Chapter 3

Would you please get out from under my skin
'Cause I can't begin this yet
And I don't know what my intentions are
They're speaking in a different tongue
And deep inside, I'm not as tough as I seem
But I won't let you know
Until it's right, I'm gonna stay my distance
And you should go

Stephanie breathed in the fresh aroma of the coffee and her blue eyes were impatient as they stared at the percolator. The dark liquid was taking forever to fill the pot almost like it sensed her urgent need for the caffeine. In fact it actually seemed like it was taunting her by trickling ever so slowly out of the filter above and she sighed as she rested her elbows on the counter, leaning her head against the palm of her hand.

She would blame him for this. Paul. He'd had put a hex on her coffee maker in some lame attempt to get under her skin. God knows he liked to wind her up and he had been doing exactly that ever since he'd got here with his smart ass comments and that cocky smirk of his. And to think that for the tiniest, briefest of seconds she had actually entertained the thought that it was sexy. Of course that was completely ridiculous just like it was ridiculous that something had happened between them last night; some weird gravitational pull that had made her lose her senses for like a fraction of a millisecond. And she blamed that on his cologne, nothing else. The damn scent had obviously messed with her head. Yes, that was it.

Shifting her feet and straightening up, Stephanie pressed her lips together stifling a yawn. She was tired and it had been a struggle to drag herself out of bed this morning after tossing and turning for most of the night. Of course that was entirely Paul's fault as well. Not only had he messed with her head but he'd had the nerve to invade her thoughts too making her restless and edgy. Bastard!

Stephanie scowled as she snatched at the cream mug sitting on the counter noticing with relief that the coffee was ready. Reaching for the pot, she poured the hot drink breathing in the aroma once more. The mug was dangerously full when she lifted it up to her mouth and it lightly burned her lip as she took a sip, causing her hand to jerk upwards.

"Damn it!" she cried out as the black liquid spilled onto her t-shirt, staining the white cotton material. Her hand swiped at the mark as she lightly cursed under her breath.

"You should watch out. That coffee's hot."

Her body froze as she heard his deep voice and swallowing thickly, Stephanie slowly lifted her head. Paul was standing on the opposite side of the small island, his blonde hair tucked behind his ears and his brown eyes twinkling with his grin. A grin that was causing a strange sensation in her chest; a light fluttering that made her feel weak yet infuriated her at the exact same time. The very idea that she had any sort of reaction to any grin of his made her want to scream at him.

"No shit Sherlock." she scowled back.

"Oooh! That's quite the mouth you've got on you this morning."

"Bite me." she spat back, narrowing her eyes menacingly in his direction as she banged her mug down on the counter and crossed the short distance to the sink. She tried to ignore Paul's amused chuckle as she picked up the sponge and began to scrub at the coffee stain on her shirt. Damn him for being here and damn him for making her spill her drink.

"I see someone obviously got out of bed on the wrong side or was it that she got out of bed alone?"

Stephanie looked up and glared at him, shaking her head. "You know you're really not funny."

Paul lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "I wasn't trying to be."

She snorted at him in disdain and focused her attention once more on the stain, dabbing at it furiously completely unaware of the slow smirk that had adorned Paul's face as he watched her.

"Damn. This won't come out." she muttered.

"Then may I suggest that you just take the top off?"

Stephanie's head shot up and her breath caught in her throat when she saw Paul standing less than a few feet away. He was smirking at her and for some reason his proximity made her uneasy in her own skin. He was too close to her; far too close for comfort.

Taking a step back, Stephanie deliberately put some distance between them swallowing thickly as the blood began to beat in her ears. "You're disgusting, you know that?"

Paul's face lit up with his amusement as she paused and tossed the sponge to the counter.

"Although I really shouldn't be surprised." she continued placing her hands on her hips. "I mean you probably try and hit on anything that moves."

"Oh I wasn't hitting on ya, toots. But trust me, if I wanted you, you'd know all about it." said Paul confidently as he took another step closer and saw Stephanie's jaw jut out defiantly as she glared at him once more, her ocean blue pools looking at him challengingly.

This woman was one feisty broad but if he was honest, it only made her more appealing to him. He couldn't help himself. There was just something about her that pulled him in; her spark was like a magnet making him seek a reaction from her. It's why he wound her up. It's why he tried his hardest to get under her skin. It was like an automatic impulse he had every time he was near her and God help him, but for some reason it was becoming impossible for him to stay away. He'd even thought about her last night as he had lain in the darkness. He wasn't sure what was happening but he was certain that he had felt it. He'd felt this strange weird tension between them as he had stood over her shoulder yesterday.

"Then I'll thank my lucky stars that I'm off the hook."

Her voice lifted him from his daze. Licking his lips and blinking, he leant his body forward, his brown eyes looking deeply into hers. "I never said you were off any hook."

Stephanie heard the underlying current in his deep gravelled tone and she swallowed hard feeling herself get lost in those incredible brown pools. God knows they were dangerous for her; dangerous enough that she was standing here feeling her body tingle with anticipation. But anticipation for what? She was married for goodness sakes and to his father of all people. This was just wrong. Wrong and stupid and it simply couldn't happen.

Paul was nothing more than a distraction; a distraction from her fear over her mother and her constant sadness at feeling trapped and lonely. So lonely that at nights her arms ached just to hold someone, just to reach out and have someone there at the end of her fingertips. She was so tired of sleeping alone but that was a sacrifice she was willing to make. She would do whatever it took to give her mother back her life and a moment of weakness wasn't going to screw it up. Because that's all this was between her and Paul. A stupid moment of weakness.

Deliberately drawing her eyes away from his, Stephanie stepped back from him and letting out a shaky breath, she quickly regained her composure.

"I…I'd better go. I need to get to the pharmacy before ten." she told him.

"What? You needing to stock up on the Valium before the old goat gets back home?" quipped Paul.

A flash of pain crossed her face as her hand shoved at him. "You're a jerk. You know that don't you!" she spat as she pushed past refusing to even glance in his direction.

As the door banged shut behind her, Paul's brown eyes could only stare after her in stunned wonderment as he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened here.