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After they left, I straightened up the house a little. Hopefully the kids wouldn’t wreck the place again before Suzie and Sam came home.
My phone didn’t buzz or beep, but I checked it anyway, just in case. Still nothing from Nora. Not that I expected her to call, seeing as she didn’t have my number. I had kind of expected her to give me hers when I had saidI’ll call you, but that hadn’t happened.
No, instead she gave me the good ol' brush off.
It surprised me, I had to admit. We’d had a good time last night, hadn’t we? How did we go from that kiss to…whatever it was that had her running out of here like Hellmouth had opened up in Suzie’s living room? That kiss was explosive. You don’t just walk away from a kiss like that. You go back for more.
Whatever. If she wasn’t into it, fine. I wasn’t going to chase her. Some guys might be into the whole hard-to-get game, but not me. The most attractive thing in the world to me was a woman just as into me as I was to her.
I checked my phone again, because maybe Suzie had given her my number. Still nothing.
But seriously, that was fine. Hooking up with my little sister’s best friend might prove awkward in the long run, anyway. Not that there would be a long run with us, since I would be in New Hampshire for the winter season, and after that probably in Colorado. Anyway—
The doorbell rang. I opened it and there she was, as though summoned by my horny thoughts. She was wearing a sundress—not the same one from last night—that made her eyes look even bluer, her dark hair twisted into a bun, leaving her pale neck and shoulders bare.
“Hey.” I stepped aside to let her pass. She smelled clean, like soap and shampoo, and now that she was closer I could see her hair was still wet. Great. Now I was thinking about her in the shower and what the water would look like sliding down her shoulders and breasts. Blood en route to my brain abruptly changed direction and headed south.
“Sorry I didn’t call first. I couldn’t, obviously, since I don’t have your number. I picked up some groceries. Frozen pizzas, a rotisserie chicken, things they can pop in the oven for an easy dinner. And a cake, because—wait, where are the kids?” She halted and looked around her.
“With my mom. They’re buying a present for the baby.”
“That’s sweet.”
She headed for the kitchen and I followed her like a puppy, if a puppy was weirdly hypnotized by the nape of a woman’s neck.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I asked. She raised an eyebrow. “Sorry. I just meant, you bolted out of here this morning so you wouldn’t be late for work. What happened?”
She wrinkled her nose in a cute little grimace. “Well. I wasn’t expecting to have to drive out to Asheville this morning to begin with, and I got stuck in traffic on the way back. And then, after I dropped Brandon at home, I managed to get a flat tire in the process. In my driveway.” She shook her head with a laugh. “I gave up at that point. I called work to tell them I needed the day off and then I called Triple A. I rescheduled the interview for tomorrow.”
“Jesus. You’ve had a really shitty day.”
“I guess? But on the other hand, Brandon loves car rides, so we rolled down the window and he was so happy. I can catch up on a few hours of paperwork for work tonight. Anyway, I had the paid time available, and thank god the flat tire didn’t happen on the interstate. Plus it gave me a chance to shower and do something nice for Suzie, so…eh. It’s all good.” She shrugged.
I stared at her. She turned her back to me and started putting the groceries away, humming a song that sounded vaguely familiar. Literallyhummingwhile she worked. Christ. A mess with her ex-husband, traffic, a flat tire, and she wasn’t even grumpy about it. If that had been my day, I would have been on my second beer by now. None of this waiting for five o’clock shit.
“What’s that song you’re humming?” I asked.
“Bohemian Rhapsody. You know, Queen? It came on the radio while we were stuck on the interstate, just before they cleared the accident, so we rolled down the windows and sang along.”
I cocked my head, puzzled. “We?”
She laughed. “Brandon loves Queen. It’s so weird. He howls wheneverBohemian RhapsodyorWe Are the Championsis playing. Oh, andI Want to Ride My Bicycle? Oh my god, that one is his favorite. I’ll have to show you sometime because it’s hilarious.”
Her head tilted back when she laughed, exposing more of her throat. It was bewilderingly sexy.
I had always considered breasts to be the best part of a woman’s body, and Nora certainly had a very nice pair. But every time my gaze started to drift lower—surreptitiously, I hoped—I got distracted by the slope of her neck to her shoulders and the angled planes of her collar bone. The indentation at the base of her throat was practically begging for my tongue.
Except she didn’t want my tongue there.
Hell, she didn’t even want me tocallher.
I grabbed a pizza from the bag and bent at the waist to put it in the freezer. “Hand me another one, will you? I think I can fit it here.” I glanced over my shoulder to see her gaze riveted to…my ass? My back? I couldn’t tell what she was looking at, but I could definitely tell that she liked it.
She saw me watching her and turned pink. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. My dick liked that. A lot.
I raised my eyebrows, enjoying her discomfiture. “The pizza?”
“Right.” She shoved it into my hands. “So, what time is everyone coming back?”
