combustible heat in the room for the two of them. Then
after dinner, maybe they could do something harmless like watch a holiday
movie. One of those funny family films. Romance, right now, was a no-go. It was
simple to see how quickly she could fall for Matt. The scary thing was, Sarah
worried that she’d started falling already. She needed to stop herself before
she got in deeper, in order to avoid a most certain and devastating outcome.
Walking away from Matt with a broken heart.
The second Sarah had cleared the room, Matt set the cookie
tray on the stovetop and pulled an ice cube from the freezer, pressing it to
the back of his flaming neck. It melted on contact, sending little dribbles
racing down the line of his back. Sarah had set him virtually on fire. She’d
been so subtle and giving in his arms, yielding to his every move. No wonder
he’d wanted to take her to bed before. It wasn’t just the way she kissed, it
was in the sexy way she carried herself, seemed to have complete control of her
body. Well…except for that sickness thing. She was definitely out of control
then. But everyone’s allowed a slipup now and again. He’d had his fair share of
his own, particularly in his younger days.
Matt rocked the open freezer door back and forth, rapidly
fanning his face with puffs of icy air. It was working already. He was feeling
better. Next best thing to a cold shower, he supposed, hoping Sarah hadn’t
noticed his level of excitement before she’d raced out of here. Or maybe she
had, and that was why she’d bolted like a scared rabbit. Matt felt suddenly
consumed by guilt, wondering if he’d done something wrong by laying it on so
thick. It wasn’t exactly like he’d planned their cooking lesson to turn extra
hot. It just serendipitously had. Of course, once it had headed in that
direction, he’d done nothing overt to stop it. He surely would have if Sarah
had protested. Yet she seemed to be enjoying their joint venture into the
culinary arts just as much as he had. Matt hoped he hadn’t imagined that. He
would feel awful if she felt he’d come on too strong and that had put her off.
For Matt was growing attracted to Sarah, way attracted. And in his heart of
hearts, he couldn’t believe he’d gotten her signals that wrong. She was growing
attracted to him as well. But Matt needed to be careful not to push it. Maybe
the best thing to do would be force himself to back off a bit and let Sarah
take the lead. If she was truly as interested as his instinct said, within the
next couple of days she definitely would.
Sarah returned looking all fresh-faced with her hair pulled
up in a ponytail. By this time, Matt had already washed the baking dishes and
was busy putting them away. “I was going to help you with that,” she protested,
a little after the fact.
“It’s all right. I didn’t mind it. Besides, the kitchen needed
to be tidied before I start dinner.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Sarah bossily entered the kitchen and
took him by the elbow. He set down his dishtowel with surprise. “You’ve done
all the cooking you’re going to for the next little while.”
He was mildly disappointed by that. Mostly, he’d been hoping
they’d do some more cooking together. The good thing was that Sarah appeared
bright and cheery, not like she was upset about anything. Perhaps she had
enjoyed being close to him but was just too conservative to say so. She handed
him his glass of wine and steered him toward the sofa. “Why don’t you sit, and
I’ll refill that for you? I’m doing the cooking tonight.”
That sounded super to Matt. He could relax in front of the
fire and briefly check the score on the game. “Mind if I turn on some football?
Just for a moment.”
“Watch it as long as you’d like,” she called from the
kitchen with a smile. She pulled two frozen pizzas from the freezer, and Matt
chuckled to himself, wondering if back in Maryland she did any home cooking at
all. Not that it
after dinner, maybe they could do something harmless like watch a holiday
movie. One of those funny family films. Romance, right now, was a no-go. It was
simple to see how quickly she could fall for Matt. The scary thing was, Sarah
worried that she’d started falling already. She needed to stop herself before
she got in deeper, in order to avoid a most certain and devastating outcome.
Walking away from Matt with a broken heart.
The second Sarah had cleared the room, Matt set the cookie
tray on the stovetop and pulled an ice cube from the freezer, pressing it to
the back of his flaming neck. It melted on contact, sending little dribbles
racing down the line of his back. Sarah had set him virtually on fire. She’d
been so subtle and giving in his arms, yielding to his every move. No wonder
he’d wanted to take her to bed before. It wasn’t just the way she kissed, it
was in the sexy way she carried herself, seemed to have complete control of her
body. Well…except for that sickness thing. She was definitely out of control
then. But everyone’s allowed a slipup now and again. He’d had his fair share of
his own, particularly in his younger days.
Matt rocked the open freezer door back and forth, rapidly
fanning his face with puffs of icy air. It was working already. He was feeling
better. Next best thing to a cold shower, he supposed, hoping Sarah hadn’t
noticed his level of excitement before she’d raced out of here. Or maybe she
had, and that was why she’d bolted like a scared rabbit. Matt felt suddenly
consumed by guilt, wondering if he’d done something wrong by laying it on so
thick. It wasn’t exactly like he’d planned their cooking lesson to turn extra
hot. It just serendipitously had. Of course, once it had headed in that
direction, he’d done nothing overt to stop it. He surely would have if Sarah
had protested. Yet she seemed to be enjoying their joint venture into the
culinary arts just as much as he had. Matt hoped he hadn’t imagined that. He
would feel awful if she felt he’d come on too strong and that had put her off.
For Matt was growing attracted to Sarah, way attracted. And in his heart of
hearts, he couldn’t believe he’d gotten her signals that wrong. She was growing
attracted to him as well. But Matt needed to be careful not to push it. Maybe
the best thing to do would be force himself to back off a bit and let Sarah
take the lead. If she was truly as interested as his instinct said, within the
next couple of days she definitely would.
Sarah returned looking all fresh-faced with her hair pulled
up in a ponytail. By this time, Matt had already washed the baking dishes and
was busy putting them away. “I was going to help you with that,” she protested,
a little after the fact.
“It’s all right. I didn’t mind it. Besides, the kitchen needed
to be tidied before I start dinner.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Sarah bossily entered the kitchen and
took him by the elbow. He set down his dishtowel with surprise. “You’ve done
all the cooking you’re going to for the next little while.”
He was mildly disappointed by that. Mostly, he’d been hoping
they’d do some more cooking together. The good thing was that Sarah appeared
bright and cheery, not like she was upset about anything. Perhaps she had
enjoyed being close to him but was just too conservative to say so. She handed
him his glass of wine and steered him toward the sofa. “Why don’t you sit, and
I’ll refill that for you? I’m doing the cooking tonight.”
That sounded super to Matt. He could relax in front of the
fire and briefly check the score on the game. “Mind if I turn on some football?
Just for a moment.”
“Watch it as long as you’d like,” she called from the
kitchen with a smile. She pulled two frozen pizzas from the freezer, and Matt
chuckled to himself, wondering if back in Maryland she did any home cooking at
all. Not that it
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