Always a Bridesmaid by Kristin Hardy

Author:Kristin Hardy
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, General, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781426802102
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2007-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

"Want to tell me what we're doing here again?' Gil asked as he and Jillian walked down the street off MLK Boulevard in northeast Portland. Gentrification had spread to many parts of the city; when it hit this part of the northeast, though, it had turned tail and run. Bars covered the windows and graffiti laced the sides of the buildings. The very air felt hard—used. As much as she was currently working to keep her distance from Gil. Jillian was happy to have him around as they walked.

And a sneaky little part of her way down deep was happy to have him around, period.

Which was part of the problem. There was no point in trying to lie to herself about what had happened in her office the night before. She'd wanted to kiss him. She'd liked it. And she'd wanted more. Despite everything that lay between them, she'd wanted more.

And that was the last thing she could allow herself.

She knew all the measured reasons why not. Family, Robbie, the clinic, the paper. She could tell herself that Gil Reynolds didn't take responsibility for the damage his work at the paper inflicted. She could tell herself that he was so focused on his mission that he didn't admit to himself the toll it took on people's lives.

She couldn't tell herself that he wasn't a good man, though. She couldn't tell herself that he didn't care.

And she couldn't tell herself that she wasn't attracted to him, however much she might have wanted to.

She'd gone home the night before with her thoughts chasing in circles. She'd woken up that morning with no better idea of what to do.

Time, she told herself, but she wasn't at all sure that would help.

"There it is." She pointed ahead. "Advocate Aid. That's why we're here"

"What is it, some Social-Services agency?"

"A nonprofit that provides legal advice to people who can't afford it. I volunteer one Wednesday a month" She glanced at him. "I told you we could skip the shadowing today. This isn't really part of your story."

And God knew she could have used a day to get her thoughts together about him. Currently, they were still firmly scrambled. Not that a day would have given her time to work things out. but it would have been nice to have at least been able to function normally for a few hours. Since the kiss the night before, she'd had a disconcerting tendency to get all breathless every time Gil came within ten feet of her. Which, since he was still supposed to be her shadow, happened fairly often.

"Not part of the story?" Gil responded. "What are you talking about? Of course it is." He opened the swinging glass door that led into the storefront offices of Advocate Aid. "Doing this kind of community work gets to the heart of what social workerdom is all about."

She couldn't help being amused. "Social workerdom?'

'You know what I mean. You volunteer. Most of us just think about it or give it lip service.

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