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FARREN HAD SWITCHED the conversation to the food to put Grady off asking more about her old friend. Fine. Maybe this Denny was more important to her than she let on.
It was tough not to press her, but he held his tongue. They weren’t in a real thing anyway. Just this weird, phony place where they talked business and the minutiae of their days. He shouldn’t think anything of their late-night talks, but they were a highlight he looked forward to.
Farren’s hair caught the flickering lantern light, making it shine and glow with a low luster that drew his eye. Her expressive face moved through her emotions, and he’d read them clearly as she’d talked about Denny.
Right at the top it was plain she had fond memories of him. She felt sorry that he’d landed up a single father. A divorce would be tough on kids. But there was far more to this story than she was saying. The only conclusion was that she was protecting her old boyfriend. He didn’t care what Denny’s story was, but Farren’s desire to protect the guy was a concern.
And then, there were three children in the mix. A woman as softhearted as Farren—well, it didn’t take a genius to see which way this could go.
He settled into his meal and when he offered her more wine, she covered her glass with her hand.
“No thanks, I’m sticking to my one glass limit. More than that and I lose control of my tongue.”
Something he’d love to see, especially if her loss of control were in his mouth. He’d long ago decided that soon, he’d kiss Farren, and she’d know it meant something more than putting on a show for his sister.
“No more wine,” he said, conceding with a smile. Too bad, he might’ve been able to get her to open up about Denny. “What’s on your agenda for tomorrow?”
This was the same question he’d asked every night for the month he was in New York. And each night, she’d given him a brief rundown of her plans for the next day. Sometimes, she succeeded at getting everything done and other times she fell short.
But he heard it all and encouraged her if she faltered and cheered when she succeeded. She’d done the same for him, though his business wasn’t something she was familiar with. But the basics were the same as any other real estate transaction, it was just that the number of zeroes was higher.
The grateful look she gave him for accepting the change of topic was worth keeping his questions about Denny unasked. It would be easy to learn more about the guy, but he’d bide his time and see how things panned out. What he really wanted was for Farren to be honest about Denny.
He wouldn’t chase a woman who had her sights elsewhere. For now, he’d shelve his plan to kiss her the way he wanted to.
* * *
“WE HAD THE MOST ROMANTIC meal ever,” Farren told Eva the next morning as Eva prepared for her morning at the pool. They were in Farren’s room, and she was looking over her to-do list.
Pool time was this morning while the afternoon was the parade for the Fourth. “Grady arranged a table for two on the beach. He’d ordered a perfect meal from The Captain’s Table.”
The lantern light had made Grady glow like some sexy movie star. His eyes shone with interest for whatever Farren had to say.
“I’m sure the evening continued back at his place,” Eva hinted broadly for details. “After all, he’s been away for a month.” Her friend waggled her brows suggestively.
“It was a night to remember,” Farren replied, trying to put a low thrill in her voice. Eva bent to pick up her towel and water bottle, so she missed the flush on Farren’s lying face. She scrubbed at her cheeks so Eva would think she’d rubbed her skin and brought up the pink that way.
“See you later,” Eva said as she stepped outside with a brief wave. “I’ve got extra sitters ready to come at a moment’s notice if any more of the clients want adult time. Emails started arriving last night after people met around the pool.”
“Success is sweet,” Farren said, hoping some of the connections between the adults would stick. But if not, the parents were having fun and getting what they came for.
For her, last night had been a night to remember, just not in the way Farren had made Eva think.
After the wonderful, romantic dinner on the beach, Grady had kept his distance on the way back. She’d leaned toward him with her hand open in an obvious invitation to hold hands, but he’d stopped walking to stare down the beach at something she couldn’t see. The moment had been lost.
And then, when they’d come to her door, she’d stood close to him with her face turned up to his. The invitation to kiss her couldn’t have been clearer. Thankfully, she’d avoided closing her eyes and pursing her lips to kiss him. That would’ve been an embarrassment she’d never get over.
Grady had stepped back from her and said, “That was great. Thanks for the update on your day. See you tomorrow.”
The evening had fallen flat, and she wasn’t sure why. She’d tossed and turned through the night, trying to understand where things had shifted from romantic to business, but was no closer to figuring out the aggravating man AKA Grady the Grump.
Tonight, the adults would have dinner at the Sands. Each course would mean a seat change as the singles mingled, ending with an after-dinner drink and a stroll back along Main to the Landseer. She hoped people would pair off for the walk home through town, but she had a feeling some clients were more cautious than others. At this stage in their lives, their hearts were guarded. Much like hers.
