“Me neither.”
“I mean, seriously,” she pressed, a teasing note in her voice. “I hear Andy was very involved in that decision. So how on earth did you wind up with the C?”
“Maybe your brother is starting to come around on me.”
Gracie grinned. “Maybe. And perhaps pigs will start flying any day now.”
I laughed, feeling miles better than I had a few short minutes ago. Part of it was the change in Josie’s mood but a lot of it was just being close to Grace again, chatting and teasing just like we always used to do.
It didn’t hurt that she looked particularly gorgeous today. She was dressed casually but on Gracie, casual looked damn good. Her tank top was faded, some restaurant logo on the front, but it showed off her bare arms. They were a lot tanner than I would have expected. Gracie had always been pale. Maybe she spent more time outdoors now that she lived in Texas.
At any rate, I was very thankful for the day’s heat when my eyes flicked down to her legs. Her jean shorts were tiny and I was suddenly assaulted by the memory of Gracie hanging out at the lake with some of our class on the last day of junior year. I had nearly swallowed my tongue when she slipped out of her sundress to reveal a solid green one piece. It was probably the most modest swim suit out of any of the girls at the beach that day, but on Gracie, it had been unspeakably hot. The memory of her in that swimsuit had fueled most of my spank bank sessions for the entire summer.
God, I had made a fool of myself that day, showing off on the volleyball court and in the water, anything I could think of to get her to look up from her book and pay attention to me.
“Daddy?” Josie said, and I snapped my eyes away from Grace’s legs to see all three of them staring at me, perplexed expressions on their faces. Shit, I had totally zoned out checking out my daughter’s teacher’s legs.Nice parenting move, jackass.
“Are you guys heading that way?” I asked, trying to play it cool and pretend like my eight-year-old hadn’t just caught me leering at her teacher.
“That was the plan,” Grace said and I realized that her cheeks had gone a little pink. She had definitely noticed me staring at her. I could only hope that was a good blush, and not an uncomfortable one.
“Us too. Let’s walk together,” I suggested, half expecting her to come up with some excuse. Instead, she smiled, that same shy smile I used to daydream about.
“Sure. That would be nice.”
“Come on,” Elliot called to Gracie. “There are some really cool statues up here.” Josie gave me a questioning glance and I nodded at her, giving my silent permission to run on ahead with her new friend.
“Do you come here a lot?” I asked, then felt like kicking myself. Was I seriously resorting to lame cliches now?
“I do,” Grace said. “It’s one of my favorite places in the area.”
“When did you move to Austin?”
“I’ve been here six years now,” she said. “I followed Andy down when he moved here for business.”
“I always expected him to end up in Silicon Valley or something,” I said. “Isn’t that where most of the tech giants are?”
“Andy said the market was too saturated there. He saw more room for growth in Austin.”
“Always a trend-setter, your brother.”
She chuckled softly and we lapsed into a comfortable silence as we walked up the trail. Up ahead of us, Josie and Elliot had stopped to look at something on the ground.
“She’s doing well so far,” Grace said softly, and I wondered if she had read my mind. “She’s still a bit shy with some of the kids, but she’s made a few friends.”
“I’m glad. She was really nervous to be at a new school.”
Grace was quiet for a moment, but I got the sense she wanted to say more. Finally, she cleared her throat. “I do notice that she seems sad sometimes. She has a tendency to stare out the window during quiet work time, and she sometimes looks a little…lost.”
Fuck. I hated thinking about her that way. I knew exactly what Grace meant. How many times had I watched Josie stare out the window? Lost was exactly the way I would describe her expression.
“It’s been hard on her,” I said, my voice rough. “The move and…leaving her mom. It’s been really hard.”
Grace made a sympathetic noise. “That would be tough on any kid.”
I nodded. “She’s been lashing out at me quite a bit. I think…I think she blames me.”
A soft hand brushed across my forearm, startling me with the hot shock that seemed to race across my skin. “She’s crazy about you, Liam,” Grace murmured. “I could see it the first minute I met her.”
