Bonnie’s heart gave a funny little bump. She reminded herself that there were five members of her class in addition to the one who elicited that response. “Oh?”
Looking almost smugly amused, as if she’d sensed the direction in which Bonnie’s thoughts had automatically flown, Kinley nodded. “Cassie Drennan called earlier. She’s bringing a friend by to see the inn as a potential wedding venue for next spring. She mentioned that her dad might ride along.”
So the physical jolt had been justified, after all. It happened again with the confirmation that she would perhaps be seeing Paul that afternoon—even if he had his daughter and her friend with him.
“I’m sure you’ll have Cassie’s friend signed up for the full package even before they finish looking around,” she teased her sister lightly, trying to direct the attention away from herself.
A saleswoman to her core, Kinley grinned. “I’ll certainly try. So, you want to be in on the tour? I suspect that Paul—I mean, Cassie—would be happy to have you join us.”
“Kinley—”
With a soft laugh, Kinley held up both hands in response to Bonnie’s warning mutter. “Sorry. I just think it’s so cute the way you blush nearly every time you hear his name.”
Cursing her traitorous fair coloring, Bonnie hoped she could get that reaction under control again before Paul arrived.
She changed the subject abruptly to talk of the wedding festivities scheduled for the weekend, a topic sure to distract her sister. Proceeded by a drinks-and-snacks gathering in the dining room, rehearsal was scheduled for seven that evening. A hearty breakfast would be served tomorrow morning to the wedding party, and the big event itself would start at three tomorrow afternoon. The bride had chosen a Tuscan wedding theme, so Logan would be busy today draping rented white columns and the white-painted gazebo with ivy and clusters of artificial grapes. And muttering all the time about how foolish it was to do so, she thought with an indulgent smile, though she knew her brother would do his usual meticulous job.
One other topic was guaranteed to distract Kinley’s attention from anything else. “What time is Dan supposed to arrive?” Bonnie asked when there was nothing left to say about the upcoming wedding.
Just the mention of Dan’s name made Kinley light up like a Christmas tree, Bonnie noted with a slight sense of wistfulness. “He plans to be here by six, in time for dinner. His last interview for the day should be completed by noon.”
As a features writer for the Georgia-based magazine Modern South, Dan traveled quite a bit, though he’d shifted his home base to Virginia to be with Kinley. An aspiring political thriller novelist, he hoped in the future to cut back even more on his traveling, though so far they seemed to be doing a great job of melding their busy careers with their private romance.
Kinley glanced at her watch. “Speaking of work, I have to make a couple of calls. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Bonnie had a lot to do, too. She hoped she’d be much too busy to indulge in daydreams of finding for herself what Kinley had lucked into with Dan.
Morning chores had been completed when Bonnie stood on the step stool in the kitchen later that afternoon, reaching for a vintage glass punch bowl she stored in one of the higher cabinets. The grape pattern made it perfect for the upcoming wedding’s Tuscan theme. She gripped the large bowl carefully between both hands, preparing to descend the ladder, when someone reached up to take the bowl from her. Having been too focused on her task to hear anyone enter the kitchen, she started a bit, but a large hand at her waist kept her safely on the tread.
She looked down to find Paul grinning at her, holding the bowl in the crook of his right arm as he steadied her with his left hand. Even two steps up on the ladder, she was now only an inch or so taller, so their faces were almost level. He looked every bit as good from up here, she decided immediately.
Without disconnecting the contact between them, he set the punch bowl on the counter. “Shouldn’t you wait until you have someone to steady you before you climb on ladders?”
“I’m a foot off the floor,” she pointed out. “I doubt I’m in danger of breaking my neck.”
Her pulse fluttered some when he rested his now-free right hand just above her left hip, so that he held her lightly bracketed between his palms. She felt the warmth of him seeping through her clothing and softening her knees.
Still smiling at her, Paul neither moved away nor made any effort to help her down. He wasn’t even pretending now to be securing her on the ladder. And when she placed her hands on his broad shoulders, it wasn’t only to steady herself. It seemed time to openly acknowledge the attraction that had simmered between them from the first time they’d collided.
> “Your sister is giving Cassie and her friend Danielle a quick tour of the facilities I slipped away on the pretext of asking you about the next cooking class,” he confessed.
“You have a question about the class?”
His grin deepened roguishly. “No.”
“Oh.” She felt her cheeks warm a bit, but attributed the flush more to pleasure than embarrassment.
“I don’t mean to keep you from your work,” he said with some reluctance.
“I always make time for a visit from a friend,” she replied. “But perhaps I should get down from the ladder.”
“I don’t know. I rather like looking at you from this angle.” He focused directly on her mouth as he spoke, and she felt her lips tingle in response.
She glanced automatically toward the open doorway. Had there not been a very good chance that one of her employees could walk in at any moment…
As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, he gave a little sigh, then lifted her easily off the stepladder. The math teacher obviously worked out.
Setting her safely on her feet, he smiled down at her, jade eyes gleaming. “I like looking at you from this angle, too.”