When was the last time I’d felt okay after sounding like a dunderhead in front of someone? I hated sounding sappy or being wrong, and yet Hope made me feel all right about it. I gave a self-conscious smile. “Yeah, well, I guess old habits die hard. I’ll give it some thought.”
We stood there, just looking at each other for a moment. “It’s good to see you,” I said.
“Good to see you, too. I hope I’m not interrupting. Gran’s takinga nap, and I thought I could use the chance to touch up the mural and hang the hardware for the canopies. I’m nearly finished.”
“The girls will be so thrilled. But I’m going to miss having you over here so much.”
“Even though you’re hardly ever here when I am?”
“I like the idea of you being here,” I said. “I think about you a lot.”
The air around us heated. Her mouth curved in a smile. “What do you think?”
“About doing this.” And just like that, I bent down and kissed her. It seemed like the most ordinary thing in the world, but the sensations it stirred in me were anything but ordinary. Her mouth was soft and succulent, and when her arms wound around my back, it felt like time and place just melted away.
The patter of small feet warned of a child’s imminent arrival. We both pulled back as the back door opened.
Hope’s lips were red, her cheeks rosy. “I, uh, better get to work on the mural.” She turned and fled up the stairs to the girls’ bedroom as Zoey walked in.
Zoey looked at me accusingly. “Why were you standing so close?”
I didn’t think she’d seen us, but I didn’t dare deny it. “None of your business,” I said.
“Well, I don’t think that’s ’propriate.”
“What?”
“My teacher taught us about ’propriate and in’propriate behavior. Like how you don’t yell and run around indoors, and how you don’t let strangers get too close and ’vade your personal space. An’ I don’t think that you and Hope were being ’propriate, ’cause you were ’vading personal space.”
I have to say, I was flustered. “I, um...”
“Besides, I want you to marry Aunt Jillian,” Zoey continued.
This refrain was getting tiresome. “I’ve told you, sweetheart. I don’t like Jillian like that.”
“Maybe if you kissed her, you would,” Zoey persisted.
Damn. Maybe shehadseen us. “It just doesn’t work that way.” I rubbed my hand across my face. “Hey—I thought you wanted to play with Snowball. What are you doing in here?”
“I came in to get her a bowl of water in case she’s thirsty.”
“That’s very responsible of you.”
She nodded solemnly. “I’m responsible enough to take care of a dog of my own.”
Zoey had the makings of an excellent attorney. In the span of less than a minute, she’d thrown me off balance and made her case. I would hate to come up against her in court. I pulled a disposable plastic bowl out of the cabinet and handed it to her.
She carried it to the sink and stood on tiptoe to fill it. “Come outside and play with us.”
I thought about Hope upstairs in their bedroom and was tempted to decline—but I couldn’t trust myself not to invade her personal space again. Besides, Zoey was watching me closely.
“Are you playing Von Trapp family?” I asked. “Because I refuse to wear lederhosen and sing.”
“What’s lederhosen?”
“Shorts with suspenders.”
Her face broke into a sunshine smile. “Well, you don’t have to wear that, but I bet we can make you sing.”
