Page 97 of Book Club Confidential

Tessa jutted her bottom lip forward, forming a sad face as she shoved Kate’s arm.

“I was just surprised,” Kate said. She looked to each of her friends, dragging a finger across her throat in a mock threat for their lives.

“Well, I won’t keep you,” Sam said. “But before I go, I wonder—”

The women exchanged eager expressions. Tessa bit her lip, and her knees began to bob.

“Would you like to come back out to Fox and Hound and grab a drink with me? I don’t get a lot of time off, but I’d love to see you again. You can bring your friends, if that makes you more comfortable. And if we time it right, and the drinks go well, I could slip out to buy you dinner somewhere we won’t be interrupted. If you want that.”

Kate covered her gaping mouth with one palm.

“If it’s too much,” Sam said. “Still come out for drinks. I think you’re incredible, and I’d love to get to know you better—in whatever capacity feels good to you. Or not,” he added when she didn’t speak.

“Sounds good,” Hallie called.

Sam laughed. “We’ve only met twice, but I think that was Hallie, not Kate.”

“Correct!” Hallie answered.

“I’d love to,” Kate said. Her cheeks flushed, and her smile grew pointedly authentic. “When?”

“Really?” Sam said. His voice hitched an octave on the little word. He cleared his throat and tried again, intentionally hitting an unnaturally deep tone. “Really?”

Kate laughed. “Yes. I think what you described sounds nice. I’ll even leave these two at home.”

“Aw,” Hallie protested. “But I started this.”

“How’s Friday night?” Sam asked.

“No,” Hallie said, leaning closer to Kate’s phone. “That’s the night of my rehearsal dinner.”

Tessa’s eyes bulged, and Kate frowned.

“How about Thursday?” Kate asked.

“Perfect,” he agreed. “I’ll see you then.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

The next morning, feeling a little nauseous, Tessa sat in her car outside the temp agency she’d contacted, looking for work. The sun beat through her windshield, warming her skin despite the falling autumn temperatures, while her mood radiated heat from inside.

She grabbed her phone to vent, and she messaged Grant first.

Tessa: That didn’t go well

Grant: Temp agency?

Grant: I told you not to go there

Grant: Do I need to come down there and set someone straight?

Tessa smiled at the image of a man who looked more like a hot professor than any kind of trouble coming to her defense. Yet, somehow, she didn’t doubt he’d do exactly that if she asked.

She let the tension in her muscles ease as she absorbed that truth. She wasn’t sure when she’d started texting Grant before Kate and Hallie, but she was thankful for his presence and their deepening connection, even if things never made it past friendship. Good friends were hard to find.

She hoped that she was one of Grant’s first to text too. The possibility sent a rush of something prickly, but wistful, through her veins.

Grant: Want to talk about it?