“No. And if I’m guessing right by the look in her eyes, he never will.” Summer had glanced up at Grace for a moment, and Grace had seen the disappointment there. Maybe now Summer would finally give Grace a chance to work her matchmaking magic. Sometimes a person had to hit bottom. Grace thought Kent Hargrove represented the bottom of the barrel.
Over the next twenty minutes, this impression was confirmed repeatedly. Summer bantered with her friends, and when she tried to pull him into the general conversation he responded by talking down to her, pointing out where her reasoning or thought process was flawed, or sharing his much wiser perspective. He’d even intimated that because of her size she didn’t have a clear view of the high-fashion industry, being limited to frumpier, women’s-sized clothing. Grace’s heart had done a painful lurch at the hurtful comment.
Summer was dressed in a gold, cleavage-maximizing halter dress that skimmed her lovely curves and contrasted strikingly with her tanned skin and flowing, long blonde hair. The dress ended at the knee, and her gold ankle-strap high-heeled sandals accentuated her shapely calves and slender ankles. She looked gorgeous tonight. Kent couldn’t see past the fact she wore a size eighteen. Bastard. Grace’s respect for Summer sky-rocketed as she processed his comment and chose to ignore it instead of replying in kind.
Kent interrupted Summer as she told a hilarious story involving a delivery driver and a box of vibrators that had broken open during transit in his truck. “You think that’s something, you should hear about what happened to me—”
Grace made desperate eye contact with Jack, and her husband proved he was both intuitive and compassionate. After a constant barrage of condescension and one-upmanship, Summer was wilting a bit, though trying her best to not show it.
“Summer, I heard from Grace you’re an excellent dancer. Why don’t you let me take you for a turn on the dance floor?”
Jack never gave Kent an opportunity to object, and Kent completely missed the insult Jack dealt him in not asking Kent’s permission to dance with his date first. Summer’s eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly at him when Grace winked at her in approval.
Kent kept on talking and never spared them a glance or acknowledged her departure. Grace hid her smile when she heard the faint, indignant growl come from Ethan. He would never have treated Grace so casually on their first date much less ignored her as she walked off with another man to dance.
Grace’s phone lit up and she smiled when she saw the caller ID.
Putting her finger to her other ear, Grace answered, “Hello?”
“Who is the insanely beautiful woman Jack is dancing with? And who is the rude motherfucker who’s been standing next to her? I can’t hear what he’s saying to her, but I can read her body language clear as a bell. Tell me he has no permanent ties to her.”
Grace’s intuition was pinging big-time at the husky, territorial tone in his voice. He wasn’t asking please, merely demanding confirmation.
“You know, it’s funny you should ask me that question, Ace Webster.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Boone felt a knot of anger curl tight inside of him. Maya looked into his eyes and seemed to know what he was thinking. He could tolerate a lot, but he could not abide the stupid fucker sitting at their table for even one more minute.
“Baby, let’s dance before you kill someone, okay?” Maya asked as she pressed her fingertips to his straining pectorals. Because Summer was away from the table dancing with Jack, he’d drawn breath to say something to Kent when Maya had distracted him. He led her to the dance floor knowing he needed to cool off.
“What is with that asshole? He talked to her like she was the village idiot or something.”
“I think he does it because he’s insecure and Summer is so sure of herself. She has an air of self-confidence which probably puts off men like him. She told me she’s never met him in person before tonight. They’ve talked on the phone and chatted online, and he asked her out for tonight. She would’ve turned him down, but she decided she’d take a chance and meet him here since we were all going to be here. He’s a putz.”
Boone chuckled as they circled the dance floor and held her close to him. The tension in his shoulders faded as she caressed them, and he let out a sigh.
“Can I ask you a question, Maya?”
She smiled up at him. “Of course. Ask me anything.”
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I want to ask about the past.”
“Okay.” She looked at him with trusting blue eyes and waited.
“When you and Morgan played together, did you ever go to a club in your area or did you play at home?”