It was as if time had stopped still and the passion from the night before was reignited in both of them. Standing on the sidewalk in the middle of the village, they held onto each other. Tongues pressed into each others mouths, exploring, tasting, tantalizing.
Sean relaxed against her, vulnerable, letting her feel his arousal. She moaned from the feel of him, wanting him completely. When his hands reached beneath her shirt, moving upwards toward her breasts, she felt herself go weak. She pulled back for an instant, reaching for his hand to lead him back up the stairs, but before she could clasp his hand, her cell phone rang, bringing her back to consciousness and him back to sanity.
He nodded toward her hip pocket where her cell phone continued to pester them. She pulled it out and glanced down at the name. “It’s Alex.”
“Answer it.”
She nodded. “I do need to talk to him.”
Sean turned away as she answered the phone. The conversation was brief. A yes, a couple no’s and “I’ll call you back, okay? I’m in the middle of—Okay.”
When she turned back to Sean, his expression had changed, hardened.
“Sean,” she whispered. She reached out to him, but it was too late.
He stepped away from her, guilt gripping his stomach. “Go,” he said softly. “Go home to Alex.”
Sophie shook her head, unable to speak. She took a step toward him, but without moving, he seemed to be backing away from her. “What are you saying? That you don’t want me?”
“I’m saying go home to your fiancé. You’re engaged, Sophie. To my cousin. Go home and get married and have 2.5 children with him and live happily ever after.”
“But—” She blinked hard, willing the tears not to betray her.
Sean stared at her, trying to read her feelings, but she had put up a mask, a rare occurrence for Sophie. He knew he had hurt her but damn it, he was hurting too. He loved her so much. Did she not get it? What could he say now that she didn’t already know? But when her eyes reflected her pain, he knew he had to say something.
“Of course, I want you, Sophie. But I can’t—I can’t do this.” He stepped toward her but halted in his tracks. “I can’t do this to him. I thought I could because I want you so much. But I can’t. As angry as I am at him for—for the way he’s shut himself off, for the way he treats you . and Cassie—I can’t do it. He’s my cousin and I love him.”
“But—”
“And you love him, Sophie. And he does love you. In his own way.”
Again she shook her head. “Yes, we love each other. But not the way a woman should love her husband or a man should love his wife. I think we both know that now.”
“But you’re still engaged to him. And he’s still my cousin.” Before she could say anything more, he turned and walked off toward the store, clinging to what little resolve he had.
She ran up the porch steps, but before she got inside, her cell phone rang again. Alex again. She was tempted not to answer, but a sense of obligation called her bluff. “Hi, Alex.”
“You were going to call me back.”
“It’s only been a couple minutes.”
“You didn’t sound very excited to hear from me.”
“I’m just tired is all.”
“Are you okay?”
“Fine.” She hoped her annoyance wasn’t apparent in that one word. “How’s work?”
“Okay. And the search for your father?”
“Sean’s following a lead. We should know something soon.” She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t sharing the news about her grandparents with him. There was only one reason she could think of. She was anxious to end this conversation, find some shoes, and go after Sean.
“Well, let me know what you find out.”
Did he suddenly care? “I will.”
The conversation was forced. It was unlike any conversation he’d had with her before. It wasn’t his imagination that she was less than enthusiastic to hear from him. Nor was it his imagination that she was anxious to hang up the phone. “Sophie?”
“Yes?”
“I think I’m going to come down next weekend.”
“I can’t leave. I don’t want to leave.” Dread hit her like a bowling ball to her stomach. “Sean needs me—my help. Here.”
“Sean. Of course. It’s always Sean.”
Sophie was silent, uncertain how to respond to that. But she no longer felt guilty about her feelings for Sean, not after realizing Alex’s feelings for Cassie. Still, she needed to tell him her truth just as she needed to confront him with his. But not over a cell phone.
“Look, Sophie, I think we need to talk.”
Heat blazed through her body, a combination of fear and anxiety. All she could say was, “Okay.”
When she hung up, she curled up in one of the porch chairs, numb. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. This was good, she told herself. They needed to talk. And she had to face him with the decision Arielle had told her she needed to make. But it wasn’t simple, and it wouldn’t be pain-free. Alex had been good to her. She felt secure with him. She knew what she was getting. He was kind and indulgent. At least when she was what he wanted her to be. And as long as he wasn’t required to deal with her feelings.
And Sean? Her pulse quickened just at the sound of his name in her thoughts. Glancing down at her hand, she slipped the diamond ring off her finger and shoved it deep inside her pocket.
Sean unlocked the store and went directly to his office. As soon as he turned on the light above the desk, he knew exactly what had happened yesterday. Sophie had run out of things to keep herself busy and she had decided to clean the office. She had sorted and filed his papers on his desk. And then she had started in on the shelves. Apparently she had not gotten far before finding the photograph album that was now lying on his desk, open to two pages of photographs. All of them were of Cassie and Alex.
