Page 37 of The Science of Attraction

“No problem.” He grinned back. “I know you’ve been talking the place up and I’m grateful. We’ve been full Friday through Sunday for months now, but this is the busiest Saturday so far. Two full sittings.” He looked between us. “Is this a special occasion?”

I glanced at Laura who left me to answer. “Just catching up. Laura and I used to date back in the day before she left Oakwood in her rear-view mirror and headed north. She’s moved home to start her own business.”

Another glance between us followed by a wink meant for me. “Well, you sure make a lovely couple. Now, I must keep moving. Enjoy your dessert.”

The minute he left, Laura’s hand slid across the table to cover mine—delicate, just like she was. “Used to date, huh?” Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “It was a bit more than that, don’t you think?”

I didn’t answer, didn’t want to for some reason, still stuck on the feel of her hand over mine. It was nothing like Liam’s, whose hands, like the rest of him, were solid and strong, and blistering hot when they rode my bare skin?—

“Jules? Woo-hoo?”

My gaze jerked up to find Laura’s eyebrows raised in question. “Sorry. I was miles away.” I flipped my hand and threaded our fingers together.

“I noticed.” Her brow creased. “Anything I can help with?”

“No.” I squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. “Just work stuff,” I lied.

She regarded me oddly for a moment, then smiled. “Okay, keep your secrets. You were always very good at playing hard to get.”

“I was?” News to me.

She sat back, nodding. “Yes, you were. You gave all the signs of being really interested in me before I left. The perfect boyfriend—attentive, encouraging, caring, great in bed—” She waggled her eyebrows and I chuckled. “But there was always this piece of you I never felt I got to know. It was one of the reasons I left when I did. But you’re really not as mysterious as you like to think you are.”

I sat back in my chair. “I’m not sure I ever saw myself as mysterious. Do tell.”

Laura’s grin widened. “For whatever reason, you weren’t ready for me back then. And I decided I wasn’t prepared to hang around indefinitely just to see if you ever would be.”

What?I blinked. “But you left for that job you wanted.”

“I did. But only because the timing was right. I was in love with you, Jules.”

“You were?”Jesus, had I been that oblivious?

She chuckled. “No, I didn’t think you’d realised, which only tells me I made the right choice. Oh, you said all the right things, but it always felt like there was something missing, on your side at least. You were so busy with the station and living up to your dad’s expectations, and watching out for Zach, it was hard to see a place for me in all of that.”

I was still struggling to catch up. “But... you never said anything.”

“No. I had a decent sense of self-preservation. And I’ve moved on since then. Fallen in love a couple more times. Had my heart broken and broken a couple in return. But I never stopped thinking about you, so now that I’m back, the question is—” She lifted our hands and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “—are you interested in seeing if there’s anything still there?”

“Am I—”What?Something tightened in my chest but I was too busy trying to digest the fact that she’d been in love with me all those years ago. I’d cared for her, for sure, and wondered if maybe I was falling in love, but then she’d left before I ever found out.

“Well?” She nudged me back on course.

“I, um...” Jesus, I couldn’t think.

She squeezed my hand and laughed. “Holy shit, you should see your face. Relax, Jules. I haven’t come back here to put a ring on your finger, so don’t look so damn panicked. You’re just a loose thread I feel like giving a tug to see where it leads. To bed at the very least, I hope.” She shot me a wicked grin that went straight to my balls. Laura always had been a spitfire between the sheets. “How about tonight, if you’re interested? No strings, no expectations, just some... fun. We were always great in bed, right?”

I stared, speechless, pretty sure my jaw was dragging on the ground. It must’ve been close because she reached out a hand and tipped my mouth shut. “You’re drooling.”

It wasn’t quite what I was doing but I let her think it, because although I should’ve been jumping at her invitation, I wasn’t. I was hesitating, and I didn’t know why. Scratch that. I knewexactlywhy and that was the problem. I was holding back because of a smart mouth that came with a goatee, a truckload of trouble, and the sexiest tatts I’d wanted to map with my tongue from the first time I’d seen them.

Laura gave a smug little smile and circled her fork at me. “The offer stands. Think about it over dessert.”

We shared spoon for spoon of the airy caramel souffle until the ramekin was licked clean, and when we finally pushed the empty plate aside, I took both Laura’s hands in mine.

“Are you back in the cottage on your parent’s place?”

She ran the pink tip of her tongue over her bottom lip and nodded. “Same cottage. Same bed. Same bedside... toys.”

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