“I’ll let the two of you look over things and I’ll be back with your mineral water,” he said, then quietly walked away.
“You into seaweed?” he asked me with an amused smirk.
I laughed and shook my head. He must have been thinking the same thing. I had eaten some strange things while living in L.A., but seaweed was not one of them.
“I think I’m going with the chicken pecan salad on a croissant,” I told him.
“I may have moved to pecan country but I still don’t eat them,” he replied.
I closed my menu and glanced up just as Grant walked into the dining room. His eyes were focused on someone else and it gave me a moment to prepare myself. Would he say anything to me? Or had I made him mad? Did he decide my drama wasn’t worth it? I watched him as he walked over and sat down beside Rush at Woods Kerrington’s booth. Woods said something to Grant and he forced a smile that didn’t meet his eyes.
I had started to look away when his head turned and his eyes met mine. We both froze. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but why did it feel as if I was? His eyes flickered to Adam, then back to me, and a hard edge transformed his face. He wasn’t happy. Well, crap.
I quickly looked back at my menu and counted to ten. My heart was beating fast, which was ridiculous. I shouldn’t be nervous. We hadn’t left things in a good place this morning, thanks to me. So me sitting here, having lunch with Adam, was no big deal. Right?
The chair beside me pulled out and I swung my gaze up to see Grant sitting down.
Okay . . . wrong. This was apparently a big deal.
He didn’t look happy but the tight smile on his face was trying to say otherwise.
“Hello, Adam,” Grant said before turning his intense blue gaze to me. “You could have asked me to lunch,” he said simply.
Technically, I hadn’t asked Adam. He’d asked me.
“You’re here with friends,” I told him, hating how my voice gave away how nervous I was.
Grant leaned closer to me. “I would drop anyone and anything the moment you called.”
There were those words again. The ones that managed to slide through you and turn you into a bowl of jelly.
“I, uh, Adam asked me to lunch. I was hungry,” I said, unable to look at Adam. I had no idea what he was thinking and I didn’t want to know right now.
“Looks like we have three guests now,” Jimmy said as he set the water in front of me.
“Mr. Carter, would you like me to get you something to drink?” Jimmy asked.
Grant didn’t take his eyes off me. “A sweet tea, please, Jimmy,” he replied.
“Yes, sir,” Jimmy said, and left without taking our orders.
“I guess I need to make sure I ask before Adam next time,” Grant said, then leaned back in his seat and put his arm around the back of mine in a possessive move. “So, Adam, how’s tennis going? Like the new job?” he asked in a polite tone.
Adam looked nervous. He glanced back at Woods’s table then back at Grant. I wondered if they were watching us. “Yes, sir. I’m enjoying it. The town is great.”
Grant touched my bare shoulder and he began to trace circles around it in a gentle caress. Adam noticed. This was becoming more and more awkward.
Grant
Icould feel Woods and Rush staring at me. They had tried to stop me. Not that I listened. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t have done the same thing. Sitting here eating and letting Adam the tennis pro hit on my girl. Hell, no. That was not happening.
Harlow was stiff as a board. I hated that she was so uncomfortable, but she shouldn’t have come to lunch with Adam, the f**king tennis dude. This morning had f**ked up my day. If Harlow thought we were going to bed tonight with this shit unsettled, she was wrong.
I listened as Harlow ordered a sandwich and ignored Jimmy’s amused grin. He knew what was going on. He probably talked to Rush and Woods about it when he was filling their drinks.
“I want to show you something when lunch is over. Do you already have plans?” I wanted to add that she needed to take a break, but I didn’t want to sound like an ass.
Harlow glanced at me. “No, I don’t have anything to do.”