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“That’s a strange place to store it,” he said.
“I must have put it in there when we got back from our honeymoon. That was the last time that I had to use my passport. Whenever Archer would travel, I’d stay here and work. Taking off wasn’t an option after we got back from our extended honeymoon. I didn’t have any days stored up and until recently, traveling with him was just a pipe dream. I’m really excited about going to France,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to visit there.”
“Me too,” Jon admitted. “I did one of those DNA things a few years back and found out that I’m thirty-six percent French. Ever since then, I’ve had the itch to go there. Silly, I know,” he admitted.
Grace took his hand across the table and smiled at him. God, she was just as beautiful now as she was back when they were dating in college. “It’s not silly at all,” she promised. “I think it’s kind of sweet, actually.”
“Thanks,” he breathed. “How about I help you with the dishes?” he asked. He was avoiding the next part of their evening together, and by the way Grace was looking at him, she was ready for it to happen. He just didn’t know if jumping into bed with her was such a good idea.
“Sure,” she agreed. “I’d love some help with the dishes.” He could tell that she was lying. Hell, she sounded disappointed and that was the last thing he wanted, but he needed to try to wrap his head around all of this, and then, he’d find a way to end up in bed with Gracie—just the two of them. It was what he ultimately wanted, but he was struggling with feelings of guilt over the fact that Archer wasn’t there with them. Giving him his blessing to be with Gracie alone was one thing, but he knew that he had to be in the right head space for that to happen.
He stood and pulled her up from her seat. “Let’s wash some dishes then,” he said. She followed him into the kitchen, tossing him a towel.
“I’ll wash and you dry and put away,” she ordered.
“You’ve always been bossy,” he taunted.
“Not much has changed, Jon,” she said. “But you’ll figure that out soon enough. How was your day at work?” she asked. Small talk was Gracie’s go-to when she didn’t have anything else to talk about. He hated that she was reduced to small talk with him, but Jon appreciated that she was at least trying to ease his anxiety over being alone with her.
“Good,” he said. “Strange though.”
“How so?” she asked, handing him a dinner plate.
“My boss, Doug, called me into his office when I got there today and asked me if I’d be interested in running for a seat that will soon be vacant on the county council board.”
“Wow,” Gracie breathed. “So, the political adviser turned politician. Is that even a thing?” she asked.
He shrugged, “Sometimes,” he said.
“Are you going to do it?” she asked.
“No,” he said firmly.
“You sound very sure of your decision,” she teased. “How much thought did you give it, Jon?” she asked. Gracie knew him better than anyone else on the planet, except for Archer. She knew that he let little things niggle him until he was completely anxious over them.
“A lot,” he mumbled. “But it all comes down to one thing for me.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“They’d look into my home life and when they find both you and Archer in my bed, at the same time, they will rip me apart. I’ll never get the votes needed to win the seat—people aren’t as forward-thinking as you’d like to believe, honey,” he said. “In fact, they would find a way to judge all three of us and we’d all possibly be out of jobs. Do you really want that, Grace?” he asked.
“No,” she quickly admitted. “That would be awful. But I’d also hate for you to give up your dreams and aspirations just because our home lives look a little different from other people’s do. Give it some thought before you flat out turn it down, Jon,” she said.
“Geeze, you sound like my boss, Grace,” he teased.
“Well, Doug is a very smart man. I mean, I did vote for him and all,” she taunted. “Just think about it,” she ordered.
“I will,” he agreed. “But don’t go getting your hopes up, Grace. I still don’t think that I’ll ever see putting myself in the spotlight as a good idea. People who have skeletons never fare well in an election.”
