Chaos & the Geek (Grace Grayson Security #1) - Elizabeth Stevens Page 0,63

boys, and less interested in behaving or dressing with the express purpose of getting a guy’s attention.

And Farrah hadn’t been much better. She’d always been more Dannie’s friend than mine anyway, so I hadn’t felt her absence at all. In fact, I’d actually enjoyed not having to put up with the drivel that came out of their mouths when they were together.

I just counted myself lucky that I’d been so angry with Dannie that I hadn’t had time to miss her until I realised she’d always been a bit shit. As I walked into Petra’s shop, there was a little bit of an ache in my heart where Dannie used to be. But I’d spent years in therapy learning to love myself again, so I knew when I was better off in the long run.

“If it isn’t Amber Grace!” Petra trilled when she saw me.

She was measuring up an older woman in a stunning gold dress I was willing to bet cost way more than even the one Kit had bought me.

I gave Petra a small wave and smiled at the woman.

“Just give me a sec to finish up and I’ll be with you,” Petra said, her tone all light and airy – much more so that it had been the week before.

Patrick had a similar tone. He called it his ‘posh people’ voice. It always made me smile when he used it, and Petra’s was no different.

I sat in the chair Kit had occupied the other day and tried not to think too hard about him. Not like that anyway.

I tried to focus on the other things. The things like how he’d been with me during my panic attack. How he’d been with Dannie and Brent both times we’d seen them. How we’d actually been able to talk and laugh with each other this last week.

But no matter how hard I tried, I kept coming back to us in bed. It seemed inevitable and I couldn’t stop it. It was like I was incapable of thinking about him one way without the other intruding.

So it was, as I waited for Petra, that I started to wonder if my pesky little awkward crush on Christopher Grayson had turned into something far more dangerous. I started to wonder whether maybe I was falling in actual, real love with my brother’s best friend.

I wanted to say no. I wanted to say it was ridiculous. After all, everything I thought about him was strictly physical. He was hot. That was all. And my small teenaged brain, back when I naively hadn’t really understood much in the way of reality, had liked swooning over his dark and dangerous vibe from a respectable distance. Right?

Wrong.

Apparently.

Because I might not have known much about actual, real love, but I had this annoying feeling that my feelings for Kit were becoming just that. That they at least had the potential to become just that. But I wasn’t going to let them get that far. I was a strong, independent woman and I could totally make my heart not irrevocably fall for him.

“Something funny?” Petra asked and I looked up to see we were alone in the shop.

I also noticed I was wearing a smile that suggested I already knew I couldn’t make my heart do jack shit. I sighed.

“Kind of. It’s nothing.”

“Fair enough.” She dropped into the chair besides me. “What can I help you with? Fundraiser? Ball? Cocktail party at the Governor’s house? Please don’t tell me the team are taking you out again,” she pleaded.

I pulled my head out of my heart and smiled at her. “Not that I know of, no.”

“Thank fuck. I’m a jealous creature by nature and I’m just not sure I could be friends with you after that,” she teased.

“On the topic of friends… That is actually why I’m here.”

“Oh. I’m listening.” She leant towards me.

“I was wondering if you wanted to get that drink?”

Her cheeky grin reached her eyes. “Um. Yes, please.”

“I can repay you in a million Chaos and Hawk stories,” I promised.

She waved my words away with a scoff. “Bah. I can take or leave those–”

“Really?” I asked.

“Pfft,” she laughed. “Okay. Maybe not. But a drink sounds amazing though. I want to get to know Little Grace.” She took my arm in her hands a shook me gently in excitement.

I could understand that. I was also excited. “Excellent.”

“When were you thinking?”

“I’m not fussy. When are you free?”

Petra thought about it for a moment. “How about tomorrow night? I can