Page 22 of Forged in Secrets

“God really did bless Texas, didn’t He?” she swooned as they stepped onto the boardwalk behind the resort.

The water was as pristine as the sky, with gentle waves lapping at the pale sand as spring breakers lounged on towels in all directions. It was still fairly quiet. She assumed that the real party would probably start at nightfall.

“He did,” Ben agreed. “But the view would be better if it had more nature and fewer bikinis.”

Grace pretended to punch his arm. “Are you sure about that?”

“Positive.”

He looked over at her with one of his usual stony, unreadable expressions, taking in her own outfit once again, and she smiled down at the worn wood of the boardwalk.

Most guys would be thrilled with the parade of scantily clad, beautiful women that were currently taking up residence on South Padre Island.

But Ben wasn’t most guys.

She saw him at church most Sundays, and even though he’d expressed doubts about their faith that she didn’t necessarily know how to answer, it was obvious he was still trying to live up to the grace God had given to him.

“That place looks good,” she said, breaking the momentary silence as she pointed toward a small taco truck parked nearby. She could smell the fresh tortillas from here.

“It’s no Screaming Peach, but it’ll work,” Ben said.

Grace smiled. The Screaming Peach cafe back in Silver Grove was a favorite with the entire Forge family, and they’d introduced most of their friends to it. Maybe she could convince the owner, Iris, to try putting tacos on the menu.

Several minutes later, they’d found a picnic table, and had eaten through half of the pile of mini tacos they’d ordered.

Ben had covered the check with his own credit card rather than his company one, and she couldn’t help but to wonder what the gesture meant. Sure, it had been a cheap dinner, but it wasn’t the kind of thing he usually did. They were just friends, and he’d always made it clear that was all that they were going to be. He kept the lines between them stark.

But somehow, with the smell of saltwater and the palm trees swaying in the distance, things felt just a little bit different.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and looked down at the notifications in her lap, not wanting him tosee the questions in her eyes. She had a bad habit of obsessing over small situations, and trying to read minds that didn’t want to be read.

Ben was her friend and her colleague. And that would have to be good enough.

“So,” he said, swallowing the last bite of a taco, “how are things back at the office?”

She smiled and set her phone on the table with her email inbox open, thankful for the change of subject.

Not that he could possibly know the thoughts about him that were always swirling through her mind. Thankfully.

“See for yourself.”

Ben picked up the device, and she smiled at the way the glittery blue case looked in his hand. “Good grief. It’s worse than I thought.”

She laughed, his fingers brushing hers just slightly as she took the phone back. “I know, right? And that’s just all the work stuff. I also have about fifteen texts from the Silver Grove Women’s Book Club, and several barely-intelligible voice messages from my mother. I’ll be up until midnight dealing with everything.”

She shoved the phone back into her pocket, and when she looked up, there was an intensity to Ben’s eyes that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“What?” she asked warily, picking up taco wrappers and tossing them onto their tray.

“I really don’t think Forge Brothers Security would be the same without you,” Ben said. “I know we call you the office manager, but you’re clearly so much more than that. And I just wanted to say thank you. You know, from all of us.”

Once again, Ben looked flustered, and it was the most adorable thing in the world.

Great. Every reminder of how she felt about him–and how they would never be more than what they were–was another jab, straight through to her heart.

“I appreciate that,” she said. “I believe in the work we do. I want to handle the boring stuff so that you and the rest of the guys have time to fight for justice. Don’t worry, I have no desire to become a full time field operative.”

“That’s a relief,” Ben said, getting up from the table and heading toward the trash can with their wrappers and soda cups. “Who else would dump bubble tea all over my new mechanical keyboard?”

---