeting.

“Hey, Eric, you just get here?”

Eric shook his hand. “Yeah, we just walked through the door. Figured we would grab a drink and then make the rounds.” Eric slid his arm around Gracie’s waist. “Neal, this is my girlfriend, Gracie.”

“How are you, Neal?” she asked.

Neal took her hand in both of his. “Jealous of this man’s good fortune. You are absolutely stunning. And where are you from?”

“Rock Canyon, same as Eric.”

Neal’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh, you have to tell me all about it! After reading Eric’s book, I’m so curious to see how much is the truth and what’s exaggerated.”

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