Worth the Risk_ A Contemporary - Megan Hart Page 0,68

mows my lawn. It sounds like a cliché, very Mrs. Robinson, but hell-o! That boy is to-die-for cute, very flirtatious. If I didn’t have Leo, I’d seriously consider taking him up on what he’s been offering me all summer.”

“Get out of here.” Arden looked more closely at her friend. “You’re not kidding?”

Heather shook her head. “No way. His name is Jordan, and he is Fine with a capital F.”

“Doesn’t do Arden any good,” Lida pointed out. “Henry, it’s Maeve’s turn next. Don’t you give me that look!”

“What kind of guy are you interested in?” Heather got up to referee the scuffle that had broken out between the girls and the boys, giving Arden time to imagine dark hair, blue eyes and attitude.

What she said, instead, was, “I don’t know, I guess.”

Heather grabbed some more fries. “I’m asking because there’s a nice guy who works in Leo’s office. His fiancée left him at the altar about three months ago.”

“Sounds like a winner.” Lida chuckled. “Why’d she leave him? What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing that I know of,” Heather said. “He seems like a nice guy. I think she ran off with an old boyfriend or something.”

“Ugh.” Arden watched Maeve and Aislin take their turns. “I don’t know, Heather. A blind date? That’s like something from a bad romcom.”

“You don’t have to marry him. I just thought if you wanted to get your feet wet in the dating pool, so to speak, you might be interested. His name is Greg. He’s about thirty.”

“Too young!”

“Oh Arden, that’s only a little younger than you.” Lida scoffed. “Is he cute?”

“Sandy blond, blue eyes, nice build.” Heather shrugged. “He’s put on a bit of weight, but he’s not fat or anything. Decent sense of humor.”

“How do you even know he’s interested in going out?” Arden demanded.

“Because he’s always moaning about how there aren’t any decent women in the world who aren’t married already.”

“Ah.” Arden sipped her soda and gave Lida a look. “Oh, fine. Yes, I’ll go. What the hell, right?”

The women laughed. Heather gave Arden an around-the-shoulder squeeze. Lida waggled her eyebrows.

“Try not to break his heart,” she said.

“So...” Arden trailed off, looking at the menu while she tried to think of something to say. Greg hadn’t stopped staring at her since the moment she’d introduced herself to him. She could still feel his eyes burning a hole in the top of her head. “The garlic and olive oil pasta looks good.”

“Garlic makes me bloat.”

Startled at such an intimate revelation, Arden looked up. “Oh. Um. Well, maybe you’d better stay away from the pasta then.”

Greg glanced at his own menu. “I’m going to order the low-carb special. I’m trying to watch my carbs.”

“Ah.” Arden looked again at the menu, still feeling his intense gaze on her. “I think I’ll try the grilled chicken salad.”

With that decided, she put aside the menu and sipped from her iced tea. The lunch crowd at the restaurant was bustling and a bit noisy, but since Greg wasn’t saying anything, she didn’t have to strain to hear him. Arden tapped another sugar packet into her glass and squeezed a few more drops of lemon, though the tea had been fine before. Anything to keep her hands busy.

If I look up and he’s still staring...

“Heather says you’re a seamstress.”

Relief that he’d finally chosen to have a conversation made Arden answer too brightly. “Yes. Yep. Sure am. You betcha!”

Great, now she sounded like Mistress Mary Twinkle-Sparkle. She smiled at Greg, her teeth gritted. His return smile seemed forced.

“My ex liked to knit.”

Arden sighed inside, but kept up her smile. “Really? I never learned how.”

“She used to make me scarves.”

“Ah.”

Greg drank from his glass. Water dribbled over his chin and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. His gaze still pierced her. “I didn’t expect you to be so pretty.”

“What?” Arden tucked her hair behind her ears. “Oh, well. Thanks.”

“Heather told me you were pretty, but I didn’t believe her. I mean, I didn’t think you’d really be pretty. But you are.”

“Um...lucky...you?” Arden’s laugh sounded hollow.

Greg didn’t smile. “She didn’t tell you I was cute, did she?”

He sounded so sure she’d say no that Arden felt compelled to answer, “Of course she did.”

Greg sighed. “She told you what happened to me, didn’t she? How Jennifer ran off with her ex the day we were supposed to get married?”

Ouch. “Yes. She told me. I’m sorry, Greg.”

Another sigh lifted his shoulders. “It’s okay. I guess I should be past it by now.”

He might