The Color of Love (The Color of Heaven Series) by Julianne MacLean Page B

opposite direction and had been playing it safe for too long. This was the best night I’d had in ages and I didn’t want it to end.
    Besides, what harm could come of it? It was only one night and I’d have my own room.

Chapter Thirty-four

    After we finished eating the pizza, Josh and I took our wine glasses and retreated to the small private sunroom at the back of the inn. It was lit by a single kerosene lamp and decorated with floral fabrics. We sat on a wicker love seat with a chintz cushion and looked out at the gently falling snow in the dark yard.
    “Do you realize this is the first time we’ve been alone together all night?” Josh asked as he rested his arm along the back of the seat.
    “You noticed too?” Clearly there was an intense undercurrent of attraction between us that I found both exhilarating and nerve-racking. “I had a nice time,” I said. “I really needed this.”
    He nodded in agreement. “You had a rough year.”
    “From what I heard, you haven’t had such a great year yourself,” I casually mentioned. Then I waved a hand and shook my head. “I’m sorry. Marie was eager to share all the details of your personal life with me.”
    The corner of his mouth curved up in a grin and he leaned forward to set his wine glass down on the coffee table.
    “My sister was never very good at keeping secrets,” he said with affection, “which wasn’t exactly her best quality in high school, because somehow Mom and Eric always found out about any wild parties that were going on and arrived promptly at midnight to drag me home.”
    “Sounds like you owe your sister a debt of gratitude for keeping you on the straight and narrow.”
    He nodded. “I know it. And I’m not sorry she told you about my past either. It saves me from having to explain it myself, because that’s never awkward.”
    I smiled.
    “Now that it’s out in the open, we have no secrets,” Josh added.
    I rested my temple on a finger. “What a pair we are. Between the two of us, we have enough baggage to fill a small backyard shed.”
    Josh agreed and reached for my hand. “And you still wear this,” he said, rubbing the pad of his thumb over my wedding ring.
    While his gaze was lowered, I took the opportunity to study the strong features of his face—his dark eyelashes, the straight nose, the full lips and perfectly sculpted cheekbones and jawline.
    “I hadn’t really thought about it until tonight,” I said, glancing down at my ring again, “when we were in the car after the ceremony. Maybe I should have taken it off by now, but I’m just so used to wearing it.”
    His eyes lifted and met mine. “You’ll know when the time is right. No need to rush it.”
    “I think a part of me likes the fact that it sends a message and prevents guys from asking me out. If they look at my hand and see that I’m married, they move on.”
    “Except for me,” he said with an intense look. “I didn’t move on. Was that wrong?”
    “No,” I replied. “I’m glad you called.”
    He picked up his wine glass and took a sip. “So tell me about Seth. If he was a professional climber, he must have been gone quite a bit.”
    I rolled my eyes. “You don’t know the half of it.” Then I stopped talking for a moment and looked down at my hands. “If you really want to know the truth, I don’t think he ever wanted to be married. He just felt obligated because we had a child together.” I explained.
    “Ah,” Josh replied.
    I shrugged. “It’s been hard for me to keep that from Kaleigh. I don’t want her to ever feel like she caused me to choose something I wouldn’t have chosen otherwise.”
    “But would you have chosen it?” Josh asked. “If you hadn’t had Kaleigh, do you think you would have eventually ended up married to Seth anyway?”
    “Do you want me to be completely honest?” I asked.
    He nodded.
    I let out a sigh. “It’s not easy to say this. It feels disrespectful because he’s gone now, but looking back on