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Breathlessly, we arrive at the little closet at the same time and playfully push each other out of the way.
“Fine, fine. I cede. Besides, I don’t know where the games are stored exactly.” Matt steps away from the doorframe so I can locate the games. Candyland, Monopoly, oh cool! A puzzle.
“Hey how do you feel about puzzles?” I call out to Matt, my voice muffled by the full closet.
“What?” Matt leans his head into the closet so that our faces are mere inches apart. He’s so handsome with those piercing blue eyes, sculpted features, and mobile mouth which can be at turns generous or commanding.
I swallow, hard. I don’t have any space to scoot away from him so I have to control the overwhelming urge to kiss him.
“A puzzle?” I ask, hoping my voice comes out okay.
“Love them.”
“Great.”
“Great.” Matt grins that devilish grin, and I feel my insides turn to mush. He’s way too attractive.
“Here.” Matt reaches for the puzzle and our hands brush. It’s as clichéd as it comes, but I swear I feel my heart skip a beat the touch.
“Thanks,” I manage to choke out.
Matt backs out of the closet and I follow behind him. Taking a steadying breath, I close the closet and head back into the living room. Matt is standing still in the middle of the room, surveying the space.
“I’m not really sure where we could do a puzzle in here.”
He’s right. That first day after the fire, we’d each done our best to clean up what damage we could, including tossing the burnt chair and scrubbing the floor and carpet. But the entire area in front of the fireplace needs a deep cleaning, which is out of the question since we’re still stuck on the mountain.
“Kitchen table?” I shrug.
“That’ll work.”
We head into the kitchen and work together to clean off the table to make room for the puzzle.
“I think I’m going to have some wine. Do you want some?”
Matt winces.
“What?” I ask, feeling slightly defensive.
“Don’t take this the wrong way but do you have something besides pink wine?”
I giggle profusely. “You seemed to like the rosé okay yesterday!” I tease him.
Matt holds up his hands in defense. “I know, I know. But there’s only so much pink wine a man can consume before he feels his manliness start to disappear…”
“I highly doubt that you will ever lose any of your manliness.”
“Oh is that so? You think I’m manly?” A gleam comes into the alpha male’s eyes and I can’t help but blush at my boldness.
But the truth is yes, I think Matt’s manly. Standing in the kitchen, he’s all broad shoulders and smolder in his fitted red flannel shirt, and I can’t help but be attracted to him.
“Fine, I’m sure we have something besides wine around here.” I try to change the subject from Matt’s maleness. “My dad likes whiskey, there might be some in the – aha!” I pull a handle of whiskey out of the kitchen pantry. “Will this do?” I hand the nearly full bottle to Matt.
“That’ll do just fine.” He grins widely at me. “Ever had whiskey?”
I shake my head. “That’s a firm no.”
“You should try it. Never know what you like until you try it.”
Matt is talking about the beverage, but there’s almost another meaning behind his suggestion. Is he saying I should… I shake my head again. No, stop with all of these romantic ideas about your father-in-law.
“Maybe later. I think I’ll stick to my girly pink wine for now.” I stick out my tongue playfully and Matt howls.
“Suit yourself. It just leaves more for me.” With a wink, he pours himself a drink and we both settle into our respective chairs at the kitchen table.
We slip into an easy silence while we start to organize the puzzle pieces across the table.
“Okay, so do you cheat and look at the picture on the box while you go or do you try to build from memory?” I ask Matt.
“Cheat? First things first young lady,” Matt’s tone is teasing and I grin back at him.
“Sir?” I taunt back.
“It’s not cheating to look at the image. I mean, as a renowned architect I think I would know. There’s a reason we make plans and outlines.” He smirks and I can’t help but laugh.
“True, very good point,” I quip.
“That being said, the best architects know their material inside out, so no, there won’t be any cheating here.” With a wink, Matt takes the box lid with the puzzle picture, looks at it quickly, and then places it face down so neither of us can look at it.
“Hey, you may be a renowned architect but I’m just a lowly bookstore owner. I need the picture!” I reach for the box lid, but Matt playfully swats at my hand and then holds it between his two hands.
