Page 55 of Broken Dreams
“All good things I hope?” Brielle actually flutters her lashes.
Oh Lord.
“Of course, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Addy say anything bad about anyone.” His eyes find mine and I wonder if I’m still standing, or if I’m a puddle on the ground. The way he stares at me, like I’m the sun or maybe even the world. It’s...
Fake, Addy. It’s fake. Remember it’s fake.
Okay, I can do this. I work to give him the same look back. “You aren’t going to fool them. Trust me, they know me too well. I’m definitely not that nice.”
“You forget I was there when you went on that date with the video game guy. You are that nice and so much more.”
I blush, damn it, I blush because he’s being so sweet.
“All right. Enough embarrassing me.” I duck my head, not wanting to see anyone’s reactions.
“I’m happy to meet you as well.” Blakely extends her hand.
“Likewise. What you both do is extremely admirable with your organization.”
The way to Blake’s heart is flattery. Maybe he will pull this off without issues.
“Thank you. We think so too.”
“Do you want anything to drink?” I ask, ushering him into the interrogation—I mean, living room.
“No, I’m good. I was just stopping by since you asked me to.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry. I know you’rebusy.” The last word is a bit biting as I glare at my sister and friend. I loathe them both for showing up unannounced with demands.
“It’s no problem, Jett is more than happy to see Elodie since he misses her.”
The two of us sit on the couch.
“So the kids are friends? Is that how you met?” Blakely asks.
Grady turns to her. “Sort of...I mean, it’s a small town so we would’ve met anyway, but I met her for the first time when my son was throwing a tantrum about going into daycare. Addy was nice enough to help.”
Brie grins and I swear she’s about to bounce out of her skin.
“And then Grady helped me when my car had a flat.”
“Is that when this started?” Blakely follows up.
“Not completely,” he cuts in. “We kept running into each other when she was on those terrible dates. On the last one, when she was out with that real piece of shit, I was fortunate to be there and intervene. After that, we sat at the bar, drank, laughed, talked, and...I asked her out.” His hand moves to mine and he laces our fingers together. “You know, she’s pretty easy to like.”
There go my damn cheeks again. All he’s doing is holding my hand, but there’s something so much more to it. His touch is soft, but he’s strong at the same time. I want to stay like this, his warm eyes studying my face, strong hand entwined with mine.
Yeah, I’m a fool.
I clear my throat and tuck my hair behind my ear. Not really needing to feign embarrassment. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
Jett and Elodie come running in and both of us drop our hands quickly. “Daddy, I fly with Ewodie in da pwane. Can we gonow?”
I smile and Grady does too. “Not today, but maybe we can take her soon. We have to go see Uncle Asher.”
Elodie’s lower lip juts out. “Pwease!”
I shake my head. “We have Aunt Brielle and Blakely here, we can’t go, sweetheart.”
