by Holly Jacobs
“Josh.”
“You know, I sat here working tonight wondering…”
He reached out and traced her jawline, a whisperlight touch that left Libby yearning to ask for more, but knowing she shouldn’t. “What were you wondering?” she asked instead.
“What it would be like to do this—”
His lips touched hers with a quiet introduction. Soft and tender, he tasted and explored. And as much as she knew she should pull away, for just one moment Libby allowed herself to answer his lips with an introduction of her own.
How long had it been since she’d lost herself in the wonder of being held, of being kissed like there was no tomorrow? Libby couldn’t remember, but in a rush she did remember all the reasons she shouldn’t be kissing Joshua Gardner in her kitchen.
She pulled back. “Josh, that can’t happen again.” Her voice was breathy, and even to her ears didn’t seem to carry any weight of conviction.
“Why can’t we, Libby? We’re alone, we’re adults and I think we both would like to let that happen again, and again, and—”
“Because I’m not looking for—”
“For what? For kisses in the kitchen?” Josh drew back and forced himself to treat Libby’s rebuff casually, though there was nothing casual in the feelings that one kiss had sent cascading through his body. “It was just a friendly kiss, nothing to worry about. You could have stopped it at any time.”
“I did stop it.” Her eyes didn’t meet his. As a matter of fact, she looked everywhere in the kitchen except for at him. Libby looked like a nervous deer, ready to bolt for cover.
“Not very fast,” Josh pointed out gently, backing up and giving her some space. Libby may have stopped the kiss, but not before he got a taste of how sweet Libby McGuiness could be. Not before she left him hungry for more.
“I was too surprised at first to do anything.” Her voice was a little stronger, now that there was some distance between them.
“Which is why you kissed me back? Because you were too surprised to do anything else?” Josh couldn’t resist asking.
“I—” She stopped and said, “Okay, maybe I did kiss you back a little, but it was just a momentary lapse, one neither of us will be repeating.”
“You’re sure?” he pressed.
“Absolutely positive.”
“All right.” Josh would let her think that their kiss was a momentary lapse, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try to see to it there were many other moments where they could try for a repeat performance.
“All right?” she asked, suspicion lacing her voice.
It was all he could do not to reach out and touch her again. Because the urge was so strong, and because he knew that Libby wasn’t ready for more touching, which would certainly lead to more kissing, he turned and picked up his papers from the table.
“If that’s what you want, Libby, I’m not going to push you.”
A look of relief swept over her face. “That’s good, because that’s what I want.”
Josh started toward the front door.
“You’re going?” she asked.
“We’re done here for tonight.” Just for tonight, he added silently. Now that he’d tasted Libby McGuiness, he knew he couldn’t promise her more than that. “I’ll see you Friday at ten-thirty.”
“You still want to go shopping with us?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“Libby, it was just a simple kiss,” he blatantly lied, knowing there was nothing simple about that kiss, or about the way Libby affected him. “I think we both can manage to put it behind us and concentrate on the job at hand.”
Was it just with him, or did she avoid getting close to men in general?
“Well, I’m glad you’re not mad.”
“Libby, it might be old-fashioned of me, but I believe when a woman says no, it means no.” At least until she said yes again. And if she said no on Friday, he’d listen, but he hoped that she’d say yes—no, he hoped she’d say, Oh, yes.
“Well, I’m glad.” She smoothed her sweatshirt, brushing her hand down it, as if she wanted to brush away any imprint he’d left on her body, as well. “I meant what I said. I’d like us to be friends. And I’ll see you Friday. Let’s make it seven instead of ten-thirty. The stores open early and beating the crowd is half the fun.”
“Seven, then,” he said as he walked out into the frigid night air. Friends. Libby wanted them to be friends. That should suit him just fine. He wasn’t looking for anything more than that, either. He wanted nothing more than a friendly relationship with Libby—with any woman for that matter.
