Mostly Risky, page 4
part #3 of The Women of Ambrose Estate Series
The waitress reappeared, and after Silvia spent what felt like ten minutes asking about specific dishes, she ordered. To the relief of everyone. Grigg gave a slight shake of his head, then snapped his menu closed and said, “I’ll have the same thing.”
Hayden finished off every last oyster, with Silvia gamely trying one more. After the oysters were cleared from the table, Grigg visibly relaxed.
Silvia had apparently struck a chord with Hayden, and he was telling her all about one of his articles, the very same thing he’d told Amelia before everyone arrived.
“I’m just glad the professor didn’t order the snails,” Grigg said under his breath.
Amelia looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You mean escargot.”
“Whatever,” he said. “I mean seriously, the oysters just tasted like the cocktail sauce I put on it, but is that what you want to kiss?”
She blinked. “What are you talking about?” she whispered.
Grigg leaned closer so that their shoulders brushed. Even through her clothing she felt the warmth of his arm. “You know, your good-night kiss with Hayden.”
Amelia did scoff then.
Silvia and Hayden both looked at her. Amelia covered her mouth and made a small coughing sound, then took a drink of her water. “Sorry, continue.”
“There’s still debate on exactly what started World War I,” Hayden continued. “If it hadn’t been the assassination of the archduke of Austria and his pregnant wife, then would it have been something else?”
Silvia was apparently a history buff, because she leaned her chin on her hand and was listening intently.
“Who says I’m going to kiss Hayden?” Amelia whispered to Grigg. “It’s our first date, and I’m not that kind of girl.”
It was his turn to fight his scoff. In fact, his face reddened with the effort of holding back his reaction.
Amelia elbowed him. “Mind your manners, Mr. Edison. I’m technically your boss.”
He took a deep, steadying breath. “I know,” he whispered. “You won’t let me forget it. But you also must face the truth. I’ve known you for two years, and we’ve had many a talk about the people we are dating. And you have confessed to me, multiple times, that you do kiss on the first date. If it’s warranted, of course.”
Amelia wanted to laugh. Instead, she bumped her leg against his. “Keep your annoying memories to yourself.”
He bumped her back. “I was asking an innocent question. You know, friend to friend.”
She stole a glance at him. He was still rather close to her, and an outside observer would say that he was focused on Hayden’s war talk, but Amelia knew Grigg was focused on her one hundred percent.
“I’m not going to kiss Hayden tonight,” she whispered. “Happy?”
Grigg’s smile was slow, causing a fluttering in her belly. “I am, in fact. Surprisingly happy.”
Grigg was gratified to see Hayden leave them all after the restaurant, saying that he had his car parked down the street.
That left Grigg to walk the two women to their cars. Silvia had driven and met Grigg in front of the restaurant. He’d walked the few blocks from the office, and it seemed that Amelia had walked as well.
She said good night to the both of them, and before Grigg could ask her where her car was, Silvia grasped his hand and tugged him into a hug.
All right then. He gave her a quick hug, then stepped away.
“What are your plans tonight?” Silvia asked with a broad smile.
“Uh, got an early morning tomorrow.” He shrugged. “Boring, I know.”
She did a slow scan of his person. “Do you like dessert?”
He wasn’t sure where she was going with this question. “Yeah. I’m stuffed, though.”
With a laugh, Silvia said, “There’s always room for dessert.”
Again, he didn’t know what she was trying to say. “Yeah, but not tonight. I need to get going.”
She gave a good-natured shrug. “Suit yourself.”
And finally, she opened her car door and climbed in. When she was heading out of the parking lot, Grigg turned to see how far Amelia had gotten. He didn’t see her at first, and then he noticed a woman about halfway down the block, walking in heels. Amelia.
“Mills,” he said, jogging to catch up with her.
She slowed her steps and turned. Folding her arms, she waited for him, a smile on her face.
“Did you walk too?” she asked.
“I did.” He caught up with her, and they began to walk together. “Aren’t your feet killing you?”
She lifted her shoulders. “They’ve had better nights.”
Grigg shook his head. “Women.”
Amelia smirked. “So . . . how was it with Silvia? She couldn’t take her eyes off you.”
He chuckled. “Uh, you mean Hayden. I thought she was going to sign up to be his research assistant or something.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, yeah, she was listening to Hayden’s stories, but only to be polite. Didn’t you see how she kept inching toward you all night?”
He swallowed. He had noticed that. And then the odd things she’d said at her car. He’d thought things between them were completely platonic—at least on his end. He hoped she didn’t think otherwise. There was no way he’d take her out again. Once was plenty.
“I thought you said that things were casual with Silvia,” she pressed.
“Oh, they are,” Grigg confirmed. “She was too . . . too much of everything. Didn’t you notice how I kept somehow moving closer to you?”
Amelia might have blushed, but it was hard to tell beneath the streetlamps. “I did notice,” she said, her tone light. “That’s why I kept elbowing you—to give me some space.”
“Really? I thought you wanted to snuggle.” He draped an arm over her shoulders and squeezed. He let go quickly so that it was more of a side hug than anything.
