All They Need - By Sarah Mayberry Page 0,25
cold. Recently, Mel had had to resort to using two quilts on the bed as well as her electric blanket to keep the chill out.
“Come and stay in one of my cottages,” she said impulsively. “I’ve only got two bookings this weekend, and you can have your choice of Tea Cutter or Windrush. It’ll be my housewarming present to you.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m actually kind of looking forward to camping out. I’m about to go buy some cheese and wine, and I’m going to hunker down in front of one of the fireplaces and pretend I’m living in another century.”
He almost made it sound attractive, but she knew better. She gave him a dry look.
“I’ll leave the key to Tea Cutter under the front door mat if you change your mind in the middle of the night.”
He laughed. “Ye of little faith.”
“What can I say? I’m a pragmatist. A pragmatist who likes to be warm.”
A woman with a stroller was approaching and Mel touched Flynn’s forearm to alert him to the fact. Together they moved out of the woman’s path so they could continue their conversation.
“How’s the orange tree?” Flynn asked.
“I was a little worried after the first week but I found new growth on a couple of the branch tips yesterday. I figure that’s a good sign.” She looked to him for confirmation, since he clearly knew far more about these things than she did.
“It is. You might want to give it a gentle feed with something organic, too. Help it establish a new root system.”
“Thanks. I will.”
She suddenly became aware of how close they were. Somehow, in moving aside for the stroller, they’d also moved together, and she could see the small crease marks at the corners of his eyes and the smile lines around his mouth. If she inhaled deeply, there was a very real chance her breasts would brush his arm.
Quickly she took a step backward, something close to panic tightening her belly.
“You probably have tons to do. And I need to get back to my painting,” she said.
“What are you painting?”
“The bathroom.” She took another step backward. “Good luck with your campout. The key will be under the mat if you need it.”
“It’s generous of you, but I won’t.”
He was watching her with the same very focused intensity that she’d noticed at Summerlea two weeks ago. She made a big deal out of shuffling her bags around before offering him a small farewell wave.
“See you around.”
She turned and walked away. It wasn’t until she passed the butcher’s shop that she remembered her car was parked in the opposite direction. She glanced over her shoulder, but Flynn was still in front of the bakery, his phone in his hand. Feeling like a teenager, she took the long way around, past the supermarket and through the parking lot until she’d done a loop and could approach her car from behind.
You’re an idiot.
It was true, for more reasons than she cared to count, not least of which was the fact that her heart was pounding out a fast, heated beat beneath her breastbone.
She threw her bags into the back of her car and climbed in. It was tempting to lie to herself and put her body’s reaction down to the fact that she’d taken a completely unnecessary walk around the block, but Mel knew better. Standing so close to Flynn for those few seconds, she’d suddenly remembered that he was a man and she a woman and that it had been a long time since she’d felt the warm press of another body against her own.
On one hand, she understood why it had happened. He was handsome, after all, and he’d been nice to her. A woman would have to be dead from the neck down not to respond to his strong, very male body and natural charm.
The thing was, Mel had thought she was dead from the neck down. But apparently she wasn’t. For the past year, she’d been in survival mode. She’d done what needed to be done to keep her head above water and no more. There had been a certain comfort in her batten-down-the-hatches mentality—she hadn’t asked too much from the world, hadn’t risked herself, hadn’t expected too much from herself.
But now the nonessential parts of her life appeared to be coming back online. The parts that got lonely and horny and enjoyed flirting and laughing with a man. How…strange. She’d honestly thought she would never be interested in a man again.