Page 56 of Whisper of Surrender (Whisper Lake 2)

Since his grandma was one of the most competitive people he knew, he figured she’d be on board with that plan and forgive his indiscretion.

“Ahhh, I see. That girl is a smart one.”

She was smart, and a lot more than that. He’d thought he knew Jess, but the more time he spent with her, the more he knew that what he’d known was just a small percentage of who she is. And he’d been all in with just that. But the more he got to know her, got to discover the depths of her soul, her mind, her heart, he was more and more impressed with the woman she was.

“It’s the old NTKB.”

He had no idea what she was talking about, so he guessed, “New Kids on the Block?”

“No, that’s NKOTB,” she said as if he were a moron. “NTKB. Need-to-know basis.”

“I don’t think people say that.”

“Sure they do. It’s like BTW is by the way, and TBT is Throwback Thursday, and LOL is laugh out loud.”

“I’m familiar with the concept of an acronym. I was just saying I don’t think people use that particular one.”

“Well, you know me, I’m a pioneer.”

“True,” he couldn’t argue with her there.

“Are you off duty?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you come over for dinner, and bring that smart, beautiful girlfriend of yours.”

“I’m gonna have to take a raincheck. I’m in Rosewood Grove meeting Jess for a dance lesson.”

Nana started chuckling, “Oh I would give anything to be there to see that.”

She wasn’t doing anything to help his growing suspicion that he was going to make a fool out of himself. But if it made Jess happy, that was all that mattered. Just thinking of her smile made anything worth it.

He was reminded of that when he saw her smile walking straight toward him.

“I gotta go, I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Tell Jess I said hi and thank her for the hours of entertainment I’m going to get out of this.”

She was still giggling as he ended the call. He sighed as he put it in his pocket.

“Everything okay?” Her brows lifted as she eyed his phone.

“Yeah. That was Nana. I had to tell her about the dance.”

“Oh, good.” Jess clapped her hands together.

That was not the reaction he’d expected, but he was glad to see she wasn’t upset.

Her smile broadened. “I had to tell Ali.”

“That’s good news?” He’d thought they were trying to keep this thing under wraps so he wasn’t sure why she’d be happy that the circle of people that knew had expanded.

Her eyes twinkled as she nodded. “Yes, because I was nervous to tell you that I let the cat out of the bag, but since you did too, you can’t be mad at me.”

“You think I’d be mad at you for telling Ali that we’re dancing at the talent show?”

Her tone was matter-of-fact as she said, “You are pretty grumpy.”

---