It was so busy for a couple of hours that she was only dimly aware that the firefighters didn’t seem to be in any big rush to leave. Hank had slipped away from his table and joined Ruby, trading places with Kevin, who was basking in the undivided attention of Sean and the other firefighters, all of whom were being incredibly patient with his endless barrage of questions.
By eight, the crowd finally started to thin out. Those remaining were lingering over coffee and Joey’s chocolate cannoli. Satisfied that things in the dining room were under control for the moment, Deanna slipped onto a stool in the kitchen and kicked off her shoes with a sigh of pleasure.
“It’s about time you had a break,” Sean said, appearing beside her with a frown on his face. “Have you eaten?”
“I grabbed something earlier,” she told him.
“Earlier when?” he asked, his skepticism plain. “Lunchtime?”
“Actually I had some salad not more than twenty minutes ago.”
“Meaning she grabbed a carrot on her way through the kitchen,” the cook chimed in helpfully.
Deanna scowled at Victor, who was ogling Sean with frank appreciation. “Traitor,” she accused him.
Victor grinned. “Given a choice between you and your gorgeous friend, whose side did you think I’d be on?”
Deanna chuckled as Sean regarded Victor uneasily. “Don’t panic,” she advised Sean. “He’s almost as harmless as Ruby. He’s also been in a long-term relationship with the same man for years now.”
“Good to know,” Sean said. “Now let’s get back to you. You need to eat. Victor, can you fix something for her?”
Deanna bristled at his commanding tone. “If I wanted something to eat, which I don’t, I could fix it myself. Victor doesn’t have to wait on me.”
Sean frowned at her. “Don’t be stubborn. You have to be starving.”
“Sean, I’ve been taking care of myself and my son for a long time now. Neither one of us is malnourished. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
Victor looked from Sean’s set jaw to Deanna’s equally set expression and immediately headed for the door. “Think I’ll go ask Joey to fix me a cappuccino. You two decide you want anything, help yourselves.”
“We won’t,” Deanna said tightly.
As soon as they were alone, she whirled on Sean. “What do you think you’re doing coming into a place I work and bossing me around?”
He looked bemused by her reaction. “All I did was suggest you should have something to eat.”
“Suggest? That’s not how I heard it. You practically ordered me to eat. I don’t get it. Why are my eating habits any of your business?”
He jammed his hands in his pockets and backed off a step. “Okay, you’re right. They’re not.”
“Then what’s going on?”
“Someone needs to look out for you.”
“Someone does,” she retorted. “Me. That’s how it’s been for a long time now.”
“Well, pardon me for caring,” he snapped defensively.
Deanna was taken aback by his choice of words and by the expression on his face. He looked as if he hated how he was acting almost as much as she did.
She bit back her irritation and managed to keep her voice level as she asked, “Sean, what’s really going on here?”
“I wish to hell I knew,” he muttered. “You obviously don’t want me interfering in your life. I really don’t want to be in your life, yet here I am.”
“I didn’t ask you to come here tonight,” she reminded him. “It was your idea.”
He scowled. “Don’t you think I know that?”
“Then I’m afraid I don’t get it.” She looked into his eyes and saw evidence of the internal struggle he was waging with himself. She softened her voice. “Sean?”
He kept his gaze locked with hers for what seemed to be an eternity. She could hear the tick of the clock on the kitchen wall, the sighing of the refrigerators switching on, the clink of ice in the automated ice maker.
“Oh, what the hell?” he murmured, reaching for her and slanting his mouth over hers.
He caught her by surprise. The kiss was the absolute last thing she expected when he was so clearly exasperated with her and annoyed with himself. He claimed her lips with a heady combination of heat and urgency that had her breath snagging in her throat and her senses spinning wildly.
Then, almost as quickly as it had started, it was over. Sean raked a hand impatiently through his hair and regarded her with regret.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning on his heels and leaving before Deanna could gather her wits to reply.
She stared after him, wondering what the apology was for…their argument or the kiss.
Please don’t let it be for the kiss, she thought wildly, touching a shaky finger to her lips. It had been a very long time since any man had kissed her like that, and she’d been perfectly content to let it stay that way.
Until now. With one kiss Sean Devaney had unwittingly awakened a sleeping need in her. She might not want him telling her what to do or fretting over her eating habits, but, heaven help her, she definitely wanted him to kiss her again. Soon.
Chapter Five
Kissing Deanna had to qualify as one of the ten dumbest things he’d ever done in his life, Sean concluded on the ride back to the station. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. He hadn’t wanted to kiss her.
The shouts of liar that echoed in his head at that claim were way too loud to be ignored. Okay then, he had wanted to kiss her from the very first instant when he’d had to steady her and that tray after her near run-in with her son. Two seconds of contact with all those soft, yielding curves and he’d wanted even more than a kiss. He’d wanted to drag her into
