by Scott, Lisa
She hurried up the stairs, wondering how she looked from behind. She smoothed her hand over her hip and felt a flush of heat creep up her neck. “Is it okay to use the bathroom up here?”
“Sure, check it out.”
She stepped inside and leaned against the closed door. She stomped her foot, totally annoyed. Her reaction to this man was stupid. Ridiculous. Usually, she could ignore good-looking guys. Hot men were like gooey desserts that left you full of regret the next morning. Elizabeth was rarely tempted by anything from the dessert tray. How had she lost control here?
She snapped her fingers. Because she hadn’t been expecting him to be so…incredible. Sketch a picture of her dream man, and it was this guy. But she’d meant what she said to Julie. She didn’t want or need a man. She splashed a bit of cool water on the back of her neck, took a deep breath and left the bathroom to check out the bedrooms. “Not a lot of closet space up here.”
“That’s a drawback with most older homes.” He opened the linen closet. “But if you’re going to be living here alone, you can use the all the closets for yourself.”
“True enough.” She rubbed her thumb along the cool metal at the top of the clipboard and followed him downstairs. They checked out the finished basement, which would be an excellent place for parties if she managed to assemble some sort of social circle outside of work anytime soon.
“Come look at the backyard.” Henry set his hand on the small of her back as he escorted her out the door. Goosebumps shot up her arms and she gritted her teeth, blaming it on the chilly spring evening.
The screen door slammed behind her and she followed him onto a patio lined with beds of bright tulips. She spotted another lilac and couldn’t help walking over for a sniff. Closing her eyes, she let the scent take her away for a moment. “This gets some extra points, too.” She broke off a few of the tiny flower heads and crushed them between her thumb and forefinger, running them under her nose to memorize the scent. She looked up and he was watching.
He snapped away his gaze. “There’s a lot to like back here.” He pointed to the back corner of the yard. “Imagine having a little picnic under that cherry tree. It’s a nice big area for a dog to run around—or fifteen cats.” He laughed. “Or to…well, what do you like to do?”
She walked away from him, trying to maneuver across the soft lawn. “I work a lot.” Once, she would have had a long list of activities to answer that question. She shrugged and shooed away a bee. “I don’t have time for much these days.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I work in the public relations department at the university.” Which had been a good, practical move when she dropped out of art school after a certain painter made a new art form of breaking her heart. It was also one hell of a knee-jerk reaction, but it worked. She got over Jason and moved on with her life.
“Sounds interesting.”
“The job keeps me busy. There’s always a function or event to attend.” These days, she didn’t really know how not to be busy. She stood up and walked back toward the cherry tree, wondering if she’d ever get the mud off her Blahniks.
Henry followed her. “This would be a nice place to unwind.” He raised one eyebrow with the suggestion.
“Unwind?” She pointed at him. “What’s that?” A sense of sadness swept through her as she ran her fingers along the dark red tree bark.
His grin softened and he lowered his voice. “This could be the place where you learn how to do that.” He grabbed the branch she was touching.
She wrapped her arms around herself to fight off another shiver. She must be coming down with something. She’d have hot tea and a few Vitamin C’s when she got home.
He stepped back. “So…” He pulled out the listing printout and tapped it with his finger. “The couple that owns this got transferred to another city. They just did a bunch of updates and they’re desperate to sell. Perfect situation.”
Words were coming out of his mouth, but she focused on the white teeth and full lips.
“What do you think? Are you interested?”
She widened her eyes in panic. “Interested?”
A smile slowly spread across his face and his eyes twinkled. “In the house. Are you interested in making an offer?”
She looked at the ground. “Oh. Right.” He must be used to women tripping all over their tongues around him. She was not going to be another giddy girl who let her heart tug her around like a badly behaved puppy. She shook off the feeling and tallied up the points on her list. The house was nearly perfect according to her requirements. It scored a ninety-eight.
She sighed. “It seems to have everything I want, but for some reason I don’t want it. It’s like…something’s missing.” He’d probably think she was a flighty bimbo and refer her to another realtor. Which might be for the best, really.
But Henry just nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen this before. You think you know what you want up here.” He tapped the side of his head. “But it isn’t what you want here.” His big hand covered his chest. “What does your heart want?”
The question stunned her and her mind spun, searching for an answer. “I don’t know.” She turned up her hands and shrugged. “I guess I really don’t know what I want.” Why wasn’t this house appealing to her? When had she morphed into an indecisive twit?
Henry reached for her elbow and squeezed it. “Don’t worry, Elizabeth. Whatever it is you want, I’ll help you find it.” He must have seen how her eyes widened because he dropped his hand.
She took one step back. Then another. She should not be so easily unnerved by this man. By anyone. She turned and walked back to the patio. She crossed her arms and glared at the backyard like it had betrayed her.
Henry followed her back to the house and laced his hands behind his back, waiting for her to say something.
“Maybe I’m not ready. Maybe I’m too hard to please. Maybe this is wrong.”
He folded his arms across his chest and smiled. “Elizabeth, I sold fifteen houses last month. I once showed a woman thirty-six different properties until she found the home she fell in love with.” He pointed at her. “I won’t give up on you.”
She swallowed hard and looked into his wide blue eyes. For a moment she thought his promise was mixed with something more than his words. But then she looked away. She was just another commission; another challenge a guy like him couldn’t walk away from.
He smiled at her and dimples grooved his cheeks. “Do you trust me?”
A gorgeous man with a mischievous grin who had turned her mind to mush and left her heart pinging her chest? Trust him? Never.
But against her better judgment she nodded and said, “Yes.” He had gotten her to look at things differently, after all. Maybe he was the perfect realtor to help her find what she wanted, just like his ad said. And that’s all she wanted from Henry Watson—help finding a house. She was going to make this happen even if she had to work with the holy grail of hot men.
“Good. Then let me line up a few houses for us to look at Saturday morning. Now that I know what you think you’re looking for on paper…” He plucked a lilac bloom off the tree and handed it to her. “…maybe we can find what you really want.” His fingers grazed hers, and when their skin met again, a silly little shiver snaked its way down her spine.
She buried her nose in the blossom. “Sounds perfect,” she managed to say, before she dashed back to her car where she tried to remember how to breathe.