Matched For Love(43)

Deek turned and stared into her eyes. “I think we should go to your house. I know of a fun way to fill those two hours.” He reached out and took her hand. “I’ve been thinking about it all day. What do you say?”

Her mind shouted, Don’t do it! You’re only going to fall deeper for the man and get hurt. Instead, she said, “My sister is there, so my place is out of the question.” That wasn’t a yes, and it wasn’t a no. There was still time to come to her senses.

Frown lines creased his forehead. “I guess we could go to a hotel?”

“A hotel?” That seemed so…cheap. She pulled her hand from his. “No. You know what? We really shouldn’t do this. Annie will be back in town soon. And last night was just you being nice, as usual, and taking pity on me.” She’d give him an out. He had to choose Annie in the long run. Not her.

“Pity? Are you kidding me? It was the best night of my life.” Deek quickly pulled a U-turn and headed the opposite way. “We’ll go to my house. I should’ve thought of it first, but I don’t…”

His hands fisted on the wheel as he seemed to wrangle with what to say next. As happy as she was to hear last night had been incredible for him too, something was wrong. She laid her hand over his. “What is it, Deek? We’re still friends, aren’t we? Despite last night?”

“Absolutely.” He glanced her way and smiled again. Whatever demons had been bothering him before seemed to have been vanquished. “You’re the only person I’ve ever met who I don’t seem to annoy when I go into geek mode or don’t catch on to obvious jokes.”

She shook her head. “I think you’re selling yourself short. You can be incredibly charming.”

“And I think you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Lori. And I want it always to be that way. No matter what happens with Annie.”

The warmth in his eyes was like a sweet caress to her heart. But then he’d mentioned Annie. “Me too, Deek.” She leaned her head back against the seat and sighed. “Me too.”

Was she about to make the biggest mistake in her life by falling completely in love with an irresistible man who just wanted to be her friend?

Or was it already too late?





11

SOMETIMES THINGS SEEM TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. . . BUT MAYBE THEY AREN’T.

Deek wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before he opened the door that led from his garage to the kitchen. Lori’s jaw had dropped when she’d seen the front of the house, but she hadn’t said anything except, “Wow.” Why he cared so much if she liked his house, he wasn’t sure, but he wanted her to.

He followed her as she entered his house. Lori looked hot dressed in jeans and tennis shoes. And she’d pulled her hair up in a ponytail. He liked the casual look.

“So this is the kitchen.” He stood with his hands in his pockets and waited for her response.

“Wow.” Lori smoothed her hand over the granite countertops as she looked around. “Just, wow, Deek.”

Was that all the woman could say? He still couldn’t tell if she liked his professional kitchen with miles of granite and top-notch appliances, or thought it was stupid and overly indulgent like Annie had. “I had them design it, so all the culinary toys I love to use in here have their place. To avoid clutter. They called them appliance garages, but that seems like a stupid name for a cabinet that holds a stand mixer or an expresso machine, right?”

“It makes sense to me.” She turned her attention back to him and shrugged. “A garage is part of the house, but it’s special use is to provide a place for a piece of equipment too.”

She was right. He’d never thought of it that way. But he wished she’d tell him what she thought of his house, dammit. And what she was feeling for him. “Well, through here is the dining room.” He started to cross the kitchen, and she caught up, still swiveling her head and taking it all in as they walked.

“I was just doing the math, Deek, and I think my entire house could fit in here. Seriously, you could bake for the whole town with all this counter space.”

Was that a good thing or bad? “Yeah. I like to cook. And still have enough room to experiment.”

She nodded as she took in the commercial freezer and refrigerator in the butler’s pantry as they walked by. “You also have two of every appliance? Wait. Don’t tell me. Let me guess. You’re holding hostages in the basement? And you force them to make you a new funny T-shirt each day, right?”

They stopped walking, and he studied her face. “There’s no basement.”