Page 34 of New Girl in Town
“Grant! Oh, hi.” I smacked my forehead and said, “Sorry, it’s just so loud in here.” My tone was light but my eyes, I knew, were narrowed and shooting daggers.
Grant rocked back on his heels and smiled at me. “That must have been it. The noise.” His eyes scanned over me, dropping to my feet for a second before they landed on where I still gripped Ben’s sleeve.
“Are you two getting drinks here too?” Ben said, gesturing between Grant and the woman draped over his arm.
Grant’s date, I noted, also wore red. God, she looked stunning. I hated that I noticed she was younger than me, twenty-five tops, and I bit my bottom lip and looked away as I tried not to notice how great her cleavage looked.
Wewouldboth be wearing red, wouldn’t we? But we were both beautiful in it too. There was room enough in the restaurant for it I reasoned with myself.
“Yeah, been wanting to check this place out for a while now. Aurora mentioned that you two were coming here tonight, so I thought, what the hell. Why not?” Grant shot them both a smile that had my fingers itching to slap him.
He had planned this.
But to be fair hadn’t he warned me? Grant leaned close, his fingers reaching out to brush the back of my hand as he asked, “Mind if we join you?”
My eyebrows shot up. Of all the low-down dirty things for the man to ask. He wouldn’t be joining us, him or his statuesque date, and I opened my mouth to tell him as much, but Ben beat me to the punch.
“Of course. Please, we were just about to go to this corner table Aurora pointed out. Shall we all make a night of it?” he asked, and motioned for the couple to join us.
I clenched my jaw and gave Grant a withering smile. “Yes, please. Join us,” I bit out. I couldn’t let on that I was livid, not to Ben or Grant’s date. There would be no explaining it to them that Grant and I had a bit of a history. That the man was going around speaking in riddles about love and war and now doing this.
Besides, I reasoned with myself, if I kept him close then I at least had an idea of what he would do next. There was no telling what else the night might hold if I let him out of my sight.
I moved to follow Ben, but Grant stepped close, his lips brushing my ear. “Thank you for such an enthusiastic welcome, sweetheart,” he whispered.
My breath hitched and I nodded as Grant moved away, guiding his date to the table. This night was going to be hell on me. I rolled my eyes at his back. I managed to make it as far as settling down at the table before I rolled my eyes again, this time when I caught Grant looking at me. The table we sat at wasn’t for a group. It was meant to be intimate, cozy, the perfect little setting for a romantic night.
I wanted to scream when my knee bumped Grant’s, and I almost elbowed his date on accident.
“I’m so sorry,” I apologized to the woman.
She shrugged. “Oh, it’s alright. I’m used to getting a few bruises whenever I see Grant.” She winked at me, and I felt my blood pressure spike.
Was Grant sleeping with her?
The thought came unbidden before I could stop it, and I cringed. I didn’t need to be going there right now. If Grant and this woman were sleeping together—or Muay Thai boxing, or anything at all—it was no concern of mine because I’d told him that I didn’t want to date him.
I’d said that. Me.
“This is Sophia Fallon,” Grant said with a nod toward her. I nodded along, doing my best to not look bothered at the sight of them sitting together and looking perfect. “She does editorial work in New York.” He turned to look at her, one hand gesturing toward me.
“Sophia, this is Aurora Martínez. She does curatorial work for a nearby art museum.”
I smiled at Sophia and hoped it reached my eyes as we exchanged hellos and pleasantries, but it was only when Grant cleared his throat and looked at Ben that I realized I might have been concentrating a little too hard on acting natural.
I nodded. Right. My date.
“Uh, this is Ben Mathers. He does investment banking and advising for local businesses.” I swallowed after she introduced him and looked at Grant. “Ben, this is Grant St. John, he’s the building super of the apartment I just moved into.”
“Huh.” Ben rubbed a hand along his jaw, looking at Grant in confusion. What was that about? I watched the two men, but Grant didn’t seem to notice Ben’s confusion and nodded at him.
Ben leaned over the table and pointed between Sophia and Grant. “Editorial work in New York? I’m assuming that’s how you two met, then?”
Sophia nodded with a smile. “That’s exactly where we met! Oh, how long ago was it? Four years ago?” she asked, giving Grant’s arm a squeeze. “I was doing a write-up and, well,” she said, and winked at me and I felt the bitter taste of jealousy settle on my tongue, “I couldn’t just walk away from all this charm. You know how it is.”
I shrugged. “No, I don’t know how it is,” I replied, but I doubted Sophia heard me as she leaned into Grant’s arm and giggled.
“I was just a kid then. Barely twenty-one, and he was just the nicest to me at the interview,” Sophia gushed. I contemplated whether or not it was acceptable to throw my drink at Grant’s head.
