Page 5 of The Mad Marchams

Colin put his beer down. “You’d do that?”

“Sure.” She shrugged. “I’ve hardly had much chance to do tourist stuff myself. As I said, I’m always working,”

He sighed “Ditto.”

“It sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does.” His blue gaze fixed on her face. “I’ve spent the last five years trying to prove I can hold down a job and be a responsible adult. But sometimes I get tired of seeking approval I’m fairly certain will never come.”

“Family?” she said sympathetically.

“How did you guess? My father—” He broke off and smiled. “I don’t want to bore you with all that.”

“Don’t worry, I get it. I’m a total ‘approve of me, notice me’ addict myself.”

“Pathetic, isn’t it?”

They smiled at each other in complete accord.

“I’m also scared of letting people down,” Mabel couldn’t believe she’d said those words aloud, but who else could she say them to? Her team? The investors? They’d panic if she didn’t appear her usual quiet, confident self.

He grimaced. “Everyone expects me to let them down. It’s my own fault, but it makes everything so damn hard.” He took a slug of beer. “I think we both deserve a few days off.”

After the food arrived, Mabel wolfed down what she’d ordered and then finished Colin’s sweet potato fries when he decided they weren’t really his thing. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt such a connection with someone who wasn’t directly involved in her field. Scratch that. When did she ever talk to anyone who wasn’t involved in tech? Geekdom was her world and flirting with charming British men wasn’t. She wasn’t sure if she liked being so far out of her comfort zone or quite how to handle it. Colin was so different from Joss—her one and only boyfriend….

She almost choked on a chip. Colin was so far out of her league that he might as well have been a different species. But he made her laugh, he had an interesting perspective on life, and he gave her one hundred percent of his attention, which was a novelty after dealing for years with typical, lovable ADD software engineer types. She also sensed that beneath the easy charm and the cute accent was a complex man.

Puzzles and layers had always intrigued her, especially those that hid meaning beneath interesting façades.

They had another beer, and eventually, she decided it would be a good idea to head home. She rose to her feet. “If I’m taking you sightseeing tomorrow morning, I’d better get some rest tonight.”

He stood and gave her a smile. “I’ll walk you back.”

The prospect of seeing him again was making her ridiculously happy and it wasn’t just the effect of two beers. Colin held the door open and they went out into the evening’s lingering heat. He drew her arm through his as they walked the short distance to her apartment.

At the exterior security door of her building, Mabel turned and smiled up into his eyes. “Thanks for a great evening,”

“No, thank you for taking pity on a poor stranger.” He hesitated and then cupped her chin, his thumb tracing her jawline. “Would you mind terribly if I kissed you goodnight?”

To help him out, she placed her hand on his shoulder and stood on tiptoe. His mouth descended, tasting of beer and man and… Thoughts deserted her and were replaced by feelings. Feelings that desperately needed to express themselves by kissing him back. The kiss turned into something deeper and more visceral, and she simply allowed herself to go with it.

He drew back but didn’t let her go. “This isn’t how I expected my evening to end. I gave up flirting when I decided it was time to grow up and get a life.”

“This is flirting?” She groaned. “Oh God, I suck at flirting.”

“Mabel,” he said firmly. “I am flirting with you right now. Obviously badly because I’m completely out of practice.”

“Then stop.”

“But I don’t want to. You are a…” He sighed. “A beautiful complication.”

“I’m not beautiful and this isn’t complicated,” Mabel said, trying to ignore the sparks flying between them every time he looked at or touched her. “It’s obviously just a common chemical and physical attraction generated by our mutual lack of… flirting over the past year or so. All we need to do is acknowledge that and step away from each other.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m going to kiss you again.”