after he'd caught the sheen of tears in her eyes.
'I'm sorry.' Panic was more than a sly lick now. It simply coated his throat. 'Don't cry. I can't stand it.'
'I'm not crying.' She'd let the tears burn her eyes out of her head before she let a single one fall in his presence. 'I asked you to leave me be. Since you won't, I'll leave you.'
She strode to the door, wrenched at the knob, then simply gaped in shock. 'You locked the door!' She whirled back. 'Have you lost your mind?'
'I know you-so I knew you wouldn't listen. Now you have to.'
He saw her slide a look toward her toolbox, imagined she was thinking of the nice weapon supply inside. However sincere his apology, he wasn't prepared to have holes hacked out of him, so he stepped over to put himself between Brenna and temptation.
'You say our friendship matters to you. It matters to me as well. It matters a great deal to me. You matter to me, Brenna.'
'Is that why you treated me like some tramp last night?'
Her voice broke, alarming him, so he bore down. 'I suppose it was, yes. It's not a regular thing, after all, for me to see you looking that way.'
Frustration had her throwing up her hands. 'What way?'
'Lovely.' He saw her eyes go round in shock, and took advantage of the moment to step a little closer. 'You looked so polished up and female.'
'I am female, for God's sake.'
'I know it, but you don't usually trouble to make it an issue.'
'Why should it be?' she demanded. It was a sore point, and one she hated probing. 'Just because I know how to hammer a nail or fix a pipe, I'm not allowed to be a woman as well? Wearing a dress and some lipstick makes me a tramp?'
'No, it makes me a fool for letting you think I meant that. Clumsy, foolish, and spiteful. And I'm sorry for it.'
When she said nothing, he stuck his hands in his pockets, pulled them out again. Best, he told himself, to get it all out and over. 'The truth of it is, I was thinking of you, thinking about things when you walked in, looking the way you did and about to go off with another man. I was jealous. I didn't realize it at the time, didn't want to admit it later after my mind had cleared a bit. I've never been jealous before. I can't say I cared for it.'
She'd calmed down enough to begin to speculate. And consider. 'I didn't like it much myself.'
'I told myself you'd done it-put on that dress and left your hair all falling down and made your mouth slick and wet to stir me up.'
Yes, she considered. And she nodded. 'Sure I might've, if I'd thought of it. My mind just doesn't work in those clever ways.'
'No, you're a straightforward woman. I know it.' He stopped, angled his head. For every step he took she took one in evasion. 'Why is it, Brenna, that when I come toward you now, you back away? Aren't you the one who started it all?'
'Aye, I did, but I've had time to reconsider. Just keep your distance, will you, while I'm mulling it over,' she demanded when she caught the dark male amusement in his eyes. Not an expression to settle a woman's nerves. 'We've been friends a long time, and I don't want to lose that part of my life. If we'd acted when I first mentioned sex, if you'd just grinned and said, 'Well, Brenna, what a fine idea, let's go up to bed,' it would've been fine all around. We'd have enjoyed ourselves, kept it simple, and parted friends as always. But now it's stopped being an impulsive sort of thing and it's complicated.'
He solved the problem of keeping her still by reaching out, planting his palm on the wall just above her head. Before she could shift, he planted the other and caged her in. 'You've a habit of acting on impulse, and I'm one for pondering over things. You move fast and I move slow.'
Her blood was beginning to hum. But pride kept her in place now, as sure as his arms. 'Jesus, Shawn, a glacier moves with more speed than you.'
'But I get where I'm going just the same, don't I? I'm thinking, Brenna, that weighing impulse and consideration, speed and caution, we can still meet somewhere in the middle of things.'
'It's too- sticky now.'
'Your heart's pounding,' he murmured as he eased closer. 'I can almost hear it.' Watching her, he laid his hand between her breasts. Awareness snapped into her eyes, breath trembled between her lips, then drew in, soft and sharp when he let his fingers spread. 'Now I can feel it. I've wanted to touch you.'
Her knees wanted to buckle. 'You'd never have thought of it if I hadn't mentioned it.'
'Sure and I can't say I mind it being your idea, as I'm thinking of it now.' He lowered his head to nip lightly at her bottom lip. 'And I'm finding it hard to think of much else. When I came up here today-' He shifted his head so his lips skimmed up along her jaw. 'I thought I'd apologize, make things as right as I could between us. Then I was nearly sure, very nearly sure that I'd take a step back and leave it that way. But now I want to touch you.' He toyed delicately with the nipple that strained against her shirt. 'I want to taste you.'
And finally, finally covered her mouth with his.
She gripped his hips, fingers digging in as she let her tongue dance with his, let her lips heat with his. She wanted faster, hotter, harder. She thought she might die from the gentle and glorious warmth.
'Wait.' Something was breaking loose inside her. A vital something that needed to stay firmly in place. 'Wait. You think I need all the fancy work.' She turned her head, but that only meant his teeth found her ear.
Oh, Jesus, the man had the most magical of mouths.
'I don't need it.' Her breath was coming hard and fast and making her dizzy. 'Or seductions.'
'I do.' He tilted his head so he could nibble down her throat.
'If you've decided-and it appears to me you have-that we should have sex after all, we'll take an hour now and go to your cottage.'
His chuckle was muffled against her skin, skin that was soft as sun-warmed silk. 'Somewhere in the middle, Brenna. I want you.' He felt her shiver as his mouth found hers again. 'But I've a mind to drive us both a bit crazy before I have you naked and under me.'
'Why?'
'Because it's more enjoyable that way. Do you like it when I do this?' She drew in her breath in three short gasps when he feathered his fingers just under her shirt so the backs of them rubbed the curve of her breast. 'I see you do. Your eyes are blurry.'
'I'm half blind. The hell with the cottage, we'll just finish this right here.'
But when she locked her arms around his neck, he laughed and swung her in a circle. 'Oh, no, we won't. I won't short myself or you of the pleasure.'
'It doesn't seem like middle ground from where I'm standing. It's leaning heavily toward your way of things.'
'Maybe, but you'll thank me for it when we're done.'
'So like a man,' she said when he set her on her feet. 'Always thinking you know what's best and how it all should be done.'
His teeth flashed. 'Brenna, darling, if I wasn't a man we wouldn't be having this conversation.'
She blew out a breath, settled her cap more firmly on her head. 'Well, you're right about that, aren't you?'
'You told me you had an itch, well, I'll scratch it for you, in my own time and my own way. That's fair.'
She looked at him, nodded. 'Frustrating, but fair.'
'And wherever we stand now or after, we walk away friends at the end of it. As much as I want you, I won't touch you if we don't take a vow here to walk away friends.'
How could she help but care for him, Brenna wondered, when he was the kind of man who would think of that? And would mean it. 'Friends now, during, and after.' She offered her hand on it. 'I'll promise that to you.'
'And I to you.' He took her hand, held it. Then, just to see her reaction, brought it to his lips to nuzzle.
Her mouth fell open, delighting him into a rolling laugh.
'Mary Brenna, I believe you're in for a few surprises along the way.'
'Maybe.' She tugged her hand free, put it behind her back, where it continued to tingle. 'But I'm not without a few tricks of my own.'
