You Owe Me
Maisie
I was still holding onto him. Or maybe he was still holding onto me . Either way, the reasons for all of this holding had just walked out the door, leaving me and Griff on our own.
The store had gone oddly quiet. It was the kind of quiet that made you hear your own heartbeat and second-guess everything that had just happened.
But yup, we'd just gone full fake-couple in broad daylight.
And I still wasn't letting go. The sorry truth was, I didn't want to.
Just like Beverly.
Damn it. With an effort, I slowly pulled away.
My arms dropped first. Then I took an awkward step back, putting Griff firmly out of reach before I did something stupid – like dry-hump his leg.
I cleared my throat. "So…that was…"
Griff grinned. "The best fun I had all day."
A nervous laugh escaped my lips. He didn't mean it. I knew this. But I was thankful just the same. If Griff hadn't stepped in, I might've ended up crying. Or murdering. The jury was still out on that score.
But instead, I was smiling. And skeptical or not, I couldn't resist teasing him. " All day?"
He was still grinning. "Yup."
The guy had one heck of a poker face, but I wasn't buying it. Sure, he'd rolled with the whole fake-boyfriend thing, but there had been moments during that ugly encounter when Griff had looked more angry than amused.
So it couldn't have been that much fun.
With a grateful smile, I said, "I don't believe that for one minute."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Why not?"
The answer was complicated – something about Tessa and cookies and how terrific Griff's arm had felt around my waist. But there was no way I'd be saying any of that, so I tried for a joke. "Because it can't be more fun than…" Desperately, I tried to think. "The raisins?"
His expression froze. "What raisins?"
My hands flew to my face. "Oh, gosh. You didn't even know?"
"Know what?"
I dropped my hands and blew out a long, shaky breath that had nothing to do with baked goods. "That white pastry box? It's chock full of raisins…you know, from your friend Ryder."
Griff looked toward the back room. "The raisin-gram."
"Sorry, what?"
He looked back to me. "Ryder mentioned it last night." With a low chuckle, he shook his head. "I should've known it was the pastry box."
This was probably true, considering that I'd pretty much told him so earlier this morning – except I'd been in full mumble mode, so of course he'd missed it.
But hey, it wasn't all bad. I'd rather talk about pastries than what had just happened with Devon and Sierra. "Want to hear something funny?"
He looked intrigued. "Sure."
"We called it the raisin- bomb ."
"A bomb, huh?" He paused, looking half amused, half disgusted. "Yours is probably more accurate."
I smiled. "I know, right?" But then, my smile faded, and my voice grew quiet. "Hey..."
"Yeah?"
"That was...really nice of you, jumping in like that." I felt heat crawl across my face. "I do realize you didn't have to."
His gaze met mine. "Says who?"
"Says common sense. It's not exactly in your job description."
He grinned. " Now you tell me."
And just like that, the world felt lighter, and I laughed, really laughed. The laughter went on a tad too long, like I was losing it just a little. Maybe I was. But honestly? I didn't care. I was just so stupidly happy that I'd survived the encounter with only minimal humiliation.
Even better, from the look on Griff's face, he was happy, too. Or maybe he was just entertained. After all, it wasn't every day you saw someone lose their marbles.
Either way, he watched in amused silence until my laughter faded and something like sanity returned. I was just catching my breath when he said with a teasing smile, "You owe me. You know that, right?"
I couldn't help but smile back. "Definitely. So…what do you want?"
His expression turned serious. "Information."
My stomach sank. Oh, gosh. He was about to ask about Tessa. I just knew it. Still, I kept my smile plastered in place. "Okay…what do you want to know?"
He flicked his head toward the front door. "Those clowns…who were they?" His tone darkened. "And why were they out to get you?"