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He grunted, but when he brought the mug to his lips, she was sure it hid a smile.

“Right, I’ll go and get changed into suitable zoo visiting clothes. Shall we meet at the station? Or would you rather meet at the zoo?”

His dark brows scrunched together. “Why would we do that?”

“I thought we were doing our own thing again, in between these activities.”

Another heavy sigh. A morning record. “I’ll meet you by the front door in five.”

“You think five minutes is long enough for this maybe pretty woman to get ready?” She winced. She’d meant to be ironic, but replaying her words back, she sounded like she was fishing.

“I think you’re making my head spin,” he muttered.

Yeah, that makes two of us, she thought crankily and started to walk away.

“Anna.” When she turned, the intensity of his focus sent a shiver of something sparky down her spine. “You’re far more than pretty. You’re vibrant, dazzling.” His voice was gruff, like he didn’t want to be saying this but couldn’t help himself. “Captivating.”

Holy macaroni. A warm flush of pleasure flooded her chest and her mind buzzed with possibilities she really shouldn’t be considering. Possibilities that scared and excited her in equal measure.

The right side of his mouth curved upwards. “Rendered you speechless, have I?”

She floundered on a reply. “I prefer your description,” she admitted after her silence had gone on too long.

Emerald green eyes searched hers. “Good.”

She forced herself to turn away, legs not quite steady as she made her way back to her bedroom. Once inside, she shut the door behind her, leaned against it. And slid all the way to the floor.

She was playing with fire. Stupid, dangerous. Thrilling.

It was only as she pulled on a pair of thick tights to go with her extra-long sweater that she realized it was the first morning since Colin had died that she hadn’t woken up thinking about him.

Walking over to her dresser, she secured his heavy Rolex onto her wrist. Was this part of your plan, bro? Get your big, brooding hunk of a friend to provide a sexy distraction so I don’t spend the run up to Christmas drowning in grief?

* * *

Luke gave the monkeys a passing look. He wasn’t a huge fan of zoos; he preferred to see wildlife in their natural environment.

Still, he was self-aware enough to realize that wasn’t the only reason the animals held no interest.

“Why do you think he wanted us to come here?” Anna asked as she peered into the enclosure, as she had at every one they’d come across, like a five-year-old who’d never seen an animal before.

Hair tied in a scrunchy that struggled to contain it, a striped, pom pom topped beanie on her head to match the stripes on one of her socks, the other had stars on it . . . very pretty didn’t do her justice, not even close. It was why he’d lost his mind for a moment and told her what he’d really thought.

He’d wanted to ask her what sort of guys she’d been seeing that had made her happy to accept very pretty. And made her question whether she wanted to date again.

But asking her didn’t fit with his plan to keep his distance. And that was more important than ever after what had happened by the truck. It was why he’d spent all night wandering the streets, eating in a fast-food restaurant, desperate to avoid a repeat of it, only this time on her sofa. After years of disinterest, interspersed with occasional brief hookups with like-minded women to ease the loneliness, his body had very unhelpfully decided to become obsessed with his best friend’s sister.

She asked you a question.

“I don’t know why Colin chose this zoo.” He frowned, the flicker of a distant memory coming to the front. “Did you come here as kids, you and Colin?”

“Yes, loads. I used to make Mom and Dad bring me every birthday.”

A girl in a pink coat, two wild pigtails, running around, flapping her arms, pretending to fly. “I think I bumped into you here once with Mum. Just after we moved over from England.”

Anna smiled. “She brought you to my favorite place?”

“I thought that was the Christmas Tree farm, or The Cozy Cup coffee shop?”