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“That’s totally for you to decide. It’s your heart, Mae. Listen to it.”
“What if he breaks it?”
“What if he doesn’t?”
Her pulse skipped with a combination of fear and excitement. “I hate you.”
“I love you, too. Bye.”
Mae heard the disconnect beep before she could respond and tossed the phone aside with a low, frustrated groan. She closed her eyes while listening to the drone of the motor in the backyard.
Sweet Lord, how she wanted him, but she didn’t have the first clue how to go about this—especially when she wasn’t buoyed by the wedding champagne courage. Should she give him subtle hints, or just come out and invite him to spend the night?
That seemed too forward. Too…too much like the other women he dated. Or hooked up with. Or whatever the hell it was he did. She didn’t want to be like them. She wanted to be different.
You are pregnant with his baby.
Yeah. That was definitely different.
Maybe she could offer to make him dinner as a thank you for the lawn. That could work. And then one thing could lead to another…
She sat up and shot to her feet. She needed to change her sheets. Two steps toward her bedroom, she swung back when she remembered her pile of clean underwear on the coffee table. Those definitely needed to be put away. Ian’s, too.
So, she loaded her arms and put all the laundry away, took five minutes in the bathroom to pull out her ponytail holder and fluff her hair, then hurried to her bedroom to strip the sheets. She was stretched across the bed to secure the far left corner of the fitted sheet when it dawned on her she didn’t even know what she had for dinner besides hot dogs and mac and cheese.
The sheet slipped from her hand, and she collapsed onto her stomach. Sea Breeze Linen fabric softener filled her senses as a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She rolled over onto her back to stare at the ceiling.
Who was she kidding? She wasn’t ready for this. She’d only worked up the guts to proposition Merit at the wedding because of the alcohol, but truth be told, she was so far out of practice—she wouldn’t be able to seduce her way out of a wet paper bag.
Chapter 13
Merit was almost done when he felt the first couple raindrops on his arms. He squinted at the gray clouds overhead, then gauged what was left of the yard to cut. Only three more passes. He was getting the sucker done.
He picked up his pace and made it halfway across the width of the lawn again when the skies opened up. After the warmth of the day, the cold rain was a shock, especially when he was drenched in seconds. The chill snaked down his spine and raised goose bumps on his arms.
A bright flash followed by a ground-shaking boom made him duck. Fucking A, that had to have hit something. He darted his gaze around the yard, expecting to see a tree going down somewhere—hopefully, not on him.
“Merit!”
Or Mae’s house!
He jerked around to see her standing at the patio door—unharmed, thank God.
“Get in here!” she yelled.
Didn’t have to tell him twice. He jogged the mower toward the backyard gate so he could head around front and put it away in the garage. Mae met him at the gate to hold it open, and by the time he passed her, she was soaked to the skin right along with him.
He shut off the machine and turned around to find her standing a few feet away, peering out at the downpour.
She flinched as a jagged bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and seconds later, thunder shook the house. “Wow, that’s loud.”
“And cold.”
She rubbed her arms as she glanced his way. But then she kept looking, her gaze sliding down the length of his wet body as water dripped from his hair to roll down his face. And just like that, he was warming up from the inside out.
She gave a tiny head shake, averted her gaze, and moved past him toward the house. “Come on. I’ll get you a towel.”
“Thanks.”
