My own imagination had been running wild without any help. The last thing I needed now was someone fueling those thoughts, especially out loud in my shop. "Let's keep it professional, alright?"
She gave her eyebrows another waggle. "Jealous?"
The question hit hard – too hard – and before I could stop myself, I'd already said, "Oh, please. I don't even like him."
With a knowing smile, she replied, "Sure, honey. I believe you."
"Seriously, he's not my type."
She stared like I'd just pulled a unicycle from my ass. "Thatguy? He'severybody'stype."
"Well, he's not mine," I insisted. "He's a hard worker, that's it."
"A hard worker?" she scoffed. "That'swhat you're going with?"
"I'm not 'going' with anything. It's the truth. He works hard, and he's great with the bikes." I lifted my chin. "But other than that, I'm not remotely interested."
She gave me a skeptical look. "Are you serious?"
"Totally." It wasn't even a stretch.Not really. Griff had his eye on someone else, so it was time to squash my own interest like a bug. Sure, it stung a little, but it wasn't like I had dibs on him.
I straightened my shoulders.If he and Tessa got together, I'd be totally happy for them.
Or at least, I would try really hard to be. Looking to prove it, I said, "In fact, I hope he finds someone else." And then, moreto myself than to Franny, I mumbled, "Someone just as good-looking as him."
She barked a laugh. "What are you? Chopped liver?"
Oh. My. God.The fact that Franny had just mirrored my own thoughts was not a good development.
My mouth opened, but the only thing that came out was an awkward laugh devoid of any real humor.
Franny gave me a funny look. "Are you okay?"
My face burned as a forced a smile. "I'm fine. Totally."
Her gaze sharpened like she could see straight into my soul. "Hey, don't sell yourself short. You're as pretty as the rest of 'em." She brightened. "And you'd be a knockout with a different hair-do."
Good Lord.
On instinct, I reached back to touch my ponytail. I liked my hair long, but having it flop around while I worked on bikes wasn't just annoying. It was potentially dangerous. So I had settled on a compromise – a ponytail at work and letting it fall free almost everywhere else.
Now Franny was saying, "And a little eye-shadow wouldn't hurt anyone."
My remaining dignity curled up and died. Beauty advice – it was the last thing I needed.
I had never been insecure, not even a little – until Devon had dropped me for that psych major. One month he'd been talking about forever. And the next month, he'd been sailing off with somebody else.
I meant that literally. Apparently, her family owned a yacht club somewhere off Lake Michigan.
I didn't want advice – or even worse, pity. I wanted Franny to drop it, preferably forever.Forget eye-shadow.What Ireallyneeded was to put Griff out of my mind and focus on the business.
Still, my gaze drifted back to the window as I wondered what he was doing now. At what I saw – or rather,didn'tsee – everything inside me skidded to a stop.
Griff was gone.
Franny confirmed it by asking, "Hey, where'd he go?"
My stomach dropped.Excellent question. My gaze shifted to the connecting door that led to the back room. The door was still shut, which meant…what exactly? I swallowed hard.Was Griff back there now?
