Page 44 of Better Watch Out
“She’s not asking for alkaline water.”
“Lucky you,” Mac said before joining Milo and Bart.
Andrew threaded his fingers behind his neck and squeezed his eyes shut for a second. Frannie wasn’t asking for alkaline water but if she did—he’d find a way to get it to her.
ChapterSeventeen
Frannie snuggled beneath the luxurious covers for as long as she could before forcing herself out of bed. It wasn’t that hard. Her room still smelled of gingerbread, the Christmas tree twinkled, and she’d slept as soundly as a Who in Whoville on Christmas Eve.
Okay, that’s a little too dorky even for me. She sipped her coffee—this hotel had one of those fancy Nespresso machines and even had holiday flavors—from which she chose peppermint—and smiled to herself.
This was the life.
After a quick call to both her mom and Vivian, Frannie gave them her updated flight information and confirmed she was fine and living like Eloise, the precocious little girl from one of her favorite childhood books. Except she wasn’t at the Plaza and she was not causing mischief.
At least not on her part—she smiled again. She really shouldn’t find the incident yesterday so humorous, especially after what Andrew told her about his past. His instincts to protect her were both appealing and comforting. And not in the way Ryan was protective.
Frannie wrinkled her nose, not wanting to put Ryan and Andrew in the same category. Although … maybe if she did, she’d have a better chance of keeping her mind from wandering to places it shouldn’t go.
Checking the bedside clock, Frannie finished her coffee. She had just enough time to shower, dry her hair, and get dressed for her day with Andrew.
Andrew.
Her brother’s friend.
A man who protected her. Twice.
She’d count the second time even if it wasn’t a real threat.
A man who had a great smile and was going out of his way to make sure she checked off some items on her bucket list, even if that meant taking her to see Santa Claus.
Frannie turned on the shower and smiled once more. Today was going to be fun.
Just before ten,Frannie heard the knock on the door and she forced herself not to squeal like Buddy the Elf, only instead of saying “Santa is here!” she was thinking “Andrew is here!”
She gave herself a final look in the mirror, feeling nervous at her reflection. Today’s outfit required months of searching vintage shops online but it was worth it when she found a rose-colored shirtwaist dress made of corduroy that paired beautifully with her grandmother’s cornflower-blue belted wool coat. She’d even chosen a darker shade of lip gloss to give her lips a pop.
On second thought, she quickly grabbed a tissue from the bathroom and wiped her lips. Maybe this was a little over the top? Andrew knocked on the door again. Her lips were still a shade darker than natural but she was out of time.
Opening the door, she saw Andrew’s eyes widen and then skim over her outfit before meeting her gaze. Her cheeks warmed but was it from embarrassment at her decision to go vintage or from the appreciative look he was giving her?
“Wow.” He gave her another once-over. “You look—”
“Silly?” she supplied. There was still time, she could change.
“Like you stepped out of a movie.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly a compliment. Frannie took a step back. “I wasn’t sure if we’d have time to come back here to change for the train and … just give me a minute and I’ll put something else on.”
She started to let the door close but Andrew’s palm landed on it. “No.” He tipped his chin, looking into her face. “I mean, you don’t need to change. I like what you’re wearing, I think it’s lovely.”
Relief washed through her and she couldn’t help but smile at the awkwardness of his compliment. The last person she remembered using a word likelovelyto compliment a woman was her grandfather to her grandmother but she’d take it.
Frannie spent the next twenty minutes in the Uber running her palms down the dress, making small talk with Andrew that felt stiff and unlike their easy conversation the night before. Was it her? Was it him? Was she reading into this? Was she still thinking about hislovelycompliment? Yes, yes, she certainly was but that was partly Andrew’s fault because in the back seat of this Prius it was impossible not to inhale the woodsy scent of his cologne that had her wondering how he would look in a plaid shirt.
In between small talk about how she slept, if she had breakfast, how Georgia would’ve shut down for weeks if they’d seen this much snow, Frannie was trying to make sense of her feelings.
This felt like one of those teenage crushes she’d heard friends talk about when they liked the friend of an older brother. Unfortunately for Frannie, Ryan maintained high-level nerd status, which left her very few options when it came to crushing on his friends. She was not into late-night chats about castles, or dragons, or who the next tech genius might be.
