“Funny, that’s what he was muttering to Zane while I was pretending that I wasn’t listening.” She chuckled and flicked off her studio light before joining Claire. They stood and looked into Grady’s office, her expression brightening as her gaze landed on the painting of the wind curling over the mountain peaks that hung behind his desk. “It’s going to work out. But sometimes you need to let him stew.”
“I prefer to be up front about things,” Claire began.
“As do I. But Grady doesn’t. You two struck like two meteors that were on separate trajectories. It will take some adjusting.”
Claire’s vision fuzzed over as she tried to understand Freya. The woman was a mystery.
“I’m sure you noticed Grady has a hell of a temper, and is a lost soul. I love him to bits, but he needs to wallow at the bottom right now, or he’ll never figure it out.”
13
F-L-O-U-N-D-E-R
Grady had resolved to stay with Asher and Sophie until Claire and Ryder cleared out. Maybe he could play sick and skip the gala too. Proving to be the best friends a guy could have, Zane didn’t say a word when he dragged him out of Black Op, and Asher and Sophie ensured he had a bed to sleep in, no questions asked about how things had gone with Claire.
Until Thursday morning. Pippa stopped by the office before heading off to school. She’d twisted his ear like the naughty schoolboy he was the moment he entered. Not that she ever grabbed her students by the ear. She was too gentle of a person, but Grady had deserved it.
“You’re a complete cad,” she admonished. He heard Lincoln chuckling from his office.
“I know. Trust me, there’s nothing you can say that will make me feel worse.” On seeing her punishment wasn’t nearly as agonizing as what he was already going through, she released him from her iron grip.
Obediently, he followed her into the kitchenette where she poured him a cup of coffee and gave him a look that would have any troublemaking kid confessing his every misstep. He should have paid Lincoln a retainer to secure his silence. Otherwise, the trouble with telling your married friend a secret, is that he didn’t keep secrets from his wife, and while the others seemed to appreciate Grady was wallowing in his own misery, Pippa was too meddlesome. She already took it upon herself to help Lincoln’s bachelor friends, since they didn’t have women of their own to keep them in line. He tried telling her it was sexist, but she didn’t seem to care.
In full lecture mode, Pippa’s hands rested on her hips while Grady crashed into his office chair like a dejected student. “The sparks were obvious the other night at Ahab’s, but come on, when she’s still engaged? It was going to happen, but you have to wait for the breakup to finalize so she’s not put in an awkward position. I can’t believe you’d take advantage of her like that.”
“Hey, she took more advantage of me than I did her. She was... she was... hot.” That was not his best defense.
“Sure. Just keep telling yourself that. You can hide, but you’re going to have to face her, eventually. What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have a plan.”
“Exactly the problem. You need a plan. And that starts with apologizing.”
“I will again.”
“Again? When did you apologize?”
