Isabel Sharpe - Just One Kiss

“Jack? Rest of who?”

Angela made herself slow down. “Jack Shea has the photography studio down the hall. All the business owners at Come to Your Senses went to the U of Washington Seattle and graduated four years ago. We live in the apartments upstairs.”

“Okay, I get it now.” He ran his hand along the edge of her work table. Such great hands. “Must be nice to have friends around. Starting a business is tough.”

“Yes, it’s a huge plus.” She gave a little laugh. “I guess that makes us friends with benefits.”

This attempt at a joke fell as flat as her first croissant. Now he probably thought they were all sleeping together. So much for trying to let him know she was available. “How about you? What do you do? Oh, here, try this.”

She handed him a piece of her chocolate-orange pistachio baklava, a new recipe she had high hopes for.

He bit, chewed. Both eyebrows went up. “Hmm. Nice. Thanks.”

Nice? She wasn’t after nice, she was after wow . But maybe he was shy about being effusive, or thought it wasn’t manly. Tom had barely ever let a compliment pass his lips, as if he were afraid strengthening someone else would weaken him.

“Glad you like it.”

“I work at Slatewood International.”

Angela’s ears perked up, even as she hated herself for letting Tom’s words get to her. Slatewood was a huge manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Seattle. She’d tried, admittedly lamely, to get noticed at some of the larger local companies but without luck. Maybe having an employee to get her in the door would help. Landing a corporate account would be a coup even Tom couldn’t sneer at. “Really. Slatewood. Doing what?”

“Security specialist. Trying to keep one step ahead of scammers, hackers, phishers and so on.”

“That’s a big job.”

He shrugged modestly. “I enjoy it. Kind of a good vs. evil battle.”

“And you get to be the superhero. One of these?” She passed him one of her most popular cookies, based on the lowly oatmeal raisin, changed by supplementing the cinnamon with allspice and cardamom, and substituting dried currants and cranberries for raisins. Pretty basic, but good.

Another bite. More chewing. His jaw slowed. His eyes closed in bliss. “Oh, my God, that’s amazing.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Angela plunked her hands on her hips, forcing herself to look pleased. So he wasn’t afraid to compliment. Apparently for some tastes the baklava recipe wouldn’t fly as is. She’d need to do more fiddling. “Would you like to take some home?”

“Absolutely.”

“Just for you or is there someone … living with you?”

“I have a roommate.”

A roommate. “How many do you think he—” deliberate pause “—or she can eat?”

“He can eat a lot.”

He . She hid a grin as she packed a dozen cookies, freshly baked, into a box. “That’ll last an hour or two. Those are on the house, by the way. You can always come back for more.”

He took the box. “Thank you, Angela.”

“You’re welcome.” They stood there for way too long, both holding the box, gazing at each other until it got really awkward and embarrassing.

“Um. My oatmeal bread.”

“Right. Yes. Okay.” She didn’t move or look away. He didn’t, either. He was so beautiful….

Oatmeal. Right. Let go of the cookies, Angela .

She made herself relinquish them, forced her eyes away from his. Headed for the wrong rack. Had to stop and change direction. Picked up a multigrain loaf. Had to put it down. Picked up another. Oatmeal! Her brain had apparently rebooted.

She slid the fragrant fine-grained loaf into a paper bag, aware that she was ostensibly handing Daniel his walking papers. If she were going to suggest they get together again, she would have to do it now, and make it clearer than a general invitation to come back for more cookies. Otherwise she was going to stand behind the counter all day, every day, for the next who-knew-how-long hoping he’d come by again, which was pathetic.

Angela slid the bread on top of the box of cookies he was carrying, stood too close and looked up coyly. “Daniel. I was wondering …”

His eyes widened. He took a step back she could only hope was involuntary. Not a confidence builder. Had she only imagined the pull between them?

She let the sentence hang, nerves fraying. If he turned and left now, if he changed the subject, if he took another step back, she’d drop the idea entirely.

He didn’t. He stood, somberly, waiting, apparently, for the ax to come down.

So be it.

“I don’t usually do this. I mean I’ve never done this. It’s not really my habit … I mean you’re a customer and it’s not really right for me to … that is, I was wondering if you’d like to get together sometime. Somewhere. For … something.”

Oh. My. God. The all-time worst invitation that had ever been issued since the dawn of time. Why couldn’t she be cool and collected, say something like, “Hey, wanna catch a movie sometime?” Or, “I hear the bartender at such-and-such makes a mean mojito, care to join me?”

No. She’d asked the most exciting man she’d met in years, if he’d like sometime, somewhere to do something.

Shakespeare, eat your heart out.

“Angela.”

She was annoyed now. At herself, and perversely, illogically, at him. “That’s me.”

“I really can’t.”

Big surprise. “You’re involved with someone.”

“No.”

“Gay?”

He looked appalled. “No.”

“Not interested?”

“Definitely not that.”

Oh, my . Her once-mighty irritation turned tail and ran. That was nice. Really very nice.

“Your mom won’t let you?”

That incredible smile broke free again, accompanied by a deep laugh she could curl up in all night long.

“Nothing like that. The truth is …” He shuffled the bread and cookies, shifted his weight, then back. “The truth is, Angela, I promised someone a long time ago that I wouldn’t date anyone. For a while.”

She blinked. Blinked again. What? “How … long of a while?”

“It’s been a year and a half so far.”

She nearly choked. A year and a half! “And … this is supposed to go on how much longer?”

“Another six months.”

Good God. Two years of celibacy? What kind of person would extract a promise like that? “Is this a possible priesthood thing?”

“No, no, it’s not about religion.”

She simply stared.

Daniel glanced impatiently at the ceiling and sighed. “I guess I better tell you the story.”

“You don’t have to.” Of course he did; she was dying to hear. “It’s not really any of my business.”

But tell it anyway .

“I was engaged. She passed away. And I promised her …” He had the grace to look sheepish. “Okay, it sounds odd now.”

Angela was pleading the Fifth on that one.

“But it was … she asked me not to date until our planned wedding date passed. Which is six months from now.”

Good God. Angela’s first try at dating and she’d managed to stumble over an unbelievably sexy, magnetically masculine, completely dysfunctional weirdo who’d engaged himself to a controlling, selfish horror of a person whose hold on him was even more diabolical than Tom’s on her.

Though he was in one way, at least, the antithesis of Tom, who didn’t let marriage vows even slow him down screwing the first woman he wanted. This guy had honored a vow that denied him a basic human need, a vow the woman he’d made it to wouldn’t even know or be able to care if he broke. Zero repercussions except from his own guilt and damaged sense of honor.

She couldn’t help admiring that quality. On some level this was a noble and romantic sacrifice for the woman he’d loved.