Page 9 of Spark of Attraction

“Stop trying,” I whispered.

As he had in all my high school fantasies, he wrapped his arms around me again and lowered his head, resting his forehead against mine. “Do you know how much I’ve wanted to kiss you again?”

“Why didn’t you? Why did you walk away from me in high school? I thought…” He’d asked me to be his date at the prom. Or for my prom. “Or was that kiss a dare or something?”

He grimaced, dropped his hands and stepped away from me again. “I wanted to ask you to the prom but when I mentioned my plans, Josh made me promise to leave you alone, upon pain of death.”

I closed my mouth which had apparently dropped open. “Seriously?”

“Yup. That’s why I had to walk away.” He blanched and ran a hand over his beard. “He’s gonna freak if you tell him I broke our pact.”

After Dad had left us and moved away, Josh had become overprotective, but he’d seriously enforced a bro code promise on Mal about me? “Kissing me is not a frickin’ crime. And you don’t have to admit anything to Josh. It’s none of his business. Besides, I kissed you first, remember?”

He freed a strand of hair caught in my glasses and tucked it behind my ear. “I could have stopped you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “If you plan on walking away from me now because of some promise you made years ago, you’ll have a lot more to deal with than my brother’s wrath. You’ll have mine. Besides, all we did was kiss, not get into each other’s pants.”

I couldn’t help myself from checking out his jeans and the erection tenting them. Because now I really wanted to check out that bad boy.

“I can’t say I didn’t enjoy kissing you. Or that I don’t want to kiss you again, but…” He shook his head. “You’re still mourning. I don’t want you to think later that I took advantage of you.”

I stood, open-mouthed, as he turned around and walked away. Just like last time.

CHAPTER SIX

MALCOLM

I hadn’t expected Ellie to kiss me when I’d rung her doorbell that morning. But once her lips had touched mine and her body melted against me? I couldn’t pull away. It was like something that had died within me after Natalie left reignited. I’d wanted to carry her upstairs to her room and strip her naked, to fall onto her bed and explore every part of her body.

But then my promise to Josh hammered at me, as did a small part of my brain wondering if I would be a rebound affair? Is that what they were called for a widow’s first journey back into the dating world?

By the time I arrived back at my workshop, I’d convinced myself I was reading too much into it. It was a kiss, nothing more. It was Ellie experimenting with her newfound availability, maybe even from desperation because she was lonely.

Had I kissed her to convince myself that the spark of attraction I had for her wouldn’t ignite into a flame? Or because I hoped it would?

Shit, would Ellie be my rebound?

The next morning, I was in the middle of writing up a list of supplies I needed when my security camera app on my phone alerted me that I had a visitor pulling into my driveway. I checked it and recognized my dad’s battered old half ton instead of Ellie’s sleek SUV. Why was I disappointed that my visitor wasn’t Ellie? Why would she come over here anyway?

I unlocked the door and grinned as my father lumbered up to me. “Hey, Dad, what’re you doin’ in this part of town?”

“Do I need a reason to visit my favourite son?”

I’m his only son, but I still liked him using that line. “No, but usually you get Mom to phone me if you need something.” In my entire life, I’d never known Dad to initiate a phone call. I’m not sure if it’s a hatred of the technology or if he doesn’t like talking over devices rather than a face-to-face interaction, but if a phone call had to be made, he left it to Mom.

He shrugged and made a noncommittal sound as he followed me into my kitchen. We chatted about my business, which was doing well, and about his garden—since he’d retired, Dad spent his days for half the year tending a prize-winning vegetable patch. “I was thinking of putting in a greenhouse this summer. I’d like to run electricity out to it for a fan in the hot days and a heater through the winter. Could you do that for me?”

Mr. Farquharson had only mentioned giving moms free electrical work but I’d extended it to include Dad, too. “Sure. Do you know where you want it?”

After we discussed what size greenhouse he wanted, and the best placement based both on where it would get the most sun and where I’d have to run the electrical lines, he glanced down at Ellie’s quote.

“I heard she’d moved back to town,” he said with a frown.

“Yup.” I flipped the notepad closed. While I’d promised her I wouldn’t talk to Josh about her plans for the update, Dad was under no such obligation.

His frown deepened. “You planning on asking her out?”

“No.” Geez, I whined like teenager, then cleared my throat and donned my business voice. “I gave her a quote for fixing an electrical issue. I didn’t ask her for a date.” Yet. But I couldn’t deny I was definitely wondering how long I’d have to wait to ask her out and how I could convince Josh to forget my damned promise.

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