“You did this so you could ask me out?” I nervously toyed with my skirt. “That’s an expensive bouquet of flowers.”
He grinned. “You need out of this place, Elisabeth. And I’m not just talking the financials.” Dipping his head forward, he brushed his nose with mine. “You’re hiding.”
“So are you,” I countered, but my voice was weak.
“I was in the beginning. But, now, I only come back because of you.” His lips swept mine, but I didn’t reciprocate.
I wanted to though. Or, more accurately, I wanted to want to.
Jon was a good man. He’d slowly become my best friend over the last six months. And isn’t that the foundation of a strong relationship? God knows that’s not how it had been with Roman. And look where that had gotten us.
With Roman, he’d proposed approximately five hours into our first date. I laughed and told him he was insane. But those silver-blue eyes and that wicked grin made me breathless for the first time in my life. Our relationship was based on an overwhelming desire and an unexplainable need for one another.
It had been nearly two years since we’d last spoken, and I still felt the invisible strings binding us together. I couldn’t explain my pull to that man any more than I could explain why I didn’t feel it with Jon.
But maybe this was exactly what I needed. Something new and fresh but without the risk of the all-consuming kind of love I’d felt for Roman.
It didn’t have to be like that with Jon. Hell, it had taken him months to even ask me out.
This was different.
Different could be good.
I needed different.
“Okay,” I murmured, opening my lids with a newfound resolve.
“Okay?” A mixture of relief and hope danced in his gaze.
“Okay, I won’t freak out about the bathroom.” I paused and shyly glanced to the side. “And okay, I’ll let you take me out.”
A wide, white smile split his mouth. “Okay, then.”
I abruptly stepped away from him and lifted a single finger in the air. “But! I’m paying you back for this.”
“I don’t want your money. I was trying to do—”
“No arguments. When I sell the house, I’m paying you back. I hope you kept receipts.”
He smirked. “I thought you said you weren’t going to freak out?”
“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. And you better agree to my caveat before I change my mind about you taking me to dinner at Harper’s, too.”
His tipped his head, his lips twitching as he asked, “Harper’s?”
I motioned a hand around the bathroom. “You can’t ask a girl out with a ten-thousand-dollar bathroom and not expect to take her to a fancy restaurant for dinner. That would be false advertising. You’ve set the bar. Now, let’s hope you live up to it.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Harper’s it is, then. And it wasn’t ten grand, but I’ll let you pay me back for the materials only.” He pointed over my shoulder. “Except for the shower. That’s my gift to you.”
I smiled and extended a hand in his direction. “Deal.”
He stared at my hand for several seconds before clapping it and giving it a hard tug, dragging me in for a hug.
It was nice. His arms wrapped around me, securing me against his hard body as he stroked up and down my back.
So nice that I momentarily lamented the fact that I felt absolutely nothing in return.
It was just past seven when I got home from the old Victorian. Jon and I had stayed working on the guest bathroom that now looked like a hellhole compared to the master. Jesus, I couldn’t believe he’d pulled that renovation off while I’d been out of town. I also couldn’t believe I’d agreed to go on a date with him.
Shaking my head at myself, I tossed my keys in the basket and shut the front door. Loretta came barreling into the room as fast as her tiny legs would carry her.
“Hey, crazy girl,” I cooed, bending down to give her the attention she demanded. It was rare that I went to the other house without her, but we’d just gotten back from a trip to Virginia to see my parents. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. After an eight-hour car ride, we both needed a little space.” I smoothed the short, gray hairs on the top of her head down.
She licked my face then wiggled from my arms. I put her back on the floor, and she immediately pranced to the back door, watching me over her shoulder the whole way.
“All right. All right. Go play,” I said, sliding the back door open.
She’d missed her freedom while we’d been staying at my parents’ place. It backed up to a lake, and I was terrified she’d get busy chasing one of the ducks, fall in, and drown. Poor pooch hadn’t gotten a single minute off the leash over the last week.
After closing the back door, I began sifting through the stack of mail.
Bill. Bill. Bill. Advertisement. Chain letter?
I knew this because it had the words chain letter in handwritten block letters on the back of the envelope.
I smiled to myself as I ripped it open.