Page 65 of Broken Dreams
His eyes turn to mine and he flashes a wide smile, my belly flipping.
“Oh shit,” I hear Devney and turn my gaze to her.
“What?”
“You really like him.”
“I barely know him,” I say, deflecting her original point. I do like him. I don’t want to, but he’s sweet, really freaking good looking, and he makes me feel special.
She lets out a long breath. “Addy, it’s been three years of you living here and I’ve never seen you look at a man like that. I’ve paraded a bunch around you too. Some of Sean’s really hot baseball player friends and not once did you undress them like you just did to Grady Whitlock.”
I knew that’s what she was doing. She is really not subtle. “I wasn’t ready.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know that I am even now.”
“I don’t think it’s up to you at this point. I think you like him. I think he likes you. Are you taking him to Rose Canyon?” she asks.
Here is my out. Here is the chance to tell her the truth and not lie to my best friend. The thing is, it’s not a lie to me, not all the time. I do like him, and I want to bring him to the wedding. I want to go out with him, kiss him again, and help him get the funding. The only lie is from his end.
I open my mouth to tell her something, but Grady comes up behind her. My eyes widen for a second before I smile. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he says with a grin. “I thought you’d come over and say hi.”
Devney turns. “She wanted to, but I whisked her away to inform her that you, with an unskilled palate for chili, have the privilege of deciding the single most important blue ribbon this town has.”
Grady blinks. “This is a privilege?”
“You’re being handed an extreme honor,” she informs him. “I expect you to be fair and don’t worry about the aftereffects of the chili, you’ll survive. Also, you should remember that my brothers-in-law are influential in this town and Connor helped you make a connection.”
With that, she pats his chest and walks away. He watches her go, brows furrowed when he returns his gaze to mine. “I swear, small towns are a whole other world.”
“This town is very competitive, but the Arrowoods are a whole other level.”
“I heard all about it as Phoebe explained that it is my sworn duty to not choose an Arrowood. I thought I’m so confused, but she’s slightly terrifying the closer she gets to delivering the baby, so I didn’t ask more.”
I try to picture tiny Phoebe Bettencourt terrifying this man, but then I remember how I was around that time, and I was not a nice person.
“That was probably smart.”
“I learn where I can. So this judging thing...am I going to have to choose a winner between all these people?”
“Yup. You just can’t pick Rowan. It’s pretty much impossible for him to win.”
“That’s fine. I like seeing him lose,” Grady says with a laugh.
I smile as we start to walk toward our friends, taking our very sweet time. Nerves hit me because I want to say something about the kiss. I want to ask if he regrets it or tell him I don’t, but that I don’t think it’s a good idea we do it again. I don’t want to like him more than I do. I keep having to remind myself of it because I’ll absolutely let my heart get away from me.
Still, I don’t think it’s the right thing to say. If I play it off like I’m totally fine, no feelings, I’ve practically forgotten it, that might be the better idea.
I go with that.
“Did you hear anything more from Connor’s company in Virginia?”
His eyes meet mine. “No, but I doubt I will for a week or so. In the meantime, you’re still good to go to dinner with the Kopaskeys tomorrow?”
“Yup.”
