Page 59 of An Unexpected Match

She raised the sketch book and shrugged.

“Then I got sidetracked when I saw the girls in the yard. I wanted to capture the moment on paper.”

“May I see?” he asked,

He pushed away from the wall and walked toward her. For a moment Arden almost forgot to breathe. Then she looked at the sketch. Would he like it?

Would he think she’d captured Hailey’s serious concentration? That she’d contrasted the dainty daughters with their unique personalities?

“Sure.” She held out the sketch pad.

For the first time, she questioned how she’d tell him about her decision to leave. He’d be disappointed she hadn’t stayed the agreed-upon time.

The next time he needed to find someone who wouldn’t make the mistake of falling in love with her boss.

“You're talented,” he murmured as he studied the sketch and then gazed out in the yard at his daughters.

Flustered with the warm glow that spread with his praise, Arden stepped away. She was delighted he liked what she’d done, but standing too close wasn’t wise. She longed to throw herself into his arms and demand he kiss her.

Wouldn’t he be shocked if she did so?

“Want some coffee?” she asked, longing for something to do.

“Thanks, I’d like that.”

She turned to fill the coffeemaker but hearing the rustle of paper, she spun around. Too late. He was already looking at her other sketches.

“No, don’t.”

She almost ran across the room, but Brendan ignored her, studying the drawing of the mighty Viking warrior with his body and face.

He flipped over to another page and found the one she’d dreamed about for several nights. Brendan in bed, a bunched up sheet cutting across the lower part of his body, his muscular chest and arms revealed as he gazed at an unseen lover. In her mind, she’d been the woman he looked at so hungrily.

Arden froze, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

She reached out to snatch the pad from Brendan, but he swiveled around, putting his body between her and the pad. He flipped to another page and another.

Suddenly, he lowered the tablet and looked at her. His eyes were hot and watchful.

Arden didn’t know what to do, but she couldn’t look away from the heat in his gaze. She licked her lips nervously and his gaze honed on the movement like a hawk.

“These are interesting,” he said slowly. “Once you said you were good at art but not super. I think you’re too critical. I’d call these drawings excellent.”

“Assignments for school,” she offered lamely, relishing his compliment.

Slowly, Brendan shook his head.

“I don’t think so.”

Unerringly, he flipped to the Viking warrior pose and held it out to her. “This one?”

She swallowed, her eyes staring at the imaginative rendition. It was one of her best drawings.

He flipped to the one showing the resting warrior with the two small girls in a garden, the one she’d wanted to do in oils.

The silence stretched out. What could she say?

“Arden, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you last night, but you disappeared before I came back from taking Jamie Sue home. Now I think it was meant that we waited”

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