As she held the door open wider and he stepped inside, she resisted the urge to pinch her nose with her fingers to stop inhaling the subtle aftershave he wore: something fresh, reminiscent of rain on a spring day, and totally intoxicating.
‘Fancy a cuppa?’
He followed her into the kitchen and she hoped he wasn’t checking out her raggedy tracksuit pants. Then again, considering his reaction to her kiss last night, he wouldn’t be checking her out full stop.
‘Actually, signing on the dotted line when you’ve lived in a house this long definitely requires something stronger.’ He laid the folder in his hands on the casual dining table. ‘Got any whiskey?’
Surprised by his request, she nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ve got the works. Gin, vodka, rum, brandy, port, whiskey.’
His eyebrows rose. ‘Uh, should I be worried?’
She chuckled as she squatted and opened a cupboard where Bert had always stored his liquor. ‘We used to have a lot of dinner parties years ago and even though we didn’t drink much, Bert liked to play the perfect host and offer guests a full bar.’
Jem nodded, pensive. ‘You two were close with Rayne and Noel.’
The hand gripping the neck of the whiskey bottle trembled a little as she stood and plonked it on the benchtop. As far as she knew, Rayne had only confided in her and Summer about her ex-husband’s abuse and the last thing she wanted was to discuss him.
‘That was another lifetime,’ she said, injecting false perkiness into her voice. ‘Rayne and I lost touch after Noel left town, but we’re thick as thieves again now, despite her living in Melbourne.’
‘She must really love that new guy to leave town when she’s lived here her whole life.’
‘Leo’s great and I’m happy for her.’
She left out the part where she was also a tad envious. She’d love to meet a man who looked at her the way Leo looked at Rayne, like she was his everything. But she felt bad for being jealous because her friend had gone through hell in her marriage to that arsehole Noel and she deserved some happiness now.
They lapsed into silence and Heidi sloshed a healthy amount of whiskey into a tumbler. The faster she signed these papers and toasted, the faster he’d be out of here.
‘Here you go.’ She placed the tumbler in front of him and sat opposite with a glass of water.
‘Tell me that’s vodka, because you can’t do a proper toast with water.’
‘Water’s fine,’ she said, unusually sharp.
She almost apologised but stopped herself at the last second. She had nothing to be sorry for. He’d landed on her doorstep at a ridiculous hour to conduct business and even if the previous night’s embarrassment hadn’t happened she would’ve been a tad grouchy.
Liar. You would’ve loved to have him visit at night if it meant a little healthy flirtation.
Wishing her inner voice would shut the hell up, she pointed to the folder. ‘Shall we get the papers signed?’
‘Absolutely.’ He slid several documents out of the folder and handed her a silver ballpoint he pulled from his top pocket. He wore a casual short-sleeved chequered shirt tonight, with jeans, like he’d come from the pub after having a few drinks with mates. More laidback than his outfit last night, when it had looked like he’d dressed to impress. Or maybe that had been her reading too much into it? Considering his reaction at the end of the evening, more than likely. ‘I’ve marked where you need to sign but I’ll go through every document with you to make sure we don’t miss anything.’
Translated:I want to dot every i and cross every t tonight because I don’t want to come back.
She got the message loud and clear and practically scribbled her signature in her haste to get this done so he could leave. When she’d signed the last one, she handed him the pen. ‘So this place is officially on the market?’
‘Sure is.’ He picked up his whiskey tumbler and raised it. ‘Here’s to a quick sale at top dollar.’
‘I’ll drink to that.’ She tapped her water glass against his and took a sip, almost wishing she had topped up with vodka, because as Jem raised the tumbler to his lips and tossed back the whiskey in one go, his gaze met hers in a silent challenge she had no hope of interpreting.
‘Now we’ve got business out of the way, I want to ask you something.’ He placed the empty tumbler on the table. ‘Would you like to go on a picnic?’
If Heidi hadn’t been sitting, she would’ve slid to the floor.
When she didn’t respond, he said, ‘You look surprised.’
Stunned would be more apt, as she tried to assimilate why he’d ask her out when their date last night ended so disastrously. ‘I guess I am. I mean, after last night, when you took off …’
She couldn’t articulate the questions pinging through her head since then.Was my touch that abhorrent? Are you not interested in anything physical? Are you even attracted to me?