Page 54 of The One You Want

Grant eyed me curiously. “I still don’t get how you don’t see all those things inyourself.”

I shook my head but he kept going before I could argue. “I mean it, Jenny. You should see yourself at the market. The way you talk about your pieces. The way you interact with customers. You’re an excellent sales person because you know what you’re talking about and you’re confident. You’re also charming as hell—look at the way you dealt with the crazy chickenguy—”

“Jerry’s not crazy,” I cut in, and Grant rolled hiseyes.

“You handled that perfectly. You were sweet and kind and you convinced him not to get the necklace for hischicken—” He stopped to make an exasperated face—“but you still made the sale. You’re good at what you do,Jenny.”

I squared my shoulders, letting those words fill me with confidence. “Well, I’m hoping I can figure out something else I feel confident about. And that’s where the self-improvement thing comes in.” I grinned. “Even if I think it’s probably a bunch ofcrap.”

He laughed but his expression soon sharpened while he studied me until I finally shifted in my seat, uncomfortable with the scrutiny. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing,” he finally murmured. “To let your grandmother think we’retogether.”

I sat up in my seat, shocked. “What?”

He shrugged. “If you think it would keep her off your back while you looked for a job, it might be worth it.” His face darkened. “And I’d be thrilled to be able to scare that douche away from you. I really don’t like thatguy.”

“I can handleBradford—”

“I don’t like him,” he practicallygrowled.

I stared at him for a long moment, trying to take in the offer. “It was a stupid idea, Grant,” I finally muttered. “I mean, it wouldn’t just be my grandmother we’d have to convince. This is a tiny island and like you said—everyone talks. If it’s obvious we aren’t really dating, someone will definitely tellher.”

He shrugged. “So we make it obvious we’redating.”

Of course Owen chose to show up at that exact moment, our flatbread pizzas on his tray. I could tell he heard Grant’s comment by the way his eyes flashed in interest. Great. Cora was going to hear about this before I even made it home, and once Cora knew, everyone else would bymorning.

Owen handed us our plates, checking that we didn’t need more beer, before darting back to the counter, no doubt to text his girlfriend that he just heard Jenny Hillman and the new guy talking aboutdating.

Grant gave me an apologetic smile as he cut into his flatbread. “See? Everyone’s going to hear we’re dating by the end of the weekend. Not hard atall.”

“But we’d have to keep it up,” Ipressed.

“So? What, we’d have to hang out in public for a while? Big deal. We do thatanyhow.”

“But we’d have to be, you know, affectionate,” I blurted. Immediately, a flush came to my cheeks and I stuffed a too-hot bite of pizza into my mouth to keep myself from saying anything elseembarrassing.

Grant was smirking on the other side of the table. “You scared of being affectionate with me?” He waggled his eyebrows. “I won’tbite.”

For the second time that day I choked on my food and Grant laughed, sliding my beer closer so I could take a longsip.

“Seriously, Jenny,” he said, once I was mostly done coughing. “We hang out anyhow, right? So maybe we go out together more often. And hold hands sometimes.” He gave me a roguish grin. “I could even be persuaded to kiss your cheekoccassionally.”

I barked out a laugh. “How will you ever manage theindignity?”

His grin deepened. “I think we could pull it off. So long as you don’t expect us to make out inpublic.”

There was a teasing note in his voice but all of a sudden, something seemed to sharpen in his eyes and I found myself unable to drop his gaze. An image took shape in my mind, the two of us doing exactly what he just said, our lips locked together, Grant’s big hands pulling me againsthim—

No. Stop thinking like that. That’s not what this is. He’s just trying to help you out. Like afriend.

“I think I can manage that,” I murmured, knowing my cheeks were red. Then my words registered and I shook my head, trying to snap out ofit.

“Grant, you don’t have to do this. Seriously. I can hold my grandmother off for a fewweeks.”

“But then you’d be stressed,” he pointed out. “And that wouldn’t make it any easier to figure out what you want to do with your life.” I opened my mouth to argue but he held up a hand. “And I really hate the idea of that guy bugging you so much. I have a bad feeling abouthim.”

“He’s just a suck-up who wants to get on my grandpa’s goodside.”

“And he’s willing to do that at the expense of a girl he doesn’t even know,” Grant shot back. “You’re obviously uncomfortable around him. You’ve given him no encouragement. But he keeps coming back.” His face darkened. “I don’t like him,Jenny.”