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Trying to force myself to calm down, and not even sure why I was freaking out in the first place, I said, “Good. Okay. That’s good.”
Reaching out, Matt took hold of my hand and bringing it to his lips, pressed a kiss to my palm and looked at me for a long moment. “You okay?” Feeling my nerves settle as I returned his gaze, I nodded. “Perfect.” He stood up. “Now give me a quick kiss before Gabe gets out of his truck.”
CHAPTER16
Matt
Iworked alongside Gabe making repairs to a retaining wall without saying much, grateful that he left me to my thoughts. Said thoughts were more than a little chaotic. Hearing about Zara’s ordeal in New York with her ex-husband, I had a strong urge to get on the next plane there and visit him in prison. An even stronger urge, though, was to pull her into my arms and never let her go. But since she’d made it more than clear that long term wasn’t what she was interested in, I had to squash that feeling down, hard.
Added to all of that were the feelings stirred up by talking about Clarice. It had been years since I’d dredged up the past like that. I hadn’t even known Zara was aware of my ex-wife, but she’d shared with me, so it had seemed only fair to return the favor.
As I smoothed mortar along a brick, I found myself wondering what might have happened if Zara and I had met earlier in our lives, before our marriages. How different things might have been for both of us. But two steps down Speculation Street had me turning around and coming straight back to the present. I wasn’t interested in commitment, and neither, apparently, was Zara. I just had to take the present for what it was and deal with the rest later.
“I’d say we’re done here.”
“Agreed.”
“I’ll pack up, if you want to go and let Zara know we’re finished.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll touch base with Jake, see how he’s getting on with today’s job, then head in to say goodbye.”
“Okay,” I said again, standing and pulling my gloves off. Heading toward the house, I wondered how much kissing time I could squeeze in before Gabe finished talking to his brother.
I slid the door open quietly, slipped my boots off and stepped inside. Zara was at the kitchen counter, humming to herself as she chopped an onion and added it to a heated pan on the stove top. Immediately, the smell of frying onion hit me, making my stomach rumble.
I couldn’t explain it, but something about watching her in the kitchen pushed my buttons in the best possible way. So natural, so relaxed, so capable. It was hot as hell. I started to feel like a creep, watching her when she obviously didn’t know I was there, so I cleared my throat and in my best National Geographic documentary voice said, “And here our cameras capture a chef in her natural environment. Watch how she expertly stirs the pot—”
She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes dancing. “Sounds like you’re the one stirring the pot, mister.”
I chuckled, moving in behind her and pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. She tensed up immediately, turning to look at the sliding door to see if Gabe was there. “He’s on the phone with Jake.”
Turning back to me, she wound her arms around my neck. “Kiss me again, then.”
“I feel like we’re a pair of naughty teenagers.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I know I’m being weird.”
“Hey, it’s fine. I was only joking.” I cupped her face and gently brushed my lips over hers, wanting so much more than just that chaste kiss, but knowing there was no time.There was never going to be enough time to kiss her as much as I wanted, I suddenly thought, but kept the idea to myself. I stepped back quickly as Bess appeared on the patio, knowing that meant Gabe wouldn’t be far behind.
And indeed, a few seconds later, he slipped his boots off at the door and walked in to join us. “Wow, the kitchen looks great.”
“Yeah, thanks, I’m pretty happy with it. I think Lucy was right with the color scheme.”
“Don’t you dare tell her that. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Zara giggled at me. “I won’t, I promise.”
Resisting the urge to kiss her, I said, “What are you cooking? It smells amazing.”
“Slow braised pork rib ragu. A Ruby Winstead specialty.” A strange look passed over her face. “My hands were itching to cook again for some reason, and that hasn’t happened for a while, so I thought I’d better go with it.”
“That’s great. Maybe it’s the new kitchen,” I said, smiling.
“Well, I’ll get out of your way and let you enjoy it.” Gabe started pulling his boots back on.
“Oh, please don’t do that! I’ve made way too much and it’s so close to dinner time. I was hoping you both could stay and have some. I’m making cheese grits to go with.”
