AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I jolted at the words spoken only a few inches from my ear.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I muttered to Max.
He smiled knowingly. “Yes, you do.” His lips barely moved as he spoke, and I appreciated that he was trying to be discreet. “Unless you’ve decided to go for it, you need to be less obvious, or other people will start to see what I do.”
I shoveled scrambled egg into my mouth to buy myself time to think. When I swallowed, I knew I couldn’t delay any longer. “Maybe I have.”
The twitch of Max’s eyebrow was all that showed his surprise. “Have you?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted.
I wanted her, there was no denying that. I’d even go as far as to say I’d never been this taken by a woman before. But it wasn’t that easy. She was my best friend. She fit perfectly into my family—which was a gift, but also something to be wary of. If we got together and it didn’t work out, she might feel too awkward to attend family events, or my parents and siblings might make it unbearable for me, since I could be reasonably sure I’d be the one to screw it up.
I gazed at her, following the curve of her neck and shoulder with my eyes and tracing down her slender torso to the curves I ached to map with my hands. I tore my eyes off her and glanced at Kennedy seated beside her, only to see far too much interest in my sister-in-law’s expression. She cocked her head questioningly, but I turned away, wondering how it was that I’d been oblivious to Grace as more than a friend for years, but as soon as that began to change, everyone seemed to know it. Had they all been waiting for this moment? Had they known it was coming? And if so, how had I been so blind?
19
GRACE
That evening,I locked all of the doors and checked that the windows were latched, wondering if perhaps I should have taken Kennedy up on her offer to stay over. She could tell how shaken I was and had offered to sleep in the spare room so I’d feel less vulnerable, but I hated to take her away from Liam just because I was overly sensitive, so I’d turned her down. I wondered whether the invitation still stood.
No. She can’t stay here every single time you feel anxious. It wouldn’t be fair.
I sighed. Perhaps she’d been onto something when she’d mentioned getting additional security devices a few weeks ago. Even though I knew they wouldn’t necessarily stop a determined predator, they might give me peace of mind because I’d be able to check them from my phone wherever I was so I could be sure I was safe if I ever felt like I wasn’t alone in the house. There was a lot to be said in favor of anything that might stop me from jumping at every shadow and freezing each time the floorboards creaked or groaned. I knew my reactions were likely over-the-top because of Kennedy’s kidnapping, but I couldn’t just turn them off.
I’d made a salad for dinner—not needing anything else since I’d eaten so much at brunch. I’d eaten my fill and packed the rest away for tomorrow. Now, I was lying on the sofa in the dark with Duke pressed to my side, trying to work up the courage to call the cottage’s landline and tell Ezra there wouldn’t be any breakfast tomorrow.
Just do it.
I’d considered going out to speak to him earlier, but I’d promised Nate not to be alone with him, so, ridiculous though it may be, I’d do it via phone. I’d switched the lights off before I sat down because I didn’t want him knocking on the door to talk to me in person. If it was dark, he might think I wasn’t home.
It’s not a big deal. You’re being hysterical.
I grabbed my mobile phone, found the cottage’s number, and dialed before I had time to think too much about it.
“Hello?” Ezra sounded confused.
“Hi, Ezra. This is Grace.”
“Grace, hi.” I heard rummaging and then he was back. “Sorry, I was in the middle of making dinner. What’s up?”
My heart thumped violently, and I drew in a slow, deep breath, reminding myself that Ezra had never been anything but nice to me.
“I’m afraid there was an incident in the kitchen today and it’s out of commission until I can get some repairs done. I won’t be able to make breakfast, so I’ll call Taste of Destiny, the café on the main street, and ask them to comp a meal for you. It might be a while before everything is working again.”
“Oh no! What happened?”
“A bunch of things went wrong at once.” I hadn’t been able to think of a single issue that would render the kitchen useless without also needing me to evacuate the house. “I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, but Taste of Destiny does delicious food.”
“I know,” he agreed. “I visited it earlier today.” He hesitated, then said, “I have enough dinner for both of us if you’d like to join me. Not having a working kitchen must make things difficult for you, and I’d love to get to know you better.”
Damn.I cursed myself for not having considered that.
“I ate with a friend earlier.”
“Oh.” His tone was laced with disappointment. “Well, perhaps we could both go to Taste of Destiny for breakfast together.”
I frowned. Why was he so keen to spend time with me? If he was really here to get away from life, surely he’d prefer to spend time on his own.