Amelia laughed. “Ha. Ha. You were breaking Silvia’s heart.”
“I don’t think she was all that into me,” Grigg said. “I mean, she definitely liked checking me out, but Hayden’s the real man in her eyes.”
“Stop,” Amelia said, fake punching his side.
Grigg pretended to double over in pain. Amelia kept laughing.
When she finally sobered and they were back to walking again, she said, “I don’t know about Hayden. Things didn’t exactly click, but I feel like I should give him another chance.”
“You mean another date or another chance chance?”
“Another date,” she said. “One date isn’t really a full indicator to determine if you’re compatible with someone else.”
Grigg shoved his hands in his pockets. “I think you’re right in most cases. But I don’t think in Hayden’s. He’s not the man for you, but I’ll let you figure that out on your own. My lips are sealed.”
“Oh, thanks, Mr. Relationship Expert,” Amelia said with a shake of her head. “I’m starting to regret letting you come on the dates with me.”
“Why?” Grigg said, turning so that he was walking backwards with Amelia still walking forward.
“Well, I thought that you’d be more like an older brother on the dates,” she said. “You know, less . . . opinionated.”
“Believe me, if you did have a brother, he’d be a lot more opinionated than me about who you dated.”
Amelia raised her brows, her eyes filling with amusement. “I guess we’ll never know.”
“I guess not.” They reached a street corner and stopped for the traffic light. Grigg turned to face the road. “So are you going to call him tonight? Tomorrow?”
“Nope,” Amelia said. “He’ll call me.”
Grigg bumped her shoulder. “You sound confident.”
“I am kind of irresistible,” she teased. “You said so yourself.”
The light changed, and they started across the street.
Another man walked toward them, going the opposite direction. His shabby clothing and swayed walking told Grigg that not only was he probably homeless but he was also on something.
Grigg grasped Amelia’s hand and pulled her closer to him, out of the way of the homeless guy. She moved easily to Grigg’s side, her fingers tightening around his. They reached the other curb, and to his absolute surprise, Amelia didn’t let go of his hand. So he didn’t let go of hers either.
They walked the remainder of the way to the office hand in hand. It wasn’t something Grigg should be overthinking, but he totally was, because Amelia Ambrose was holding his hand. In public. After a double date. And it was really nice.
When they reached the parking garage of the building, Grigg found himself dreading releasing her hand when they got to her car. But it couldn’t be helped.
“Where are you parked?” she asked as their steps slowed.
He pointed to the far side of the parking garage. “You know me, always get the worst spot.”
She smiled, and in that moment, with her standing by her car, their hands still linked, it would have been so easy. To kiss her. To change everything that they were and had been to each other. He was beyond tempted, but he also wanted to be sure.
“Well, thanks for inviting me to dinner,” he said, squeezing her hand.
That seemed to remind her that they were holding hands in the first place. She squeezed back, then released his hand.
Dang.
“You’re welcome,” she said. “And thanks for entertaining me all night. I know you hated your dinner.”
“I don’t like to eat what I can’t pronounce.”
Amelia only laughed. “You and your menu choices, always getting the same thing wherever you go.”
Grigg slipped his hands into his pockets for good measure, despite what his heart wanted him to do. “I guess I like the tried and true, the familiar. Not a big fan of changes.”
Amelia kept smiling, then moved to her car, where she unlocked it. “Good night, Grigg.”
“Good night, Mills.”
He waited until she got into her car and pulled out of the parking garage. Then he began the trek to his car. Whistling as he went.
As he drove back to his condo, he listened to the messages that had come in while he’d been at dinner.
His friend Spencer had called. “We’re going biking this weekend, bro. You up for it? Jay’s coming too.”
Grigg smiled. He’d been friends with Jay and Spencer since moving to Colorado. He’d hooked up with them on the bike trails, and they’d been hanging out ever since. Spencer was a high school football coach, and Jay ran a small dental practice. Both good guys.
The second message was from Silvia. Strange that she’d called and left a message. Maybe something had happened to her car on her drive home? He frowned when he listened to the message. Nothing was the matter with her car, but this was worse.
“Hi, Grigg.” Silvia’s smooth tone came on. “I’m at your place, and you’re not answering your door. Don’t tell me you took a detour.” A soft laugh. “It’s all right, sweetie, I can be patient. And whatever dessert you’re getting, order two of them.”
Grigg deleted the message. Please, please, don’t be there, he thought. Maybe he could drive around for a while and hope that she’d give up. But that was ridiculous. If Silvia was really expecting something to happen tonight between the two of them, then obviously he’d somehow led her on. And he had to set her straight. Either in person or on the phone.
If she wasn’t at his place by the time he arrived, he’d call her. There was no reason for any of this misconception to go on for even a short time. When he pulled into his complex, sure enough, Silvia was leaning against his front door, scrolling through her phone.
Should it bother him that she knew his address? Of course she had access to everyone’s contact information in the building, but wasn’t this some sort of breach of privacy?
Grigg exhaled, then turned off his SUV and climbed out. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked toward Silvia.
“You’re late,” she said in a soft voice as he reached the door.