So he had no idea why he’d kissed her, or why her withdrawal from that kiss had felt almost like physical pain. All he knew was that kissing Libby McGuiness was something he should definitely avoid in the future. Josh also knew, despite his best intentions, that he wasn’t going to be able to.
Again, Libby couldn’t seem to leave the window until Josh’s taillights had completely disappeared down the street. Shopping on Friday was just part of the party planning, that’s all. Josh only wanted to go with them because he was new in town and had nothing better to do. She wasn’t going to read anything more into the day.
He had moved back home and hadn’t reestablished old friendships and hadn’t had time to make any new ones. She wondered what he was doing for Thanksgiving dinner. She should have asked.
Her conscience stabbed at her—maybe he didn’t have anywhere to go—but she ignored the small voice whispering in her mind. There was no way she was inviting Joshua Gardner to dinner. Pearly and Josie would just love that. If they cut her hair for just a business meeting, what would they do for a holiday meal shared with a man?
No, she wasn’t going to feel guilty because there was no way she was going to invite Joshua Gardner, the kiss-stealing, parking-nightmare, alone-in-town doctor to dinner tomorrow.
No way at all.
Chapter Five
The next morning, Libby dialed the number she had now memorized, and actually let the phone ring once before she slammed the receiver back down. There was no reason on earth that she should be feeling guilty. That’s what she kept telling herself, but telling and feeling were two different things.
She opened the oven door and basted the turkey. No reason at all to worry about what Joshua Gardner was doing for Thanksgiving dinner…all alone. No, she doubted he was all alone. He probably had some old friends he was eating with.
She’d never asked, but maybe he still had some family in the area. That made sense. If he grew up here, there was bound to be someone who would invite him over for dinner. It wasn’t up to her to feed him. She had all she could do to deal with Meg, Josie and Pearly.
Mabel was having dinner with her new boyfriend, so it was just for the four of them. And she knew dealing with was exactly what she was going to have to do since Josie and Pearly were probably going to spend the entire afternoon grilling her about last night’s meeting—and it had been a meeting. That’s all it had been.
Of course she didn’t often kiss people she was meeting with. As a matter of fact, Libby couldn’t remember the last time she’d kissed anyone other than Meg. And the feelings kissing Meg evoked weren’t quite the same as the feelings kissing Josh evoked. Feelings that—
“Mom!”
If hands could yell, then Meg was absolutely shouting at her. “What?”
“I’ve been trying to get you to listen to me.”
“Sorry, I was just thinking,” she signed.
“Is something wrong with the turkey?”
Trust a child to worry about practical matters. Libby tugged on Meg’s braid. “Not a thing, other than I’m worried that fifteen pounds might not be enough to keep you happy.”
“I like turkey.”
“You are a turkey.”
“And you are out of it today. Josie wants to know if she can bring a friend to dinner.”
“Josie’s got a friend? I hadn’t heard.” It wasn’t her most witty joke, but then Libby
wasn’t feeling overly witty today. Meg had hit the nail on the head—she was out of it. “We should probably check him out. Tell her sure.”
“Okay. She’s really getting the hang of the computer. She found me in my chat room. Have you seen her computer? It’s three times as fast as ours.”
Meg didn’t need audible words to instill wistfulness in that last sentence. Libby deliberately tried to keep her face neutral. “I told you, there’s no way we can afford a new computer for a while.”
“I know.” Ever mercurial, Meg suddenly grinned. “I’ll tell Josie to bring her new guy along.”
Libby watched Meg whiz down the hall, and turned her attention to crimping the pumpkin-pie crusts, as she thought about how surprised Meg would be when she saw the brand-new computer Libby had ordered for Christmas.
Thinking about computers and pumpkin pies was preferable to thinking about Joshua Gardner and his kisses.
Libby kept forcing her thoughts to the dinner at hand, but was relieved when the doorbell finally rang a little while later. Josie’s new boyfriend would be more distracting than pies and computers.
“Josie, you made it. Where’s your friend?”
“He’s getting the green Jell-O salad from the car,” Josie said as she breezed into the house. “It sure smells good in here.”
