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Brady nodded, looking thoughtful. “What went wrong the first time, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“What went wrong?” I snorted. “How much time do you have? It starts with an ex…”
“It usually does. That bad, huh?”
I shrugged. “I can’t blame him completely. We were both young and dumb. I made a lot of bad decisions along the way, for sure. But in the end, I learned a lot. A lot about people. A lot about love—or what loveisn’t, anyway.”
“I’m sorry you had to learn that kind of lesson.” His voice was soft and low. Even though we were across the table from each other, I could see the compassion in Brady’s eyes. “I learned that lesson young, too. Just not in the same way.”
It was clear from his dark expression that he was talking about his father. I wanted to ask more—whathad gone so wrong between them,whyBrady still resented the man so much, even though he’d been dead for nearly three months.
But it wasn’t the time. It wasn’t the place. The conversation had already taken a decisively dark turn, and I didn’t want to make it worse. That would be a date-killer, for sure.
“So, how are you liking things now? At the shop, I mean. You can’t tell me it’s not growing on you, at least a little.”
I grinned, not even trying to be subtle about the abrupt change of subject. To be fair, though, itwasanother question I had had on my mind for some time.
Brady took the bait. “I do have to admit that I like it a lot more than I thought I would. I think it’s the people, mostly.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what it is for me, too.” I nodded emphatically. “I mean, I like the actual work, but—”
“At least you’re good at it,” he interrupted, laughing. “Did youseethe arrangement I was trying to make this afternoon?”
I smirked. Ihadseen it. Or I’d seen something that might have generously been called an arrangement sitting on the workbench.
Everyone had to start somewhere, though, and it was encouraging enough to me that Brady was making a legitimate effort. That counted for a lot, in my opinion.
“You’re learning,” I said. “That’s the important part. But I’m glad you like it. I knew you would, if you just gave it a chance.”
And just like that, the mood had lifted.
I didn’t want to gloat too much about Brady’s change of heart. I didn’t want to jinx the situation, after all. But it was definitely a good sign that he was taking more of an interest in the shop.
Maybe Naomi’s plan to make Brady fall in love with the place would work, after all.
Luckily, I was saved by the waitress coming to take our order before I could say anything about work that would make Brady question my motives.
Not that my motives werebad, and I would definitely stand by the little plan Naomi and I had come up with if it ever came up, but… again, probably not the best conversation to have on a first date.
But at least we were talking, and it seemed like we were both less nervous than we’d been when we sat down, so that was something.
When it was time for me to order, Brady looked up from his menu and smiled. His eyes sparkled in a way that made me forget about everything else, as if we were the only two people in the room, and as if I was the only thing that mattered.
And that was something, too.
Chapter Thirty - Joanne
Somehow, even though Friday night had taken forever to get there, and even though Brady and I had spent the entire evening together, it had all gone by way too quickly.
We’d talked and laughed all through dinner, then had stayed for some of the most amazing tiramisu I had ever tasted.
Then there was the movie—a rom-com that I had to give Brady credit for sitting through. I seriously hadn’t expected the big, burly former football player to even agree to watching it, but when it had turned out to be even a little too cheesy and sappy for me? Yeah, I was going to have to make that up to him sometime.
To his credit, though, Brady hadn’t complained at all. In fact, I wondered if he had even stopped smiling through the whole movie—and not because he was enjoying the acting.
There had just been this feeling, this warmth between us, a chemistry that had been so intense that I might have thought I was imagining it if he hadn’t kept shooting me that big, goofy grin.
So even after spending all day at work together, then all evening on a date, when Brady had offered to make me a cup of coffee back at his apartment, the wordsyes, pleasewere out of my mouth before I could even think.
