Smitten Book Club (33 page)

“And Venus aligns with Mercury under a crescent moon?”

She made a face. “Fine. It’s not about the books. It’s about girl time. Friendships. Community. Happy?”

“Nothing wrong with any of that.” He shoved the book toward her. “Take it. I’m in no hurry to get it back. Shoot, keep the thing if you want. And here’s a bonus: I highlighted the good stuff.”

“Better than SparkNotes!”

“So much better.” He stared into her eyes, smiling.

Her breath seemed to have stuck in her lungs. The way he looked at her . . . like he could see down to the core. And liked what he saw. Her mouth was suddenly dry. Her heart went to war with her ribs. She should say something, but her mind was blank.

“Listen, Molly,” Gage said, his gaze flickering down to his hands before capturing her eyes again.

Something scary twisted in Molly’s stomach at the look in his eyes, at the hopeful tone in his voice. Oh no. She was not ready for this.

Not.

Ready.

“I hope I’m not out of line. But I was wondering if—”

Molly grabbed her phone from her pocket and whipped it out. “Incoming call. I have to take this.” She put the phone to her ear and said hello, her heart racing.

Gage’s face fell. He closed his mouth, looked away.

Molly turned around, hating the look on his face as she carried on a pretend conversation. Why wouldn’t he just leave? She couldn’t do this. Not now. Not yet. She wasn’t ready. Needed time to think.

The strains of her favorite song, “Smitten,” filled the air. Molly paused mid-sentence. Her phone was ringing.

No
.

She closed her eyes, not daring to turn around, and hit the kill button on her phone.

There was nothing but silence behind her. A flood of heat washed up her neck, into her cheeks. Her ears felt like fiery flames, and she knew they were turning as red as her T-shirt. She’d worn her hair in a ponytail today, naturally.

The door flew open and April barged in, fresh from her lunch break, wielding her suitcase-sized purse. “Oh my gosh, Molly, you have got to go to Piece of Cake and try the cupcake of the day! Chocolate and raspberry have never tasted so good. Hi, Gage.”

Gage straightened, rubbed the back of his neck. “April.”

“I would’ve brought you one, but I didn’t know it was
so good—I ate it on the way back. Do I have chocolate on my face?”

“You’re fine.”

“I should be going.” Gage’s smile didn’t reach his eyes as they flickered to hers. He tapped the counter twice and stepped away.

Part of Molly wanted to reach out and grab him. Pull him into her office and apologize. Make him finish his question. The other half wanted to shove him out the door, the sooner, the better.

He lifted his hand. “See you later, Molly. April.”

Seconds later she was watching him slip out the door and wondering if she’d just let opportunity slip out with him. There was no way around it. Gage stirred feelings she hadn’t felt in a long time. Good ones. Was it really okay, as Lia had said, to feel this way?

She’d loved Curtis. A part of her always would; he was her son’s father. Was there room in her heart for another man? Was it too soon? Had she sufficiently worked through her anger toward Curtis? She didn’t want to bring baggage into a new relationship.

Relationship?
She snorted.
You’re getting way ahead of yourself, Molly
.

Beyond one wink and, possibly, a near date invitation, what did she really have? A nice guy who went out of his way to help a friend.

“Any luck with the stairwell?” Heather asked.

Molly shook her head as she sank into the cushy leather
sofa. It was a busy Friday night at Mountain Perks. She’d only intended to grab a to-go cup before picking Noah up from his friend’s house, but Heather was there, having arrived early for her date with Paul.

“I searched every square inch. Maybe we’re never going to find it. Maybe someone else already did, or maybe Pearl never had it to begin with.”

“I don’t believe that. It’s in that house somewhere.”

Maybe. Or maybe they were on a fool’s errand. Maybe it was hidden so well they’d never find it in time. Maybe she’d lose her house, and someone else a hundred years from now would become rich off Pearl Chambers’s find.

Heather was talking about some problem at work, but Molly couldn’t focus. Her thoughts turned to Gage and their last meeting. They were doing that a lot lately.

“He almost asked me out,” Molly blurted. Talk about random.

Heather’s coffee mug stopped halfway to her mouth. She caught on quick, her blue eyes sparkling. “Gage? When?”

“Wednesday.”

“And you’re just telling me? Come on, spill. Did he call? What did he say?”

“He stopped by the shop. We were just talking about this and that. He brought a business book for me to read and then—”

Heather gave a wry laugh at the mention of the book.

Molly shot her a look. “Anyway. He kind of leaned into the counter, and he was looking at me like—I don’t know. Like he was interested or something, and he said, ‘I hope I’m not out of line, but I was wondering if—’ ”

Molly’s phone rang. She frowned, checking the number.
“Déjà vu,” she muttered. Upon seeing a toll-free number, she silenced the phone.

“So . . . go on,” Heather said.

This was where it got embarrassing. “When he was in the middle of asking, I panicked. I . . . kind of pretended to get a call.”

“Oh, Molly.”

“It gets worse.” She closed her eyes at the memory. “A call came in right in the middle.”

Heather made a face. “Pearl Chambers would not approve.”

No kidding. “Then April walked in, thank God, diverting his attention, and he left. But he was going to ask me out. At least I think he was. What am I going to do if he does it again?”

“Do you really think he will after
that
?”

Molly palmed her forehead. “I know, I know. I feel like such a jerk.”

