Candidate: A Love Story (9 page)

Grady looked a little surprised and shrugged back into his dark navy blazer.

“I’m . . . I guess I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to offend you—”

“It’s fine. It was nice. I’m just not sure why I need to be here, so I’m a little out of sorts, that’s all. Thank you. It was nice.”

Grady smiled and tried to defuse the stifling awkwardness. “Yeah, well that’s me . . . nice. Shall we?” He gestured toward the door.

Kate took a deep breath. “Yes, definitely. Sure.” She walked in ahead of him. As they were walking to their seats, Grady spoke into her back. She could smell him. When had she started smelling him?

“Listen,” he said quietly, “if you want to cut out now, you can. I promise to behave. I mean, you didn’t have to come if you didn’t want to. I get that this is above and beyond and you probably have other plans.” When they arrived at their row, Kate turned to face him.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be here. The play is great and your family, friends, they are all lovely.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

They both sat in their seats, shoulder to shoulder. The lights began to dim and Grady turned to look at her. She could feel his breath on her skin, his leg touching hers, and she felt like she was melting into her seat.

“Kate?” Grady put his hand on her knee and then at her look, quickly pulled back. “If you want to be here, then what’s the problem?”

Kate looked at him, his face glowing from the warmth of the stage lights. “I do want to be here. I’m a little thrown by that. This feels . . . it’s nice, but it doesn’t feel like work. I’m used to, comfortable with, work. Does that make sense?”

“It does.”

“Why are you smiling?” Kate whispered.

“I’m not smiling. Eyes front, Galloway, it’s rude to talk during a play. Wouldn’t want to make a scene.”

By the time the play was over, Peter Everoad and Samantha Cathner, Grady’s two best friends, were engaged. He’d proposed during the second act, right up on stage during opening night. It was the stuff of fairytales and Kate had to admit it spoke to the tiny part of her damaged heart that was still a romantic.

She also found it interesting that somewhere inside of Grady Malendar there must be more than fast cars and body shots, because she was certain those were tears she saw glistening on his eyelashes as he hooted during the final applause.

After the play, while it was a shame to cover up her gorgeous shoulders, Kate finally accepted his coat. Grady liked the way she looked in it, all tiny and mismatched. They walked around downtown Pasadena and got ice cream. He went with the Rocky Road, and Kate of course had vanilla. Grady had always found vanilla a boring flavor, but watching Kate lick her ice cream cone and run her tongue along her lips, he realized he’d just never seen it eaten properly. There was nothing boring about watching Kate eat vanilla ice cream.

“That was really stunning. Did you know he was going to do that?”

“Nope. I’m not sure Peter even knew he was going to do it. Those two have been circling each other for years.”

“Are you happy for them? I mean, I’m sure you are, but they are both your best friends. That has to be weird.”

“It was for a while, but once I stopped thinking about myself I was very happy for them. They belong together. Pete’s a complicated guy and Sam gets him, so it’s good. I love them both. I’m glad he finally took the plunge.”

“Do you think they’ll get married in Pasadena? Doesn’t Peter live in New York? I wonder how that’s going to work?” Kate was thinking out loud and continued licking her ice cream. She seemed almost giddy in her memory of the proposal.

When she smiled, her whole face changed and he wondered if she knew. It was a real, genuine smile, and she went all human on him. Grady was mesmerized by all the different sides of Kate Galloway. The dance of her eyes suddenly made it hard to keep jabbing, joking. Jabbing was fun and kept them both where they belonged, but he wanted more dancing eyes, almost needed a closer look. He was certain, just as sure as he had been when he touched the stove burner for the first time at his sister Kara’s third birthday party, that a closer look, while warm, would burn.
This wasn
’
t a date
, he told himself. Even if it felt like the very best, most stimulating date he had ever been on. Even if she smelled like something he’d yet to figure out, but wished he could bottle. Even if when she looked at him he saw possibilities—he wanted more, to
be
more. Even with all of that, this wasn’t a date. She may be in a soft moment right now, but she would snap out of it any minute. She’d realize she was working, he was her project, and she’d remember she didn’t have ice cream with guys like him.

Until that moment though, Grady was going to enjoy this Kate Galloway, as much as she’d let him. “Would you like to see my house?”

Kate almost dropped her ice cream and Grady loved the shock on her face. “I . . . I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“Oh. Yeah, I was just thinking since we are meeting the first set of volunteers there tomorrow that you might want to see it first. Check me out and make sure I don’t have a wall of shot glasses or porn in the bathroom.” Grady smiled and Kate blushed. Damn, the blushing was fun.

“Right. That is tomorrow. Okay, sure. Let’s go clean up your act. Why am I picturing posters and a pinball machine? You don’t have a pinball machine, do you?”

Grady shook his head. “I have a ping pong table, but it’s in the basement. No pinball,” he said as he opened the door to the car that had pulled around to take them home.

“Well that’s a relief.” Kate held her dress and slipped into the dark leather seat. Grady closed the door and as he circled the back of the car, he realized he’d never brought a woman to his house. Ever. Before he could tell himself this was a mistake, he told himself it was business, work.
Yeah right.

Kate walked up the front path of Grady’s home and tried not to gasp. She was normally great at faking interest, or pretending to not be shocked, but everything about this man defied prediction. She couldn’t figure him out and in some sick part of her brain that made him all the more interesting.

