He winced.
“Uh…” He looked down at the gauge in his hand, his confident expression morphing into annoyance. “Shit.”
“Defective capacitor,” they said at the same time.
He let out a deep sigh and stood up, a little more sheepish than he’d been a minute ago. “Thanks.”
“This machine will drive you to the edge and then poke you until you jump off,” she said with a genuine grin this time. “The pie will be safe—that’s what matters.”
“Maybe we could share a piece to make up for my being an asshole?” He rubbed the white towel in his hand against the back of his neck as his gaze moved down to her hand. “Or not.”
“Yeah,” Griff said from behind her, the sound of his voice making her heart speed up. “Not.”
Kinsey whipped around to see Griff standing a few steps away, his arms crossed over his massive chest and a look on his face that could only be translated to I’m-gonna-floss-with-your-bones.
What in the blue blazes was that all about? He didn’t know Todd and, even if Todd were real, there was no reason for Griff to go all territorial on someone else’s behalf.
Ugh. Men.
“Thanks for the capacitor tip,” the man said, already sinking back down behind the display case to finish the repair job. “I’ll remember that next time.”
Well, at least two good things had come out of this. One, the pies were saved. Two, Griff got to see how wrong he’d been about her. Did disasters fix refrigeration equipment?
“Just happy to help,” she said. She kept her smile in place but let it drop from her eyes as she lowered her voice so only Griff would hear. “See, cavemen not required here.”
Then she whirled around, chin held high, and walked straight into the bathroom, letting the door shut behind her without looking back at him even once.
But the temptation to see if he reacted to her calling him a caveman? Oh boy, it had her buzzing more than a shot from the jug of lightning water Meemaw put out for the grown folks during the Fourth of July fireworks.
Because as much as Griffin Beckett was sexy as sin, one disaster comment aside, what was far sexier was that he asked her questions and then listened to her answers. Not one time did he interrupt her or tell her she was talking too much or decide what she had to say wasn’t as important as something he wanted to say. Whether she talked about syrup or complex carbon bonds, that man had listening down to an art.
For a woman who was too often ignored for her words because of her looks, it was quite literally the sexiest thing in the world. The tatted arms and intense jawline were just whipped cream on his pecan pie.
Which was why she just had to ignore him. He was her best friend and soon-to-be roommate’s brother, and he thought she was an engaged disaster. So ignoring him was her only choice.
How hard would that be? It wasn’t like they’d be hanging out together.
Chapter Nine
Kinsey
By the time Kinsey and Morgan got back home—well, Kinsey’s temporary home until she could find one with an actual functioning bathroom not next to the oven—Kinsey had had all the Griff she wanted.
Liar.
The know-it-all voice in her head could just hush its mouth already.
So what if she’d enjoyed sitting across from him at brunch. It was a one-time-only meal. And he had big hands. If she would have ordered the colossal bacon, egg, and cheese bagel, she would have had to cut it in half or double fist it while Griff practically looked like he was eating those tiny little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but his hands were big, with long, thick fingers.
The man could definitely palm a gallon of milk.
It was distracting.
It put thoughts she had no business thinking in her head.
It was exactly the type of information she did not need to have about a man who labeled her a disaster the first time he’d set eyes on her—which was exactly why she’d forgotten all about him the second they’d walked out of the restaurant. Okay, definitely during the Uber across town to Morgan’s place. All right, fine, she was still thinking about him even during the tour of Morgan’s amazing apartment that took up half the top floor of the Hilltop Building and had amazing views of the harbor from every window they’d passed by so far.
She followed Morgan down the hall on the opposite side of the living room from Morgan’s room.
“So this,” Morgan said as she opened the door and walked through, “is your room.”
Okay. Now this zapped thoughts of Griff and his tattoos and his big hands and his shy grin right out of her head.
This wasn’t a room. It was a suite, complete with sitting area, separate bedroom, and a bathroom with a tub that had a view of the harbor. It. Was. Stunning.
“Morgan, I can’t stay here for free.” Meemaw had not raised her to take advantage of her friends.
“Why not? It’s just sitting empty otherwise,” Morgan said with a shrug. “Anyway, when Todd gets a free weekend, you’ll want to be able to have your couple space without me crowding in on you.”
Kinsey’s gut twisted up tighter than the thick braids Meemaw used to tie her hair into as a kid that could withstand a whole day of running around like a hoyden without a single strand coming loose. By the time she’d taken them out at the end of the day, her scalp had pulsed with relief. Eight-year-olds weren’t meant to have hair pulled back so hard it looked like they’d had a face-lift—any more than friends who opened up their hearts and their homes didn’t deserve to be lied to.
“Morgan, I have to tell you something.”
“Oh, this sounds juicy.” She clapped her hands together with glee and sat down on the black velvet love seat. “Tell me everything.”
Time to rip off the Band-Aid and just do it.
One.
Two.
Three.
“I’m not engaged.”
Morgan ran her hand over the smooth velvet as she nodded in agreement. “Right, it’s a pre-engagement situation.”
“No.” Kinsey sat down on the other end of the love seat, her guilt sparking like a live wire and making her entire body tense up with pain. “Todd doesn’t exist. I made him up.”
Morgan’s eyes went wide, then widened up some more when she let out a gasp. “Why?”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time?” Damn, saying that out loud had her cringing. What in the fuck had she done?
Taking a deep breath, she tried to get her mind straight and to list out some of the eighty million factors that had gone into her decision to fabricate Todd. “When I walk into a lab, I’m already working at a disadvantage when it comes to being taken seriously. I’m a woman in a male-dominated field. People take one look at me and decide at first glance that I’ve got to be lost. I’m younger than everyone else there. I’ve got this whole blond-bumpkin thing going on with how I look and my accent.”