AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I cringe out loud. “For the record, that wasnotthe proudest moment of my life. I was so drunk that night, I was practically on the brink of alcohol poisoning.”
“You were?” She laughs.
I nod, leaning in by her ear. “You looked so good in your one-piece swimsuit by the pool. And I just wanted to talk to you. But every time you’d look at me, I’d chicken out. I needed all the liquid courage I could get to come up to you.”
“Aww.” Nadia gives me a pitying look. “I thought you were just a jerk for what you said to me. I’m sorry.”
I pick up her hand from where it’s laying on the bar. I place a kiss into her palm. “I forgive you. You forgive me for being a drunk idiot?”
“Yeah.” She smiles.
Our fingers tangle together, sitting on the countertop.
“And can I say—it’s really sweet how close you are with your grandmother.” Her eyes twinkle.
“It’s really sweet how close you are withyourgrandmother.”
That makes her laugh.
“In all seriousness, Grammy is the heart of the Westbrook family. We all love her. She’s the glue that holds us all together. And when she admitted to us that she was losing her eyesight, it just made us all the more protective of her. It’s really important to us to make sure she’s getting the support she needs. Whenever she needs me, I do my best to drop what I’m doing and be there for her.”
Nadia clasps her free hand over her heart. “Aww.”
“But don’t be fooled,” I chuckle. “She’s a scheming old lady.”
“Oh my gosh. My grandmother, too. And her friend, Delores is even worse.” She hesitates. “Not sure if you know this, but they’re totally rooting for us to hook up.”
I laugh again. “Oh, I know it. They ordered some kind of magical essential oil that’s supposed to make us hop into bed together tonight. Ylang ylang, I think it’s called.”
“Really?” Nadia barks out, surprised. “That explains why Granny kept dousing me with some mysterious spritz before I left the house.”
“She doused me, too.” I take a sniff of my clothes. “Smells pretty good, actually.” I bend forward to sniff her. I groan. “Smells even better on you.”
Nadia sniffs herself too, and laughing, she gives me a push. “Back off me, you perv.”
I have to switch gears so I don’t get a full-blown boner right now. “In all seriousness,” I say, “It’s really awesome that you set up those meetups for the seniors. My Grammy really appreciates the opportunity to socialize with people her age. Especially now that she’s losing her eye sight. She doesn’t talk about it much, but I think she feels a lot of pressure to enjoy life as much as possible before her world goes completely dark.”
Nadia nods in understanding. “I say it all the time—loneliness among seniors is an epidemic. It feels really important for me to do what I can to help.” She twirls her glass around on the counter. “Your grandmother says she owns a bakery.”
I nod. “She does. The most popular one in Honey Hill. And if your last name isn’t Westbrook, don’t even think of getting anywhere near her kitchen. She’s fierce about guarding her famous recipes for generations of Westbrooks to come.”
Nadia puts a hand over her chest. “Oh, that’s so sweet. She says that you and your brothers help her at the shop.”
“We do.”
Her head angles to the side. “So, you know how to bake?”
“Yup.” I take a swallow from my glass. She doesn’t seem to believe me. “I’d be happy to prove it to you one of these days. Just say when and I’ll bake up a storm for you.”
She rubs her belly. “You just won yourself some serious brownie points there, Mr. Westbrook.”
“Okay,” I tell her. “Just make sure you’re keeping score. At the end of the night, I’ll make you tally up all my brownie points so you can see how damn cool I am.”
Together, we laugh.
She’s quiet for a while, staring into the bottom of her glass. Then she peeks up at me and circles back to a topic we touched on earlier. “Can I ask why you decided to stay a virgin? Surely, you’ve had a girlfriend or two.”
“I come from a big family, but my parents divorced when I was ten. I guess that just affected me…differently than it would most kids. I grew up promising myself that I would be the perfect husband someday. And to me, being the perfect husband means waiting for the perfect wife.”