He studied the pictures for a few minutes, then closed the album and put it inside the desk drawer. There was no mistaking the look in his cousin’s eyes when he had looked at the love of his life all those years ago. It was the same way he looked at her still.
Sophie stood there watching Sean in the sanctuary of his office. She could tell that he did not know she was there. His hands were crossed and he was resting his elbows on his desk. His thinking pose. What was he thinking? she wondered. That she was going back to San Francisco? Back to Alex?
“Gumption,” she mumbled to herself, causing him to look up. “Skye’s right,” she blurted out. “The Mccullough men are a bunch of idiots!”
Slowly Sean turned to face her. “What?”
“You’re an idiot, Sean McCullough!”
“And why is that?”
“Because it’s you I want to be with, and if you don’t know that—”
“But I told you. I can’t—You’re still engaged to Alex.”
Sophie held out her hand. He stared down at her finger. Relief flooded through him.
Still cautious, he asked, “Have you told him yet?”
“I will.”
“When?” Suddenly he had closed the gap between them. His hands were on her shoulders, his lips pressing into hers. “When, Soph? When will you tell him?” he whispered against her.
“This weekend. He’s coming down.”
“So you’re saying—?” Why was he so terrified of believing what was happening? The kid with the falling-off ice cream scoop syndrome?
“I’m saying that I want you. I want to be with you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“How can you be so sure?”
She shook her head and gave him a look of annoyance, and mustered all the gumption she had inside of her. “Because if I loved him the way I thought I did, the way I should, I couldn’t feel the way I do about you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He drew back from her slightly, staring deeply into her eyes. “And how do you feel about me?”
&n
bsp; “Are you seriously going to make me redefine the word stupid?”
“Guess I am.”
“Okay. Stupid is when someone doesn’t know that someone else wants to be with them. When that person . is in love with them.” She smiled. She knew firsthand. It had taken her long enough to figure it out.
Sean’s smile came easily. Stupid or not, he was high on Sophie. But he was struck with one thought. Alex.
As if reading his mind, Sophie looked up at him. “And to appease any guilt you’re feeling on Alex’s behalf, this is better for him too. Whether he knows it or not, it’s what he really wants.”
She was right. As usual.
He took the hand she offered and followed her up the stairs to his apartment. She opened the door and took him inside, walking straight to his bedroom where she undressed herself. In front of him. For him. He stood motionless watching in awe.
When she was finished, she reached up and unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it over his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. Then she unhooked the clasp on his jeans. That was where she stopped.
He smiled at her shyness and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips as he finished the job for her. He reached over and pulled back the covers and together they slipped into his bed. He devoured her with his kisses, covering her neck and her shoulders with his mouth, tasting and exploring all that he had been longing for since they had met. His hands led the way, followed by his mouth that could not get enough of her. He explored every crevice of her neck, her arms, legs, shoulders, finally savoring her breasts. She shuddered beneath him, sending shock waves through his body.
There was no guilt this time. Only desire and the knowledge that this was right. For both of them.
Her boldness surprised him as her hands explored and stroked, giving and taking right along with him. There was nothing sweet or innocent about her now. When she pressed against him, caressing him with her body, then arching upward to receive him, he thought he would lose his mind. She was here, in his bed, naked beneath him, willing and wanting. Him.
Her eyes opened when he pulled away. “What—what’s wrong?” she whispered. “Why are you stopping?”
“I don’t know how much control I have and I want to be gentle with you.”
“You think I want gentle?”
“What do you want?”
“What do I want?”
“Tell me, Sophie. Tell me what you want.”
She was breathless when her answer came. “I want, you, Sean. You. Inside me. Now.”
Always willing to indulge her, Sean complied, taking them both to heights and depths neither of them had experienced until that moment.
Chapter 22
“I think we’re late for work,” Sophie whispered against Sean’s chest after they’d made love for the fourth—or was it the fifth—time?
“Worried I’ll dock your pay?”
“What pay?”
“As many ice cream sodas and banana sandwiches as you can eat in one day?”
“You wouldn’t dare dock that.”
“This is true. I know better than to get between a woman and her ice cream.”
“Not an idiot after all.”
“Except that I think I left the store unlocked. Who knows it there will be an inventory left when we get downstairs.”
“I’m okay with that as long as they leave the ice cream.”
Sean hugged her to him. “You’re not worried?”
“Why would I be? This is Canden Valley.”
“Yeah, this is Canden Valley.”
She was smiling, but soon her thoughts took a different path. “Sean?”
“Hmm?”
“What now?” She raised her head so she could see him when he answered.
“You mean do we make love again or open the store so our poor deprived customers don’t suffer for our indulgences?”
“No, I mean, where do we go from here?”
“Anywhere we want to go—as long as it’s together.” He was looking at her again, with that passion in his eyes that revealed a lot more than desire.
Sophie blinked back tears of joy and sighed contentedly. “Do you think it will be hard for me to find a teaching job here?”
