All They Need(80)
“It’s good to see you,” he said, his voice very deep.
Heat bloomed between her thighs. “You, too.”
He moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her as she sliced a lemon in half. She smiled as she felt the nudge of his erection against her backside.
“Behave yourself or we’ll starve,” she said.
He pressed another kiss to the nape of her neck, his whiskers sending a delicious shiver down her spine.
“I’ll try, but I can’t make any guarantees.” He released her then and moved to the wine rack beside the fridge.
“Red or white?”
“I’m not sure. What would you recommend with bread crumbs?” she asked, tongue very firmly in cheek.
“Hmm. Tough call. Something light, something cheeky. A shiraz, perhaps?”
“I bow to your superior knowledge.”
He was smiling as he pulled a bottle of wine from the rack. A warm, expansive feeling filled her chest. It was good being here with him like this, knowing that the whole evening stretched ahead of them. Knowing that she would sleep in his arms tonight and drive home to her own house tomorrow.
“Before I forget…”
She waited for him to finish his sentence, and saw that he was lifting a key ring from the hook stuck to the side of the fridge.
“The spare key. So next time you can let yourself in instead of trawling the streets in search of spaghetti,” he said.
He held his hand out, the key dangling in the air between them.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MEL STARED AT THE KEY for a long beat before shifting her focus to the cutting board.
“I don’t need a key,” she said, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible as she chopped the remainder of the parsley.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Flynn’s hand drop to his side.
“You don’t think it would make life easier?”
“I didn’t mind waiting. Besides, this is your place.”
“Sure. But I’m happy to share it with you.”
She put the knife down and turned to face him, a part of her recognizing that this conversation had been inevitable. Her expectations and Flynn’s had always been on a collision course.
“I’m happy to share it with you. But it’s always going to be yours,” she said carefully. “Just as my place is always going to be mine.”
He was twisting the cork out of the bottle but he stopped with the cork only half extracted, setting the bottle on the counter.
“Why do I feel as though we’re suddenly have a much bigger conversation?”
“Maybe because we are. And maybe because we should, before this thing between us goes any further.”
He frowned slightly. “Thing. I didn’t realize we were a thing.”
“Relationship,” she said. It was hard to get the word past the tightness in her throat. “This relationship.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’m happy to lay my cards on the table. More than happy. This is serious for me, Mel. I want you to be a part of my life.”
His gaze was steady and very serious and her heart seemed to expand and contract at the same time. Was it possible to be both thrilled and terrified simultaneously? Because that was how she felt—enormously gratified, and yet also scared to death.
“I feel the same way.” Anxiety was making her feel light-headed and she swallowed noisily.
“But you don’t want my key?”
“I made myself a promise after Owen and I separated that I would never let myself get trapped in a situation like that again. That I would never put myself in another person’s power in that way. That no matter what, I would always hang on to who I am.”
“I know your marriage was unhappy. But I’m still not sure how that relates to you having a key to my place.”
“Because if I take your key, you’ll expect mine. And then the next thing I know your things will be at my place and my things will be here, and then suddenly we’ll be living together…?. And I don’t want that. I can’t do that again.” It came out in a garbled rush.
He took a moment before he responded. “I know this has been hard for you, Mel. I know that you weren’t looking for a relationship so soon after your divorce. I get that, and I’m willing to wait as long as it takes for you to feel safe about us. Whatever it takes. We don’t have to rush into anything.”