lifted her hands, bunching the material of his sweater in her fists, pulling him close to her.
The kiss only lasted moments, but when Sean pulled back, his breath hot against her lips, she knew she'd spend the rest of her life wanting to recapture every second of it. He was staring down at her, his eyelids drooping slightly, and the look on his face, she was sure, matched her own. It was a perfect kiss. The only one she'd had in years.
The laughs and hoots of her family caught her attention and she looked away from those intense eyes holding her in place and turned to look into the living room. She smiled, feeling her cheeks yet again heat as she blushed. “Okay,” she said. “Enough of that. It's over, all right.'
'Oh, she's blushing,” Pam said. “Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?'
Pam's comment only caused the heat to intensify. Macy ducked her head, avoiding their laughing gazes. When Sean wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his chest and said, “She always gets like this when I kiss her in public,” she wanted to crawl under the nearest bed and not come out until New Years. She pinched him in the side, laughing when he jumped and grunted.
Breaking his hold on her, she took a step back and said, “I'm going to take a shower,” before making a hasty retreat. She ran up the stairs and hit the bathroom running. Once locked inside the small room, she finally took a breath. Her reflection in the mirror showed her complexion to be tinged pink. Her eyes were sparkling and she grinned, pushing off the door.
Her lips still tingled where Sean had kissed her and just thinking of the kiss caused her pulse to leap again. If his kisses were that drugging, what would it feel like to be in his arms? To have those kisses scattered across her skin as he made love to her? Her stomach clenched suddenly and she shoved the thoughts racing through her head away. They would only leave her longing for something she couldn't have.
She showered in record time, drying off only to realize in her haste to escape her embarrassment, she hadn't thought to grab her clothes. Wrapping the towel around her, she opened the door, peeking out into the hall. She could hear her family downstairs, their squeals of joy reaching all the way to the second floor.
Racing to her room, she slammed the door shut behind her and walked to the suitcase she hadn't bothered to unpack yet. She bent, retrieving a change of clothes and straightened. She dropped her towel seconds before the door swung wide open. Macy gasped and yelled, “Sean!” as he slammed the door behind him. Snatching her dropped towel from the floor, Macy hastily tried to cover herself as Sean paced back and forth at the foot of her bed.
Sean shook his head and wanted to kick his own ass for being so stupid. Why did he tell them that ridiculous story? Why didn't he just lie… in a good way, and not tell them anything that would come back to bite him later on. Turning, he faced Macy where she stood near the dresser. One look at her and he gaped, his eyes widening. She was standing there trying to cover herself with a very small towel. Her hair was wet and hung in thin clumps over her shoulders. She clutched the towel to her breasts but they swelled over the material and the soft curve of her waist flirted with the edge of the towel. His gaze skimmed the gentle flair of her exposed hip, the toned, tanned thigh that was so delightfully drawing his eye. All the blood in his brain immediately traveled below his belt, pooling with heat to inflame his cock in ways no woman had managed to do in years. He swallowed heavily before raising his head and meeting her gaze. She looked as shocked as he felt. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I didn't realize you were…” His throat tightened the longer he looked at her and he remembered that tantalizing kiss she'd given him downstairs. She'd been nervous, that much he did know. She'd been shaking when he touched her but it had given away to her leaning against him, her hands clutching at him as she gave as good as she got. He'd nearly forgotten they had an audience. He could have spent the rest of the evening standing in that one spot, tasting her sweet lips while her warmth sank into his bones.
When she shifted on her feet, he shook his head slightly to clear the haze fogging his brain. He cleared his throat and gave her an apologetic look. “I'm sorry,” he said, again. “I should have knocked.'
She took a shuddering breath before looking quickly to the floor. “It's okay. Just… turn around, would you, so I can get dressed.'
He nodded and turned, putting his back to her. He could hear her moving around and tried to distract his mind from the fact she was standing completely naked behind him. A glance to the left and he wished he'd been born with bad eyesight. A mirror on wall showed her in all her glory. All that creamy flesh just begging him to look. He closed his eyes with a groan, shifting on his feet and tugging at the waistband of his jeans. Her image was seared into his brain. Even with his eyes closed he could still see her. The slope of her breasts, the roundness of her bottom. All that glorious flesh beckoning him like a siren's song. Her gentle, “you can turn around now,” reached him moments later. He turned, looking at her flushed face before giving her a tiny smile.
She shifted on her feet and crossed her arms over her chest. “So,” she said. “What was so important you barged in here without knocking?'
Chapter 5
It was Sean's turn to blush now. He sighed and ran his hand over his face to try and get the image of her, naked, out of his mind before looking back over at her. “I think I made a mistake today that is going to go terribly wrong for us.'
She raised one eyebrow at him. “What sort of mistake?'
He grimaced and looked at anything but her. “Your brothers grilled me pretty hard today and I may have said something I shouldn't have.'
'Something like what?'
Sean could hear the fear in her voice. He walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. “They wanted to know if I had plans of making an honest woman out of you.'
Her eyes widened. “Oh no.'
'Oh yes,” Sean said, laughing. There was no mirth in the sound, only desperate whining to his ears. “I thought I did the right thing,” he said. “I told them of course I was going to marry you. Why wouldn't I?'
'And?'
'And… they assumed that's why I decided to make the trip this year. So I could propose to you in front of your family.” If possible, her eyes grew larger. She was gaping at him, her mouth forming a perfect “O” and if the red tint her face had taken on was any indication, he assumed she'd stopped breathing. “I told them I was going to but… I left the ring at home. They congratulated me and dropped the subject.'
Macy snapped out of her stunned daze and took a deep breath. “So, catastrophe diverted, right?” When he didn't say anything, just sat there staring at her, she said, “right?” again. He shook his head. “They, your brothers I mean, cornered me when you came up for your shower. They said I didn't need a ring to ask you. If the sentiment was there, they didn't care if I placed some pretty bauble on your finger or not.'
'So what? They're expecting you to propose to me now?'
His silence was all the answer she needed. She paled and walked to the bed, sitting down beside of him. She stared at the wall for long moments before lowering her head to her knees. “I think I'm going to faint,” she said, her voice coming out as a pitiful whine. Sean smiled and raised his hand, rubbing small circles on her back.
'I can always make another excuse,” he said. “I didn't give them an answer.'
She sat up, pushing her hair out of her eyes before sighing. “This is all my fault,” she said. “If I hadn't lied, we wouldn't have to be doing this right now.” She shook her head and groaned, pitifully. “I got us into this mess. I need to get us out.'
'What are you going to do?'
Her shoulders drooped before she sighed again. “Tell them the truth, I guess,” she said. “I just didn't want their sympathy when they found out how pathetic I really am.'
'You're pathetic because you made up a make-believe boyfriend so they wouldn't worry about you?'
She nodded her head, her lips pursing. She looked miserable and Sean's heart clenched. “You're going to hate me when all this is said and done, aren't you?” she said, turning her head to look at him.
He smiled and said, “No. I couldn't ever hate you, Macy.” He pushed a lock of her hair away from her face, wanting nothing more in that moment than to take away the sadness in her eyes. To chase the frown lines away from her mouth. He knew telling her family she'd lied to them would be worse on her than them knowing the truth.
