‘Oh,’ she said for the third time in as many minutes, the blush now spreading all the way to her toes. ‘Isn’t that a little personal?’
Jacob laughed. ‘Personal? You were ready to marry me before seven o’clock tonight.’
Holly’s hands flew from where they gripped the cool kitchen sink to cover her fast-reddening cheeks. ‘Don’t remind me, please.’
She slowly lowered her hands from her face, thinking it must have been hot in the small room. His cheeks were as pink as hers felt. She wasn’t just imagining it.
Then without warning Jacob raised his hand and ran a finger over a stray lock of hair that had escaped its confines. He slid it back into place behind her ear, his fingertip resting by her cheek for a few lingering moments. And during those long drawn-out seconds she could not have dragged her eyes away from his for all the world.
The scraping of a chair in the dining room brought Holly out of her reverie and she spun around to face the plates of dessert she had been preparing. Jacob cleared his throat and walked from the room without another word.
Holly went to pick up two plates and saw that her hands were shaking. She carefully placed the plates back onto the bench and took a couple of deep breaths.
‘He’s the enemy, remember,’ she said aloud. ‘The anti-husband. He was put on this earth to test you. If you can resist him, you can resist any of his kind.’ She glared at her hands, demanding they not shake as she took the plates into the other room.
Hours later Holly helped Beth up to the master bedroom and left the men to say their goodnights downstairs. As Beth got into bed she said, ‘He’s a sweetie, Holly.’
‘Of course he is or you wouldn’t have married him.’
‘I mean Jacob, you dope.’
Sweet’s the last word I’d use, Holly thought. ‘Yeah, well, the jury is still out on that one.’
‘Promise me you’ll give him a chance.’
Not likely. ‘Sure, honey. For you, anything.’
‘Good…goodnight…’
Holly kissed her sleepy friend on the cheek and headed quietly downstairs. The men’s voices wafted up the stairwell. Holly stopped halfway down, her heart beating so loudly in her ears she was sure they would hear it too and know she was there.
‘Give her a chance,’ she heard Ben say. It made her smile, thinking how alike Ben and Beth were. But her smile soon faded at Jacob’s response.
‘Give me a break, Ben, I’ve been back in the country for a few days, and haven’t even found the time to acquire a housekeeper. Besides which I have no idea how long I’m staying this time and you know my views on marriage. What were you thinking?’
She knew it! In that first instant when they had crashed together on the street she had seen it. She sensed this guy was the epitome of the inaccessible male. He was the antithesis of kind, committed Ben. Her theory had been right all along.
Holly strained to listen when there was a brief pause in the conversation.
‘Unless of course she’s handy with a feather duster…then both of our problems would be solved in one fell swoop.’
Charming! She waited for Ben’s protest—which never came.
‘Not likely, I’m afraid. A bit of a princess, our Holly.’
Ben! He always joked she would not know one end of a broom from the other, but did he have to describe her that way to a stranger? She pictured him describing her to other prospective men. ‘She’s a cutie, our Holly,’ she could imagine Ben saying. ‘She can cook up a storm but it will be you scrubbing the bathroom tiles.’
Great. No wonder his first attempts had been such failures. Well, she would sort him out later so they could get this project back onto track.
Holly made great noise coming down the rest of the stairs, clumping loudly and whistling inanely.
‘Isn’t Beth asleep?’ Ben asked, shushing her.
Holly clenched her fists at her side. ‘Thanks for a super evening, Benny,’ she said.
Jacob helped her into her coat at the front door. She wrapped a scarf around her neck but held onto her gloves, glaring at Ben and mouthing unpleasant promises as he waved goodbye and closed the front door with a soft click.
The rain had stopped but had left a slick sheen on the ground so Holly had no choice but to accept Jacob’s elbow as they walked down the slippery front steps.
At the bottom of the driveway they reached Holly’s car and she finally jerked her arm away. ‘Thank you,’ she said. Her breath showed white in the frosty midnight air.
‘My pleasure.’ He slipped his hands into his deep pockets.
‘Look—’ They both spoke at the same time. Jacob motioned for Holly to speak first.
‘It’s unlikely we will run into each other often, so, I think it best we just pretend we never met.’
‘Sure,’ Jacob said. ‘No problem.’
Hmm. She had expected, ‘If you say so,’ or even, ‘If you insist.’ But, ‘No problem’? Was she that easily forgettable?
Bothered beyond good sense, she mustered her haughtiest attitude. ‘No matter what Ben told you, and not that it matters what you think, I am no princess.’
Jacob laughed, his head thrown back as he let out great effusive guffaws. Holly was shocked into momentary silence.
‘You heard that?’ Jacob finally asked, his eyes sparkling in merriment.
‘Loud and clear. And I think that was extremely wrong of Ben and rude of you to even joke about such a thing.’
‘Are you done?’
She looked up, surprised at his short tone.
‘Well, yes, I thought that quite about covered it—’
Jacob leant over and placed a light kiss on her open mouth, succeeding in shutting her up. His hands remained in his pockets and her hands held her gloves in front of her at chest height. And since his toes were a couple of feet from hers, the only points of contact were their four, warm, amenable lips.
It took the merest moment for the unexpected tenderness of his kiss to wash its magic over her. On impulse Holly closed her eyes and tilted her head only ever so slightly. But it was enough.
Jacob took her hint and he leant that little bit closer to explore the warmth and thrill as unexpected yearning lit between them. And what started as little more than an overly friendly goodnight peck deepened into something very different. It was delicate. It was yielding. It was lovely.
After enjoying a few moments of unchecked ardour, they pulled apart.
Holly rocked back on her heels; luckily the car was there to catch her as she swayed. Her tongue ran over the back of her teeth and she could taste after dinner mints. She rocked forward as she opened her eyes and sighed, unconsciously biting her lower lip.
The adorable dimples reappeared on Jacob’s smooth cheeks as he smiled. ‘I think now it’s time to go our separate ways. You and I have already created far too many inconsistent memories for one night.’
‘Goodnight, Jacob,’ Holly whispered, not trusting her husky voice.
‘Goodnight, Holly,’ he said, but his eyes were saying anything but. He let out a ragged breath, shook his head and turned away.
Holly dragged in a deep breath, revelling in the sweet smell of recent rain that wafted towards her on the light night breeze.
She opened her car door but turned quickly