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Grace had let 1.0 go. Actually, 1.0 had just sort of combusted the second Jake had walked out the door. Even 1.0 hadn’t been able to hold onto naiveté and happy endings after that.
But Grace had also kicked 2.0 to the curb, because 2.0 had only ever been 1.0’s guard dog. An extra layer of protection against a broken heart.
She didn’t need 2.0 as a shield anymore. There was nothing left to break.
“How long do we have?” Cole asked. “Do I have time to grab a beer?”
She allowed a small smile. “You need a drink before you can kiss me?”
He grinned back. The man really was handsome, and yet … nothing. Zilch. No zip, no attraction, nothing beyond an observation of something attractive, the way she might appreciate a good painting.
She discreetly placed her fingers against her wrist, feeling her pulse.
It was slow and steady.
“Good point,” he said, leaning back in his uncomfortable ballpark seat. “I want to have my wits about me when I rock your world.”
“Modest,” she said, taking a drink of her beer.
“And I see you don’t want your wits about you when I rock your world?” he asked, looking pointedly at the drink in her hand.
“Mostly I’m just trying to make it through this game. Are they always this slow?”
“Welcome to baseball, toots. If you want fast action, you should join me at a hockey game sometime.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Is that a hypothetical suggestion, or are you asking me out?”
“Depends. Were you going to say yes?”
“Nope.”
“Then it was hypothetical.” Cole leaned in then, close enough so nobody could overhear. “But when you get over Jake, let me know.”
If she got over Jake.
“You know about that?” she asked quietly, meeting his eyes.
“Let’s just say you have the same someone-killed-my-puppy look that he had when I saw him last night.”
She took a deep breath. “I’m not going to beg you for details, you know.”
“I know. Wasn’t going to give them, either.”
Damn. She let him pluck her beer out of her hand and take a long drink.
Her eyes scanned the huge board in the outfield. It was the top of the fourth. She had an inning and a half. Then it’d be go time.
* * *
Grace obediently stood and let Julie redo her ponytail and apply some soft pink lipstick. She let Riley pop a mint into her mouth. She even let her boss explain to her the mechanics of a good kiss, although she started to tune out right around the time that Camille mentioned the word molars.
It wasn’t a big deal. Movie stars fake-kissed all the time. And most of Grace’s friends approached a first kiss the way they did trying on shoes. Sometimes you tried a pair on just because, even though they didn’t go with anything in your closet.
And the entire stadium would be watching them, for heaven’s sake. It’s not like they were shooting a porno. Just a brief meeting of lips. It didn’t mean anything.
All of which would have made her feel a little better if she didn’t suspect that Cole was starting to get cold feet.
“Are you sure you’re not going to dash out on me?” she asked him for the fifth time. Sometime around the middle of the fourth, he’d checked his phone and gone totally silent. His responses since then had been distracted and jumpy.
