His words sent heat arcing through her. Oh, she had, too, even as she knew it was impossible.Theywere impossible.
“This is crazy, Andrew. What are we doing?”
He lifted his mouth in a half smile. “If you have to ask, apparently I wasn’t doing it right.”
She made a face. “Oh, be quiet. You know you were doing nothing wrong. That’s not what I meant. None of this makessense. I’m very attracted to you, but I won’t have an affair with you. It would never work.”
“Who said I wanted an affair?”
Her face flamed again and she wanted to disappear. Had she totally misconstrued that kiss? “Right. You go around kissing all your contractors.”
“Nope. Only you. I’m attracted to you as well, Rosie. I would think that’s fairly obvious. More than that, I like you. I would be interested in seeing if there might be more than simple attraction. That doesn’t mean we need to jump into bed or that we need to swear undying love for each other right now. I would simply like to get to know you better.”
She didn’t know how to answer him. It sounded wonderful. She would love the chance to see if this attraction could turn into something more.
Why couldn’t they date? Unfortunately, she could immediately think of a dozen reasons, starting with the house behind them.
She sighed, already regretting what she knew she had to say. “We both know this isn’t the right time for either of us. You have your deadline, the book tour, your children, the house.”
He gave a short laugh. “Yeah. My life is barely contained chaos. Thanks for the reminder.”
“Mine is no better. Even before everything happened last night, I had my hands full trying to juggle my mom, my daughter, my granddaughter, the construction company. And now I have to replace someone who before yesterday I considered one of my most valuable employees. All while trying to finish your renovation.”
“I think you’re trying to come up with excuses because you’re scared, Rosie.”
She opened her mouth to argue instinctively but closed it again.
She considered his words. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am scared. But that doesn’t change the fact that our lives are complicated right now.”
Andrew nodded slowly. “You have a point. We both have a lot on our plates. And for what it’s worth, you terrify me.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, though she couldn’t deny she liked the idea.
“So what do we do about it?”
Andew sighed. “How about this. We don’t make any decisions right now. Let’s get the house done and I’ll finish my book. When things have settled down a bit, we can revisit this conversation.”
Rosie felt a mixture of anticipation and regret. She conversely wanted to tell him she wasn’t sure she could wait that long.
“That sounds reasonable.”
“No pressure, no expectations. We’ll see where we are then and in the meantime there’s no reason we can’t get to know each other better as friends.”
“Friends,” Rosie echoed, feeling both heartened and somewhat deflated at the prospect. “I can do that.”
“Okay. I think we need one more kiss to seal the deal.”
Though she knew it would only make the waiting harder, she couldn’t resist stepping into his arms again and lifting her mouth to his.
When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.
“Promise me you’ll finish the house fast.”
She gave a husky laugh. “I can only push the subs so hard but I’ll do my best. What about your book?”
“You’re better incentive than if my publisher were standing over me, cracking the whip. Believe me, I’m not going to have any trouble writing authentic love scenes right now, with the way you’ve sent my imagination into overdrive.”
She laughed, feeling worlds better than she ever expected to today. She eased away from him. “I’d better go or John will be wondering what happened to me.”
