The sun was setting when Grace finally pulled into her own driveway. By the time she’d left Hope’s, her friend had showered and changed out of her pajamas, eaten a bowl of pasta, and was back to sounding like her sassy, confident self. Grace still didn’t think there was any way Hope and Lucas wouldn’t end up in some sort of relationship, but that was for them to work out. All she had left to do was find Lucas a house, and now she knew just the one. She took a second to send him the link. A few seconds later, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. She fully expected to see Lucas’s name, but instead it was Matt Dahl’s name that flashed on the screen.
“Hi Matt. Is everything okay with the house? Closing is tomorrow, isn’t it?” With the cash offer, everything had gone really quickly, and as long as there weren’t any last-minute disasters, they were good to go as far as she was concerned.
“Yep. Tomorrow. That’s not what I’m calling about, though.”
“No? What can I do for you?” she asked.
“Actually, I was hoping you might join me for dinner tonight. My sons left town, and I really enjoyed your company that night we went to Crabby’s. So, if you’re free… how about it?”
Grace sat frozen in her SUV, not really sure how to respond. She hadn’t spoken to Owen much since the night their date had gone horribly wrong. Just a few polite hellos at the office. But she still sought him out, looked for his dimple when he was smiling, and had on more than one occasion reached for her phone to text him before thinking better of it. If she did that, she needed to have answers about what she wanted, and she just wasn’t sure.
At least she hadn’t been. But hearing Matt ask her out on a real date, she felt nothing but dread. It was clear to her now that, given the choice, she’d much rather be with Owen. The man might be ten years younger than her, but he was sweet, attentive, and just made her feel good when she was around him. All he’d asked for was a chance, and she’d never given him one. Not really.
“Grace?” Matt prompted.
“I’m here.” Damn. It really was too bad she wasn’t interested in Matt. She should be. Or at least she used to think she should be. He was her age, handsome, successful. But there was no spark. And she deserved a spark, dammit. “Thanks for the offer, Matt, but I think there’s somewhere else I need to be.”
“You’re seeing someone?” he asked.
“Not officially,” she hedged. Not at all, really. But she was hoping to change that. “But there is someone else.”
“I understand. It was worth a shot. Have a nice night, Grace.”
“Thanks. You too.”
Knowing what she needed to do, Grace jumped out of her SUV and ran into her house. Fifteen minutes later, she’d fixed her makeup, changed her clothes, and put on her fancy blue witch stilettos. Owen had mentioned them once, hadn’t he? Either way, they made her feel sexy, and at that moment she needed that confidence.
Grace climbed back into her vehicle and drove the twelve blocks to Owen’s house. She hadn’t been inside before, but she had seen the picture of it up in the office as a recent sale and recognized it immediately. It was a beautiful two story, set two streets off the ocean with gorgeous views of the water. She remembered seeing it on the market when she purchased her house, but it had been out of budget.
She parked in front and was relieved to see his BMW in the driveway. Now she just had to pray that he was home alone. If he had a date, she’d be mortified. Pushing those negative thoughts out of her head, she made her way up to the porch and rang the doorbell. It took a few moments, but suddenly, there he was in his dark jeans and a tight T-shirt that stretched across his well-defined chest.
Holy hell. He was sexy as hell when he was dressed down. Grace licked her lips before finally raising her gaze to meet his eyes.
“Good evening,” he said with a knowing chuckle.
“Dammit,” she muttered and laughed at herself. “You look far too good in that T-shirt.”
“Should I take it off?” he teased as he opened the door wider and waved her in.