It seemed impossible that she could be falling for someone as serious-minded as Paul Watts. Yet after what had happened between them in the carriage house, Lia recognized that without their growing emotional connection, the earth-shattering orgasm he’d given her wouldn’t have been possible. She’d never known that sort of all-consuming passion.
In some ways it terrified her. She was accustomed to being able to pick up and go whenever the mood hit her. She didn’t have any emotional ties that limited her freedom. Traveling like a leaf on the wind of her whims was how she’d grown up. Her mother’s idea of a perfect lifestyle seemed perfectly rational to Lia given what had happened to Jen Marsh.
No one got close when you moved all the time.
No attachments meant no heartbreak. Or that was how it was supposed to work.
* * *
“What did you think of your first tarot reading?” Lia asked as they strolled along that path that led away from the caretaker’s house.
“You know I don’t believe in any of that stuff.”
“I get it.” Lia knew his skepticism would continue to come between them if she reacted defensively. “You’re a logical guy. It’s not really your thing.”
“All that business about a future romance and having to choose between two things that I love,” Paul continued, his tone thoughtful rather than dismissive.
As she struggled to make sense of what was bothering him, Lia realized that Paul had seen enough truth in the reading to be unsettled by it. How was that possible? He was too much of a realist to do anything but reject all he’d seen and heard today.
“If you aren’t ready for love then that’s not likely to happen for you,” she reassured him, despite having seen the opposite happen when the cards predicted romance. But if anyone could avoid his emotions or anything that distracted him from business, it was Paul. “Maybe the universe is just nudging you to work less and spend more quality time with family and friends.” From the way he scowled at her, Lia should’ve kept the advice to herself. Awash in sudden frustration, she threw up her hands. “Look. What do I know? It’s your life.”
They walked in tense silence until the path was joined by one that stretched between the house and driveway. Lia started to turn away, but Paul touched his fingertips to her arm, stopping her.
“I know it’s last-minute, but I was wondering if you’d like to come with me to Ryan and Zoe’s wedding on Saturday.”
Lia laid her fist over her rapidly thumping heart. “I thought you wanted me to keep a low profile.”
“It’s a small gathering of my close friends. None of them will spread gossip around Charleston about you.”
His declaration struck her as naive and shortsighted.
“Given how your cousins reacted to the tarot card reading,” she said, “there’s more interest in your love life than you realize.”
“If anyone asks, we’ll just say you’re a family friend in town for a short visit.”
Lia studied his impassive expression, knowing she shouldn’t read too much into his offer. Her instincts warned her that spending more time with Paul was a mistake, but the temptation was so strong.
“Let me guess,” she said, concealing her jumbled emotions behind mockery. “You were so busy catching bad guys that you forgot to invite anyone and you don’t want to go to the wedding alone.”
His crushing glare confirmed her hypothesis, but his fingers skimmed down her arm and trailed over the back of her hand. The urge to drag him back to the carriage house and finish what they’d started made her shiver.
“Why do you have to make everything so difficult?” he demanded, his impatient tone at odds with the fire dancing in his eyes.
“Funny,” she snorted. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
The air around them sizzled as Lia turned her hand and placed her palm against Paul’s. She barely bit back a groan as he intertwined their fingers. For several silent seconds they stared at each other until Lia’s phone chimed, indicating she’d received a text. It took a supreme effort of will to break eye contact with Paul. Glancing down at the screen, she noted that Ethan had sent her a message.
“Something wrong?” Paul quizzed.
“Ethan was going to give me a ride to my camper so I could pick up a costume, and then we were going to go truck shopping, but he has to go into a late meeting so he can’t make it.” Lia considered her options as she continued, “The nurses are throwing a birthday party for one of the children at the hospital on Saturday and I promised to surprise her with a visit from Elsa.”
“I can take you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she murmured, turning him down despite the craving to spend more time in his company. “Ethan—”
“Forget about Ethan.”
His firm command sent a ripple of pleasure cascading through her body. Before meeting Paul, she never imagined herself attracted to someone so authoritative and formidable. He was as set in his ways as a granite boulder while she glided past, a butterfly borne on the winds of chance. The lack of compatibility in their natures offered no reason why they should have the slightest hint of chemistry, yet the pull between them couldn’t be denied.