vain to match them to a Crayola color that had never existed, the more she felt a strange tumbling in her stomach.
God, what’s wrong with me? He’s just a guy. Pull it together, Ash. Taking a deep breath, she shifted her gaze to the doorjamb above him. “Hi, Eddie. Come on in.”
He didn’t move for a moment, just stood and studied her. Cocking his head, he wiped his forehead against the sleeve of his shirt, then stepped across the threshold and into Ash’s life. Maybe it was the sun, maybe the odd wind that had picked up at just that moment, but suddenly she had the strangest urge to reach over and touch him, to run one finger along his brow and down his cheek. She studied a wrinkle in the fold of his shirt and wanted to smooth it. Something hovered in the space between them, and a strange sense of closeness pierced her throat and stopped her words.
“Are you – ?”
“When did – ?”
They spoke at the same time, but the words fell away, and though neither finished a thought, they both began to laugh.
Eddie reached for Ash’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
She placed her palm in his, for a moment only, but she liked the way it felt. Warm. Safe. “I’m-uh-Ashley. Ash.” Again she altered her first name, and didn’t offer her last, in case he’d been watching the news lately. And who hadn’t?
* * *
Ash studied her new housemate as Jen joined them in the living room. Eddie leaned in the doorway, cracking his knuckles, and continued to smile at her. He was saying something, about the weather or maybe the house, but she couldn’t concentrate over the thumping of her heart. She watched him, though. She watched as Eddie’s goatee moved when he spoke, a rich, wide spread of stubble that covered his chin. She wondered for a moment what it would be like to feel it against her own cheek, and a tickle ran up the back of her neck.
Ash pushed the thought away. Forget it. The pain of Colin still stung, and even a friendly neighbor with rugged, take-your-breath-away good looks couldn’t chase that memory from her mind.
She tore her gaze away to turn and look behind her, seeing for the first time the furniture that filled her new living room. A loveseat sat under the wide window overlooking the street, with a worn corduroy couch opposite it. A tall bookcase stood in one corner near the kitchen, and two oak end tables completed the set. Hmm. She might have to invest in a few pieces of furniture after all. Ripped boxes and limp garbage bags covered the floor. She blushed, embarrassed.
“I just moved in. Sorry about the mess.”
Eddie shrugged. “What mess?”
Her smile returned. “Want a seat?”
He nodded and made his way to the couch, stepping over a box and around a stack of books. Jen plopped down beside him. Hands laced behind her head, she stretched out her short legs and grinned at Eddie. Jen had always been good at that, sliding up to men without a second thought. Ash wished sometimes she could be more like her friend, instead of sitting in the shadows and thinking too much. She’d never had to work to get Colin, anyway. He’d showed up on her doorstep three days after she arrived at Harvard.
“So you’re Senator Kirk’s daughter,” he’d said, and that was that. The following day they went out for coffee. The next weekend she took him home to meet her parents. They hadn’t been apart since.
Ash’s eyes burned, and she reached up to rub away the tears she knew would appear in another minute. She found a spot on the loveseat and forced her attention to Jen and Eddie, in an effort to steer her mind back to the conversation instead of the thoughts running around inside her head.
“Nice place, huh? I mean the house, the street, and all.” Eddie waved to the ceiling above them as he leaned back, settling himself into the cushions.
Ash followed the movement and noticed strong, calloused hands, with scars on the knuckles, and one pinky finger bent in an odd way. Warmth filled her belly. She always noticed men’s hands. Maybe that’s why she found baseball players and cellists so sexy. She liked hands that looked powerful and rugged. Hands that could take on the world and throw it into its place when needed. Strong hands that turned soft when they wound their way along her body