Page 41 of Something Spontaneous

“Um. Do you two need a minute?” Taylor groans from behind the counter, wagging a finger between Grace and me.

I nod. “Yeah. Hey, can you tell Maribel we’re here? I told her I’d stop in again soon.”

Taylor rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Nice to see you too, Taylor,” she mutters under her breath like the teenager she is. She heads back to the kitchen, where I can hear Maribel toiling away, leaving me and Grace alone.

I sigh, knowing she’s not going to give this up. “Look, I get if you’re still hurt that I basically kept a secret life from you, even when our worlds were crashing together. I know I need to make up for⁠—”

She waves dismissively. “No, I barely care about that anymore.”

“Wait… then what do you want to talk about?”

“Sly,” she says, her voice trailing up deviously. “I saw you two.”

Shit. Maybe I’m not as lucky as I thought I was, and she did catch me eye-banging Sly outside the garage. That’s easy enough for me to play off.

“What about him? I was only looking,” I say, trying not to sound too defensive. I turn my hands up in question. “I mean come on, he’s hot. Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you get to tell me I can’t watch the eye candy washing his car, okay?”

“Interesting.” She taps a finger to her chin. “But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Then what about him?” I groan, wishing she’d get to the point. Now, I don’t know what she saw that would make her think to ask me about Sly in the first place.

She points a finger at me. “He’s your ex. The one you mentioned, isn’t he?”

Maybe I don’t want her to get to the point, but I see the conviction in her eyes. Now that she knows the truth about me, and Sterling Springs, she’s going to start piecing things together the longer she’s here.

“What makes you think that?” I challenge, resting my hand on my hip.

“Last night at The Hatch.” She grins mischievously. “I saw you two kissing.” She holds her hands up and extends each pointer finger, pushing the tips together. “Like really going at it.”

I glare at her, but I’m not embarrassed. The whole point of that kiss was for people to see.

“That was nothing.” I tell her the same lie I’ve been telling myself. “I was just doing that to get Meredith off his case. That’s why I climbed into his lap for the whole bar to see.”

She tilts her head, and her jaw drops. “Wait… You kissed at the table? I was talking about the kiss in the back hallway.”

I look down, feeling the heat rush to my cheeks. I know they must be a shade of red as bright as my hair. That kiss… that one still meant nothing, but it certainly felt different.

She continues, drawing my eyes back to her. “I was coming inside but saw you two, um, ‘saddled up’,” she says, making air quotes. “So, I stopped and blocked the door so Sisi wouldn’t walk in on you two.”

“How generous of you,” I deadpan. “Fine, if I tell you the truth, will you hurry up and forgive me for keeping all of this a secret?”

“I think I can agree to those terms.”

“Okay.” I sigh in defeat. “Yes, he is my ex. How did you know though? And I told you, that kiss—well kisses—were nothing.”

She giggles. “I’ve known you for a decade, and while you’ve had some flings, I’ve never seen you look at someone like that—ever. I knew that was something different. I just didn’t get a chance to talk to you last night without Sisi or Cat around.”

I palm my face and look back at her. “Well, thank you. But can we please not make a big deal about this?”

She hums and rocks her head side to side in contemplation. “Maybe, but I have so many questions.”

“If I remind you that I saved your life in an avalanche, will you hold off on those questions?” I say, arching a brow.

She folds her arms and pouts. “You know that’s cheating, but fine. I will hold off… for now.”

“Are you two finally done blabbing about your hot ex?” Maribel’s voice booms from the kitchen. “Because I’d really like to come out there. There are only so many good car washing weather days left in the year.”

Grace and I both turn to the doorway to find Maribel peering around the corner and Taylor peeking through the serving window.