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“You guys coming or what? We’re here and uh, okay...well, don’t be doing anything I wouldn’t do. Which, shit, that’s not a lot so.” She said something unintelligible and Grace thought she heard her brother Beau. “Okay, well, hope to see you soon.”
“Do we have to go?” Grace whispered, holding her breath on his answer.
“I think we should.”
Trying not to show her disappointment, she nodded and reached for her wine glass. Crap. It was empty.
“But let’s have a code word.”
“Code word?”
Matt nodded slowly. “For when it’s time to leave and head back here.”
“Okay,” she breathed, smiling to herself and looking away from him because if she didn’t, she was going to jump across the table and have her way with him right now. “What’s the code word?”
He cleared his throat, a wicked grin sweeping across his handsome face making him look younger and more vulnerable. “Bluebell.”
Grace laughed, a full-on belly laugh that had Matt sliding from his chair and coming around the table before she could say a thing. He bent low and pressed a heated, hot kiss to her mouth.
“Give me ten minutes to shower and we’ll head out.”
She didn’t answer because she couldn’t. She watched him walk away, sank back into her chair and thought that maybe, just maybe, her world was about to change forever.
16
Matt Hawkins had been attending these kinds of fundraisers for years. Like most small communities, New Waterford didn’t have a lot of corporate dollars to go around, so when money was needed for something a fundraiser was the quickest way to get the job done.
New roof for the arena.
New seats for the football stadium.
New dugouts for the ball diamonds.
Monies for their senior support programs.
You name it, there was a fundraiser in there somewhere, and like most of them, there was usually a social function that involved three things that used to make Matt halfway happy. Music, women, and booze. He’d supported the community the best way he knew how, by going all in and usually being the last to leave (that’s if he didn’t get into it with someone and get his ass kicked out)
Tonight, for the first time in as long as he could remember, Matt couldn’t wait to get the hell out of the dance. He stood in the dark near the stage and leaned against the wall, content to watch Grace on the dance floor with Betty and her sisters, Bobbi and Billie. The girl could move and, damn, but the four of them were attracting their fair share of male attention.
“You hiding from the Simon clan?”
Matt glanced up as Logan Forest walked up to him and flashed a smile. “Nope. Just playing it low key.” He’d said goodbye to Eden, and Noah, Grace’s father. Surprisingly the older woman had given him a hug—a real hug before leaving with her husband. He wasn’t sure where it had come from, but he’d take it.
“So what’s going on between you and Grace?”
“Not sure yet.” It was a simple answer, and about all he was willing to share. Forest was a good guy—he’d given Matt a chance when no one else in this town would, and if not for Logan he doubted he’d be earning a decent living doing something that he loved. Hell, he’d probably be in jail or worse.
He’d offered Matt a job when the booze and drugs had pretty much taken over and made him a detriment not only to himself, but to others. Probably as a favor to Betty, but still...
Matt was damn sure that he owed the man his life.
Logan offered Matt a beer but he declined. He planned on leaving soon and nothing was going to stop him from getting behind the wheel.
“Shit, brother. You turning over a new leaf?” Logan shook his head and grinning, raised his beverage in a mock toast.
“Something like that.”
Logan settled in beside him, back against the wall and long legs spread out in front. His wife, hockey girl Billie Jo, smiled their way and then all four of the girls started to giggle. Grace’s hair swung all over the place as she showed them some kind of dance move—something that Matt had never seen, but something he’d be willing to see again…in his bedroom.
