Page 29 of Broken Dreams
The door chime pings and I look up to see Grady walking into my office with a handful of flowers. “Hey.” His voice is smooth and causes my stomach to flip.
“Hey,” I say breathlessly, forgetting Chloe is next to me.
I wish I could say I’m acting, but I’m not.
We just saw each other a few hours ago when we dropped our kids off at the school, but there’s something about seeing him here, like this. I swear I can feel the way his heartbeat thumped beneath my palm.
He steps in and smiles at Chloe before walking to me. “These are for you. I was going to see if you were busy for lunch, but it seems someone beat me to it.”
Chloe nearly trips on herself. “Not me! I have plans already. Just stopped in.” She walks in front of Grady and extends her hand. “I’m Chloe, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Chloe.” He looks to me with a grin. “If I remember correctly, you’re the one who set her up with Phil?”
She pales, and I want to kiss him for that comment.
“Not really. Phil asked, I just...accepted for her.”
He laughs once. “I’m sure she appreciated it.”
“I didn’t,” I respond when she glances at me.
“If it weren’t for all your bad dates, Phil included, you wouldn’t have spent all this time together and now look, you’re going out.”
“We are having dinner,” I clarify. One of the things I told Grady was that we had to be strategic and go slow. No way would I be jumping into anything, no matter how good looking he is. No one would have believed it for a second if we tried to sell that idea.
Grady’s eyes twinkle with mischief. “I was hoping lunch, too.”
I work hard not to let my heart get too excited by this.
This is going to be the hardest part for me.
“I could eat.”
“Yeah?” he asks.
I nod. “Let me see if one of the girls can cover the front. I’ll be right back.” I point to Chloe. “Reel it.”
“I know, I know.”
I go back to where my assistant is working on inventory and let her know to keep an eye on the front while I run out.
When I get into the reception area, Chloe is talking with Grady who is being incredibly charming. I clear my throat, drawing both of their attention.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Just waiting on you.”
“Have fun, you two,” Chloe’s mischievous voice follows us out the door.
“That was smooth,” I say to him as he walks with his hand on my back toward the diner. “A lunch before our date.”
“Well, darling, I couldn’t stop thinking of you.”
I laugh, again reminding myself of the game we’re playing. “Please, your sister made you come, didn’t she?”
“Guilty. You know she works for Sydney Arrowood...”
“Who is my best friend’s sister.” This town needs a hobby and yet they played right into our hands. “That moved a bit faster than I thought. I sort of forgot Brynlee works with Sydney.”
