Not For Me Read Online Free

finally forced out some words. “What else did he tell you?”
    “He told me about some of the things you built when you were younger. Like a train for a Lego competition and a very impressive snow fort.”
    Oh no . “What did he tell you about the snow fort?”
    “Not much. Just that it was in the local paper.”
    Yes, he and Callie had had a good laugh about that. Thankfully Jon hadn’t mentioned what Grant and Callie had done in the snow fort.
    “What were you afraid he might have told me?”
    Grant shrugged.
    “Okay. I won’t ask.”
    “I think you owe me a story now,” he said.
    A slow smile spread across Kristy’s face. So pretty. “I took the kitchen scissors to my sister’s favorite teddy bear when I was five because she wouldn’t let me play with her. I took out all the stuffing and left a mess of teddy-bear guts on her bed. We laugh about it now, and my parents love telling that story. But it’s not an embarrassing story, although I’m not sure yours was all that embarrassing either.”
    “You don’t—”
    “My brother caught me in a heavy make-out session with my boyfriend when I was fifteen. He came to tell me dinner was ready. When he opened the door to my room, he shrieked like a child. Embarrassing for both of us.”
    She was blushing and looking at the floor. Grant wanted to touch her arm like she’d touched his, but he didn’t trust himself not to get carried away. He definitely wouldn’t mind a heavy make-out session with her. In fact, he’d thought quite a bit about just that over the past week.
    Kristy had talked to Jon for fifteen minutes and heard all the crap that was normally reserved for meet-the-parents dinners, while he’d brooded on the patio. And she was still here. He wasn’t quite so nervous now.
    “What else do you want to know?” he asked. “I’ll try to do a better job of answering this time. But don’t tell me too much about Maya because I want to ask her all those questions myself.”
    Complete bullshit, of course. He didn’t want to go on a date with Maya; he wanted Kristy. He wanted to go out on the city’s highest rooftop patio and kiss her—it was nearly sunset—wanted to have her beneath him, wanted to wake up next to her in the morning.
    There was no way he’d like Maya more than Kristy.
    * * * *
    The pasta was delicious. It took Kristy about fifteen minutes longer than Grant to eat—she was always a slow eater, in part because she talked a lot.
    By the time she finished, she’d asked him a fair bit about his friends and job and interests. And he had this great way of listening like whatever she was saying was the most interesting thing ever, like he was paying attention to nothing but her.
    She’d just set down her fork when a man said, “Grant!” She turned to see a middle-aged couple walking toward their table.
    Grant jumped up and shook the man’s hand.
    “This is my friend Kristy,” Grant said. “Kristy, this is Samuel.” He turned to the woman standing beside Samuel. “And this lovely lady is your wife?”
    She nodded. “Miranda.”
    “You told me this place was good, so here we are,” Samuel said. A brief conversation about business followed. “I’ll let you get back to your date.” He winked at Grant.
    Grant didn’t correct him. “Wednesday. I’ll have it for you.”
    Kristy watched the entire exchange with interest: Grant seemed like he was putting on an act.
    “A client?” she asked, once Samuel and Miranda were out of earshot.
    “Yes. Sorry about that.”
    “No worries.” She cocked her head. “Why don’t you like working for other people?”
    He was silent, but he seemed to be considering what to say next, so she said nothing.
    “My dad was diagnosed with cancer several years ago,” he said at last. “At my old job, I didn’t have the flexibility in my schedule to go with him to appointments, that sort of thing. I didn’t like the bureaucracy and office politics either. Now I’m my own boss—I even have