let himself believe last night.
After all, there had been almost five minutes of blazing-hot intensity between them before she pushed him away. That had to count for something, and definitely it had to count in his favor.
He was on his way to the garden, still mulling things over, trying to work out what his next step should be where she was concerned, when he opened the front door and almost stumbled over a bag that had been left on the doormat. Frowning, he picked it up and glanced inside. His gray sweater lay neatly folded in the bottom, while his sunglasses rested on top. Vaguely he remembered leaving both items on the rear porch at Mel’s place yesterday.
He walked to the top of the steps and looked down the garden path, but there was no sign of Mel. Which made sense. She’d probably dropped by at the crack of dawn in order to avoid running into him.
So much for things looking better in the light of a new day.
He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a heavy sigh. There’d been so many things against him falling for someone at this ridiculously difficult and stressful time in his life, but for whatever crazy reason he was here, in this place, with his feelings and hopes very firmly engaged—and Mel didn’t want a piece of him. There was no other way to interpret this morning’s gesture.
He walked into the living room and tossed the bag onto the floor. The urge to kick something was so powerful he didn’t even bother resisting it, simply aimed and left fly, sending the old wooden crate flying across the room. It hit the wall with a satisfying crack.
It didn’t change anything. He still didn’t know what to do. Common sense told him to back off and cut his losses. If it were any other woman, he would. But this was Mel, and last night she’d been in his arms…
Frustrated beyond measure, he spun on his heel and went in search of something sweaty and exhausting to do. At least when it came to dirt and plants he knew what was what.
IT WAS RIDICULOUS, but Mel missed Flynn. Ridiculous because she never usually saw him during the week—last week being an exception—and because she was the one who had pushed him away.
The urge to text or call or email him gripped her most of Monday and Tuesday. She ignored it. For starters, she had no idea how she would even begin to start a conversation with him after what had almost happened. She’d groped him then rejected him—she couldn’t now call him and pretend nothing had happened.
Could she?
She toyed with the notion all Tuesday night and was still undecided on the subject when she arrived at her parents’ place on Wednesday morning. She’d been pressed into service to help prepare the yard for the big anniversary party on Saturday night and she spent the morning weeding the flower beds along the fence line before making a run to the garden center to get some annuals—“instant loveliness,” as her mother called them—then planting them. All the while the question of Flynn whirled in her mind. Could she call him? Should she? If she was going to play it cool and pretend nothing had happened, what would she say?
She started scraping the rust and flaking paint off the garage wall in the afternoon in preparation for painting, and by the time she’d reached the halfway mark she still hadn’t come up with a single decent conversational gambit with which to break the ice with Flynn.
“You know why? Because you’re an idiot,” she muttered to herself.
“Sorry? Did you say something?”
Mel looked over to see her mother crossing the patio, a glass of water in hand.
“Just talking to myself,” Mel admitted.
Her mother passed her the glass. “It’s when you start answering back that you really have to worry.”
“Too late.”
Her mother grinned and shaded her eyes to inspect her progress. “You know, your father promised he’d do this for me so many times over the years, but it’s taken this party before it finally happened.”
“Yeah, and he still isn’t doing it.” Mel couldn’t help pointing that fact out.
“True,” her mother said reflectively. “But he is paying for the party, which is why I’ve been able to guilt you into doing this, so, by extension…”
“You should be in politics. You have a sneaky mind.” Mel took a big swallow of water then turned back to the garage wall.
“Sing out if you