Grace turned. A beautiful blonde woman dressed in an expensive summer dress and high heels stood watching them. The expensive sunglasses hid her eyes. Grace could tell by the tight line of her mouth the woman wasn’t happy to see them together.
“Hello, Sloan.” The blonde forced a smile. “I didn’t expect to find you here.” She placed her sunglasses on top of her head. She ran her brown-eyed gaze over Grace.
“I’m here helping Grace.” His voice held an edge of warning. It was then Grace knew who the woman was. She was Felicia, Sloan’s ex.
Ignoring Sloan, the woman stuck out her perfectly manicured hand to Grace. “Hi, Grace. I’m Felicia.”
She shook Felicia’s hand. “Of course you are.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could think.
“Excuse me?” Felicia frowned, marring her perfect forehead.
Grace smiled. “I knew who you were by your description.”
Felicia smiled and straightened her shoulders. “Are you visiting for the annual sale?”
“Actually, Grace just bought a house here. She’s shopping for furniture.” Sloan slid his hand to Grace’s lower back while keeping his gaze locked on Felicia. The protective gesture tugged at Grace’s heart.
Felicia’s eyes narrowed. “Really? I haven’t heard. I just got back from my trip. I guess I’ll have to get caught up on the latest gossip.”
“Didn’t know you left,” Sloan said dryly.
Grace chuckled before she could catch herself.
Felicia shot her a glare.
“We need to get going. Goodbye, Felicia.” Sloan guided Grace away without waiting for Felicia to respond.
“That’s your ex?” Grace mumbled and snuck a glance over her shoulder.
“I can’t believe I almost married that woman.”
“Me either. You two are totally different.”
“She wasn’t always like that. Growing up she was very outgoing and kind. That’s what drew me to her. After we got engaged things begin to change. She wanted things I couldn’t give her: expensive trips and designer clothes.”
“I’m sorry.” It hurt when someone you loved didn’t love you back.
“Don’t be. It was the first warning sign of the end of our relationship. Allison tried to tell me that Felicia was changing, but I didn’t listen. I was forced to face the truth when I found out about the affair.”
“Sometimes we don’t want to face the truth even though it’s staring us in the face.” She glanced away. “It’s very hard to admit that we were wrong about someone.” A lump formed in the back of her throat.
“Some of us are more hardheaded than the rest.” He chuckled. “That’s life. We live and we learn.”
Grace looked away, her throat tightening. “I guess we do.”
***
“Well, here we are.” Sloan stopped in her driveway and turned off the engine. Allison had called and let them know she was tied up and couldn’t get back to the sale. They’d spent the rest of the day shopping and loading his truck down with items. It was now well after dark, but the lonely porch light cast a soft comforting glow across the yard.
“I really appreciate you sticking around. I can’t believe how much stuff I was able to find.” She smiled, her eyes twinkling like stars against the cab light.
Something in his chest tightened. It had been a while since a woman had affected him with just a smile.
“Not a problem. Glad to help.”
They got out of the truck and walked around to the bed. He eased the tailgate down and climbed in and picked up a chair.
“Here, hand it to me.” Grace held out her hands.
He shook his head. “It’s too heavy.” He hopped out of the truck and carried the chair toward the house. “Come, unlock the door.” He called over his shoulder.
She hurried behind him and dug a key out of her purse. Unlocking the door, she walked into the living room. “Put it in front of the fireplace.”
He headed back to the truck just in time to see Grace trying to lift an end table.
“What are you doing? You’re going to hurt yourself.” He wrapped his hands across her waist and moved her out of the way. He picked up the table and started for the house and stopped. He turned just as she reached for another chair. “Grace, I’m serious. Stop. Just come show me where you want this stuff.”
“Fine.” She jumped down from the truck bed.
He was once again mesmerized by her long legs in tight jeans. The way she moved was naturally graceful, she was so in tune to her body. She definitely moved like a dancer.
After unloading the rest of the furniture, Sloan walked into the empty dining room. “You still need to get some furniture for this room.”
She shook her head. “I’m not putting furniture in here. I’m turning this room into a dance area.” She ran her hand across the yellow painted walls. “I’m hoping to find some mirrors that can line this wall and maybe put up a ballet barre. I was thinking maybe I could start teaching dance lessons here.”
“I don’t think you need to do that. The high school dance team’s instructor left and they are having trouble finding a replacement. Maybe you should apply there first.”
Her eyes widened and then she looked away. “I don’t know much about that kind of dance.”