How to Love Your Neighbour(51)

Falling into step beside him, she continued to browse, and for a minute he felt like they were a couple setting up house together. Something he’d never imagined doing with anyone. Giving it a second of thought now, he realized, everything she’d picked, so far, worked for him. Would they be compatible in other areas? One, for sure. But there were already others. This woman was special and if he couldn’t take it there with her, he wanted something else. Damn, Noah Jansen. Did you just grow up and decide to really be friends with a woman?

“You’re easy prey, Jansen. You think you know me,” she said.

Always look for the opening. His father’s words rang in his ears. He shrugged off the smidge of guilt for applying it to this moment. “Let’s change that.”

“What do you suggest?” She stopped in bedding.

“Every time we agree on something for the house, we take turns asking each other questions. Every time we disagree, we take turns sharing a secret no one else knows.”

Grace turned away from the comforters and stepped closer, tilting her head back. “What’s your game?”

It took actual effort not to brush the wisps of hair off of her forehead. “No game. I want to know you, Grace. Stranger, I want you to know me.”

She looked around, leaned in a touch farther. “You really think we can make this friend thing work?” She whispered it like they were conspiring.

He played along, glancing around, then giving her a wide-eyed nod. “I do.”

Her nose scrunched up. “Friends bring ice cream at any hour. Day or night.”

He wanted to laugh but didn’t. “Done.” Ignoring the couple walking past them, he took a turn. “Friends ask each other for help when they need it.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Okay. Friends hang out, have fun together. They go places together.”

“We’re out right now.” It seemed important to point that out.

“We’re working. That’s different.”

It was no hardship to spend time with her. “Anytime. We can go grab lunch and a beer right this second,” he said.

“It’s ten o’clock. You’re such a wimp.”

“Only when it comes to shopping. I promise.”

Grace stepped back and he missed the feel of her standing close. He shouldn’t, but as long as he didn’t act on it, things would be fine.

“You liked the gray towels I chose. I go first.” She turned, walked farther into the bedding section, and picked up floral-patterned sheets he did not like.

“Ask away, friend.”

Grace smirked. She was actually reading the information on the plastic covering. Fascinating. “I’ll ease you in. Where’d you go to school?”

Ha. He had this friendship thing in the bag. “NYU for business.”

She started to put the sheets in the cart, but he pulled it back. “What? They’re so pretty.”

“Nope.”

Grace scowled but said nothing as an announcement about a sale came over the speaker. When it finished, she said, “You’re just saying that to get a secret out of me.”

He laughed, moved around the cart, and grabbed the pale pink floral pattern that caught his eye. “These are nicer. I don’t love the color green in general. It’s dumb to have flowers be green when the leaves are green. It’s too much, you know?”

She stared at him like he’d grown an extra head. “We both said we didn’t like pink.”

He shrugged, liking that she remembered. “On a wall? No. Like this? It’s soft. Sexy. Sweet. It’ll be good for a guest bedroom.”

There was a look in her eyes he couldn’t decipher, but she took the sheets from him, their fingers brushing. Her slight intake of breath was the only sign she felt the flicker of heat, too. “They are pretty.” She sighed, set the sheets in the cart. “I need to spend some time thinking about how to make my grandparents’ house my own. I want to bring it back to life. I wanted to be there for so long but now that I am, I’ve barely done a thing.”

Every instinct in him had him stepping to her, pulling her into a hug, which clearly surprised her.

“Why are we hugging in the middle of Bed Bath and Beyond?”

He swallowed around the thickness he didn’t understand in his throat. “Because I like to hug. There. You got a free secret out of me. Cut yourself some slack. You’ve been busy.” The way her eyes went sad at the mention of her grandparents hurt his heart. He’d never felt that kind of connection to a place. Or wanted to.

Her slender arms wound around him. They stood like that, making feelings war inside of him. This woman was confusing the hell out of him. The only thing he knew with absolute certainty was that if ever a woman could tempt him to want something more—regardless of his own lack of faith in love—it would be the one in his arms. Anything less for Grace wouldn’t work. He couldn’t risk what he felt for her, this unknown desire to have her in his life indefinitely, for a night of pleasure. What else could he offer? Everyone he knew believed he had no staying power. No ability to commit.

By unspoken agreement, they stepped away from each other. When she picked up a gray comforter to go with the sheets, he nodded, then asked, “Why design?”

“I hated the cramped space of our various trailers so I spent my time rearranging what little furniture we had in different ways. Then I’d imagine how the space could look.”