Page 43 of Crash and Burn

"That's great, Liz," he said. "I'm proud of you."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Not going to give me a lecture?"

"No." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have said what I did. I should have been supportive. And yeah, maybe there's some rumors going around about Carling, but I could have phrased it in a better way."

"He was professional and straight-forward the entire time," I told him. "I didn't get any weird vibes at all."

"And you are an excellent judge of character," Grant acknowledged with a small smile.

"Damn right I am."

"I'm happy for you," Grant said. "This is exactly the kind of opportunity you should jump on."

He reached out across the counter and put a hand on my shoulder. His thumb pressed into the bare skin at the junction of my neck and shoulder. I suppressed a shiver.

"You're amazing Liz," he said. "I've always been able to see it. It's about time everyone else sees it, too."

My heart thumped heavily in my chest. Grant's blue eyes were so sincere as they stared into mine. The lingering anger eased, replaced by a glowing in my chest. I had to lower my eyes before my besotted expression gave me away.

"Thanks," I murmured, playing with the ends of my long hair as they fell over my shoulder.

"Am I forgiven?" he said in a playful tone.

I snorted softly.

"You're lucky I'm the forgiving type," I told him. "Otherwise I might have made you clean up the whole bar by yourself to make it up to me."

"How about this instead," he said. "I've got another photoshoot coming up soon. Why don't you tag along again?"

My face lit up. "I'd love to!"

"It's in a small private studio, so I won't even have to pretend you're my assistant," he said.

"Sounds fun," I said. "Is it another fashion magazine?"

"It's for a small online ad campaign for an indie fashion brand," he said. "You might actually be able to pick their brains and learn a thing or two. You can impress that Carling guy with your knowledge."

"I could use some of that," I said. "I didn't even know half of the stuff he talked to me about at that meeting. I had to write down a bunch of terms and phrases and look them up later. I bet he knew I was faking it the entire time."

Grant chuckled.

"Somehow I doubt that," he said with a fond look. "You're going to be amazing, I just know it."

My heart swelled. It was so different from the doubt and skepticism he'd thrown at me before. This was the kind of reaction I'd wanted from him in the first place.

I put my hand on his forearm and squeezed.

"Thanks, Grant," I said softly.

He put his hand over mine and held it there. We stared into each other's eyes. My heart fluttered at the warmth in that ocean of blue. His hand was so warm on mine. Grant took a shallow breath. He parted his lips, as if about to say something. I was tempted to lean forward and—

Slam.

"Good news!" Mason called out from the front door. "I heard back from that band you told me about."

Grant pulled away quickly, leaving a chilly cold spot on the back of my hand where his palm had laid. He ran his fingers through his hair with a feigned casual motion.

"Which band was that?" Grant asked Mason.