Page 10 of My Stupid Heart

“You painted?”She went to the liquor store next door to her dental office over her lunch break and picked up four bottles of wine, so she plunked them on the counter in the kitchen as her eyes scanned the open concept kitchen-dining-living space for new color.

“Just the trim,” he said, joining her in the kitchen as she put the rosé and pinot gris in the fridge.“Also fixed that squeaky and sticky closet door in Sash’s room, cleaned the gutters, trimmed the hedge, mowed the lawn and put some sealant on those cracks in your driveway.”

“Wow.Is Sasha even talking to you if you made her do all that?”

“She loves me.That kid’ll never give me the silent treatment.Besides, I made it fun.”

“She’s a fourteen-year-old girl.She does not find manual laborfun.She whines when I ask her to take out the garbage.”

“You’re just using the wrong approach.”He opened up the fridge and pulled out the container with the leftover pizza.“How was your day?”

“Long.My neck hurts from hunching over to clean teeth for hours.”

“Here.Turn around.”He touched her shoulder gently so she would spin around and not face him.He set his pizza slice down on the island, brushed her hair over her shoulder, then two magical thumbs began to work the twin knots right at the base of her neck.Her head lolled forward, and she closed her eyes, melting into the pressure, into the touch of his skin on hers.

Did the man have any flaws?

He could cook, he could fix, he could fight, he could massage.Did he have a sixth toe she didn’t know about or something?A lisp as a child, maybe?

The groan bubbled up from the depths of her chest before she could stop it.But it woke her up enough that she stepped away and shook herself free of him.“Thank you for that.”She cleared her throat.“Thank you.But um … but I am fine.I am A-Okay.All healed.All better.No neck problems here.”

He was looking at her like she was a crazy person.“Moll—”

“Nope.All good.I need to change and get ready for tonight.You go … do whatever it is you need to do.Okay.See ya later.”Then, like an idiot, she skirted around him and headed down the hall to her room, closing the door way too abruptly and cringing when it rattled the whole house.

Her head fell back against the door and she slammed her palm into her forehead.

Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.

How could she be so stupid?

Easy.Ryker always made her lose her mind when he touched her.Because his touch was platonic and never in the place on her body that she wanted it most.

“What’s with the rental truck?”asked Susannah as she stepped over the threshold and into Molly’s house later that night, carrying a plate of deviled eggs.

“A family friend is visiting for a few days to help with some projects around the house,” Molly said.It wasn’t a total lie, so her belly didn’t do its normal nauseating flip whenever she was forced to lie.She’d always been a terrible liar, ever since she was a child.More often than not, lying made her vomit.But she figured this wasn’t a lie, it was simply an omission of all the facts.Ryker was, in fact, a family friend and he was visiting and while he was here, he would help with projects around the house.His initial reason for flying here, so spur of the moment, was nobody’s business.

Susannah merely nodded and set her plate down on the table while helping herself to some wine.

Evelyn and Sienna always carpooled and came together.Rosalie walked since she lived just a few blocks away, and Olivia and Kate, Moms from Sasha’s soccer team, usually arrived late because they had kids, dinner and sports to deal with beforehand.

But within fifteen minutes they were all seated in Molly’s living room with their wine, appetizers and books.

After she changed out of her scrubs and had a shower, Molly came out to find Ryker gone.His truck was still in the driveway, but he’d made himself scarce and was hiding outside.

Her face still heated to an uncomfortable temperature at the thought of their awkward interaction in the kitchen.Correction,herawkwardreactionto him touching her.

Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.

“So, I think the heroine forgave the hero too easily,” Sienna said, nibbing on a nacho chip she’d dipped into the sour cream on her plate.“That grovel scene was like three sentences.I want it to be pages.I want him to give up something for her, and Damien didn’t.His character arc fell flat for me.Not enough growth.”

Molly nodded as she agreed with Sienna.She and Sienna had the same taste in books.The spicier, the better.

“See, I found the heroine grating,” Olivia replied.“Sure, she forgave him quickly, but she couldn’t make up her mind about what—orwho,she wanted.And was it just me, or did anybody else get, like, a serial slut vibe from her?”

Eyes around the living room went wide.

“Serial slut vibe?”Molly asked.“First of all, serial slut sounds redundant.But also, that feels kind of shamey.I thought Annabel was unapologetically sexually liberal.Like Samantha fromSex and the City.She never cheated, and she didn’t do relationships until she was ready.She enjoyed sex and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.”

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