The Vincent Boys (The Vincent Boys #1)(5)

Shaking my head I turned so I could look her in the eyes. “There is no one. I got strangled on my tea because you ask me such an insane question. Why would I cheat on Sawyer? He’s perfect, Grana.”

She made a ‘hmph’ sound and reached over and patted my leg.

“Ain’t no man perfect, baby girl. Not a one. Not even your daddy. Although he thinks he is.”

She always joked about Daddy being a pastor. He’d been a ‘hell raiser’ growing up according to her. When she’d tell me stories about him as a kid her eyes would light up. Sometimes I could swear she missed the person he used to be.

“Sawyer’s as perfect as it gets.”

“Well I don’t know about that. I drove by the Lowrys’ this morning and his cousin Beau was out cutting their grass.” She paused and shook her head with a big grin on her face. “Girl, there ain’t a boy in this town can hold a candle to Beau with his shirt off.”

“GRANA!” I swatted her hand, horrified that my grandmother had admired Beau shirtless.

She chuckled. “What! I’m old, Ashton baby, not blind.” I knew how Beau looked shirt-off and sweaty. I’d almost had a wreck last week when I’d passed the Greens’ and he’d been cutting their grass shirtless. It was hard not to look at. I’d told myself I had just been examining the tattoo on his ribs, but of course I knew the truth.

“I ain’t the only old woman looking. I’m just the only one honest enough to admit it. The others hire the boy to cut their grass just so they can sit at the window and drool.”

This was why I loved my Grana. Being with her always made me laugh. She accepted life for what it was. She didn’t pretend or put on airs. She was just Grana.

“I wouldn’t know how Beau looks shirtless,” I lied. “I do know he’s nothing but trouble.”

Grana clicked her tongue and used her feet to give us a good push. “Trouble can be a lot of fun. It’s the straight and narrow that makes life tedious and boring. You’re young, Ashton. I’m not saying you need to go out and ruin your life. I’m just saying some excitement is good for the soul.”

An image of Beau slouched down in the seat beside me in his truck last night, staring at me through his thick curly lashes, made my pulse rate increase. He was definitely more than a little excitement. He was lethal.

“Enough about boys. I have one and I’m not in the market for another one. How was your trip?” Grana smiled and crossed her legs. One high-heeled backless sandal dangled from her hot pink toenails. It was hard to believe she was my straight-laced father’s mother.

“We visited. Drank some whisky sours. Caught us a few shows at the theatre. That sort of thing.” Sounded like the usual trip to Aunt Tabatha’s.

“Did Daddy come by to check on you this morning?”

She sighed dramatically. “Yes, and he of course prayed for my soul. The boy has no sense of adventure.”

I smiled into my glass of iced tea. Grana was so much fun.

“You best not repeat that to him either. I have him over here enough, preaching at me.” She nudged my leg with hers.

“I never do, Grana.”

Grana gave us another push with her foot. “So, if you aren’t gonna go find yourself a tattooed sexy bad boy to spend your summer with, then you and I need to do something. Can’t have you cleaning the church every day. Where’s the excitement in that?”

“Shopping. We could always go shopping,” I replied.

“That’s my girl. We will shop. But not today. I have to unpack and clean this place up. We will make a date later this week. Just you and me. Maybe we can find us some fellas while we are out.”

Shaking my head, I laughed at her teasing comment. She really wasn’t a fan of Sawyer. She was the only person in this town who didn’t think he walked on water.

After making plans to go shopping with Grana, I headed back to the house. I’d managed to spend a good part of the day out of my bedroom. I could finish up the rest of the daylight hours with a good book.

Luckily, neither of my parents was home when I pulled into the driveway.

When Daddy was home, he would always come up with some job I needed to do at the church. I wasn’t in the mood to spend the rest of my day making sure all the pews had a hymnal, or wiping down tables in the Sunday school rooms. I just wanted to go read a steamy romance novel and live in the fictional pages for a little while.

The moment I stepped into my bedroom to change out of my clothes, which reeked of disinfectant spray and old people, my phone dinged, alerting me of a text message. Digging into my pocket, I pulled my phone out and stood staring down at the screen as a series of emotions ran through me.

Beau: Meet me at the hole

The hole was the small lake on the farthest part of Sawyer’s property. Beau wanted to meet me out there alone? Why? My heart sped up thinking about what it was Beau was planning. I shifted my eyes to the romance novel I’d been going to read and decided that an afternoon back in the woods with Beau Vincent would be more exciting. Guilt was somewhere inside me, trying hard to beat its way past the sudden wicked need to do something wrong. Before I could come to my senses and change my mind, I replied.

Me: Be there in 15

My heart hammered against my chest with nervous excitement, or maybe it was the fear of getting caught. I wasn’t really doing anything wrong. I mean, Beau was my friend—sort of. He was lonely too. It wasn’t like I was going to the hole to make out with him. He probably just wanted to finish the conversation we’d had in his truck last night. He was sober now. More than likely he just wanted to clarify that he hadn’t meant for me to take anything the wrong way. It wasn’t like we were going to go swimming together or anything.