“Why shouldn’t I? It’s a fine school, a fine town.”
“It ain’t Manhattan.”
“Exactly.”
“Why’d you leave?” He winced. “Sorry, none of my business.”
“It’s all right. I had a bad year. I guess I was getting restless before that, but the last year was just the pits. They eliminated my job at the school. Economic cutbacks. Downsizing. The arts are always the first to suffer.” She shrugged. “Anyway, my roommate got married. I couldn’t afford the rent on my own—not if I wanted to eat with any regularity—so I advertised for another one. Took references, gauged personalities.” With a sigh, she propped her chin on her elbow. “I thought I was careful. But about three weeks after she moved in, I came home and found that she’d cleaned me out.”
Mac stopped eating. “She robbed you?”
“She skinned me. TV, stereo, whatever good jewelry I had, cash, the collection of Limoges boxes I’d started in college. I was really steamed, and then I was shaken. I just wasn’t comfortable living there after it happened. Then the guy I’d been seeing for about a year started giving me lectures on my stupidity, my naiveté. As far as he was concerned, I’d gotten exactly what I’d deserved.”
“Nice guy,” Mac muttered. “Very supportive.”
“You bet. In any case, I took a good look at him and our relationship and figured he was right on one level. As long as I was in that rut, with him, I was getting what I deserved. So I decided to climb out of the rut, and leave him in it.”
“Good choice.”
“I thought so.” And so was he, she thought, studying Mac’s face. A very good choice. “Why don’t you tell me what your plans are with the house you’re renovating.”
“I don’t guess you’d know a lot about plumbing.”
She only smiled. “I’m a quick learner.”
It was nearly midnight when he pulled up in front of her apartment. He hadn’t intended to stay out so late. He certainly hadn’t expected to spend more than an hour talking to her about wiring and plumbing and load-bearing walls. Or drawing little blueprints on napkins.
But somehow he’d managed to get through the evening without feeling foolish or pinned down or out of step. Only one thing worried him. He wanted to see her again.
“I think this was a good first step.” She laid a hand over his, kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”
“I’ll walk you up.”
Her hand was already on the door handle. Safer, she’d decided for both of them, if she just hurried along. “You don’t have to. I know the way.”
“I’ll walk you up,” he repeated. He stepped out, rounded the hood. They started up the stairs together. The tenant on the first floor was still awake. The mutter of a television, and its ghost gray light, filtered through the window.
Since the breeze had died, it was the only sound. And overhead countless stars wheeled in a clear black sky.
“If we do this again,” Mac began, “people in town are going to start talking about us, making out that we’re …” He wasn’t quite sure of the right phrase.
“An item?” Nell supplied. “That bothers you.”
“I don’t want the kids to get any ideas, or worry, or … whatever.” As they reached the landing, he looked down at her and was caught again. “It must be the way you look,” he murmured.
“What must?”
“That makes me think about you.” It was a reasonable explanation, he decided. Physical attraction. After all, he wasn’t a dead man. He was just a careful one. “That makes me think about doing this.”
He cupped her face in his hands—a gesture so sweet, so tender, it had every muscle in her body going lax. It was just as slow, as stunning, as sumptuous, as the first time. The touch of his mouth on hers, the shuddering patience, the simple wonder of it.
Could it be this? she wondered. Could it be this that she’d been waiting for? Could it be him?
He heard her soft, breathy sigh as he eased his mouth from hers. Lingering, he knew, would be a mistake, and he let his hands fall away before they could reach for more.
As if to capture one final taste, Nell ran her tongue over her lips. “You’re awfully good at that, Macauley. Awfully good.”
“You could say I’ve been saving up.” But he didn’t think it was that at all. He was very much worried it wasn’t that. “I’ll see you.”
