“Aww,” Jana said, hugging her.
Grady stayed back, watching the reunion, saying nothing. It wasn’t that he couldn’t contribute, or had nothing nice to say. He just couldn’t seem to pull his head out of his ass long enough to stifle the stupid sense of betrayal he felt. Stupid because he knew it was totally unfair to Lucy. But there it was.
Beyond the hugging twosome, he spied the godmother trio approaching, along with several Glass Slipper employees toting the suitcase Lucy had arrived with and several garment bags and shoe boxes she definitely hadn’t.
Vivian reached them first. “Isn’t she marvelous?”
Her smile was wide and sincere, but Grady didn’t miss the intent look in her eye, warning them to tread carefully. So, Grady thought, Lucy had managed to find herself another rescuer. He supposed he should be thankful her White Knight was female this time. Even if she did look more the dragon than the knight.
“Yes, she is,” Jana gushed, her eyes glassy now, as she stood back and looked at Lucy again.
“I owe it all to Vivian,” Lucy explained. “I was ready to walk on day two, but she stopped me.”
Now Grady had a real reason to dislike Dragon Lady.
“She kind of took me under her wing.”
Dragons had wings.
“And really forced me to dig deeper than I thought I had it in me to dig.” She smiled at Vivian, then stepped over, with more grace than she might realize she had, bent down and hugged the much-shorter woman. “I know I’ve thanked you a zillion times, but—” She broke off, sniffed, then, horrified, dabbed her finger under her eyes. “I’m going to ruin my masterpiece here.”
Vivian laughed and whipped out a tissue, dabbing her clear. “Now, now, you know I’m only a phone call away.”
“Thank you,” she sniffled. She looked over her shoulder and realized her gear had been packed safely in the trunk, then glanced back at Vivian. “Here goes nothing.”
“Knock ’em dead,” Vivian told her, then looked at Grady and Jana. “And if she chickens out at the last minute, I expect you both will see to it that she follows through, or contact me and I will. She’s worked quite hard and she deserves to ace her final exam.” She looked to Lucy. “I’ll expect a full dishy, gossipy report the morning after.” She winked. “Or the afternoon after, as the case may be.”
Grady watched the byplay between the two women. Out of the three, he would never have picked Vivian as a role model for Lucy. The soft and maternal-looking Aurora was more the kind of person he’d presumed she’d gravitate toward. But then, what he was witnessing was so far afield of what he’d dared to imagine, why bother second-guessing any of it at this point?
Vivian fussed over Lucy for another couple of minutes. Jana even got pulled into their little hen circle. Traitor. It took considerable willpower on his part to stay put, appearing to lean casually on his car, as if he had all the time in the world, when there was absolutely nothing casual about the way Lucy was making him feel at the moment.
He couldn’t even begin to sort out the myriad emotions whirling around inside of him. Only one stood out, and that was the undeniable and quite cavemanlike urge to stuff Lucy in the car and take her far, far away from here. Not because she was so hot now that his libido had gone into overdrive. Well, not that parts of him weren’t threatening an all-out mutiny. But the predominant thought was to get her away from Glass Slipper and Wicked Witch Vivian so he could start detoxing her. He wanted his old Lucy back. Gorgeous women were a dime a dozen and usually about as interesting. Once you got past the lacquer and heels, there wasn’t much left to stimulate the mind.
Lucy was different. She was vibrant and funny, smart and compassionate, and a complete and total klutz. They could find a way to heatedly debate the stupidest of points for hours on end, or just as easily sit side by side in complete, companionable silence.
He’d found women who turned him on. He’d found women who stimulated his brain. He’d even found women who were sharp and funny and vibrant. He’d just never found one who had it all in one package, who called to his heart like Lucy Harper.
