Page 47 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

My heart rattled. My hands shook—they shook so hard the knife slipped.

Sucking in a hard breath, I pulled my finger away to see a thin line of red seeping from a fresh cut. “Ouch!”

Sean’s brows slammed down. He hit the faucet, tested the water temperature, then curled an arm around my back to guide me to it. “Wash that. Where’re the bandages?”

I pointed at the bottom drawer on the other side of the kitchen with my foot. “There. But it’s only small. I might not even need?—”

I stopped talking when Sean tore open the box, sending bandages flying over the counter. He grabbed one, then tossed me a clean dish towel and started opening the bandage’s package.

Once my finger was dry, Sean gripped my hand in his much larger one and carefully, gently smoothed the bandage over my tiny wound. His fingers ran over the flesh-colored fabric a few times, his thumbs gently massaging my palms.

It was the most intimate touch I’d had with a man since my divorce, and it made me so light-headed that I had to lean against the counter.

“You okay?” Sean asked softly, concern in his eyes as he watched me.

“I’m fine. A little embarrassed that my knife-cutting skills failed me when I was trying to impress you.”

He gave me one of his brilliant smiles, and my heart took off at a gallop again. My hand was still cradled in his, and neither of us made any move to pull away.

“Sean, you’re missing the game!” Aaron called out.

We both jumped. I pulled my hand away and cleared my throat, making a show of inspecting the bandage. Sean tugged at his shirt and took a big step away from me.

“All right, all right,” Sean answered back. He stayed there for a moment, then cleared his throat. “I should…”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Once he’d disappeared around the corner, I leaned my palms on the kitchen counter and let out a long breath. I felt silly forbeing so infatuated with him. I was quite literally in the process of trying to find him a New Year’s kiss with another woman.

I was the opposite of special. I’d been invisible for so many years that even the scrap of attention that Sean had paid me was going to my head. So he’d touched my hand when he was tending to my wound. That was normal, wasn’t it? I was the one who was being ridiculous.

Whatever Laurel had seen in him wasn’t real. Or if it was, it might be some passing attraction that would fizzle out soon. For Sean to be interested in me, he’d have to broach the topic with my brother. He’d have to tell his oldest friend that he wanted to date me, and he wouldn’t risk their friendship with that kind of bombshell unless he was seriously interested.

Seriously interested inme. With all my baggage, my past, my complications. Didn’t seem likely, and indulging in these kinds of thoughts was just another way for me to torture myself.

I took a deep breath, cleaned up the bandages still strewn all over the counter, then went back to chopping vegetables.

TWENTY-TWO

SEAN

“So why didn’tyou go for it?” Aaron asked as he slouched on the couch, his feet kicked up on the coffee table beside the empty platter of veggies and dip Lizzie had brought us.

I blinked away from the TV. “Go for what?”

“The art teacher. Sounds like she would’ve been wild in the sack.”

I scoffed and shook my head. “Trust me, it would’ve been a bad idea.”

Aaron grinned and lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug. “Lizzie has an eye for these things. You might’ve hit it off if you gave it a chance. And what about the first chick?”

“Why is everyone so obsessed with setting me up with someone?”

Aaron lifted his palms. “Not obsessed. Just trying to help you out.”

“I don’t need help meeting women.”

“Evidence suggests otherwise.”

---