After the meal, Shelley cleaned up the dishes and insisted everyone else chill while she handled the chore. Darynda lowered the quilting frame from the porch ceiling with the pulley system and unfurled the quilt. While Madison went inside for the sewing box, Gia took Mike’s hand and walked him home.
“Thanks so much for helping with the demo,” she said.
“I’ll be back tomorrow to lay tile.”
“I’m sitting with Grammy from seven until noon, according to Madison’s schedule.” Gia angled just a little closer to him.
“Madison says ‘jump’ and you guys still say ‘how high.’ It’s nice to see some things never change.”
Playfully, Gia nudged him in the ribs. “Downside to living right next door? You know too much about us.”
They stopped at the short stone wall that divided the two properties.
“Gia.” His stare was a bit disconcerting.
“Yes?”
“How come it is that we’ve never considered taking our friendship to another level before?”
She’d asked herself that question a time or two over the years. Usually when they were hanging out on his couch watching football with pizza and beer and everyone else had left. Once, they’d even almost kissed. It was during a New Year’s Eve party at the Moonglow Inn as the clock had struck midnight.
Mike was standing right next to her as everyone was shouting “Happy New Year!” and kissing people for good luck.
Mike had been twenty-five to Gia’s eighteen, and for the first time she’d seen him as something more than their handsome neighbor.
He’d looked down at her, grinned, and lowered his head . . . and . . .
She’d panicked, grabbed a champagne flute from the tray Grammy was passing out to the guests, shoved the glass into his hand, took one for herself, clinked her glass to his, and hollered, “Cheers!”
Mike had the same look on his face now that he’d had back then, hungry, and hopeful.
Did he have feelings for her? Feelings that went beyond friendship? Or was it just the craziness of pretending to be engaged?
Her heart thumped at the notion. When she was fourteen, she’d had a terminal crush on him, but he’d been twenty-one, and much too old for her back then. Now, however, seven years did not seem like that big of an age gap.
What was going on here?
This was a man she’d known most of her life. Their families had spent holidays together. He’d taught her how to fly kites, and he’d given Gia her first taste of the pastime she’d turned into a career. He’d even carved the headboard of the bed she slept in at home with his own two hands.
That was some pretty intimate stuff right there. Was he feeling something shift between them as well? Or was she imagining things?
She stared at Mike’s lips and he stared at hers, and a hard shiver shot straight down her spine. “I didn’t want to mess up our friendship.”
“Me either.”
“Are we messing it up now?” She searched his face for answers.
“Not from where I’m standing.”
Her knees quivered. “If this—”
“Gia,” he whispered.
“How come you were never interested in Madison or Shelley?” she asked. “I mean, it would make sense if you were. They’re closer to your age.”
“I dunno. Madison was always so ambitious and focused. Shelley so carefree and unfocused. You, on the other hand . . .” He reached to brush a stray strand of hair from her face. “Are the perfect balance.”
“Like the wobble boards you made for us when we were kids?”
“Exactly like that.” He smiled. “Madison would stand on hers so rigid, afraid to move in case she got thrown off. Shelley rode the thing like it was a bronco, wildly overcorrecting and ending up getting pitched off every time. But you, Short Stack, you could gently wobble back and forth for hours without falling off.”
“It’s my low center of gravity,” she said. “Madison and Shelley were just too tall.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. I say what kept you balanced was your flexibility. Neither too stiff, nor too loose.”
“I better get back,” she said. “We’ve got to get that quilt finished.”
“Should we kiss?” he asked.
Kiss Mike? “What?”
“In case they’re watching, I mean. We need to make this engagement look like the real deal.”
“Oh, for sure.” She nodded, eager for any chance to kiss him. “Let’s put on a convincing show.”
With a throaty groan, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close against him.
She raised her chin and he covered her mouth with his.