“Thanks. Did Pearly come with you?”
“No, I drove alone.” Josie handed a bowl to Libby and took off her jacket.
“But what about your friend?” Libby asked.
“Oh, he brought his own truck.” She hung her coat in the closet. “He left it on the street—though how he squeezed his truck in that tiny little space is beyond me—so I could get into the driveway.”
“Oh. So, what’s his name?”
“Well, you see—”
“Hi, Libby. Thanks for the invitation.” The look on Josie’s face said everything the sound of Joshua’s voice didn’t.
“You brought him?”
“I am going to assume that your tone was enthusiasm, not annoyance,” Josh said good-naturedly. “Do you mind if I put this stuff in the kitchen before I drop it?”
“You know where it is.”
“Yes, I do.” He pried his sneakers off his feet before heading into the kitchen.
“You brought him?” Libby repeated softly.
Josie had the grace to look worried. “He’s new in town—”
“No, he’s not. He’s from Erie.”
“—and didn’t have a soul to spend the day with. Would you feel better if he was eating all alone in his unpacked apartment? I’d be surprised if the man even owned a set of pots and pans.”
“There are restaurants.” Libby thrust the bowl back into Josie’s hands.
“Libby, I’m surprised at you. Just what did he do to make you so hardened against him?”
Libby opened her mouth to explain, but then snapped it shut again. Mentioning the fact that he’d kissed her certainly wasn’t going to quiet Josie and her two cohorts down. If anything, it would galvanize them into more blatant attempts at matchmaking.
“Nothing. I was just surprised to see him at my door. The way Meg talked, it sounded like you were bringing a boyfriend.”
“And who says I’m not Josie’s boyfriend?” Josh teased as he came back from the kitchen. Unburdened now, he took off his coat and hung it in the closet.
“Oh, you are sweet,” Josie said, planting a thwacking kiss on his cheek.
Josh casually laid his hand across Josie’s shoulders. “So you’ll be mine?”
Josie snapped her gum, then said, “Sweetheart, a woman like me would wear you out.”
“Do you think Pearly would agree to be my date?” he asked.
Josie just laughed as she walked back toward the kitchen.
“Looks like you’re batching it, Josh.” Libby’s teasing sounded forced to her ears, but she hoped it sounded suitably casual to Joshua and Pearly.
“There’s one other woman I could ask,” he reminded her softly.
“I’m afraid she’d say no,” Libby said quickly, maybe a little too quickly.
“You don’t think Meg would agree to be my date, especially after I show her this?” He pulled a video game from his pocket. “I rented it for today.”
Relief. That was the feeling that flooded her system, Libby assured herself. Forcing herself to keep things light, she said, “Oh, bring the right video game and you can probably convince Meg to do anything.”
“Well, there you have it. I’ve got my date, and I think I’ll go challenge her to a match while I leave you to your cooking.” Obviously comfortably familiar with her home by now, Josh started down the hallway.
“You don’t cook?” Libby called after him.
He turned and offered her a schoolboy grin. “Not if I can avoid it. But I will offer to pitch in with dishes.”
“Don’t make offers you might regret,” Libby groused.
“I’m always sincere in my offers,” Josh said softly. “Always.”
“Then you’re on…for dishes that is.” Libby walked into the kitchen.
“What other offers has Josh been making?” Josie asked.
Libby turned back to the counter and plucked Josie’s salad off it, opened the refrigerator and tried to make room for it. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I might not be the sharpest scissors in the shop, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see what’s going on right in front of my face.” Josie reached past Libby and stacked the butter on top of a bowl, leaving a hole for the Jell-O. “And something is definitely going on between the two of you.”
“Nothing is going on. We hardly know each other.”
“But…?”
“Josie, you’re imagining things. There is absolutely nothing going on between Joshua Gardner and me. I don’t especially even like him. He’s a parking-space-hogging, noncooking, Christmas co-chairing, man.”