Heather shook her head. “Only you, Molly. Maybe he will ask again. Do you want him to? Do you want to say yes?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Molly ran her hand over her face. “When did I become so indecisive?”

Heather put her hand over Molly’s. “You’ve been through a rough year. I’d be worried if you weren’t a little uncertain. But if you’re starting to have feelings, maybe it’s time to explore them. Are you attracted to Gage? What am I saying? Of course you are.”

“It just feels weird, another man. I was with Curtis for nine years.”

“That’s a long time.”

“I do want to fall in love again. I loved being married.
Being a family. I just don’t know if I’m ready yet to start thinking about all that.”

“I guess you’re the only one who can answer that. I’ve been praying for you. When the time comes, you’ll make the right decision.”

“If the time comes. Maybe it was just an impulsive thing on his part. Maybe he’s reconsidered and decided it’s a bad idea. Or maybe I just completely misjudged the moment.”

Heather squeezed her hand. “Or maybe you’re trying to talk yourself out of something that might feel a little scary.”

Molly looked into Heather’s warm eyes, then made a face. “I hate it when you’re right.”

There are few pursuits the male youth enjoys so much as a hearty challenge.

P
EARL
C
HAMBERS
,
The Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship

CHAPTER EIGHT

G
age dribbled the ball out and turned to face Griffen. His friend had lucked out with a basketball pad and an old two-story just outside of town. Not to mention a beautiful best-friend-turned-wife. Some guys had all the luck.

“Where’s your other half?” Gage advanced toward the basket, winded. They’d been at this almost an hour, and the afternoon sun was getting brutal.

“Girl time.” Griffen blocked the shot, but Gage got the ball back. “Something about shopping and chocolate.”

Gage wondered what Molly was doing. He hadn’t seen her since he’d taken her the book. Okay, the book had been an excuse to see her, to ask her out. Yeah, that had gone really well.

“You gonna shoot or something?” Griffen asked a minute later.

Gage spun, put up the ball, and missed.

Griffen rebounded, checking the ball, then he dribbled back in. Gage wiped his face with the tail of his shirt. His mind
went back to that day in her shop, to his unfinished invitation. He couldn’t believe she’d faked a phone call.

“What’s with the sour face?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? ’Cause your head’s not in the game, that’s for sure.”

It was true. He could usually hold his own with Griffen, but today he was losing by at least six points. Maybe more. He’d lost count.

He defended a couple of Griffen’s moves, then dodged the wrong way.

Griffen put up a shot, scoring two more. “At least make it a game, man.” He gave a sideways smile as he tossed the ball to Gage.

They played a few more minutes, Gage making a concerted effort to refocus. After a nice series of moves, he put the ball up for what should’ve been an easy layup. It hit the backboard, sprang off the rim, and dropped into Gage’s hands.

Griffen shot him a look. “So what’s her name?”

“Whose name?”

“The girl who’s got you so hot and bothered.”

“I’m not hot and bothered.”

Griffen smirked.

Gage pitched the ball at his friend.

Griffen caught it at the chest. “It’s that Molly chick, isn’t it?”

“You gonna check the ball or what?”

Griffen dribbled out, then turned. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Gage crouched low as Griffen neared. “Yeah, well, doesn’t matter. She’s not interested.”

He blocked a shot, but Griffen got it back easily.

“How do you know?”

“Trying to distract me?”

“I’m up by ten, dude. I could be comatose and beat you today.” He put up a shot, and the ball swished through the net, the winning point. Gage wasn’t even sorry that he’d lost.

“You should ask her out.”

Gage gave a wry laugh, retrieving the ball. “You really want to go there?” He wiped his face with his shirt. “Fine. I started to ask her out the other day, but we got interrupted.”

Griffen shrugged. “So what’s the problem? Call her up and finish the deed. Wrap it up. Get ’er done.”

Gage shook his head, cradled the ball against his side. “She’d only say no.”

“And you know this how?”

“When I was asking her out, she faked an incoming phone call.” And the look in her eyes just before . . . He could still see them now. Man. The memory slayed him.

Griffen’s head tilted back, his face going serious. “Ouch.”

Gage dribbled the ball. The patting sound it made on the concrete was loud in the sudden quiet.

Griffen grabbed his water bottle from the sidelines and tossed Gage’s to him.

“Her husband died last year,” Gage said.

“Yeah, I remember. The fire fighter. Reese watched her kid a couple of times. When was it, late last winter? Early spring? Maybe she’s not ready yet.”

Or maybe she just wasn’t interested. Maybe he wasn’t her type. Even though he shared the same interests as her late
husband, personality-wise they couldn’t be more different. Curtis had kept to himself, Gage enjoyed company. Curtis had been serious, Gage liked to mess around. Curtis had held her heart, Gage couldn’t even get a date.

“Maybe she was just nervous or something.”

The look in her eyes flashed into his mind again, making his stomach ache. “I don’t think so.”

Griffen sat on the back porch stoop, and Gage sank down beside him. He took a long swallow of water.

“Reese and I were friends a long time before we finally got together.”

“I know.” Griffen thought Reese had been in love with Sawyer Smitten, her old flame. Turned out her feelings for Griffen had changed, but she was too afraid to admit it. It had been a long, winding road to happily-ever-after.

“My point is,” Griffen said, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

“Meaning . . .”

Griffen finished his water and capped the empty bottle. “Meaning, you don’t have to date to spend time together. If you’re that interested, figure it out.”