He carefully avoided catching Jana’s eye. He kept his expression neutral, but she probably knew this was far from easy for him. He didn’t need her to tell him that maybe the reason he’d never fallen in love with anyone else was because he’d never stopped loving Lucy. Truth be told, other than his aborted attempt at leaving her behind when he’d gone off to MIT, he hadn’t even tried. It seemed like a wasted effort. Besides, how does a person fall out of love without a concrete reason to make him feel differently?
In the back of his mind, he’d always kind of hoped that someday some woman would just step into his path—maybe crash into it, just to get his attention—and his feelings for Lucy would mutate back into friendship as his feelings for the love of his life grew. It wasn’t like he was blocking women from doing just that. Not in any real sense. Because, if Woman X was his soul mate, it wouldn’t matter what he did, right? A true soul mate would have to connect, shake his heart loose, demand his full and complete attention.
“Earth to Grady?”
He jerked his head up from where he’d apparently been contemplating his navel to find Lucy standing in front of him, arms folded. The godmothers had retreated. Jana had already gotten back in the car. In the backseat, he noted with a scowl.
“So, can we get this show on the road?” She cocked her head. “You really do hate it, don’t you?”
“Hate” was a strong word. He felt pretty strongly. “What do you think about it?” he asked instead. “Is it what you wanted?”
Her response surprised him. Her smile took its time emerging, almost a bit warily. “Honestly? I . . . well, it’s still taking some getting used to.”
“In a good way or a bad way?”
The smile grew stronger. “Good. I’m pretty sure, anyway,” she added, self-deprecating to the end. “You know I’m still the same person on the inside.”
Actually, that’s what bothered him most. The exterior overhaul was startling enough, but she had changed in less obvious ways, as well. And that’s what really terrified him. Earlier wobbling notwithstanding, she carried herself entirely differently, with a bit more grace, and most definitely a new attitude. Soon other people would see that change in her, too. Some of them men. One of them, Jason Prescott. And act accordingly. Then what the hell would he do?
He did not, under any circumstances, look at Jana.
“You have every right to do whatever you want to yourself if it makes you feel better,” he told her, striving for polite, fair, decent. Happy with not shouting, growling, or begging.
“I just wanted to be more comfortable in my own skin.”
He couldn’t help it, his gaze traveled down her body, then back up again. Christ. She looked amazing. “And are you?”
She lifted a shoulder. An elegantly suited, slender shoulder. “Getting there. It takes some getting used to, the superficial stuff. But I’m liking the changes so far. I feel . . . I don’t know, more confident, I guess.” She grinned suddenly. “Maybe not about the heels. I’m still pretty sure I’m going to do major damage with those. But I do like the idea of them, of how they make me feel. I’ll get better with practice.”
She didn’t say it, but he knew she was looking for confirmation from him. As they often did with each other when embarking on some new venture or path in life.
He forced a hint of a smile and it cost him more than she’d ever know. “I’m sure the first wolf whistle will make it all more bearable.”
She waved off his comment, so certain he had to be kidding.
He so wasn’t, but perversely it was that momentary peek at the Lucy he knew and loved that brought the first honest smile to his face. “You underestimate the power of the wand,” he told her, when what he’d always thought was that men had always underestimated the power of her. He pushed off the car and walked around to the passenger side, opening her door with a flourish. “Your economy-size carriage
awaits.”
She took a bit longer than usual to catch up, but he privately thought she was far more balanced on those towering sticks than she let on.
“Hey, I’m already starting to see the perks. I guess Vivian was right about the heels.”
Grady glanced up, realizing he’d been staring at her legs. “What’s that?”
She grinned as she stepped between the open door and the waiting seat. “You’ve never opened a car door for me in your life.”
“Or stared at your legs like a man just emerging from a long prison stint,” Jana offered oh-so-helpfully.
“I have to,” he said, caught off guard by the ambush. “Open your door, I mean,” he added with an uncustomary stammer. Christ.
Grady stood holding the door in silence as Jana and Lucy swapped grins over his tongue-tied state.