He stopped in front of her, hands still in his pockets. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I had an early morning. I hope you had a great time at dinner, but I’ve really got to get some shut-eye.”
She pushed her lips into a pout. “I’m sleepy too, so I thought we could kill two birds with one stone.”
Grigg wasn’t going to ask her to clarify, because he was pretty sure what she was implying.
“Look, Silvia,” he said in a deliberate tone. “You’re a great person and a beautiful woman, and well, tonight was nice. But I’m not, um, interested in seeing you outside of work beyond tonight. My life is crazy right now, and I’m not in a place to date regularly or anything.”
“Oh, I get it,” she crooned. “I totally do.”
But her actions spoke otherwise, because she stepped close and ran a hand up his chest. Grigg didn’t move. Mostly he was stunned. Silvia continued her path up his chest, then over his shoulder and behind his neck. Pressing herself against him, she kissed him before he could move out of her grasp.
Grigg set his hands on her waist and moved her away. “Silvia—”
She giggled and grasped his shirt with both hands and tugged him toward her again. Before she managed to kiss him a second time, he grasped both her wrists and held her at arm’s length from him.
“Please, I’m not kidding.”
She yanked out of his grasp, and her eyes flashed in anger. “You’re a jerk, you know that?”
He lifted his hands. “I didn’t mean to offend you—”
“Shut it.” She moved past him, bumping his arm as she went. “Don’t call me again. You’re officially x’d.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant, but that was nothing new. Silvia stalked to her car, then roared out of the parking lot. Shaking his head, he went into his dark condo. He sank onto the couch, his mind backtracking to everything that had been said between them that evening. He couldn’t come up with a time when he’d encouraged her to be that brazen.
Grigg exhaled and rubbed at his temples. Then he grabbed his phone and texted Amelia.
Hope your arrival home was less eventful than mine.
He smiled when his phone rang.
“What happened?” Amelia asked when Grigg answered.
He proceeded to tell her what Silvia had done, and Amelia laughed.
“It’s not funny,” Grigg insisted. “I mean, it kind of is now, but not at the time. I totally got x’d by her.”
Amelia only laughed more. “I told you, and you didn’t believe me. You were just using Hayden as a cover, but the truth is now out. Silvia digs you. Well, she did until you broke her shiny little heart.”
“Her dress was kind of shiny.”
They both laughed.
The coldness that he’d felt from Silvia had now completely dissipated into warmth.
“Sorry to hear about your grandma,” Amelia told Hayden over the phone.
“Thanks,” he said. “She’s ninety-three, so it’s no surprise, but still hard.”
“Yeah,” Amelia agreed. Her own grandma was getting up there, and Amelia had been a pretty lame granddaughter the past few years. She only went to Ambrose for required family events, and never just to visit her grandma. Not that Lillian Ambrose was exactly someone to spend a peaceful afternoon with. The woman still worked full days and possibly half the night.
“I’ll call you when I get back,” Hayden assured Amelia. “I’m not sure how it’s been a week since our date. You’re a busy woman, but I’m sorry to miss the concert tonight.”
Over the past week, Hayden had called or texted her every day. Amelia had forgotten how persistent he could be. The last time they were together and had broken up, Hayden had called her for about two weeks straight after she’d told him things were over for good. She hadn’t replied to anything. He was a bit of a clingy personality. Well, compared to the other men she’d dated or, er, broken up with. Those other men had gone off the grid right away.
But was that a problem if she was in love with him? Being together a lot was what most couples in love did, right?
“Yes, call me when you get back,” she said. “That would be great.”
They hung up, and Amelia stared at the opposite wall for a moment. It was times like these that she was grateful for her private office. Hayden had called in the middle of the workday, and Amelia would normally let it go to voicemail. But she’d been excited about the concert she’d invited him to tonight, so she’d answered.
Then she’d found out that he’d be getting on a plane to rush back to his California hometown and help with funeral preparations for his grandma.
So what to do with the two concert tickets? She’d told Grigg that he was off the hook for this particular date. The concert had been sold out for months, but she’d been able to snag two tickets, not four. Maybe she could give them to a couple of others in the office. Except . . . Amelia really wanted to go.
Another phone call came in, but this one Amelia sent to voicemail. Unknown number. She’d see if they left a message. She needed a few moments to do one more review of the accounts payable and receivable of Canon Copy Distribution. Their meeting was scheduled to start in ten minutes, and the phone call with Hayden had eaten up precious time.
Her desk intercom buzzed, and her assistant, Polly, said, “Meeting in five.”
“Thanks, Polly.” Amelia clicked over to one of the spreadsheets on her screen and double-checked some of the numbers. Some of Canon’s equipment was out of date, by about ten years, and upgrading would be expensive at first but save money in the long run. Plus make them more competitive.
A rap sounded on her door, and before she could invite the person in, the door opened.
Of course it was Grigg. Ready for their meeting.
Like an obedient partner, he was wearing a suit, and his white shirt was pristine. Grigg underestimated himself in a suit, and on the days he wore one, he definitely got noticed. Well, he always got noticed. Funny that he seemed oblivious to it most of the time. Amelia had witnessed him turning down offers of phone numbers plenty of times.
