Distant Souls – excerpt

Melinda could not believe how she’d reacted in his presence. Sure, she hadn’t had a man since the separation, having no interest at all in the species. Even when she shopped she didn’t care too much about her appearance. Scruffy hair plus old clothes had given her the name hermit. It was true enough, too. She really didn’t like people, they tended to betray you if they got too close.

“Melinda.”

She looked up, wondering what he was doing here. Oh yeah. His truck had broken down.

“You want a cup of tea?”

“No. Since I’m stuck here for the time being, I’d like to find out more about the antiques in your shed.”

“Like what?”

“I’m an antique dealer, and naturally I’m interested. You have some amazing things in there.”

She was about to say they were there when she bought the place, but he might try to screw her down on price. She mused at how some of her old habits kicked into automatic.

“What about them?”

“You interested in selling?”

Melinda placed the cup of tea on a nearby table. If she was, he’d hang around. Nope, best to refuse.

“Not interested.”

Frowning, he clasped his hands together. Nice hands they were too, long fingers. She drew her gaze up sharply to his face. What was she thinking? The last thing she needed was involvement. What a pity this rain wasn’t going away anytime soon.

“What if itemize each piece and give you a price. You might change your mind. It could be tens of thousands.”

Shit. That much. She began to reconsider. The cash could come in handy some day.

He smiled at her, probably thinking he had convinced her at last. Her gaze lingered on those lips a little longer. She imagined him kissing her.

Damn. What was she doing?

“Hello?”

Quick. Think of any question at all. “Where did you come from?”

He stared at her, baffled. “What?”

She repeated the question.

“Um.” He ran his hand through his hair. “South of Sydney . Don’t recall the town. Why?”

Good. Great distraction in fact . “Been traveling long?”

“Three years.”

She did a double take. “Did you say three years? What did you do?”

His dark eyes fixed on her. She imagined he was seeing right through her. She shivered briefly at being studied so intently.