Page 43 of Love to Prove You Wrong

He was now so close that our faces were only inches apart. His blue eyes were about to swallow me whole and his manly scent filled the entire pantry. “Then why did you run away?”

Oh my God. Someone must’ve spiked my drink. This was one of those things you read about in magazines. There simply wasn’t any other explanation, because I wanted to push Justin against a wall and kiss him in a way that would make him forget he’d ever kissed another girl.

“Addy?”

I blinked. “What?”

He shook his head. “What’s a guy got to do, Addy? Besides building a fence for your duck, taking you on helicopter rides, and performing a song at a party. What?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Still locking eyes with me, he let his fingers travel down my arm and grabbed my hand. The lasagna sheet clattered to the ground.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Addison Grant.”

Chapter Fifteen

My inner voice screamed at me to tell him I liked him, but I couldn’t form any words.

Justin stopped speaking as well. Now we were two silent people locked in a pantry, staring at each other, breathing way too loud and fast. This was getting dangerous. Any more of this and the scale would tip. I couldn’t let that happen, or I’d be a goner.

“I guess I’m…” I started.

“Yes?”

I let my tongue run over my lips as I searched for the appropriate words. “I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

His brow furrowed. “What other shoe? There are no shoes and none of them are going to drop.”

“How can I be sure?” I asked.

He shook his head and balled his free hand into a fist. “I’ve had enough of playing games. When you’re ready, come and find me.”

He let go of my hand, turned around, and walked out.

This was the part where I was supposed to go after him, no? Instead, I was frozen in place. My hands were shaking so badly I had to grab a shelf to steady myself. The realization that maybe I did like him, way more than I wanted to admit to myself, had shocked me to my core.

Now what? I couldn’t hide in this pantry forever, but I couldn’t go out there and mingle either. Justin was the only person I really knew at this party.

I decided to wait half an hour before showing my face again. Since I was still hungry, I cracked open a bag of tortilla chips and a jar of dip.

I slid to the floor and put a chip into the cheese dip. This was pathetic. There was a party on the other side of that door, with shrimp, puffy pastries, and grilled salmon. Not to mention famous people. And I was stuffing my face with ordinary chips in someone’s pantry. I couldn’t believe I had let it come this far.

A tear fell down my face, and I got my phone out of my purse to text Suzie.

“I like him. I need help,” I typed, then erased the message again. There was no use sending my feelings out into the world like that. What would Suzie be able to do about it? This was all on me. There was only one thing I could do, and that was talk to Justin.

Running away from the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me had been a major mistake. It wasn’t fair to Justin at all, but his trying to sweep me off my feet had come completely out of the blue.

I trembled as I thought about the significance of his gesture. Justin Miller liked me enough to sing me a song in front of all those people.

I wiped my hands on a paper towel. Then I took a deep breath before opening the door, and slipped into the party again.

It didn’t take me long to spot Justin. He was standing near the sliding doors that led to the patio. He’d lost the tie and had unbuttoned his shirt a bit so that his chest was showing. Next to him was a man I didn’t recognize. Maybe I wasn’t the only person here who didn’t star in some show or movie after all.

Okay. I needed to go over there and talk to him. That couldn’t be too hard. I might need some liquid courage, though. And some solid courage as well.

I downed a glass of champagne and when the waiter wasn’t looking, I grabbed another one.

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