Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Cleaning, painting, decorating, and furnishing. Maybe a group could go shopping for supplies while another painted and yet another cleaned ahead of them. That would be the fastest route.
Fiona and Alice had both agreed to come by in the morning and head over to the cottages with them to take a look at the garden and the furnishings.
It was so sweet listening to him talk to his sisters. He obviously cared about them both very much, and in the same way that he and his grandmother had teased each other, he and his sisters teased each other, too, but always with a smile and laughter and a foundation of unconditional love and respect. She felt that between all of the Sullivans. It was the same relationship she had with her mother. The same relationship that she’d envisioned for herself and the family she had once planned to have.
Throughout the evening, even though his attention should have been elsewhere as he spoke on the phone, she couldn’t help but feel that he was looking at her differently than he had before. A little longer. A little deeper. Sometimes she even thought she saw his gaze lower to her lips, as though he was thinking about kissing her.
Just the thought of it made her own lips tingle. That first time had been her first kiss, and she remembered it vividly. Remembered how it had felt. And now she couldn’t seem to stop wondering what would it be like to kiss him again. As an adult instead of an awkward teenage girl.
Not that she didn’t feel awkward around him, because the truth was she often did. Especially when he was looking at her this way. She dropped her gaze to their notes and pretended to be busily looking at them, even though the words were swimming before her eyes.
You could kiss him, said the voice inside her head.
The thought startled her. Well, it was true that she didn’t need to wait around for him to kiss her. This was the twenty-first century after all, and she was just as empowered as he was to make the first move, but it was still a surprising bend for her mind to take. Wouldn’t she be setting herself up for heartache if she kissed him?
How could she have forgotten her vow? No men. No men meant No. Men. How difficult was that for her heart—and her body—to understand? It was safer this way. It was easier just to go about her life knowing that she wasn’t risking any further emotional entanglements with a guy.
Just one kiss. What could that possibly hurt?
She was still fighting an internal battle with herself when he scooted up out of the seat. “I’m going to put another log on to keep us warm.”
She knew another way they could stay warm, her brain now running off before she could stop it. Her cheeks flushed, as though he could hear what she was thinking. “That’s a good idea.”
He was still up feeding the fire when a song from high school came on that she hadn’t heard in a very long time—Pink’s “Get the Party Started.” As the killer beat snuck right into her very being, her feet began to tap.
“I can’t believe you have this on your playlist,” she said.
He’d connected his phone to the wireless speaker, and they’d been listening to his playlist throughout the evening.
“Of course I do,” he said with a smile that was so inherently sexy it warmed her all over. “This is a classic.”
She laughed. “I’m not sure many people would agree with you on that one. Although the truth is, every time I hear this song, I can’t stop myself from dancing.”
He shot her a look tinged with a hint of challenge. “So what’s stopping you tonight?”
She’d never been able to resist a challenge. And her hips were swaying beneath the table.
What the heck. They were just friends, right? And with any friend, she would have jumped up and danced without caring what she looked like or whether she seemed foolish. She just would have had fun.
She scooted out off the bench and let her body move to the music. Of course she had to sing along too. Who wouldn’t? The next thing she knew, they were both dancing in the middle of the tiny living room of his houseboat. He cranked up the music, and they laughed as they shimmied around each other, bumping hips every once in a while, no different than she would have with a girlfriend.
At least, that’s what she told herself.
She grabbed a whisk and pretended it was a mic. He did the same with a slotted spoon. They sang to each other as they danced. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun.
She was out of breath when the song ended, and a new one started to play. From fast and rocking to slow and crooning. “Fallin” by Alicia Keys.