It was sex—granted, it was amazing sex—but that’s all it was. The physical joining of bodies to sate an ache. Nothing more, nothing less. They weren’t playing for keeps, and when Sean was finally ready to settle down—and someday she was sure he would—he certainly wasn’t going to do it with a girl who had a scar that left her ugly and unlovable.
Sex was one thing, but love was something else entirely, and it would serve her well to remember that.
4
As Sean perused the gorgeous woman snuggling in next to him, taking in her dark, expressive eyes, her long silky hair, and the pink flush of her skin after the most incredible sex of his life, his heart did a double beat and he knew he was in a shitload of trouble. Tonight he’d set out to seduce her, not only to get her to open herself up to him, but to discover if sleeping with her would help get her out his system or if it would simply draw her in deeper.
It didn’t take him long to discover that it was the latter, by far, and contrary to what Carter thought, this wasn’t about wanting what he couldn’t have. Madison was unlike any other girl he’d ever slept with. She was intelligent, real and giving. She cared about his wants and he didn’t for one minute believe she was just in this for her fantasy.
After making love to her, Sean knew Madison was the kind of woman who deserved it all. And dammit, the second he’d gathered her into his arms, the second his lips had found hers for a soul-searching kiss, it became glaringly apparent that he was the guy who wanted to give it all to her. And not just in the bedroom, or the rooftop. When her body opened for him, and he felt her give herself to him completely, he knew he was in it for the long haul. Without even trying, the sweet and sexy Madison Kelly had squashed his appetite for casual affairs and promptly turned him into a one-woman kind of guy.
Oh man, Cole was right. He had it bad.
Sean shifted, and when a pebble pressed into his back, he silently cursed under his breath. Fuck, he really should have found a more romantic spot to take her, but he’d been in such a hurry to get her naked that his brain hadn’t been firing properly. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he went at her like a rutting animal in heat. He really should have slowed down and taken his time with her, despite the fact that she asked for it hard and fast. The truth was, Madison deserved better from him.
“Sean,” she said, and he heard something in her voice, some unspoken hesitation.
“Yeah, baby?” As intimacy curled around them, he perused the sexy woman snuggled close.
She opened her mouth to speak, but when his emotions got the better of him and the words, “You’re so beautiful,” slipped from his lips a second time, her mouth closed and her forehead creased. His eyes moved over her features as he brushed her hair back to expose her face. He leisurely ran his thumb over her eyes, her nose, and her lips before tracing the curve of her right cheek.
When he brushed along her jaw, panic bloomed on her face and she rolled her shoulder to push his hand away. “You don’t have to say that,” she said, and a second later he felt her pull back, both physically and emotionally. He frowned and tried to draw her back into his arms, but she inched farther and farther away, severing the connection between them. She shook her hair free, and when he felt a shiver move through her, he tried to shift closer, to offer his heat.
Her body stiffened and that’s when he realized he’d mistaken her shiver. “I uh…I should get back.”
Sean’s stomach dropped as she widened the gap between them, distancing herself from him on all levels. Perplexed by her sudden mood shift, his mind raced, trying to think what he’d said or done to scare her away. A few minutes ago, in the heat of the moment, she’d readily handed herself over to him, but now, well, now he could feel her closing herself off and searching for an escape.
What the hell was going on?
As he took in her body language, and the way she masked her expressive eyes with her hair, he worked to sort things through, to think about what he’d said. He’d merely told her she was beautiful, but that simple word seemed to trigger a reaction from her. He looked at her long and hard, and when she lifted her lids to steal a glance at him, he detected a glimmer of vulnerability in her eyes, and it was that glimmer that spoke volumes.
When she angled her head, letting her hair fall over her cheek, his heart slammed against his chest. He briefly closed his eyes and sucked in a tight breath as a theory began forming in his brain.
As understanding struck harder than a loose fire hose, a noise sounded deep in his throat. Jesus, did she really have no idea how beautiful she was, on the inside and out? Did she really think that scar on her cheek made her unworthy, less desirable—a scar that spoke of strength and courage? Is that why she always kept a safe distance and pretended she didn’t want him? Because she thought her flaws would keep him from wanting her in return? In all ways?
“Madison,” he said, but before he had a chance to question her, or tell her how wrong she was, his cell phone rang.
They stared at each other for a moment, then when the faint smell of smoke drifted by on a breeze, Madison’s eyes widened and she said, “You’d better get that.”
Sean reached into his pocket, grabbed
