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“It’s stupid.” She forced a laugh. “When you came over to the table, he thought he saw something between us. You know...sparks. Chemistry. I told him he was crazy, but he was sure he picked up some sort of jealousy vibe from you.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again. He was staring at the worktable in front of him, and that near-scowl had returned.
“Mike? Thatiscrazy, right?”
He blinked. “What? Oh...yeah. Totally.” He cleared his throat. “We’re just friends. Right?”
They stared at each other, and time seemed to come to a stop once more. His brown eyes were darker than usual. A vein jumped and pulsed in his neck. His jaw was tight, and he chewed on his lip again. She wanted to chew that lip, too.Focus, Zoey.They’d never had those feelings for each other before, but if they did...and acted on them...
“It’s not like it would be the end of the world,” she said, wincing that she’d said it out loud.
“Whatwouldn’t be the end of the world? Us together? Zoey, I...”
Something shriveled inside of her.Oh, God.She’d misread this whole situation. He didn’t want her like that after all. She swallowed hard. That was a good thing. Itwas.At the same time, it also hurt. But...she didn’twanta relationship with Mike. That could ruin everything they had.
“Forget I said that.” She waved both hands in front of her, rejecting the idea completely. “I told you I thought Mason was crazy. Some people can’t accept that men and women can be good friends without things turning...icky.”
His right brow arched high in amusement. “Icky?Is that what you think it would be like to have sex with me?” His mouth twisted. “Oh, shit. Forget I saidthat.I didn’t mean to bring sex into this.”
“I wasn’t thinking thesexwould be icky. I wasn’t thinking about sex at all.” Butnowshe was! “Look, we’re two red-blooded single people who probably haven’t had enough—” she couldn’t saysexout loud again “—ofthatin a while. But having...thatwith each other would be terrible.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t mean thesexwould be terrible. I’m sure we’re both competent at that after all these years.”
Mike’s eyes were almost smoldering now, and her skin went hot when he spoke, his voice rough and low. “I’m more than competent, Zoey. Trust me.”
Oh, I bet you are...
She cleared her throat sharply and busied herself putting the cap on the wine bottle and grabbing their glasses. Time to go.
“O-kay. This conversation has veered way off course, mister. We should have learned our lesson with that little discussion about boobs we had a few weeks ago. You’re my best friend, but you arenotthe friend I’m going to discuss my sex life with. And I sure as hell don’t want to hear about your...sexual prowess.” Except she suddenlydidwant to know all about that. In detail. Firsthand.
There was a beat of silence before he answered. “I gotta tell you... I think we’d be great together.”
She had no doubt of that. Her adrenaline spiked in both anticipation and fear, but reason took hold. “One great night wouldn’t be worth the risk, Mike. I value our friendship too much to screw it up by...screwing around.”
The heat in his eyes cooled, and she let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could remain the practical one while he was doing all that smoldering over there. He nodded.
“As usual, you’re absolutely right. I’d never want to ruin us just for some...well, you know.” He stood as she came around the table, then followed her to the door. “I’ll look into that zoning issue, but don’t lose any sleep over it.” And just like that, he sounded like her pragmatic friend again.
“Oh...thanks.”
Mike held the door open, and she had to brush against him as she walked by. She paused and glanced up, only to see him staring down at her. Damned if he wasn’t smoldering again. With his face right there above hers. She could push up onto her toes and kiss those lips. She was clearly losing her mind tonight. This wasMike. His mouth quirked up into a suggestive grin for just a heartbeat, then he pulled back and urged her past him. He seemed in a hurry to get to his car and away from her. Zoey waved and headed into the house.
It wouldn’t be Karen Schiff who would be making her lose sleep tonight.
CHAPTER TEN
VICKIESETHERcoffee cup down on the table very slowly. She didn’t want to overreact, especially since Hazel was only thirteen. But the girl had just dropped an interesting tidbit of information, and Vickie needed to know more. She kept her voice as casual as she could.
“So Mike McKinnon stopped by the other night, eh? Is Zoey repairing something for him?”
Hazel’s phone buzzed on the table, and she started to reach for it, then caught Vickie’s warning look. Phones were never allowed at the Pendergast table, but they were sitting in the Hartford kitchen right now, so the rules were fuzzier. Vickie had stopped by to drop off some Italian cookies Helen Russo had given her—far too many cookies for Vickie to go through. Hazel sat back in her chair, smart enough to leave the phone where it was.
“I don’t think so.” Hazel shrugged. “He stops a lot to talk to Mom. They’ve been friends forever.”
She wanted to ask Hazel to definea lot,but she didn’t. The girl had enough to deal with now that her dad was not only getting married, but also having a baby with Genna.
“Yes, they have. I remember your mom hanging out with Mike and Mary when they were way younger than you are. She was an only child, like you, and the McKinnons gave her a big, noisy family to hang out with.”
“I won’t be an only child for long,” Hazel reminded her.
