Page 27 of The Trouble With Attraction (Rock Canyon, Idaho 6)

The man held his hand out to her, and she could feel Eric tense next to her. “Hey, I’m Darrin Quinn. We were supposed to—

“Oh!” Shit. Gracie had completely forgotten about him, since he’d been late. She’d figured he’d changed his mind and stood her up. They’d been chatting on TheLastFirstKiss.com for a month, and she’d suggested they meet up tonight so if she wasn’t interested in him, she could easily lose him.

“I am so sorry. I just came over to get a drink and bumped into my friend, Eric. Eric Henderson, this is Darrin Quinn. He works for the DA’s office in Twin and he’s my…my date for tonight.”

She stumbled over the last two words. When she’d set up the date with Darrin, she’d been lonely and was hoping for a sure thing tonight, so she wouldn’t spend the whole night dancing by herself. But Eric had made her forget about him with his look, his banter, his admission…

What had he been about to say?

Eric released her and held his hand out to Darrin. “Good to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too.” Darrin’s gaze traveled over her and his smile made him even more beautiful. His pictures definitely hadn’t done him justice. “I am sorry I was running late, but I had trouble finding a costume. I like yours though.”

“Thanks. Who are you supposed to be?” Gracie asked Darrin. She was so uncomfortable, especially since she wished like hell she could tell Darrin to take off, but she’d asked him out. He’d driven all this way for her.

And he was a handsome lawyer with his shit together. No baggage. No past. A fresh start.

“Yeah, I couldn’t find anything so I just went with a lawyer.”

Well that was a little disappointing. Sure, her invitation had been last minute, but she loved Halloween. Eric’s costume was simple, but he still looked aweso

me.

“Well, I better take off and find myself a dance partner,” Eric said.

Gracie stared at him, torn between wanting to follow him and find out what he was going to say and being nice. Nice won out.

“I’ll talk to you later?”

“Sure, Gracie Lou. Later.”

* * *

Eric hit the bar on the other side of the room first, tossing back a whisky before crumpling up the plastic cup in his hand, shattering it. It stabbed him in the palm and he grimaced.

“Oh, did you hurt yourself?”

Eric glanced up to find Kirsten Winters standing in front of him, dressed as a mermaid with full on purple shell bikini top and shells woven into her blonde hair.

“Nah, it’s just a scratch. How are you, Kirsten?”

“Bored. I came with Michelle, but she’s already ditched me.”

“Yeah, my wingman bailed too.” Eric looked across the room, trying to spot Gracie and her date, but the crowd was too dense.

As if his mind had willed them to part, a three-foot opening revealed Gracie dancing with Darrin, smiling at something he said. Eric was positive the guy wasn’t that funny, but if Gracie had a check list, the dude probably filled a few of the conditions, if not all of them. Lawyer. Good-looking, even he could admit that. Probably had his own house and a 401 k.

Eric ran his family bar, had a double wide on a couple of acres, and a classic car he loved enough to pour his money into.

God, he’d been an idiot, thinking that he could ever be good enough for Gracie McAllister.

“You wanna get out of here?” Kirsten asked.

Eric turned back to her, and knew what she was asking.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

* * *

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