Lucy gripped the edge of the car door as she lowered herself in, and without thinking, Grady automatically reached out to block her head from hitting the frame, but, still chattering with Jana, she dipped down and sat, then swung her ever-so-long and shapely-looking legs expertly into the car. She reached for the handle as he straightened, stupified by the natural act of grace and coordination he’d just witnessed. The Lucy Harper he knew could never have pulled that off, not without breaking one heel, ripping her hose, and likely ruining that tight and far-too-short skirt.
He swung the door shut with perhaps a tad more force than necessary, but only earned a quick glance and thank-you smile before she continued to shift around to look at Jana so she could continue her story.
Grady trudged around the back of the car, trying not to snarl. She already didn’t need him anymore. When she wasn’t self-conscious about her new skills, she didn’t so much as wobble on those heels. In fact, he’d bet she was far more practiced with her new wiles than she’d let on. It was probably only because she’d been worried about them seeing her for the first time, not wanting them to give her too hard a time about her dramatic makeover, that she’d done that tripping thing earlier.
“Safe journey,” someone called out from behind him as he opened the driver-side door. He turned to find Vivian waving from the base of the porch stairs. He stared at her for a moment, not quite sure why, except she seemed to be staring at him. Hard. Despite the cheery grin. Or maybe “cheeky” was a better word. That woman had to be a handful.
“Take care of our girl,” she called out.
He didn’t know what to say to that. Our girl. If only that were still true. He sketched a light salute, then ducked into the driver’s seat next to Lucy.
He’d ridden beside Lucy any one of a million different times in any one of a million different circumstances. Like the time in their sophomore year when they’d taken the debate team road trip down to North Carolina and had been crammed on a school bus bench seat together, along with their overnight bags.
He’d been so excited when they’d won the regional title and advanced on to the East Coast championship. Three days away from home and the stifling and ever-increasing tension had been a godsend to him.
He’d lived with his uncle Frank back then, his mom’s older brother and only sibling. He’d taken over as sole caregiver after Grady’s mom died when he was ten. Grady had never known his dad. Even though Frank hadn’t been completely receptive to fostering his sister’s kid—Frank was a dedicated bachelor and cop who had no idea what to do with his egghead nephew, or kids in general, for that matter—he’d tried hard, under what Grady realized as he got older, had to have been difficult and painful circumstances.
They had next to nothing in common, and Frank’s clumsy attempts at bonding had left Grady feeling even more like an outcast than he already did. As he’d entered his teen years, the tension between them had mounted. And any excuse to be gone for a few days was cause for major celebration. Spending those three days with Lucy Harper made it even better.
Until he’d been crammed on that bus with her. It had turned into a miserable trip for him. Lucy chattering away, oblivious to the fact that when he’d woken up after a night on the bus to find her sleeping against his shoulder, he’d been awarded with a mortifying hard-on that would not go away . . . and the sickening realization that from that point on, being “just buddies” was going to be a lot more difficult for him. Guys didn’t get that excited about being with their best friends. But they definitely got that excited about spending time with a girl they were falling in love with.
It had been three days of agony, with part of him wanting to just grab her and kiss her and let her deal with his feelings for her, and the other wiser-than-his-years part telling him that if he did, he’d likely freak her out completely and ruin their friendship, which, along with knowing Jana, was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Funny how as much as things change, they stay the same, Grady thought, not remotely amused. He didn’t glance over at her as he slid on his seat belt and put the car into gear.
Something told him this ride home was going to be even more brutal than that stupid bus trip.
Chapter 13
Where’s Grady?” Lucy looked behind Jana as she let herself into her own apartment and bumped the door shut with her hip.
Jana waggled the six-pack of Diet Coke at Lucy. “Not coming,” she said, juggling the pizza box, her purse, and a bag of Milano cookies.
Lucy took the Coke and nipped the cookies off the top of the pizza box.
“Hey!”
She shot Jana a smug smile. “Don’t whine. We only have to split them two ways.” She tore open the bag. “And without Grady here to lecture us on appropriate pizza-eating protocol, we can eat the cookies first.”
