Chapter 4 #2
“I was busy.” Grant shook hands with Kara. Waggling his brows, he added, “Celebrating.”
Kara’s cheeks went pink at Grant’s mention of celebrating, and Dan became even more intrigued. Pure as the driven snow, and she blushes. Too good to be true.
“Kara, this is my friend Dan Torrington.”
“Nice to meet you.” When she met his gaze, he noticed her eyes were brown with flecks of gold. And were those… freckles? Her shy smile was right out of a toothpaste ad. Good God, she was too cute for words and, as Grant had said, probably far too young for him.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Dan said. “I hear you’re in the boat business.”
“Her family has a big outfit in Bar Harbor,” Big Mac said.
“What do you do?” Dan asked.
“Business development mostly, but as of next summer, I’ll be running the launch service in the Salt Pond here on the island.”
Dan would’ve bet his sizable fortune that she’d been the smart girl in school who’d ruined the curve for guys like him. He wondered if she ever let down her ponytail and got a little wild. He’d sure like to know.
“And you, Mr. Torrington? What do you do?”
Grant guffawed at the Mr. Torrington, earning him a swat and a glare from his mother.
“Call me Dan, please. I’m a lawyer.”
“Oh.” Kara could barely hide her contempt. “That’s… nice.”
Dan’s face lifted into a half grin as he bit back the instant urge to ask what she had against lawyers. Since she appeared to have no idea who he was or what he did, he was glad that Grant didn’t immediately fill in the blanks for her.
“Stephanie is beckoning us,” Grant said to his parents. “I hope I’m not about to hear the words ‘wedding plans’ come out of her mouth.”
Linda clapped her hands gleefully. “Oh, I can’t wait to plan another wedding!” She led her husband and son into the living room.
“Fabulous,” Grant muttered as his mother tugged at his arm.
Dan laughed at his friend’s dismay. “The poor bastard has no idea what he’s in for.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kara asked.
Surprised by her tone, Dan chose his words carefully. “Wedding planning isn’t for the faint of heart.”
“Are you married?”
“Nope.”
“Then what do you know about wedding planning?”
The memories resurfaced in an odd wave of pain that took him by surprise. “Came close once.”
“What happened?”
“Why, Ms. Ballard, we’ve just met,” he said with the effortlessly charming smile that had served him well with women his entire life.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to start spilling all my secrets.
” The instant the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them.
What he’d intended as teasing had clearly embarrassed her.
“I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right. It’s none of my business.”
“Hey, I was only kidding.” He bent his knees to bring himself to her height.
“Seriously, just kidding. The engagement didn’t work out.
” His shrug belied the pain of finding his fiancée riding his best man the day before the wedding.
Two losses for the price of one. “It was just one of those things.”
“Well, it must’ve been a difficult time. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“Shit happens.”
She became intensely interested in her beer bottle. “Yes, it does.” Her world-weary tone told him she knew all too well what he meant.
Dan had an urgent need to know what kind of shit had happened to her. Wanting to keep her talking, he gestured to her beer. “Can I get you another?”
“No, thank you. I’m heading out soon.”
“Not before you tell me what you have against lawyers.”
She looked up at him, startled. “What makes you think I have anything against lawyers?”
“The giveaway might’ve been the oh-so-polite ‘that’s nice’ when I said I am one.”
“I don’t have anything against lawyers. They serve a useful purpose.”
“Is that so?”
“You would know better than me. Are you useful?”
He thought of the dozens of people now walking free thanks to his efforts to overturn unjust convictions. “I’d like to think so.”
“There you have it.”
She was absolutely adorable and absolutely wrong for him, but he was absolutely intrigued, nonetheless. “I’d like to take you to dinner tomorrow night.”
She stared at him as if he’d told her he wanted to take her on a vacation to the moon. “You… I…”
“It’s a simple question: Will you go out with me tomorrow night?”
“I…” He could see that she wanted to. How could he miss the flash of longing that crossed her expressive face? With every passing moment, he became more interested. “No but thank you for asking.”
“There’s nothing I can do to change your mind?”
“No.”
Well, didn’t that beat all? Dan couldn’t remember the last time a woman had said no to him. About anything.
“I have to go now. It was nice to meet you.”
He was crushed. “You, too.”
She scurried off as if someone had told her the house was on fire.
As she said her goodbyes to Mac, Big Mac, Luke and Sydney, Dan once again noticed the fine things those faded Levi’s did to her sumptuous ass.
The second before she went through the door, she glanced into the kitchen to find Dan still watching her intently.
The wistfulness he saw on her expressive face had him standing up straighter.
For a brief instant, he thought about going after her.
But he stopped himself before he could act on the impulse. If she wasn’t interested, neither was he.
“Keep telling yourself that,” he muttered.
“That didn’t take long,” Grant said when he rejoined Dan in the kitchen.
“What?”
“I’ve never seen a woman run away from you so quickly. Are you losing your touch?”
“I wouldn’t say that. However, it does occur to me that it might be far more interesting to write my book here in the spring than over the winter.”
Grant eyed him suspiciously. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing. Yet…”