Page 44 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
His scowl was as wide as the Serengeti. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do,” she said, getting in his face. “What is it?”
“You’re going to leave again,” he said, his eyes flashing with an unusual fire. “And dammit, I don’t want to start caring about you all over again and looking forward to hanging out with you at Merry Cottage. And I damn well don’t want to start liking you like a girl again.”
She froze in place. She didn’t answer right away, giving the smell of gunpowder in the air time to disappear. He kicked at the floor again.
“If your eye gets better, you’re going to head back to those dangerous places.” He paused. “You’re so damn tough you might do it even if your eyedoesn’trecover. Lucy, you could get hurt again. Or worse.”
“Andy,”she said softly.
He looked up, breathing hard. She could tell he was thinking about Kim and losing the people he loved. He was scared to lose her too, but she didn’t have the words to soothe him. The only thing she knew that would help was a hug. So, that’s what she did. She wrapped him in her arms and squeezed him tight.
The rigid muscles and locked frame of his bodyeventually relaxed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “It’s not you. It is, but?—”
“I know,” she said, rubbing his back.
He edged away to look at her. “It’s only… Lucy, you really mean a lot to me, and I’ve missed you. I don’t want to see you hurt again. Not even for something you love.”
Their eyes met as he reached up to push the hair behind her ear. The hands holding her suddenly felt warm. Awareness rolled through her again, unwelcome and alluring all at once.
A man’s hands were holding her in a way she enjoyed. More shocking was the realization that they were Andy’s hands.No, no, no, she thought. This could not be. It could never be. He was still in love with his wife, and she still planned to leave Dare Valley again.
“It’s getting late. You need to pick up Danny, right?” She stepped out of his arms and crossed the room to put on her own shoes. It didn’t matter that she didn’t plan to leave the house. It occupied her hands and kept him from seeing her face.
“Why do I have the feeling things got weird again?” he asked, his feet planted firmly in the doorway.
She stood and shook her head, striving for as normal an expression as possible. “We’re fine.”
He glanced at the watch on his wrist. “I have another half hour before I need to pick up Danny.”
As a dare, it was a good one. He was essentially saying: if it’s not weird between us, then you won’t mind me staying.
But she did. She couldn’t seem to have control over herself right now. Her eyes were seeing his body in a new light—or an achingly familiar one. He’d always been in top shape as a runner, but for some reason, his muscles lookedmore manly, more lust-inspiring than ever before. His broad chest filled out his shirt, and his shoulders looked like they’d been carved from granite. Her brain wanted her to assess more, but she wouldn’t let it.
She could control herself. She’d always been able to control herself. This awareness was only something she needed to block out. He was right—she was planning to leave Dare Valley. It would hurt them both if they did something stupid and gave into these odd moments of attraction. It would ruin their friendship forever.
She told herself not to make too big a deal of these sparks between them. He was handsome. He always had been. It was a simple fact. Like one plus one equaling two.
Once she was used to being around him again, his muscles and all that handsomeness would become as normal as the awe-inspiring mountains surrounding Dare Valley.
“Okay, let’s finish our beers,” she said, pasting a smile on her face.
His gaze dropped to her lips. Was she imagining it? Clearly she had lost her mind, so she hustled past him to the kitchen, trying to control the panic rising inside her.
She was not going to become attracted to her best friend again.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Moira cruised to her cousin Jill’s house for happy hour in what she was now calling her old car. Once she landed her big new job, she was going to splurge on a Range Rover. It was easy on the eyesandgood on the road. Another thing to look forward to now that she’d decided to make a change.
Cleaning out her office on Friday had sucked. A few of her colleagues had teared up, both because she’d be missed and because no one wanted to lose their buffer from Taylor. Everyone had wished her the best, though, and more than one person had whispered she was brave to leave. A few had asked where she was going, but she’d only given them a mischievous wink and said she’d be happy to share the news as soon as she was able. There was no way she wanted anyone outside of the family to know she was still looking.
She needed to focus on her job hunt more. She had the final version of her resume ready to go. She’d talked to a headhunter. Everything was gelling. And it felt nice to have a little break—some time toreflect on what she wanted next. For the first time in years, she was waking up without an alarm. Plus, she was having a good time staying with her mom and hanging out more with her family—especially her cute-as-a-button nephew. Her mother hadn’t stopped hinting that she should look for a job locally, and Moira had to admit it would be nice. But she wasn’t holding her breath.
One thing she would have liked to do was spend more time with Lucy, but Andy’s message had come through loud and clear. She wasn’t going to push things. Andy knew better than anyone what Lucy needed right now, and if it was time to settle, Moira was going to give it to her. There would be plenty of opportunities for them to get to know each other better.
Besides, Moira was plenty busy too. There was a lot of groundwork to do for her job search, and she was hanging out more with her cousins. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent an afternoon with just Jill, so when Jill had asked her to swing by her house to have a drink—just the two of them and the twins—she’d been excited. At family gatherings, everyone took turns playing with Jill’s adorable girls, but today they’d be all hers.