It wasn’t that she’d had a big love destroyed, but when she and Denny had been young and she’d thought, in love, it had hurt when he’d left without a care for her. Through senior year she’d waited for him to talk about them being together in college, and when that didn’t happen, she’d decided not to speak up herself. Instead, after they’d gone to separate colleges, she’d waited for him to talk about life afterward. About him coming back with her to Last Chance Beach. That conversation had never happened, either. They’d talked mostly about how much fun he was having partying. Then even those conversations had stopped as Denny had moved on.
By not asking for more from him, she’d saved herself from the most embarrassing conversation she could imagine. She’d nursed her broken heart on her own. Maybe that had been a mistake, but clearly, Denny hadn’t wanted a quiet, accepting girlfriend.
He’d wanted fun and eventually the danger of having two families a state apart.
Denny’s transgressions had come home to roost. All indications were that he was interested in rekindling what they’d had in high school. She wasn’t sure how to feel. Different emotions surfaced like a water wheel scooping up compassion, loss, regret, anger, even smugness. Sometimes the uppermost emotion was satisfaction that he’d been caught. She didn’t like that one, it seemed unkind. But he was wrong to think he could crook his finger and she’d come running. What did he take her for? Some kind of desperate loser? Pfft.
She set aside her thoughts of Denny and her emotions around him. There was no time to wallow in the past when her future was at stake. After the morning pool time, she’d escort the group to the town center for the parade. Maybe by then she’d have heard from Grady about joining her for dinner tonight.
Last night he’d been cool and noncommittal after their meal on the beach, but maybe he’d been distracted by business of his own. She couldn’t think of a single thing she’d said to him that would cause a wall to grow between them. Maybe she’d imagined his coolness.
She walked to his private entrance and rapped on the door.
* * *
GRADY STEPPED OUT OF the shower to the sound of a knock. Wrapping a towel around his hips, he strode, still dripping, into the kitchen to peer through the window.
He double-checked that his towel knot was snug and opened the door to face Farren, looking intent and determined. “Hi?”
“Are you coming to the dinner tonight?” Her purple gaze ran over his chest and bare legs. Her cheeks flushed, pupils dilated, and he realized she liked what she saw.
Good. So did he. She was dressed in a short denim skirt and tight tee with the words Singles Fest stitched into the fabric over her left breast. She looked good enough to eat. Down boy.
“I assumed you’d want to go with your friend. Denny, is it?” Lame, O’Hara. Really lame. He hadn’t wanted to expose his feelings on the man’s suspiciously timed reappearance.
She blinked and he saw gears grind behind her eyes. She knew. Damn.
“Denny’s here to give his children—er—fun together. He’s a busy guy and didn’t spend much time with them—er—before.”
“He’s making up for lost time with his children?”
“Sure!”
“So, you’re here to ask me to escort you to this group dinner?” She was so beautiful when she blushed. But the blush was a clear signal that, again, she was hiding something about Denny.
“Yes, last night we didn’t talk about you escorting me. Will you come with me or not?” She leaned close, bringing her unique scent into the kitchen. He was tempted to reach for her hand and tug her into the house. But she was too busy to spend an hour or two alone with him. He read hesitation in her gaze and in the way her brows pinched.
He eased away from her. “Sorry for the towel. I don’t usually answer the door this way, but I know how busy your day is and I figured this must be important if you took the time to stop by.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s fine, I just thought that with your sister here, we should, you know, be seen in public again.”
“Right. For Delphine’s sake. Good. I’ll meet you there.” That was his tried-and-true way of saving time with his busy schedule. He’d meet his dates instead of picking them up, giving him more time on the phone or to check details with a client. With a schedule like his, every minute counted.
He was beginning to hate it. Looking at Farren’s glowing face and the happy anticipation in her eyes, he wanted to take back the words and offer to pick her up in a tuxedo with a corsage for her dress. Stupid teenage dreams of romance.
Farren stepped backwards two steps to give him room to close the door. As he shut it, he heard the grating voice of her friend, Denny. “Farren, hi!”
Too late and underdressed to go outside with her, he could only peer out from behind the white gauzy window curtain on the door.
Farren greeted Denny and then crouched to a pretty little girl in the stroller the guy was pushing. The child gave her a big wet grin and patted her cheek. After a moment of mutual connection, Farren rose and walked away beside father and daughter, looking content and happy.
Grady blew out a breath and reached for the phone.