Page 287 of Love Bites

I glared at him. “You think this is funny? I’m standing here, realizing how inadequate I am as a real estate agent, and you’re enjoying the show.”

“You’re not inadequate, Violet.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the stairway. “Hopelessly stubborn, maybe. Lacking in common sense sometimes. But never inadequate.”

I followed him up the stairs, my eyes locked on his hind end—what could I say? I was weak.

There were three upstairs bedrooms and one large bath. Every room was immaculate, every piece of décor, chic. Who owned this place and why were they wanting to sell it? This was the kind of place I’d find in one of those fancy architectural magazines for people who had money growing out the ying-yang.

Doc and I moved from room to room, him sniffing in closets and knocking on walls while I “oohed” and “ahhed” over the damask curtains, crown molding, and silk-like wallpaper.

In the smallest of the three bedrooms, a narrow door opened to an even narrower staircase. Doc’s shoulders rubbed the walls as we descended into the shadows. At the bottom, my nose bumped into his spine. I backed up a few steps.

“Is it locked?” I whispered. The soothing sounds of violins muffled by the door below.

“No.” Doc hunched his shoulders and managed to turn around. “Why are you whispering?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered again, feeling about eight years old. “It just seems appropriate, don’t you think? I mean, here we are, sneaking down the back stairs in the dark.”

His eyes glittered in the feeble light leaking down from the open doorway above. As we stood there, staring at each other, the easy-breezy atmosphere between us grew heavy. So did my breathing.

“Violet.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me down a step. “Skip dinner tonight.”

That again? Boy, when Doc sank his teeth into something … “I can’t.”

He towed me down another step. “Why not?”

Our eyes were now level. So were our lips. I gulped. “Because his last poem had Addy’s name in it.”

“That son of a bitch.” His grip on my hand tightened painfully for a split-second. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What difference would it have made? This is my problem. Not Harvey’s. Not yours.”

“Violet, I know you’re a very independent, strong-minded, capable woman.”

“Yeah, right,” I said with a sarcastic buffer, but my insides warmed at his compliments. Most days I didn’t feel qualified to brush my hair, let alone raise two children on my own.

“Add hard-headed to that list.” Doc tugged me down to the penultimate step. One big breath and our shirts would be touching. “However, there is one important attribute you are missing.”

Just one? Hell, I could name ten off the top of my head. Which one was he referring to? “What’s that?”

“This.” He leaned down, his cotton shirt rustling against my silk blouse.

Holy moly, he was going to kiss me. I couldn’t let this happen. Shouldn’t let it happen. Natalie had staked her claim. I closed my eyes and pushed up onto my tiptoes to meet his lips halfway.

Only I kissed the air as Doc squeezed my upper arm. I opened one eyelid.

Doc was no longer leaning. Instead, he was grinning down at me in the shadows. “I was referring to your lack of muscles for hand-to-hand combat.”

“Oh.” Well, didn’t I feel like the silliest sucker this side of the Mississippi? My core started to overheat, embarrassment steaming out my pores. “I am a girl, you know.”

“Believe me, I know.” He crossed his arms over his chest and propped his shoulder against the wall. “Did you think I was going to kiss you?”

“No. Of course not.” My whole body blazed with humiliation. I hoped Mona wouldn’t hate me forever after I spontaneously combusted and burned down her client’s beautiful house.

“Liar.” He stared at my lips. “If I had kissed you, would that have been a good thing or bad thing?”

“Bad.” I fanned my blouse, thinking about Natalie and how quick I was to toss my life-long loyalty to her out the window in exchange for just one kiss. “Really bad.”

He grabbed my hand, the one I was using to cool my neck and chest. “Then that’s a problem.”

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