Good Night, Gracie. Kristin Gabriel

Carol Ann and Mitzi would never appreciate his inner qualities.

      Which meant she’d be crazy to miss this opportunity to take her friendship with Gilbert to the next level.

      Refreshed and resolved, she walked out of the restroom and into the ballroom. She looked toward the atrium and saw Gilbert already seated at a table. Sandra stood on the other side of him, leaning just far enough in his direction to give Gilbert an R-rated view of her surgically bloated breasts.

      “We were just talking about you,” Sandra trilled as Gracie approached the table.

      “Really?” She took a chair right next to Gilbert, then smiled up at Sandra. “You’re such a dear. Thanks for keeping Gilbert company while I was gone. I can take over from here so you can go have some fun.”

      Disappointment flashed in Sandra’s pale blue eyes, but she hid it with a wide smile. “It was my pleasure. I’ll see you two later.”

      “Bye,” Gracie said, watching Sandra turn and head in the direction of another lone male. Then she reached for her champagne, suddenly aware that Gilbert might have been enjoying Sandra’s little peep show. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

      “You’re amazing,” he said, turning to look at her. “You got rid of Sandra, but did it in such a polite way that she thanked you for it.”

      “That’s called Southern manners. Also known as slopping sugar. Surely you haven’t been away from Texas for so long that you don’t remember how it works?”

      He smiled. “I guess I just needed a refresher course. I’m a long way from home.”

      “Is Boston really so different from here?”

      He met her gaze. “It’s like another world.”

      When he looked at her like that, Gracie felt like they were the only two people in the ballroom. She found herself wishing she could read his mind. That she could know for certain this desire sizzling inside of her wasn’t completely one-sided.

      “By the way, I want to apologize for never responding to your last e-mail,” he said. “I’ve been having some computer problems.”

      That made her feel better. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure you’d be here tonight.”

      “I should have called you,” Gilbert admitted. “But I wanted it to be a surprise. I hope you don’t mind.”

      “Not at all.” Gracie drained her glass, sensing that it was now or never. If she didn’t make her move, she’d chicken out. But despite that she’d rehearsed this moment a hundred times in the last few days, Gracie couldn’t make herself say the words. Coming face-to-face with Gilbert, a man she didn’t even recognize anymore, was completely different than propositioning his picture in the yearbook.

      So she settled for her backup plan.

      “You’re full of surprises lately,” she said, setting the empty glass on the table. “I love the present you sent me.”

      He arched a dark brow. “Present?”

      “Last week. The video.” Gracie reached into her purse and pulled it out, almost spilling the condoms onto the floor. She hastily stuffed them back inside, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

      Gilbert didn’t say anything, making her even more nervous.

      “I brought it along in case the reunion got boring and we wanted to bail out and go watch it together,” Gracie said, aware she was talking too fast. “You know, like old times?”

      She wanted to sink into the floor. It sounded so lame. And transparent. They weren’t in high school anymore. Gilbert spent his Saturday nights in clubs now, not watching old reruns on television.

      His silence stretched into an eternity. Then he took the videotape out of her hands. “How about watching it right now? I think I have a VCR in my hotel room. I bet we can even order a pizza from room service.”

      “Pepperoni?” she said, relieved that he hadn’t rejected her offer. That’s when Gracie realized just how much this night with Gilbert meant to her. She’d been alone for so long.

      He grinned. “Is there any other kind?”

      She looked around the crowded ballroom. “Would it look bad if we left this early?”

      He tipped her chin up with one finger until her gaze met his. “I’m looking at the only person I came here to see.”

      Gracie’s breath caught at the raw desire she saw in his brown eyes. So maybe the attraction wasn’t one-sided, after all. That very real possibility both excited and terrified her at the same time.