Page 21 of Rocky Mountain Desire
Years ago he’d been the older guy coming around the house, taking care of Helen, and by extension, little sis as well. To all of a sudden have that guy back was weird.
In a disheartening although sobering kind of way.
Fine. The friend-of-the-family type was safer. She could put her fantasizing back on the shelf next to her vibrator and leave Matt Coleman firmly in the just-a-guy category in real life. It’s what she’d asked for, right?
“So you want me to install one?”
She scrambled to remember what they were talking about. Thermostats. “If you tell me what to buy, I can bring it in.”
“I have time now—I’ll go grab one.”
Hope nodded slowly. “Fine, let me get you the cash you need.”
He waved it off. “Don’t worry, I’ll—”
Anger bubbled up. She wasn’t even sure where it came from. “I will not take your charity, Matt Coleman.”
He caught her by the arm as she pushed past him toward the front of the store. “You a mind reader now?”
“If you want to help me out that’s one thing, but spending money—”
“I was going to buy the thermostat then give you the receipt, since I have no idea how much it will cost.”
Her annoyance fizzled away like a deflating balloon. Hope shuffled to a stop and stared at the ground. She forced a smile, the edges feeling twisted. “Well, seems I know how to jump to conclusions almost as well as I drive.”
He made his way through to where his coat hung and shrugged it on. “Easy enough mistake.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No problem.” He stopped at the door then turned to face her. “We really are two whacked-out fools, aren’t we?”
There were too many ways to interpret that comment, especially accompanied by his serious expression. She sighed. “Can we blame it on holiday stress? That’s what everyone seems to do these days.”
He stared her down. “Hope, you were right the other day. When you said Helen deserted us both.”
Deserted all right. “She’s not my favourite person in the world, but I try to not dwell on it.”
Matt nodded slowly. He didn’t say anything else, just slipped out the door into the cold December day.
Hope walked to the front display window and watched him cross the street to the hardware store. She had no idea what was going on in his head, but she was dangerously close to making a terrible mistake. A mistake like letting him know that she thought of him more often than a friend should.
And after all the pain Helen had caused, dragging him though another dramatic situation was the last thing she wanted.
She leaned her forehead against the cool glass, the heated air from her lungs fogging the window and slowly blocking her vision. Time for a change of mindset, starting now.
After all these years of pretending, dancing on stage and putting on a show, she should be able to do this. When she’d danced she’d made it seem as if she’d wanted every single man she looked in the eye more passionately than her next breath. This was another sort of illusion. Categorize him as hands-off—or even better, just a casual acquaintance. Make sure everything she said and did shouted that loud and clear.
Plus, Rocky Mountain House was a small town, but notthatsmall. After Matt had done a few repairs to shed his guilt over her ruined things, she should be able to avoid him. They’d been out of touch for years at one point. With a little effort on her part, she could make that a reality again.
Letting Matt move on with his life was more than important, it was vital. Because it would be a sign she’d actually moved on with her own. Getting past the hurt of Helen’s desertion? Financially she got enough reminders of that every damn month, but even there she was determined to win her way back.
But being caught up in longing for a man she could never have was slowly killing her. She had to give up these silly unanswerable fantasies if she ever wanted to find a way to be truly happy.
And fortunately, distraction had already given her permission to call. Hope stepped to the phone and dialed before she could change her mind.
Chapter Six
The cold air vanished in a blast of heat as Matt entered the bar, his cousin and brother following right behind. Gabe directed him to the side while Travis shrugged his way up to the bar and ordered three beers.