The house was white, maybe whitewashed was the term, with wood planks. Kate guessed it was a ranch style. The entryway where they now stood as Grady took out his keys had a giant tree growing up and through the roof as if the tree was more important than the house. Kate gestured to it.

“Did you—”

“Think to cut that down before I built the house?” Grady opened the large all-glass front door and motioned her in. “That probably would have been the easier thing to do, but the tree was here when I bought the land. Didn’t seem right to cut it.” He threw his keys on a concrete table near the door while Kate tried to keep her mouth from falling open.

“I’m sure your contractor appreciated that,” she said, trying to make conversation because every cell of her body was buzzing. Grady smiled and the buzzing got louder.

“Yeah, he’s a good guy, so he understood. Can I get you a drink?”

“Water is fine,” Kate said, walking through the entry and following Grady into the kitchen. It was unlike any kitchen she had ever seen. There were two utility sinks and a huge stovetop all set in some kind of stone. A giant antique-looking butcher’s block sat in the center. Grady took two waters out of one side of the refrigerator, which also had glass doors, and from what Kate could see, food. Real, like
I cook,
food.

“Okay, I’ll give you the ten-cent tour,” Grady said, handing her a water. He loosened his tie, rolled his sleeves up his forearms, and took a sip of his water. “All right, we are obviously in the kitchen. I guess I should tell you that everything in this house is repurposed, which is a fancy way of saying used.”

She smiled.

“Nothing is new?” Kate asked.

“Well, the electrical, plumbing and the appliances are new. But the materials to build the house and most of the furniture is used.”

“Huh,” Kate said looking at the floor.

“The flooring is from an old barn. The windows are each a little different and were recovered from a number of the homes destroyed in New Orleans. There’s a pretty cool one in the bathroom that’s stained glass, but it doesn’t open properly, so there’s the trade-off with old.” Kate smiled again. She was flooded with images of him in this space. Living a life she would have never guessed when she first met him. It was all so strange. How could he possibly be all of this underneath? She caught herself chewing on her thumb and stopped.

“Why used? Just to conserve?”

“I like old things,” he said, leading her into the living room that was a huge open space with a leather sectional couch, and what looked like a large pulley under glass for a coffee table. “I knew I wanted to build my own home, but I didn’t want that new feel. I wanted the energy of an old house, so I decided to try and create that here. It took me two years, but it really turned into a great space.”

They turned toward the back of the house, which was all glass. There were sliding doors that seemed to disappear into the walls as Grady pushed them open. Outside was a patio, a small pool, and what looked like 1960s patio furniture.

The night sky stretched endless, and when Kate turned to look at him she was lost. In him, in what he called his space. All of it was overwhelming and she needed to get out, needed to leave before she did or said something stupid. Her heart was racing. He wasn’t moving, just facing her, looking at her under the stars. She could feel his breath, and if she didn’t turn and run this instant, she would put her hands on his chest, finally look deep into the ocean of his eyes, and lose herself in a kiss she knew would ruin her.

“Grady,” Kate heard her voice say. She was staring at his chest, she could see his breath moving in and out.

“Yes, Kate.” He wasn’t moving. Her eyes moved up his neck and met his gaze. He wasn’t looking at her like Katherine Galloway. Those weren’t work eyes, or sarcastic “Let me mess with you” eyes. These eyes, they were “I want to see what you look like in the morning, tangled in my sheets,” eyes. Kate couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t what someone like Grady wanted, she wasn’t that woman. She had played this game before and been burned.

“I need to leave,” Kate said on a whisper.

“I know.” And he did, it was all over his face. He saw her, saw her fear, and maybe sensed some of his own. She wasn’t ready, would probably never be ready, for what was dancing between the two of them.

In that moment, both turned as if running to save themselves. Kate politely said goodnight, from a distance, and Grady opened the door to the town car for her. When the driver pulled away, Kate closed her eyes tightly and put her head back on the seat. Less than a half hour ago, she was innocently touring Grady’s house, checking it out before tomorrow. Nothing could have been easier. Until less than five minutes ago, when easy had turned into being surrounded by a man she found herself wanting. And not just a “wow, he’s attractive” sort of want. This was a “strip my clothes off, don’t worry about the buttons, and take me right here” kind of want. It washed over her, a feeling she hadn’t felt in a very long time. In fact, Kate was pretty sure she’d never had this particular feeling, and now she was safely locked in a car heading home where she belonged. Thank God!

Chapter Ten

T
he next morning, Kate was up early and outside Nordstrom with Reagan when the store opened at nine o’clock. It was Find Reagan’s Wedding Shoes Saturday. They’d met for breakfast and were now fueled and ready to go. Reagan had some ideas she had pinned on Pinterest and she was showing them to Kate as a lady in a white coat wrestled the door locks open.

“So are you going flats or heels? There’s both here.”

“I know, I couldn’t decide. Pinterest is evil. Anything is possible. Look at these, they’re real glass slippers.” She turned her phone to Kate.

“Ouch.” Kate grimaced.

“Right? But they look incredible.”

“I think it’s probably more important that you have feet for your honeymoon.”

Reagan laughed in agreement as they stepped off the escalator and into the shoe department.