“True,” Jana said, then flopped down on Lucy’s couch with a deep sigh. “God, I’m beat.”
Lucy snagged a chair from her breakfast-nook table and dragged it close to the couch. Her Alexandria apartment was small by any definition, except perhaps when compared to those in New York City. It consisted of one great room that was living area, breakfast nook, and tiny kitchen (separated by a counter with no room for stools on either side). A single bathroom and her bedroom finished out the place. She also had a standing-room-only balcony overlooking pretty much nothing, but if she leaned to the side of the railing and craned her neck really far, she could get a glimpse of the Potomac River. Well, almost. Were it not for the row of buildings blocking the one shred of river view left. But she knew it was there, right behind them.
Her decorating style was Early Schoolteacher, meaning bookcases large and small took up most of the wall space (bathroom, bedroom, and hallway included), each of them crammed with pretty much everything she’d ever read, dating from The Baby-Sitters Club onward, plus all of the many additional volumes she’d picked up over the years and had every intention of reading someday. She easily bought three titles for every one she read, and even her students could do that math, but that didn’t keep her from compulsively snooping through every library and garage sale, usually coming away with a cardboard box full of new treasures. Okay, so it was a geeky addiction, but a harmless one. It wasn’t like she collected cats. Yet.
What little room was left over was filled with whatever furniture she’d been able to snag from her parents’ place, combined with Marlo clearance items and more garage-sale finds. She viewed her decorating taste as whimsical bordering on eclectic. Other people would probably use a less-flattering description. Rummage Sale Kitsch came to mind.
Fortunately, those “other people” were just Jana and Grady, who had both long since gotten used to her off-center approach to decorating. From her retro metal lunch box collection and the rack of vinyl record albums she was continually adding to, despite the fact that she had no turntable on which to play any of them, to the six-foot-tall stuffed ostrich she’d won on a fluke basketball throw at the Virginia State Fair her sophomore year in college. It was the only thing she’d ever won—and while ostensibly playing a sport, to boot! Naturally, she was very proud.
Crunching on a Milano,
she sat and offered the bag to Jana.
“Thanks.” Jana slid out a cookie, but didn’t snarf it down like they usually did with their Pizza Night contraband.
“So, did Grady give a reason?” Lucy asked, kicking herself as soon as the question was out. This made two Pizza Nights in a row he’d missed, but she already knew what the reason was, and she’d sworn she wasn’t going to say anything if he didn’t show. Again. She shouldn’t force Jana to cover for him by putting her on the spot, but it was like the two of them had some kind of unspoken understanding about his recent no-show status, and she was feeling a bit miffed about being left out.
Even though she knew she was the reason.
“Never mind,” Lucy said, crunching on another cookie. She’d been looking forward to this all day. Hell, all week. Since returning from Glass Slipper, her life had been hectic, to say the least. She was still adjusting to the new Lucy, and school had begun, as well. She was still trying to get a handle on her new students, and the always stressful Back-to-School night was looming. As was the reunion.
She wanted to obsess over the upcoming dance much as she would about any final exam; meaning ad nauseam, until even she was sick of talking about it. She wanted to examine every minute detail, from what she should wear, to how she should make her entrance, or even if she should make one. She’d thought about striding in like some kind of towering Runway Barbie, getting a collective gasp from the crowd as they realized it was nerdy Lucy Harper all grown-up. But then, she thought, maybe it would be even better to slide in undetected, then spring up, pow!, smack in the middle of the dance floor, right in front of Jason.
Even the steady pressure of starting up a new school year and getting to know her students, dealing with the administration, and attending the endless staff meetings hadn’t kept her from spending almost every other waking second—and most of her sleeping ones—thinking about the dance.
But she knew better than to go there with Jana. While she hadn’t been as obvious in her lack of enthusiasm over the new Lucy as Grady had, they had known each other forever. So her real feelings were hard to mask. Though at least Jana was making an effort.
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