“What are you doing?” A clipped voice came from behind her.
Startled, she wobbled. At the same time, she glanced over her shoulder to find Tyler standing several feet away, his thick arms crossed, a scowl leveled at her from beneath the brim of a Stetson.
She shifted back, but her swift movement made her lightheaded and dizzy, and she could feel herself starting to lose her precarious perch. She attempted to grab on to the open shelf in front of her, but it slipped through her fingers, and she started to fall backward.
6
Tyler lunged for Kinsey. He hadn’t meant to scare her, but apparently he was a bigger idiot than he’d realized.
As she wobbled, he tried to steady her, but she was already toppling backward. He did the only thing he could think of. He caught her in his arms, so that he somehow ended up holding her like he was a groom with his bride, stepping over the threshold on their wedding day.
He gave a quick shake of his head at the unwanted image. Or maybe it wasn’t so unwanted after all. Maybe subconsciously, his mind was telling him he needed to give more than a passing thought to the idea of remarriage.
Not to Kinsey. No, of course not. Absolutely not. Perhaps he should get serious about asking Nettie out. She’d flirted with him again this morning when she’d picked up Wyatt for school. Tyler never flirted back, but maybe he should give it a try.
“Oh bother.” Kinsey grabbed on to him. “I’m such a klutz.”
“No. It was my fault. I startled you.”
“Yes, you did.” Her tone held indignation as she glared at him. Were her blue-green eyes filled with contempt?
After their not-so-great start, she obviously didn’t like him.
“I’m sorry.” If he took a poll of the words he’d used most frequently with her so far,I’m sorrywould win. “I should have warned you I was standing in the kitchen before lobbing a question at you.”
“It was more of an accusation.” She was clutching at his shirt and hanging on to him as though she was afraid he might decide to drop her to the floor like a bug he wanted to squash.
“I definitely asked a question.” He remembered walking in from the rear entrance, hearing the rummaging through the cupboards, and being surprised to see her on the counter, perfectly at home, almost as if she’d grown up here and had every right to take whatever she wanted.
“Fine. Technically, ‘What are you doing?’isa question, but the tone of your voice was accusing.”
She was right. He had accused her because he’d overreacted to her being on the counter.
“I’m sorry.” The words fell out again. “I don’t know why I even asked in the first place. You have every right to be in the kitchen.”
He didn’t care if she hunted through the cabinets. She was probably getting something for his dad. If she was getting a snack for herself, that was okay too.
Had he asked because he’d been mad at himself for the bolt of attraction he’d felt when he’d noticed her incredible body as she’d stretched up to reach something in the cabinet, showing off her tight jeans?
He shouldn’t have looked. Then when he did, he should have forced himself not to let his gaze linger over that nice backside. A backside that his arm was now pressed against. A backside that was just as firm as it had looked.
Shoot. He was being a class-A jerk by focusing on a woman’s physical appeal and making that the center of his thoughts instead of keeping all of that locked away where it belonged.
He started to loosen his grip. He had to put her down. There was no reason to keep on holding her like she was a coveted prize he’d just won at the county fair. But as her gaze skittered across his face and took him in, he couldn’t make himself move.
She wasn’t making an effort to free herself. Not that she was thinking the same thoughts about him that he was of her. Far from it. She was probably trying to figure out how a thirty-two-year-old man could be such a jerk.
Had he lost his mind around her? Because she was so pretty?
He let his gaze skim her face too. As with every other time, he was fascinated by her flawless beauty. Up close, her lashes seemed longer and thicker, her skin was toned and looked as soft as velvet, and her lips were perfectly rounded.
What was he doing?
With a half growl, he lowered her to her feet.
Her grip in his shirt remained tight for an extra beat. Or maybe he was only imagining that. Either way, he took a step away from her, and at the same time, she released him and backed up.
She stared at his chest.
