“Okay, yes, I was doing that, but it wasn’t about you. Not technically.”

His eyes were the color of stormy midnight. At least that’s how she’d described them when she was a teenager. She’d written really bad haiku about his eyes and his mouth. She’d imagined how he would kiss her when he finally came to his senses and realized they belonged together. She’d even written poems to his various girlfriends-after he’d dumped them-commiserating with their pain.

Yes, my dear Jenny, I alone can understand, the magic of the moment, when he takes your hand.

Gracie placed her palm on her stomach where she could feel the acid churning. Most days she couldn’t remember where she’d left her car keys, but she could recall lines of horrible poetry written a lifetime ago?

“There’s something seriously wrong with me,” she muttered.

“I’ll second that,” Riley said.

She narrowed her gaze. “You’re not helping the situation. You know that? I know this looks bad, but here’s a news flash. I’m not here for you. My brother-in-law, Zeke, is supposed to be helping you with your campaign for mayor tonight. That’s what this is all about.” She waved the camera in his face.

He frowned. “You have a thing for your brother-in-law?”

“What?” she yelped. “No. Yuck. Of course not. My sister, Alexis, asked me to-” She pressed her lips together and turned away and started for the car-assuming Alexis hadn’t driven off in it after slinking away. “Just forget it.”

“Not so fast,” Riley said as he grabbed her arm. “You can’t show up like this, take pictures, then walk away. How do I know you haven’t put a bomb in my car?”

Gracie jerked free of his grip, then squared her shoulders before turning around to face him. “I never tried to hurt you,” she said as calmly as she could when what she wanted to do was run screaming into the night. This was so not fair. “When I had a crush on you, I tried to keep you from seeing your girlfriend, but I never actually hurt anyone.”