Marsha looked from Grant to Piper, her nose practically twitching like a squirrel that found the right acorn, and smiled.
Piper groaned. “Not today, Marsha. He was teasing.”
“But what a juicy tidbit for the paper.” Marsha held out a hand. “Hi there. I’m Marsha Gaines, columnist for the H.T. Gazette. And you’re Grant Weston.”
“I am.” He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. I take it you already know Piper?”
“Our resident real estate maven? Of course. Everyone knows Piper.”
She scowled. “Maven? I’m not a hundred and fifty, you know.”
Grant chuckled. Sure, he could laugh it up. He hadn’t seen thirty yet. Piper didn’t know why it bothered her that he was a few years younger, but it did.
Marsha rolled her eyes. “Yep. Still a drama queen even after high school.”
Piper couldn’t help laughing. “Look who’s talking.”
“Yes, but honey, I own my drama.” Marsha grinned. “Hey, you need to come over for dinner. It’s been too long. Just you, me, Noah, and anyone else you want to bring.” She wiggled her brows at Grant.
Who wiggled them right back. “Oh, is that secret code?”
Amused, Piper grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him away. “Sounds good. I’ll call you, Marsha.”
“You’d better. Bye, Grant!” she yelled, and Piper would have been surprised if half the store hadn’t heard her.
“Such a loudmouth,” Piper muttered. Personally, she loved Marsha. But between their busy careers, they rarely saw each other. Then too, after the debacle with Sam, Piper had been keeping a lot more to herself. She needed to let the past go, she knew, but it was difficult facing people who pitied her. She hated pity. They could envy her all they liked, just not feel sorry for her.
“So, what’s next?” Grant asked when she’d paused in front of the olives.
“Both. Green and black.” She pointed at the jars she wanted.
Grant put two of them in the half-full cart. “What else?”
“I’ve gotten most of it.” And yes, sweet potatoes for Jenna’s sweet potato pie. “What do you want for Thanksgiving? Anything special?” At the canny expression that crossed his face, she held up a hand. “Don’t even. We’re in public. I meant, what do you want to eat?”
His lips stretched into an uber wide smile, and she snorted. “You idiot. For dinner. Not dessert.”
At that, Grant laughed, causing more than a few heads to turn. “You always know what I’m about to say.”
“Always” seemed a stretch to her since they hadn’t seen each other in years. But he had a point. Being around him felt as comfortable to her as it did being around her brother and close friends. Except for those pesky carnal thoughts, Grant made it easy to feel at ease and happy around him.
“Yeah, yeah.” She tugged him again, aware he let her, and that she liked the feel of his solid forearm. “Now let’s make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. Read off my list and I’ll check.”
Grant sighed. “Ah, a woman who likes lists. It’s like we’re meant for each other.”
She really wished he’d stop saying things like that. Instead, they ignored the nosybodies who kept staring at them and whispering, no doubt recognizing Grant and wondering what the heck he was doing with her, and checked off the groceries she’d gotten.
And if he happened to linger on the whipped cream with a few prurient glances at her body, she ignored it. Or tried to. Really hard.
Chapter 8
After bringing in all the groceries, Piper and Grant put them away, once again working like a team. He caught on quickly to where everything went and seemed pretty mission-oriented.
She smiled with appreciation. “You’re fast.”
“I like to get the job done.” He stood with his hands on his hips, surveying the kitchen. “Where’s Jenna?”
Piper spotted a few scattered papers and a text book on the dining table. “Not here. Jenna!” No one answered. “Out at Simon’s?” She checked her phone and spotted a text she’d missed. “Yep. She’s at Simon’s tonight.” Piper frowned. “She’s been spending an awful lot of time with him lately.”
