Page 82 of Crazy In Love

“He’s single,” she continues. “You’re single… ish.”

Tommy’s eyes widen. “Ish?”

“She’s been enjoying male attention in secret,” Alana croons. “She’s not saying who, and she’s definitely not the type to get attached. So that makes her relatively single enough to entertain dinner with Cliff.”

Thoughtful, Tommy’s eyes flicker. “That so?”

“He’s a total sweetheart,” Alana continues. “Honestly, one of the most decent guys I’ve ever met. He’ll always speak respectfully, hold a door?—”

“Can I be excused?” Franky drags his finger over his now-empty plate, collecting any last-minute dessert. “I want to watch TV. Please?”

“Sure, honey.” She smiles and waits for him to stand, and when he’s out of the room, she brings glittering eyes back to mine. “He’s the hold a door for you in public, pull your hair and smack your ass in private type.”

“Alana!” Tommy rounds on his baby momma. “The hell did you just say?”

“What? I’m calling it how it is. He’s kind and courteous. He’s handy with the tools, helps little old ladies at the grocery store, saysyes ma’am, no ma’am, can fight, supervises the pedestrian crossing outside the school sometimes, is an extrovert like Fox, and comes with absolutely no scandal, which is a pretty big deal in this town, since literallyeveryonearound here has a skeleton or two in their closet.”

“What skeletons?” I taunt. “What scandals?”

“Well, my skeleton is the whole teen pregnancy thing. And runningaway. Then, coming back. Then getting pregnant again.” She wrinkles her nose. “That puts me firmly in theloose whorecategory.” She hooks a thumb to the side. “Tommy and Chris’ biggest mistake was, ya know, being poor.” She rolls her eyes. “Yours is that you’re an outsider. But Cliff is just…”

“He’s just what, Alana Bette?” Tommy glowers. “What is it you love so much?”

“He’s broken no hearts,” she sighs. “I can’t find a single female in this town or the next with anything bad to say about him. He has no random babies or baby mommas. He’s a good sport. As in, he fights and he trains, but he doesn’t even care to win. If the participation ribbon was a person, it would be Cliff.”

“Hmm…” I glance over at Chris and grin. “He sounds pretty amazing.”

His eyes burn hot, like lava traveling along the side of its mountain.

“I could talk to him,” Alana offers excitedly. “Set it up.”

“You make quite the assumption,” I counter. “Who’s to say he finds me attractive? He might think I’m an uppity Yankee troll, too.”

“No, he?—”

“You count on his kindness, so his acceptance may be nothing more than good manners.”

“He already told me how pretty he thinks you are.”

“What?” Chris strides back to the table and sits heavily in his chair. “Cliff thinks Fox is pretty?”

“Uh… yes?” Alana scoffs. “Everyonethinks Fox is pretty.”

I fan my face. “Shucks, Lana.”

“But he said those words?” Chris presses. “He said he’s into Fox?”

“Yeah?” I question. “He saidthosewords? He’s into me?”

“Uh-huh.” Alana scoops cheesecake onto her tongue. “He sure did. And since you’re my friend and everyone else around here looks at you like you’ve got some weird New-Yorkian fungus growing out of your eyes…” She stops and shakes her head. “You don’t. You’re perfect, by the way.”

“Thanks.” I slide the tip of my finger across the surface of my plate. “I needed to hear that today.”

“Since you’re my friend, he knew to come to me. He thinks you’re pretty and smart. He mentioned how hard you worked to get those tiles out of the bathroom, since you wanted to save him the work and time. He’s as tuned in to the local gossip as the rest of us, so despite the fungus thing, he’s heard only good things about your management of the shop. He knows you work for some bigwigs up in Manhattan, which implies a certain level of success and brains.”

“She’s the chief happiness officer!” Chrissnarls.

Incredulous, I cock a brow and shoot a look his way.Really?