Gilded Craving by Olivia Jaymes

Author:Olivia Jaymes [Jaymes, Olivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blonde Ambition Press
Published: 2020-09-28T18:30:00+00:00

16

Grant Hillard was a great guy. He owned his own successful business. He was intelligent, funny, and knew how to pair wines with food. He was well-read, well-traveled, and not in the least pretentious. Mariah had been on three dates with him and had enjoyed herself each time.

But...something was missing. There was no spark, no excitement. Her pulse didn't pound and she didn't get breathless when she saw him even though he was quite good-looking. Today they were having lunch together because he needed to fly out on the red-eye for a business meeting in San Francisco.

"I was thinking about getting us tickets to a show for next week," Grant said, digging into his salmon. "What do you think?"

What did she think? She didn't know.

To be honest, she'd barely paid attention the last twenty minutes or so.

I was thinking about Ryan. Dammit.

"A show? That sounds like fun."

Setting his fork on the side of his plate, Grant dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "Your expression doesn't match your words."

"How so?"

"Your words said it sounded like fun but your face looked like I was inviting you to a root canal with no anesthesia."

Luckily, Grant was smiling so he wasn't upset.

"I...don't know why my face was doing that," Mariah admitted with a sigh. "I haven't had a great couple of days, to be honest."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

He was a nice guy. Really nice. She should be really attracted to him but...she wasn't. There was no zing.

I want the zing. I admit it.

"It's sweet that you offered but I think this is something I'm going to have to work out for myself. I'm just not the most patient person and I want it all to be fine right away."

He nodded in understanding. "I get that. I can be impatient as well."

"You seem pretty calm and relaxed," Mariah observed.

"I try but everyone has their moments." He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table between them. "You can talk to me if you want. I'm a good listener."

Did Mariah even want to talk about it? And with Grant? One of the main rules of dating was that you didn't talk about an old boyfriend with a new one.

"I guess I'm still upset about my friend Brad," she finally replied, taking a more neutral path. "It's all been such a shock."

She'd mentioned the situation to Grant so he knew some but not all the details.

"You and Brad were close?"

"We were all part of the same friend group, but no, we weren't best friends. But we all hung out together throughout our youth."

"Then it must have been hard when he disappeared."

"It was the not knowing that I think was the worst. Everyone had their own way of dealing with it. Some of us sort of made up stories in our heads about what might have happened. Apparently, Brad used to joke about faking his own death and running a tiki bar on some tropical island."

"Faking one's own death is probably harder in real life than it is on television or in the movies," Grant said with a smile.

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