“You okay?” he asked.
She twisted in his arms, nodding even as her heart hammered hard at triple-time in her chest. “I think I’m fine.”
He eased his grip on her midsection and ran his hands over her upper arms, like he was warming her up. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“Sorry.” She gave him a half-smile.
“I’m going to make an executive decision and just fix this carpet now.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and nodded, then turned to continue her journey down the stairs.
Brent was standing on the landing, watching them. Before she could say something—and what would she say?—he turned on his heel and headed outside.
Taking a deep breath, she followed, catching up to him at his truck.
He scowled at her. “So he can fix your carpet, but I can’t?”
“I slipped. That changes the urgency of fixing it, I guess.”
“Yeah. I saw that. You slipped right into his arms.”
“Are you mad he caught me?”
“I’m mad he didn’t let you go. I’m mad he told you not to scare him and you saidokaylike you’re half-way in love with him.”
She wanted to slap that angry look right off his face. “How dare you be jealous?”
“How dare I? I’m your husband. That’s how.”
She wanted to shout at him that he wasn’t, that she’d moved on, and letting him back into her life was a mistake.
And yet her heart wouldn’t let her do that. Stupid heart. “You’re a shitty husband.”
“I’m aware.”
“There’s nothing going on with Evan.”
“That’s not what it looks like.”
“And what if there was? You claimed that you knew he wanted to date me, which so far, he hasn’t expressed to me, so I think you’re wrong. But that aside, so fucking what? You and I aren’t dating.”
“We should be.”
“Oh, Brent.”
“Hear me out.”
“Not now.” She glanced back at the house. “Not here. Not outside, not while Evan is here.Not. Now.”
“When?”
“Later,” she whispered, hating the way her heart tripped over itself in excitement. “We can talk about it later. After we’ve unpacked, after Evan leaves.”
He stepped closer to her. His hands settled on her upper arms, and he squeezed. She didn’t miss that it was the exact same place Evan had touched her. Men were so freaking predictable. She might want Brent to want her, but not because someone else had marked her. She had no time for this macho bullshit.
She did have time for the way he felt against her, though. Too much time.This is a mistake, she warned herself. It did no good. Leaning in, she let him hug her, let herself soak up his warmth.
Their hug was interrupted by the slap of the front door and Evan’s footsteps, heavy on the porch. “Fixed the carpet,” he called out.
