#chapter Thirty-Four
Daniel was good looking. Generous. Kind hearted. He was handy, too. He built a fire in her fireplace without any effort at all and looked at her over his shoulder, his face lit by a grin that could make a woman fall in love.
If she could.
Maura had put on some music, something light and chosen at random from the online radio station she’d programmed to play. She had a bottle of wine. It was cold outside and warm in. She had a handsome man who wanted to try to make something work with her, and this was her chance to figure out if she wanted that, too.
“Dance with me,” she said impulsively as he stood, brushing off his hands. She held out hers, and he took them.
Daniel looked down at her with a faint smile. “Yeah?”
“Yep.” She snuggled close to him, her head on his chest. The sound of his heart was comforting, and so was his warmth. The weight of his hand on the small of her back was so familiar, though, so full of memory and association with Ian that she could not quite relax into this embrace.
Daniel didn’t ask her to. He didn’t say anything about being his girlfriend. All he did was dance with her. Slowly, slowly, their feet shuffling on the rough shag of her carpet. The songs blended, one to the other, and still they danced.
Sometimes there was so much to think about that it was better to think of nothing at all. Maura looked up at him, studying his face, remembering how it had looked so many years ago. She’d fallen a little in love with him back then, in some way. Maybe…maybe she could, again.
“If we’re going to try this,” Maura said, “we need to lay it all out, what it means. I’m not jumping into this randomly. I want to put the expectations on the table. Negotiations. I want everything to be upfront and totally clear between us. No surprises.”
He nodded, solemn. “Okay.”
“Does that sound too business-like?” She chewed the inside of her cheek for a second.
“It’s not very romantic, that’s for sure.”
“Sorry.”
He laughed and pulled her close again. “It’s okay. I want you to know what you’re getting into. I mean, I think that’s good for both of us.”
“This is definitely the weirdest way I’ve ever started a relationship,” she said, then added, “though on second thought, it’s already been started, I guess. And that wasn’t weird. Just this part is weird.”
Then they both started laughing again, until he cut it off with a kiss that got deeper and deeper until she had to break away for a breath. He tasted good. He smelled good. He felt good against her.
It wasn’t love, not even close. But it was something, wasn’t it? And maybe that would also be enough.