Page 16 of Stick Around
She peeked up through her eyelashes. “Thank you. You look very handsome yourself. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you wearing a suit.”
He stretched his back. “Probably not. It’s uncomfortable as fuck.” Grace giggled in response and he lit up, his smile stretching wide.
“You did a great job of the eulogy. It must have been difficult.” She shifted her weight to the leg closest to him.
“Thanks. Yeah, I had no idea what to say, but I couldn’t say no to the girls. I was so relieved when people laughed.” He pointed to her glass. “Can I get you a refill? What are you drinking?”
“It’s just Sprite.”
“One Sprite, coming right up.”
Billy returned from the bar with a Sprite and a beer and sat down beside Grace at the table she’d settled at.
“Thanks,” she said.
Billy cleared his throat. “Hey, I wanted to explain why I hadn’t called or texted you.”
Grace waved him off. “No explanation needed. It’s fine. It’s no big deal.”
He shook his head. “It is a big deal. And I did want to talk to you. I mean, I do. But I didn’t know how to get your number without making it weird. I didn’t think I should ask Noah for it.”
“Oh.”
“But I would love to get your number now. So I can call you, or text you?” Grace bit back a grin and Billy’s cock twitched in his suit pants.
“Give me your phone,” she said.
He pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and handed it to her. He watched her fingers as they moved across the screen, entering her number into his phone’s contact list. When she finished, she held it out to him and he couldn’t help but graze the skin of the inside of her wrist and linger over her fingers as he took it back from her.
Her eyes flicked up to his, and he saw it. The same wildness that had broken free from her the night they spent together in his truck. It was right there. Blazing beneath the surface.
I fucking knew it.
8
Grace
The hemlineof Grace’s black dress fluttered in the cool midnight breeze as she stood chatting to Ashley Roberts in the parking lot. She nodded along to Ashley’s story, but locked her eyes on Billy, who stood a few feet behind, talking to Noah and a few other guys from their old hockey team. The service had ended, but a few small groups were still lingering in the parking lot, finishing beers and trading stories.
“Don’t you think?”
Grace’s attention snapped back to Ashley.
“Umm, yeah. For sure.” She hoped the noncommittal answer would match whatever Ashley had asked her.
“Thank you. I knew you’d agree with me. I was trying to explain this to Max too, but she…”
Grace willed her eyes to lock on Ashley as she continued her story, but it was no use. Her irises flickered back to Billy in seconds. Her heart pounded to find his eyes on her as well. She panicked and flashed back to Ashley.
“Mmm-hmm.” She nodded as Ashley chattered.
She flashed back to Billy. He was staring right at her, making no attempt to hide it or look away. He grinned and she felt her insides quake. She tried to bite it back, but a smirk danced on her lips, and Billy’s smile grew in response.
Despite the cool air on her skin, heat grew in her cheeks. She focused back on Ashley, straining to focus on her words, but her ears were pounding with the sound of her own blood rushing through her veins.
When she shifted her eyes to Billy again, his face had changed. His eyes had grown a little darker and something wicked danced behind his grin. He arched an eyebrow and nodded his head toward the street, in a silent invitation to sneak away.
Grace’s breath hitched and her core tightened. Before she had time to talk herself out of it, she’d replied with an almost imperceptible nod.
