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He started to lean forward, as if reading her hesitancy for acceptance.
No.
No. She shook her head emphatically. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t play with fire like that, not with her emotions. Not with his. Not when she knew nothing could ever come of it. She had to be rational.
“I’m sorry, Dominic.” This time she turned toward the kitchen area, needing to put distance between them. “It just wouldn’t be a good idea.”
He sighed heavily and gave her a wry smile, tinged with sadness. “You’re the boss.”
Needing to focus on something other than Dominic, she pressed the lids down over the food cartons. In a few minutes, the food was back in the bag and the empty beer bottles discarded in a recycle bin in the corner of the room. She looked around her and outside at the dark skies again. A darkness that seemed to match her spirits.
He followed her gaze outside. “Don’t think it’s going to let up. Might as well make a run for it.”
By the time they reached the truck, they were both soaked through. Even the heat blaring from the truck as they wound their way back down the canyon couldn’t warm the chill settling in her bones.
Over her heart.
An overwhelming sense of sadness crept over her.
When they pulled up in her driveway, she was trying to think of something to say to ease the discomforting silence that had surrounded them for the past half hour.
“I think I’ll call it a day. I just have a few things I need to grab, and I’ll be out of your hair,” he said and pushed the truck door open.
Dominic already had the front door open and was starting up the stairs by the time she reached the threshold. Oscar darted in and nearly tripped her.
“You hungry, kitty?” She flipped on the lights and sidestepped the persistent cat on her way into the kitchen. She could hear Dominic overhead.
This is what she wanted. This was smart. This was protecting both of their hearts.
But…it had felt nice being held, even briefly, in his arms. And then there was the hot, pulsating need his kiss had stirred that, even now, standing before the hideous blue wallpaper of her kitchen, hadn’t diminished.
What would it be like, to be with him?
Wonderful. Mind-blowing.
God. Was she being foolish? Being with Dominic made her feel so…alive. Vibrant. Wanted.
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The unmistakable sound of his boots trudging back down the stairs told her he was done. He was leaving. She had to go out there and see him again. Say good-bye. It would be weird if she didn’t. Would he see the doubt in her eyes? The crumbling of her earlier resolution?
He stood there. Staring at her, his arms laden with his stuff. “I’ll be back tomorrow to get started on priming the walls in the bathroom, not to mention the kitchen, since your cabinets could be arriving any day.”
She nodded. He looked like he was already over it. They could have been discussing going to a movie, not making love, for all the effect her denial seemed to have on him. “Let yourself in if I’m not here, since I might go see my grams a little earlier than usual,” she said and opened the door for him. The pungent, damp air rushed against her face. “Well, good night. And thanks for showing me your house. It’s beautiful.”
“’Night, Kate,” he said and nodded, his face now cast in shadows as she stood on the porch.
Stay was what she really wanted to say.
Instead, before she could change her mind, she pushed the door closed behind him and leaned against it for support. The sound of the truck door creaking open and slamming shut caused a deep ache in her belly.
What she needed was a long, hot bath. That was safe.
The door pounded at her back, and hope and terror both burgeoned in her heart.
Steady.
But her hands trembled as she opened the door.
