Chapter Fifteen #2
I refused to engage. I stalked across the attic and began searching the rest of the space.
Distraction. I needed a distraction stat.
If Gramps had put that duffel up here, then there must be more.
I found a box of books in the corner and squatted down to flip open the lid.
Inside was an old set of Louis L’Amour westerns.
I plucked one out and held it up. I tried to make my voice sound breezy and casual.
Flustered. Me? Nope, nope, nope. “Was Gramps a reader?”
“Yes, but he was more of a science fiction type of guy.” He stood and walked toward me.
“Not military thrillers?” I absolutely did not care what his Gramps read, but I needed to make my embarrassment fade and I was certain small talk this boring would do it.
“No, he said he’d had enough of the military to last him a lifetime, but if you threw a space cowboy at him, he was all over it.” He crouched beside me.
“Pops only read nonfiction.” I stared into the box as if the musty old paperbacks were fascinating. “Biographies, histories on the Civil War, you know, light reading.”
Simon still had the photo in his hand and was studying it. He glanced from it to me and said, “Your Pops was a real looker, too.”
My breath caught in my chest. I didn’t know what to say, so I said the same thing to him that he’d said to me. “I don’t know about that.”
His small smile gave way to a grin and the same dimple he shared with Gramps deepened when he said, “I do. You look just like him.”
I lowered my head. I didn’t know if he was trying to make me feel better about embarrassing myself or if he was just teasing me. Either way, there was no avoiding him when he gently cupped my chin, turning my face to his.
“You have his big blue eyes and his smile, Spencer. It’s like a blast of sunshine, all warmth and light.” He ran his thumb over my lower lip and I stopped breathing.
“Careful, O’Malley, that kind of talk could go to a girl’s head and she might…”
“Might what?” He leaned closer until we were just inches apart.
“Kiss you,” I whispered, pressing my mouth against his.
This was a terrible idea on so many levels and I was about to throw it in reverse and play the whole thing off as silliness, but then he kissed me back. And it was not just him pressing his mouth to mine, either.
He cupped the back of my head and held me still while his mouth wooed mine with gentle persuasion and a tenderness that made me melt against him. Without breaking the kiss, he shifted out of his crouch, pulling me with him until we were kneeling on the floor, our bodies pressed together.
The feel of his muscle-hardened chest against me made me emit a low moan in my throat.
It had been a minute since I’d had any sort of close physical contact and I felt positively starved for affection.
Simon slid his mouth across mine and I parted my lips, inviting him in while I moved my hands up his chest, across his shoulders, and into his thick wavy hair.
It twined around my fingers just as it had the night of the bat incident.
Simon broke the kiss to run his mouth down the side of my neck, which I arched into. The hum of desire between us was making my entire body throb and not even remotely concerned that we were in a very dusty attic.
Just as I reached for the hem of his T-shirt so that I could run my fingers along his skin, a mournful howl sounded from the floor below. I tried to ignore it, but Dude had clearly run out of patience and either needed to go out or just wanted reassurance that we were okay.
Simon leaned back and blew out a pent-up breath. He tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear and said, “It’s a good thing I love that dog.”
“Same,” I said. I popped up to my feet and crossed the attic.
The man said he loved my dog. I’d never had a guy say that before.
Most of my hookups had tolerated Dude—he is a lot of dog—at best. It felt like this was significant but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
I didn’t do relationships and I wasn’t prepared to get our lives too entangled.
Yeah, like owning a house together wasn’t entanglement.
I scurried down the ladder as if I were making a getaway.
Dude jumped to his feet when I landed in the hallway.
He hurried down the stairs to the back door and it was clear he needed to go out.
His timing had never been better. We stepped out onto the deck and into the sweet morning air.
I was relieved to discover there was a slight chill from the night before.
My skin was hot and I felt all aflutter on the inside.
This was not good. I’d known Simon for only a few weeks and we were at odds about the house.
Maybe he was just flirting with me to try to get me to change my mind about selling.
He had a pretty enough face to sway a girl into making bad decisions. Ack!
“Come on, Dude!” I ran across the overgrown lawn to the dock. If I needed to plunge myself into the water to cool my overheated reaction to such a small interaction with that man, then clearly I had gone without sex for far too long and it wasn’t fair to put that on Simon.
As I strode along the wooden boards, feeling the dock sway beneath me, I rested my hand on Dude’s back and took bracing gulps of air. I wasn’t going back inside until my head was clear and all traces of my attraction for Simon were expelled.
My ex-husband had done a number on me, of that there was no question.
It had been more than five years since our divorce and I had yet to have a relationship of any substance.
It was definitely a me problem, but I wasn’t going to jeopardize keeping Pops’s house over regular sex with a hot guy who might be just as manipulative as my ex-husband. Once bitten, twice shy, and all that.
“Spencer!” I turned to see Simon jogging down the dock toward us.
The wooden planks rocked under the force of his stride and I braced my feet wider.
Dude left my side to run at Simon in greeting.
This time, Simon was crafty enough to have brought one of Dude’s toys.
He flung the hard rubber ball up onto the lawn and Dude sped past him to go after it.
Simon continued down the dock toward me while Dude searched the high grass, pouncing here and there as he tried to find the orange ball. I couldn’t decide if Simon’s walk was predatory or not. It was definitely determined. He stopped just a few feet from me and said, “Hey.”
“Hey.” I had no idea what else to say. Were we going to acknowledge what happened in the attic or not?
I’d already made things weird by inadvertently calling him “hot” and initiating the kiss.
I was not going to risk making it worse.
I’d have to throw myself into the channel and hope it pulled me out to sea if I did.
“I’m sorry if I got carried away. I think your compliment went to my head.
” Simon met my gaze and held it. His shy smile was self-deprecating when he continued, “I shouldn’t have touched you.
It was crossing a line, but it’d be a lie to say I don’t find you attractive, Spencer.
That being said, I can absolutely respect your boundaries and you don’t have to worry about me harassing you or making you uncomfortable in any way. Again, I’m truly sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not. And besides, I kissed you first.” Was that my voice coming out all breathy? Shiiiiiiit.