Page 110 of Here & Now

He gazed at her for a few beats, overwhelmed with emotions. First, there was relief that she was safe, minus the nasty sunburn, followed by gratification that she was still here, in his life and house, letting him take care of her.

Her eyes popped open. “Why aren’t you putting it on?”

“Oh…I…I just don’t want to hurt you.”

She smiled sweetly. “It’s okay. I can take it.”

Obviously, she had no idea he had been referring to something other than applying aloe.

He gently placed his hands on her shoulders. She shivered at the contact, and he assumed it was from the cool gel on her sensitive skin. Then he carefully and methodically applied the aloe one section at a time.

“You’re good at this,” she said, her voice merely a whisper.

He crouched down and smoothed some aloe on her thighs. Then he moved his hands down to her calves, enjoying the silky-smooth feel of them beneath his fingers. Her legs weren’t as burnt as her upper body, but he still took his time, covering every inch of her.

“I’m sorry I forgot my phone; otherwise, I would have returned your calls.”

He lifted his gaze and saw her smiling at him. At least she hadn’t purposely avoided him, but then he remembered… “What about the business card?”

He rose and squirted some more aloe into his palm.

She sighed. “I went to the thrift shop this morning to drop off some boxes. When I got back, this real estate agent, Justine, was in my driveway, taking pictures of the house.”

“You didn’t contact her?”

She shook her head vehemently. “At first, I was irritated, but then she said she had a buyer she claimed would be very interested. She seemed sincere, so I let her inside to look around.”

He’d been listening as he applied aloe to her neck and upper chest. “Even though she works for Scott?”

“Wait, what?!”

He paused what he was doing. “Didn’t you look at her card?”

“No! I just shoved it in my pocket because I didn’t really care where she worked.”

He gazed at her with confusion. “Why not?”

She swallowed hard. “Because I’m not selling the house.”

His expression must have been hilarious because she burst out laughing. To him, though, this was no laughing matter. “You’re not selling the house?”

She slowly shook her head.

“When…when did you change your mind?” His heart was in his throat as he awaited her answer.

“Today, when I unwittingly turned into a lobster at the beach.”

He blinked a few times as he absorbed the news.

“It might seem sudden, but it’s not. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and today I made up my mind.”

Not selling the house and moving here were two different things, and he needed the clarification. “Does this mean—?”

“We’re still going to be neighbors.”

For someone usually so confident with the ladies, he was at a complete loss for words. He simply stood and stared at her with his hands gooped up with aloe and his mouth partially hanging open.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Her voice trembled slightly, and her brow furrowed.