“Yeah,” he said softly. “It is.”
Knowing he was falling for her scared her to death. She’d agreed to the next nine days believing she could pull it off without anybody getting hurt. But was that possible knowing he was already so invested?
What had she just done?
* * *
JUSTIN WANTED TO loose a triumphant shout...right after he threw up. He’d managed to get her to agree to give him nine days—and he fully intended to make the most of every second to show her how much she could be loved. That last was the vomit inducer. Love. He’d been crazy about her for years, but love? That took time, intimate time, they didn’t have. The most he could do was set them on the right path and hope she recognized it.
Guiding her to the table, he took her bag, surprised at the weight. “What have you got in here? Hockey gear?”
“Change of clothes. It takes a lot to be a proper woman,” she said primly.
“Lord knows that’s right,” Cass added, slipping into the chair beside Grace and sliding a drink her way. “I thought you might want this.”
Justin watched the emotions play across Grace’s face before she responded. “Thanks. I, um, I don’t drink.”
“My bad.” Cass slid the drink to her place and stared at it, frowning. “It’s frozen, which means I have to drink both it and mine.” She looked up, grinning. “Unless Levi wants it.”
“Are you insane?” the man asked, indignant. “I drink a girly drink like that and I’ll grow breasts.”
“Just think, man,” Eric said with a wicked grin. “You could stay home and play with your own pair instead of having to find a new set every night.”
Levi chucked the lemon from his drink at Eric and grinned. “Yeah, but I like to play with other parts of a woman, too. I’ll pass.”
“Fine.” Cass sighed before taking a long pull on her straw, sucking down a good bit of her daiquiri. “Oh! Oh, crap! Brain freeze!”
Everyone laughed as she gripped her head and alternated between cursing and laughter.
The band for the evening was just setting up, tuning instruments and synching the sound system to prevent the squelch of feedback that had people shouting their disapproval. They succeeded in the former but missed the latter by a mile.
Justin dropped an arm around Grace’s shoulders, pulling her close.
“Who’s playing tonight?” she asked as she snuggled into his side.
He rubbed his nose and tried not to laugh. “The chalkboard marquee outside called them something like ‘Humping Monkeys.’”
“Humpday Monkeys, you idiot.” Levi tossed the last of his drink down his throat. “Humpday, as in middle of the week. How is it you’re the smartest one in the group when you can’t even read?”
“Easy there, gorilla boy,” Grace snapped. “He’s a psychologist, not a zoologist.”
Levi stared at her, mouth hanging open.
Justin half wondered if he was going to have to break up a verbal smackdown because, though many weren’t aware of it, Levi was highly educated and a bit sensitive about it.