Page 30 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

Gia glanced over at her, grinning. “Really well. I stayed and helped him out at one of the stands.”

“Oh yeah?” Courtney grinned.

“Yeah. It was fun.” Gia ignored the playful look. “Then we had a glass of wine on the barn’s patio to celebrate the end of another festival.”

“Oh really?” Courtney drew out the words.

Gia gave a nonchalant shrug as she ran. “Yes,really, but we’re just friends. I mean—he hasn’t made any moves and he hasn’t asked me out on a date.” Still, she thought she might’ve sensed something more when he’d looked at her last night. Whatever it was, he wasn’t letting on about it. He probably didn’t want to ruin their working relationship. She didn’t either, but…

“Nick was like that at first,” Courtney offered. That sounds very romantic, by the way—sitting outside at his winery.”

Gia nodded. “It was, actually. But it wasn’t likethat.” Although she’d wished it had been.

“So you don’t get the feeling that he’s interested?”

“I do, sometimes. But then he always pulls away like something’s holding him back. I’m really not sure what’s going on when he does that. He’s very hard to read.” Gia glanced at a sailboat cruising by on the lake.

“Does he ever call you?” Courtney asked between breaths.

Gia nodded again. “Only once, but it was about work.”

“Okay, well maybe you ought to invite him out, but say it’s for business. Maybe ask him to meet you for a business lunch.”

“You think I should?” Honestly, she’d considered it already, but had decided against it so far.

“Totally. Oh hey—that reminds me, and this might be an even better idea: Jake’s having a bonfire at his place next Friday. He’s inviting a bunch of other people besides our usual group. He said to invite a few friends if we want. Why don’t you invite Seth?”

Gia raised her brow and looked at Courtney out of the corner of the eye. That could be a way to turn this into more of a friendship rather than just a professional relationship, or possibly even more. And he had mentioned he’d like to meet more of her friends, but she’d have to be careful how she did it. She still wasn’t sure where the line was and what might be crossing it. “You think I should? Because I don’t want it to sound like I’m asking him out on a date.”

“No, it wouldn’t have to sound like a date. It’s a party—just a chance to meet some locals.”

Actually, he’d probably love to go. Gia should stop worrying. “He did say he hasn’t met many people here since he’s been back, but that he’d like to.”

“See? I bet he’ll say yes. Just keep it casual. It’ll be fun.”

Courtney was right. Seth would appreciate the offer. It didn’t have tomeananything. And even if it did becomesomething, Seth seemed like the kind of guy who’d treat her right. He, like Tom, wasn’t like most guys.

“All right. I’ll do it.”

“That’s the spirit.” Courtney gave Gia a quick pat on the back.

* * *

Seth glancedat the clock on the nightstand. Just past nine on Sunday evening. The day had been busy, putting away signage and props after the festival, cleaning up a little trash that had been overlooked, getting ready for the harvest, which would begin tomorrow, and going through the festival’s receipts.

They’d made a decent profit. Seth was happy with it, but he was tired. It had been a long week. He lay in bed with his head propped up on a stack of pillows. His parents had already gone to bed, but he’d been staring at the wall for who knew how long. He broke his gaze and picked up his phone.

It would only be seven o’clock on the West Coast. Stacey would be home from work by now. He’d texted her earlier, knowing she would be more reasonable today, and she said she could talk tonight. They usually talked around this time on Sunday nights anyway.

He’d thought about things all day. What a mess she’d been last night. But he shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d been a jerk to her, not telling her what had been on his mind for so long. Stringing her along when he should’ve confronted his misgivings a long time ago. He’d been withdrawn from her for weeks.

And on top of that, their relationship hardly felt real to him anymore. Phone calls and video calls, texts, photos—they weren’t enough to keep a relationship going, at least not for him. It was absurd he’d kept it up all this time. But the fact of the matter was that he’d even been lying to himself.

He clenched his jaw and ran a finger over Stacey’s name on his phone.

Stacey picked up the video call after only one ring, guilt quickly registering on her face. “Hey, stranger.”

“Hey,” he said softly. Not surprisingly, she seemed a whole different person today.

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