Technically, today was my day to relax. Ha! It was family dinner day today, and I didn't do any prep yesterday, so had to do it all today. When the boys came down, younger son was also going to replace the hard drive in my desktop computer. That was the fast part. The part that took hours was me putting everything from the old hard drive onto the new one. I'm almost done with that, finally, though some of the apps I had on the old hard drive aren't available to download onto the new one anymore, so I'll have to figure out ways around them when I need them. But we had a good afternoon, the four of us, with yummy food and good chats. I'll deal with any computer hiccups later. Now, though, I'm going to sit and watch something mindless on TV while the computer finishes what it's doing.
Before I do that, I have a quick snippet for you this week from Light the Way Home.
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He steeled himself when Hayden shrieked her name as he raced into the mudroom the next morning. He heard her low murmur when his son opened the door, then a quiet laugh. He’d spent half the night wondering what it would be like to really kiss her. It had been a long time since he’d kissed a woman. Not since Greta left.
Maybe kissing Lucie wasn’t such a terrible idea. She wasn’t staying. He could give in to the urge, and then forget about it after she was gone.
And dammit, he wanted to kiss her. Blowing out a hard breath, he rinsed Hayden’s juice glass and shut off the faucet as their footsteps neared. He glanced over and watched her cheeks turn pink. “Hi.”
“Daddy, can we play outside later?”
He blinked and turned his attention to his son. “I’ll try, buddy, but–”
“I meant Lucie an’ me.” Hayden gave him a quick frown. “It’s sunny out.”
“And I bet the grass is crunchy, too.” He met Lucie’s gaze, restraining a smile at her nod and his son’s subsequent down-turned mouth. “Maybe we can talk about it at lunchtime after I get some things done.”
His son pursed his lips, blue eyes narrowed as he studied his father for a few seconds. “Okay.”
“It’s actually pretty chilly out this morning,” Lucie said. “I had to get my really heavy sweater out. I’ll have to get my coat out soon.”
Hayden looked up at her. “Really?”
She tugged at the collar of the thick green sweater she wore.
The little boy heaved a giant sigh. “Okay.” He released her hand. “I gotta get my bear.” He ran out of the kitchen.
“Slow on the stairs, buddy!” Nate called.
“’Kay!”
Lucie winced while she listened to his footsteps rushing up the steps.
Nate set the juice glass down and crossed the floor to where she stood. “I need to know,” he said, bending to catch her soft mouth with his.
She made a startled sound, then set both of her hands flat on his chest, her lips parting.
He’d been right. She tasted sweet. He slid one hand into her loose hair, ignoring the slight dampness to tip her head so he could delve deeper.
She let him. God, she let him.
He pulled back, his heart knocking hard against his ribs. Lucie’s eyes opened slowly, and he noted the way they had darkened. “Tell me I’m being stupid.”
“Maybe we both are,” she said huskily, a faint smile curving her puffy lips. “I haven’t been stupid in a long time, and right now, I have no idea why.”
“Shit.” He dragged in a rough breath. “One of us should be smart, right?”
She shook her head. “I’m tired of being the smart one.” Her fingers slid up to his shoulders, cautiously, warm through his cotton shirt. “Being the smart one got me dumped with no warning, being smart left me jobless.” Her smile widened. “Though that got me here, so that’s something.”
Nate’s fingers tightened on her hip. When had he grabbed her hip? He loosened his grasp. “You’re not staying, so it wouldn’t be smart for us to do this. I’m not looking for a relationship. I have all I can handle with Hayden and my business.”
“Then this might be just exactly what we both need. Something temporary.” Her eyes rounded, and her smile faded. “I’ve never tried temporary until I came here.”
He’d never tried it. Not knowingly, anyway. “Maybe...” He broke off at the sound of running footsteps upstairs. “Slow down, buddy.”
Lucie startled, then stepped away, blushing.
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I hope you all had a chance to relax this weekend and prep for the week ahead, maybe even got in some reading time? I'd love to hear about it!