Grady took my hand as the hostess appeared, guiding us down the narrow aisle toward our booth near a roaring, crackling fireplace. The table was long enough to seat four people, but still somehow dainty with its white linen tablecloth, flickering tea candles, and delicate wine glasses. When I’d been here with Brock, we’d been seated in the dining area beyond the fireplace, where there were tables and no booths and less foot traffic.

I sat across from Grady, and when he ordered a bottle of wine, I thought that might be a good idea. During the drive here, I’d become oddly tense.

“I’m glad we finally made it,” he said. “I was so disappointed to have to push this back. I really wanted to see you.”

“I am so sorry about when I had to reschedule,” I said automatically. “The work dinner was a last-minute thing.”

“Tell me about it,” he requested with genuine interest.

So I did as the wine arrived and we placed our orders. When our food arrived, a chicken breast for him and a filet, of course, for me, I’d managed to shake the weird tension and found I was enjoying myself without having to down half a bottle of wine.

Grady was beyond nice. And he was smart. And kind.

I totally should kiss him tonight, I decided as I took a sip of my wine.

Candlelight flickered off Grady’s face as he picked up his glass of wine. “What are your plans for Thanksgiving?”

“I’m heading home to visit my family on Wednesday. Our offices close Tuesday evening and don’t reopen until the following Monday,” I explained, kind of shocked that Thanksgiving was next week. Holy crap, where had the time gone?

“That’s nice. You staying up there the whole time?”

I nodded as I chewed on a piece of tender steak. “I don’t visit my family as often as I should, so I’m going to spend the time off with them.” Which meant capturing Rhage and shoving him in the kitty carrier, which was as pleasant as plucking hair off my lady parts with rusty pliers.

“You doing any Black Friday shopping?”

I laughed. “No. My mom is the kind of woman who doesn’t even go to sleep Thursday night. She gets herself hocked up on caffeine and then goes and buys, well, mostly stuff for herself. I mean, she gets everyone gifts too, but I know half of those bags she’ll be bringing home are for herself.” I started to smile at the memory of Mom yelling at Dad to get the bags out of the car while I stood on the porch, trying to see if there were any Barnes and Noble bags.