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Kevin chortles while I smile sheepishly at my sister. “Sorry.”
I’m not in the headspace for company. But I couldn’t flake out on dinner this evening. Melrefusedto let me, no matter how many excuses I threw at her. I can’t even be mad. She knows me well enough to know I’ll retreat into my introverted shell if she doesn’t force family time on me. Often, I appreciate her for keeping me grounded.
“Are you okay?” When I grunt out my response, she rolls her eyes. “Use your words, remember?”
I smirk. “I’m fine.”
“You seem distracted.”
The curiosity in her tone tells me she’s in annoying-little-sister prying mode. She’ll be like a dog with a bone.
“I have a lot on my mind?” I shrug.
“I bet it has something to do with the woman at the bar the other night,” Kevin says. “The one you left with.”
The room goes quiet. I send Kevin a look, letting him know he’ll pay for this. He didn’t recognize Grace. None of the others did. They’d all been busy elsewhere while I carried out her rescue the night of the building fire. Claudette is the only one who would have gotten a glimpse of her but obviously not enough to remember her.
Mel puts her glass down. “Woman? There’s a woman? What woman?” Wide eyes, brimming with curiosity, are fixed on me and she’s leaning forward.
I sigh inwardly. I’m not leaving this house tonight without giving hersomething. “Yes, there’s a woman, but it’s...” I can’t even get the wordnothingout because I know that’s a damn lie. It’ssomethingand I’m afraid of it. “It’s only been a few weeks. So don’t get too excited.”
She clutches her chest. “A fewweeks? Row, you do flings that last for days, hell, sometimeshours.”
I scoff. Yet, I can’t deny it.
“A few weeks is something for me to get excited about.” Her face is flushed with her exhilaration.
I shake my head. Knowing Mel, she’s probably planning my wedding this very second.
“So, you’re dating?” she asks.
“He doesn’t date.”
“I don’t date.”
I give Kevin an irritated glance after our unified response.
Sitting back in my chair, I exhale. While dating hasn’t previously been on my agenda, I wouldn’t be averse to dating Grace, or at least trying it. I really need to call her and fix things. She probably thinks I’m a scoundrel.
“You’re showing deeper interest in a woman, Row. That’sgreat.”
Mel gazes at me with pride and blatant relief, which I think is ridiculous. It’s like she thinks my life has been saved because I’m interested in a woman. I frown. Am I reallythatbad in the intimacy department?
“Mel,” I give her a pointed stare, “ignore the wedding bells you’re hearing in your head. Okay? It’s not that serious.”
She smirks—the same one she used to give me when she was a kid. That means she’s not going to listen to me.
I sigh. I can’t share in my sister’s excitement about my own dating life because I’m too afraid of the feelings Grace has stirred to life.
