Page 51 of The One You Want

Bradford couldn’t hide the annoyance and dislike on his face now. “I wasn’t aware you would behere.”

Grant’s lips twisted up in a snarl of a smile. “So you thought it’d be a good opportunity to move in on mygirl?”

Holy hell.My girl.He had called me his girl. Even knowing the words were just a farce they still made my belly flutter like it was filled with a flock of butterflies. No, butterflies were too small for this feeling. Sparrows. I had a belly full ofsparrows.

I was so fluttery that it took a moment for the real meaning of his words to sink in. Was Grant seriously going along with the ruse that Libby had set in motion? The same one he’d gotten so pissed at me a few days ago for suggesting wecontinue?

Across the table, Bradford’s jaw clenched as the two men stared each other down. “I was under the impression this was casual,” he muttered, gesturing between the two of us. “Her grandmothersaid—”

“It’s far from casual,” Grant growled out, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me roughly to his side. “Jenny and I aretogether.”

It was stupid to feel swoony. Grant was obviously just annoyed by Bradford’s continued presence and trying to make a point, helping me to scare him off. But God, if it didn’t do something to me, low in my belly, to be pulled against him like that. To be claimed by this big, gruff, beardedman.

Bradford looked like he wanted to argue, his glare never softening as he stared at Grant. Finally, his shoulders still rigid, he turned to face me. “I apologize for overstepping. I do hope we can still befriends.”

“Um.” I was feeling too girlish and silly about Grant’s behavior—not to mention the feel of his large, warm body pressed against mine—to form a coherent answer. “Sure.”

Grant gave a little grunt of displeasure but saidnothing.

“And Jennifer,” Bradford said, holding my gaze meaningfully. “If things don’t work out, or if you ever need anything, please give me acall.”

“Fat chance, asshole,” Grant muttered, earning a final glare from Bradford before he stomped off in his completely out of place shinyshoes.

For a long moment, neither Grant nor I said a word. I knew I needed to pull away, to thank him for what he had done. Hell, I probably should be asking him what on earth he was thinking. He’d made it more than clear he wasn’t interested in playing thisgame.

But it was too hard to pull myself away from him. He just felt too…good.

“Um, sorry,” he eventually said, dropping his hand from my waist and taking a step back. The sudden distance between us hit me like a bucketful of cold water, snapping me back to my senses. This wasn’t a man to swoon over—this was my friend. My platonic work buddy. I needed to get my shittogether.

Grant ran his hand through his hair, looking agitated. “I saw that guy standing here, bothering you, and it pissed me off. He’s still following you around likethat?”

I shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. Whatever fluttering feelings I’d had, they’d been one sided. Grant had merely been trying to scare off a guy he saw as overstepping his bounds. He was being a goodfriend.

When I didn’t elaborate on my shrug, Grant’s face tightened again. “Following you here is too far. I’m going to talk to him,” he growled. “Make sure he leaves you alone from nowon.”

I grabbed his arm before he could go more than a few steps. “Please don’t do that. I’ll only hear a bunch of crap from my grandmother if it gets back to her that we wererude.”

Grant looked like he wanted to break something. “I don’t like this. Atall.”

A wave of fresh embarrassment hit me. Was I really such a mess that I needed my friend to lie—a lie he’d been more than clear he was uncomfortable with—in order to handle this guy I wasn’t interestedin?

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, suddenly very fascinated by the grass below my feet. “I’m going to tell my grandmother the truth about us right away. Then you won’t have to feel like this is your problem anymore.” I swallowed hard. “I should have done that a long timeago.”

He was quiet for such a long moment I finally forced myself to look up, wondering what he was thinking. Wondering just how annoyed he was with me. But I didn’t see annoyance in his eyes. Instead he just looked…concerned.

“Let’s put that on hold for a couple hours,” he finally said, running a hand through his hair again. “We can grab some dinner tonight and talk aboutit.”

“Talk about it?” I blurted out insurprise.

He nodded. “I didn’t really give you a good chance to explain things the otherday—”

“Because I was being an idiot,” I said quickly. “And I’m sosor—”

He held up a hand. “We’ll talk about it at dinner.” He cast a glance around at the dwindling crowds. “What do you think? Another hour orso?”

“Um, yeah,” I murmured, still very confused by what was happening here. “Maybeless.”

He nodded once, not meeting my eye. “I’ll come over and help you get packed up.” Then he was striding away towards his booth of flowers, leaving me to wonder what in the hell he wasthinking.