“Ah, darling, the only thing important in that list of Josh’s attributes is the man part.”
“Have you been sniffing nail polish again? The last thing I need is a man and his parts cluttering up my life.” Looking for busywork, Libby opened the oven and basted the turkey again.
“Sweetheart, I always let my mind wander where it will.”
“Into the gutter.”
“Isn’t that the door?” Josie asked sweetly.
“It must be Pearly.” Libby shut the oven and went to open the door, wondering if Pearly was part of Josie’s newest fix-Libby-up assault.
“Hi, sugar.” The graying-haired woman waltzed into the house with the ease of someone with a guilt-free conscience. “It smells wonderful in here.”
“Thanks.” Libby eyed Pearly.
“Josie here already?”
“Josie and her guest,” she answered slowly.
“Oh, Joshua made it, too?” She took off her coat and put it into the closet herself.
“Aha.” Libby pounced. “You did know. I thought I told you and Josie no more setting me up.”
“What on earth are you talking about? It’s Thanksgiving. Of course I assumed you or Josie invited Joshua. Who would let a new neighbor, a man who has no family nearby, spend the holiday on his own?”
Libby felt embarrassed. “Oh.”
Pearly patted her back. “Libby, sweetheart, you have to quit assuming we all lead our lives vicariously through you. You’re a sweet girl, a wonderful boss, and we all love you, but, darlin’, we have lives of our own. And that includes Josh.”
Feeling duly chastised, Libby followed Pearly into the kitchen. It was going to be the longest Thanksgiving in history.
It was one of the longest Thanksgivings in history, Josh thought morosely. It wasn’t that the meal wasn’t good. It was. The turkey was juicy, the stuffing was sage and onion with no odd additions, the potatoes were whipped smooth…Yes, the food was great. The problem was two ladies who didn’t seem to know when it was time to call it a night.
Josh wanted to get Libby alone. And though Pearly
and Josie seemed to be throwing them together, they didn’t seem to realize it would be better if they threw Josh and Libby alone together.
Josie and Pearly kept talking about getting up and leaving, but neither of them did. No, instead, after everyone had cleaned up from dinner and had dessert, the ladies suggested they play a game. And so Josh found himself sitting at the table playing their third game of Scrabble…the longest games of Scrabble in the history of the game.
If Josh could stop thinking about kissing Libby, he might have even allowed that the games were fun. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the way she’d felt in his arms, the way her lips had felt against his. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, but Josh was looking forward to trying to kiss Libby McGuiness again. Soon. At least as soon as he could get her to himself.
Meg signed something to Libby who patiently spelled something back to her with her fingers. Fingerspelling. Josh had looked it up last night on the Web, and had a copy of the alphabet now. He’d spent the morning practicing, and even if he did say so himself, he wasn’t doing too bad. He could at least make all the letters and even remembered a few. If he learned them all, he’d be able to communicate with Meg, even if he couldn’t sign.
“Hey, that’s cheating,” Josh exclaimed as he realized what Libby was doing.
“What?” Libby turned from Meg and looked at him—really looked at him for the first time that whole day.
It didn’t take much insight to figure out Libby was hoping to forget all about their kiss. And in order to forget it, she planned to pretend that Josh didn’t exist.
Josh had other plans, though. One of them was to remind Ms. McGuiness that he did in fact exist, and if it took getting her annoyed to make her realize that, well, he was willing. Actually, he’d discovered after their first car-parking meeting that an annoyed Libby McGuiness was an incredibly tempting Libby McGuiness.
“You just told Meg how to spell a word. If I was quicker, I’d tell you what word, but I did catch the R at the end.”
“Calendar. I told her how to spell calendar.” Her eyes narrowed. “How did you know?”
“Aha, I was right.” He was gloating, but not actually about being right about the letter R, but about the fact Libby’s face was flushed. She was noticing him, all right. “And I knew because I’ve been trying to learn the manual alphabet. Unfortunately, although I can spell calendar, too, I don’t think I’m quite up to your speed.”
