Free The Proposal & Solid Soul by Brenda Jackson Page B

imagine.
    Swallowing hard, she broke eye contact with him and thought changing the subject was a good idea. The discussion of a possible marriage between them was not the way to go right now.
    “At least I’ve paid for the appliances they are delivering next week,” she said, glancing over at her stove that had seen better days. “I think that stove and refrigerator were here when my Dad lived here,” she added. “Probably.”
    “So it was time for new ones, don’t you think?”
    “Yes. And I think we need to get those broken pieces of the teacups off the floor,” he said.
    “I’ll do it later. It will give me something to do after you leave. I’m going to need to stay busy for a while. I’m not sleepy.”
    “You sure you won’t need my help cleaning it up?”
    “Yes, I’m sure” was her response.
    “All right.”
    “I have beer in the refrigerator if you’d like one,” she offered.
    “No, I’m straight.”
    For the next ten minutes they continued to engage in idle chatter. Anything else was liable to set off sparks that could ignite into who knows what.
    “Bella?”
    “Yes.”
    “It’s not working.”
    She knew just what he meant. They had moved the conversation from her appliances, to the broken teacups, to him not wanting a beer, to the furniture in her living room, to the movie that had made number one at the box office last weekend like either of them really gave a royal flip. “It’s not?”
    “No. It’s okay to feel what we’re feeling right now, no matter what decision you make a week from now. And on that note,” he said, standing, “if you’re sure you don’t want me to help clean up the broken teacups, I think I’d better go before…”
    “Before what?” she asked when he hesitated in completing the statement.
    “Before I try eating you alive.”
    She sucked in a quick breath while a vision of him doing that very thing filtered through her mind. And then instead of leaving well enough alone, she asked something really stupid. “Why would you want to do something like that?”
    He smiled. And the way he smiled had her pulse beating rapidly in several areas of her body. It wasn’t a predatory smile but one of those “if you really want toknow” smiles. Never before had she been aware of the many smiles a person’s lips could convey.
    In truth, with the little experience she had when it came to men, she was surprised she could read him at all. But for some strange reason she could read Jason and she could do so on a level that could set off passion fizzing to life inside of her.
    Like it was doing now.
    “The reason I’d try eating you alive is that the other day I only got a sample of your taste. But it was enough to give me plenty of sleepless nights since then. Now I find that I crave knowing how you taste all over. So if you’re not ready for that to happen, come on and walk me to the door.”
    Honestly, at that moment she wasn’t quite sure what she was ready for and figured that degree of uncertainty was reason to walk him to the door. She had a lot to think about and work out in her mind and only a week to do it.
    She stood and moved around the table. When he extended his hand to her, she knew if they were to touch it would set off a chain of emotions and events she wasn’t sure she was ready for. Her gaze moved away from his hand up to his face and she had a feeling that he knew it, as well. Was this supposed to be a challenge? Or was it merely a way to get her to face the facts of how living under the same roof with him would be?
    She could ignore his outstretched hand but doing so would be rude and she wasn’t a rude person. He was watching her. Waiting for her next move. So she made it and placed her hand in his. And the instant their hands touched she felt it. The heat of his warmth spread through her and instead of withstanding it she was drawn deeper and deeper into it.
    Before she realized his intentions he let go of her hand to slide his fingertips