“I didn’t get to tell her that the meatballs she made were the best I’ve ever had.”
Jace smiled. “I’ll let her know. She’ll love hearing that.”
“See you at the gym.”
“I’ll be there after work tomorrow.”
Morgan gave him a thumbs-up and then gestured for Sierra to move toward the door ahead of him.
She caught the curious look Jace directed her way but didn’t get the chance to shrug or do anything other than be swept up by Morgan.
And would that be such a bad thing? To be swept up by a guy like him?
Though she barely knew him, she liked everything she’d seen so far, especially his grace during one of the worst times of his life. He’d thanked everyone who’d come to see him, remembered what they’d brought to the gym for him, had shaken a hundred hands and received pats on the back from people he didn’t even know but who’d known Billy.
He’d impressed her repeatedly during that long day.
When she got home, she’d be texting Duke to find out why he hadn’t told her that Morgan had asked about her. Hello, best-friend code violation.
As they walked through town, Sierra took note of the festive white lights in every storefront window and the garlands wrapped around the streetlights. In the ferry area, they would pass the Christmas tree made of lobster traps that was an annual tradition on the island.
“You’ve gone quiet on me,” Morgan said as they walked through the nearly deserted downtown area toward the ferry landing, where the gym and massage studio were located close to each other across the parking lot from the ferry.
“Have I?”
“Yep. What’re you thinking about?”
“I guess I’m wondering why you were asking about me.”
He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “For the same reason I asked you to have dinner with me.”
“Which is?”
“I like you. I appreciate you coming by the gym to check on me, bringing me food and asking what you can do to help.”
“Lots of people have done that.”
“Maybe so, but you stand out in a crowd.”
Not once in her entire life had a man ever said anything to her remotely close to that, and she was floored by how it made her feel to hear such a thing. “Oh, well, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Surely you must get compliments all the time.”
“Ah, no, not that often,” she said with a laugh that sounded nervous to her. Did it to him as well? She hoped not.
“What’s wrong with the guys around here?”
“Um, well…” None of them was interested in her, but she couldn’t tell him that. It would make him wonder what was wrong with her, which she asked herself all the time as one friend after another fell madly in love with their soul mate while she was left to watch from the sidelines.
“You don’t have to answer that, but perhaps their inaction will turn into my good fortune.”
Now, what in the hell was she supposed to say to that? Was he seriously interested, or was it her imagination? “I, um, I guess I’m confused because I thought you weren’t sure if you were sticking around, and I’m, well, I’m pretty much a lifer around here.”
“I’ve been thinking more about hanging for a while. The island needs the gym, and the people here have been so amazing since everything happened. Whereas I’ve gotten a few texts and cards from my friends back home. Here, it’s been a whole other level, and a lot of the newer people hardly know me.”
“That’s how it is on Gansett. This community is unlike any other I’ve ever been a part of, and that’s why I’m a lifer. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
“Can I let you in on a secret?”