“We can check with my Aunt Lana, Matt’s mom. She’s the principal at the elementary school in Winslow. If there are any jobs available, she’ll know. And if there aren’t, you can do whatever you want to do.”
“I want to teach.”
“Then we’ll find a way for you to teach.”
“What if it means leaving here? Leaving Canden Valley?”
“Then we’ll leave.”
“Just like that?” Sophie sat up, taking part of the sheet with her.
“No, not just like that. I love this place. You know that.”
“I do know that.”
“But Sophie, I love you more.”
Her breath caught in her chest and she thought she might pass out. Tears ran down her cheeks. She didn’t bother trying to stop them.
“What is it?” Sean whispered and sat up and pulled her into his arms.
“You. You’re—”
“In love.”
“Thank y—” Before she could finish, his mouth found hers to silence her.
“No more thanks, Soph. I think it’s time you realized that everything I’ve been doing has been for purely selfish reasons.”
“Really?” She borrowed Skye’s arching of a single eyebrow. “How do you figure that?”
“I had an agenda.”
“Which is?”
“Getting you to fall in love with me.”
“Looks like it worked.”
“Yeah, it did.” If he looked in the mirror right now, he wondered if he’d see the Cheshire Cat grinning back at him.
“And now, back to my question, what I really meant is, what do we do about letting or not letting people know about us? At least until Alex has come down and I’ve told him—although I suspect he already knows.”
Still holding her in his arms, Sean leaned back against the pillows. “You’re right. We don’t want him to hear it from anyone else. We’ll keep this to ourselves. You’d better continue to stay at the bed and breakfast.”
“Two couples are checking in tonight though—just for a couple nights.”
“That’s okay. They don’t know us. Still, I’ll wait until after it gets dark to come over, and I’ll leave again before it gets light.”
“Okay.”
“And—” His long sigh interrupted his words.
“What?” Sophie asked. “What is it?”
“I think we’d better not be in the same room at the same time when anyone else is around.”
“Why is that?”
“Because if we even look at each other for an instant, the whole world will know.”
“How we feel?”
He raised a leering eyebrow. “And what we’ve done to each other.”
Sophie laughed before resting her head against his chest again. He was right. There was no hiding what they were feeling for each other. Besides, she didn’t want to have to.
“Sean?”
“Yes, beautiful?”
“I don’t want to leave here. As much as I love teaching, I love this town, this village, your family.”
He knew that. Just as he knew she would never ask him to leave the home he loved. “Then we’ll just have to find a way for you to teach here, won’t we?”
It was almost ten o’clock by the time they were showered and dressed. Sean went down the inside stairs to see if Sally had come in yet.
“All clear,” he called up to Sophie. If necessary, she had been prepared to take the outside stairs and walk around to the front door.
She trotted down the stairs and headed for the open sign. As soon as she did, Sean went into his office. Better no one see them together. And better he keep his distance so he didn’t grab her and have his way with her right there on the floor of the Canden Valley General Store.
Be
sides, he had work to do. He needed to find her father. That familiar stab of concern jolted him in the gut again. Damn it. He wanted this over with. But he didn’t want anything to interfere with the euphoric state Sophie was in.
Sophie knew she should stop smiling, but she couldn’t help it. She had never in her life felt this way. And she had never been loved this way. She wanted to call Arielle but she knew she’d get all emotional again if she did that. She’d have to hold it together until she was home at the bed and breakfast tonight.
When Sean came out of his office, she glanced around to see if any customers were still in the store. Only Sally was there, cleaning off one of the shelves behind the cash register. Safe to look at him, she thought.
But when she raised her eyes to meet his, she was not seeing a reflection of her own joy. She was seeing sadness. Something had happened. She rushed to his side. “Sean? What is it?”
His voice broke when he addressed Sally. “Can you hold down the fort for a little while? I need to talk to Sophie.”
“Of course, boss,” Sally said.
Sean took Sophie’s hand, no longer concerned what anyone thought. He would have preferred doing this upstairs or at the B and B, but this was where they were.
“Sean? What happened? Does it have to do with my father?”
He nodded as he closed the door behind them. He sat down on the two-seat couch and pulled her down beside him. Sophie’s hand was pressing against her stomach, and he knew she had guessed what he was about to tell her.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Her eyes flickered open to meet his.
“I’m so sorry, Sophie. I am so sorry.”
“When? How?”
“Five years ago. A motorcycle accident.”
She struggled for her breath. It was over. The search was over. As was the dream of ever knowing her father. “If only I had tried harder to find him. If only I had tried sooner.”
“Sophie, don’t. You’re the only one who isn’t to blame in this.”
She leaned against him for support. He pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair. “I know. I just wish— But the good news is I’ve gotten along all these years without him. It’s not as if I knew him so I don’t even know what I’m missing.” Her laugh was strained. She was trying hard.
Summer Day Dreams Page 24
