She smiled and her green eyes darkened. “Be back in a minute,” she said as she moved up the stairs and disappeared into the house.
Sean lingered by the steps, ignoring the dogs, which were winding around his legs in turn begging for attention. They got bored with his lack of response and plopped into their beds, situated at the end of the veranda.
She returned a few minutes later, carrying a tray, maneuvering through the doorway with smooth dexterity. Her hair swayed as she walked, and he caught a glimpse of the colors hidden beneath the strands. It suited her, he thought. And something niggled at him, a kind of hazy awareness that made him shake his head. This was so ridiculous. He didn’t know her. They’d never met.
“Here we go,” she said, her voice almost floating on the air between them. “Please, sit down.”
Sean remained where he was, watching as she dropped a dollop of whipped cream into each mug. It both irked and amused him that she hadn’t asked how he liked his drink, just assumed he’d take it the way she was offering.
He moved across the veranda and sat down, perched uncomfortably on the edge of the wicker love seat. She sat down opposite and passed him a mug. But she didn’t speak. Instead, she touched the rim of her mug with her thumb and wiped away some milky foam and then popped her thumb in her mouth. The action shouldn’t have registered as anything to him. But he experienced an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. The awareness was back, only this time it didn’t dissipate so easily. Sean looked at her, trying to find flaws as a way of dispelling the awareness. But it was difficult, if not impossible. Her emerald eyes especially—they were damned near perfect. And her lashes were the longest he’d ever seen; he could tell she wasn’t wearing a shred of mascara.
“Dad said you were retired?”
Sean stared at her mouth. “On hiatus,” he replied, ignoring the heat from the mug in his hand.
“You work in the music business?”
He shrugged. “I did.”
“And movies, too?” she asked.
Sean nodded. “That’s right.”
Her head angled to the side a fraction. “And now you don’t do anything?”
There was enough tone in her voice to sound like criticism, and he scowled. “I’m taking a break from the industry.”
“You mean taking a break from life?” she asked bluntly, pulling no punches.
Irritation wove up his spine, and he decided he didn’t like this woman one little bit. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I came back to Cedar River to spend time with my family.”
Her brows rose dramatically. “Really? Dad said you spend most of your time alone. Unless you’re here letting him beat you at chess.”
His irritability increased. “My parents got divorced. My dad remarried,” Sean said as an answer, and then almost jumped out of the chair the moment the words left his mouth, because he had no idea why he would say such a thing to a stranger. He certainly didn’t want her knowing anything about his personal life. Not that his parents’ divorce was a secret around town. But the reason they parted was still a sore issue for him.
Jonah. His half brother. Barely three months younger than he was. The son his father had kept secret for nearly thirty years, the result of an affair he’d had before Sean was born. But it wasn’t a secret anymore. And now his parents were divorced and his father was married to Jonah’s mother, Kathleen. His family had imploded, and it felt as though he was the only one who gave a damn, since Liam, Kieran and Jonah had all gotten married over the past few years and were all busy with their new families.
“I know your mom,” she said, dragging his attention back into the moment and smiled, exposing perfectly even teeth. “She’s been talking to me about showcasing some of my work at the art gallery in town. Your sister-in-law is the curator there, correct?”
Was there anything about his family that she didn’t know?
Sean’s mouth compressed into a tight line. Yes, Kayla was the gallery and museum curator and his eldest brother Liam’s wife. “That’s right.”
“I’m also doing a piece for the foyer at the hotel, so I’ve met Liam several times.”
Hmm. She was way too familiar with his family. Well, he knew some things about her, too. “You’re a sculptor?”
She nodded. “Yes. I work mostly with metal. But I also paint a little, and do pottery.”
“A triple threat.”
She grinned. “Thank you. So, what’s with the mountain man look?” she asked, still smiling.
Sean frowned and rubbed a hand over his jaw and the two-month-old beard growth, and then had the irritated thought that what the hell difference did it make, anyway, if he chose not to get a haircut or shave. “Are you the barber police?”
“Are you always such an unbearable grouch?”
Then she laughed. At him. He felt it through to his bones. And Sean wasn’t used to being laughed at. He placed the mug on the table and got to his feet. “I have to get going. Thanks for the chat and the cocoa.”
“Anytime... Sean.”
He ignored her, then walked across the veranda and headed down the steps, striding toward the hedge and away from the most annoying woman he’d ever met. One he hoped he’d never meet again, even if that meant not catching up with Ivan.
Minutes later he wiped his boots on the mat on his porch. As he slammed the door to the house, a thought registered in his brain and he groaned. He’d been so eager to get away from her, he hadn’t mentioned anything about the damned dog!
It was a universally known fact that Leah Culhane-Petrovic had poor taste in men. The very worst taste, in fact, according to her brother, David, or any one of her cousins who lived in town. The last bad choice had
