| Chapter Eighteen |
| On Saturday, Grace and Mindy's apartment was transformed. The dining area had even been emptied to provide a dance floor; Grace would worry about the whereabouts of the dining table tomorrow. Today, her home was party central. In a completely respectable way, of course. Nothing MTV worthy, but Grace was having the time of her life. She'd even danced, albeit badly, with Mindy's new boyfriend, Jake. Justin seemed to be having fun too, which surprised Grace; she'd expected him to be bored and trying to find a way out, but he wasn't. Right now, he was deep in conversation with Mary from the second floor. Grace couldn't imagine what Justin could spend more than twenty minutes talking about with a 2nd grade teacher and mother of 2. "You're staring." Grace jumped a little when she heard Mindy's voice. "I'm not staring." With a shake of her head, Mindy glanced Justin's way, "Why don't you just ask him to dance and get it over with?" "I couldn't." She'd been waiting all night for him to ask her, but he hadn't. He'd only talked to her once, and that was only to wish her a happy birthday and have a brief conversation about the excitement of birthday parties. "If you don't, I'm going to do it for you," Mindy sounded completely serious, "You have 10 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7-" "This isn't fair," Grace sighed, "What if he says no?" With a grin, Mindy scanned Grace's appearance, "As if he could. You look like a sexy mama jahama. " Grace still wasn't sure about the description, but she was willing to admit that she did look nice. She thought her pantsuit looked better, not to mention it was much more comfortable, but according to Mindy, it sucked all the femininity out of her. She was definitely feminine tonight. A pink dress would do that to you. Mindy had done a good job finding a dress that unlike the one she wore to Justin's party, actually fit her and was right for her body shape. It kind of looked like the dress Baby wore during the final scene of Dirty Dancing but with sleeves; it was close enough that Grace couldn't help but hum "I've Had the Time of My Life" every few minutes. "So are you going to?" Grace bit her lower lip nervously; he couldn't turn down the birthday girl, could he? "I don't know." "Well, you better decide soon because he's coming this way." Following Mindy's gaze, Grace saw that it was true. He was headed right for them, looking extremely handsome as always. "Hi," he said when he reached them. Not sure of what to say, Grace said the first thing that came to mind, "This is my roommate, Mindy." She felt Mindy poke her in the back, "You've already introduced us," she said with a 'get with the program' look on her face, "If you two will excuse me, I have to find my boyfriend before he eats all the snacks." And before Grace knew it, she was gone. "Are you having a good time?" "Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun. Your neighbor Mary is a very funny woman." Grace didn't know Mary all that well, but she nodded anyway, "Yeah." "So are you going to dance with me or what?" He'd surprised her, but she was quick to recover. "Yes, sure. I have to warn you; I still suck at it." Grabbing hold of her arm, he led her over to the makeshift dance floor. "I'll just have to re-teach you then." He did re-teach her, but it didn't help. She was a natural born bad dancer. Maybe a part of her was doing it on purpose, so that he'd have to put his hands on her hips again, but he didn't. He was a perfect gentlemen. Darn him. They had danced for two songs when he looked at his watch and reluctantly said, "I should get going. I have to be up early tomorrow." Disappointed, she nodded, "I'll walk you out." "No, you don't have to. It's your party." Taking a page from his book, she grabbed his arm, "I insist. Besides, if I'm not there, who will protect you?" "My hero," he laughed, but allowed her to guide him. He did however insist on opening the doors. Once they were outside the building, he drew to a halt, "I can get to the parking lot by myself. I don't want you walking back by yourself." Grace was ready to argue, but she was almost positive he was more stubborn than her. Besides, he was being sweet. "Okay." He responded with a grin, "I like a woman who can take orders." "Just for that, I'm going to drive you home." "You're a very sassy woman, Gracie." She caught her breath; she'd always detested the nickname, but when he said it, it sounded beautiful. "It's one of my better attributes." He was laughing as his eyes swept over her. "I like your necklace." Instinctively, she reached for it. Mindy had told her to wear a necklace, but the only one she had was a silver chain with a pig pendant. "My niece gave it to me. Pigs are my favorite animals." Her stomach was doing flip flops. "You look beautiful tonight." The things he could do to her with only a few words. She'd been complimented on her outfit all night by men and women alike, but what she'd really wanted was to hear it from him. "Are you trying to fill your compliment quota?" "No, I just like seeing you blush." He smiled at her, which she returned. His eyes immediately fell to her dimple. If this was a movie, he would kiss her now. Grace wanted him to kiss her so bad that it hurt. She would give anything if he'd just- "Kiss me." Her mouth fell open. She looked around to see what crazy woman had said such a stupid thing. As she suspected, it was her. "Uh, uh. Ugh." Justin didn't say anything; he just stood there with wide eyes, watching her. "I didn't-I'm sorry," she could almost feel the tears. "Are you drunk?" If only. "No, just stupid. I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to say that out loud. I'm sorry." A tear fell down her cheek. If it was possible, she was even more embarrassed. ""Do you want me to kiss you?" Closing her eyes, she nodded but then quickly shook her head. "I don't know." She wanted him to leave, so she could find the nearest hole and move in with a groundhog. She was glad her eyes were closed because if they were open, it would have ruined the moment. She didn't know what was going to happen until she felt his lips gently brush against hers. His kiss was brief and more friendly than romantic, but it was still magical. Gasping, she opened her eyes in time to see him pull back. "Thank you," was all she could say. "You're full of surprises, Grace." He walked away, leaving her speechless. And smiling like a fool. |