“The fact that I want you,” he said simply.
Desire curled through her like the warmth of a fire on a cold winter night. She refused to let herself look away from the heat in his eyes. “I guess that’s plain enough,” she said, her voice unsteady despite her best efforts to seem blasé.
A smile tugged at his lips. “You’re not going to admit it, are you?”
“Admit what?”
“That you want me, too.”
She drew herself up and inquired in her best imitation of a haughty princess speaking to a peasant, “Whatever gave you that idea?”
To her surprise, Sean laughed.
“Nice try, darlin’, but you’re not going to win any prizes for your acting.”
“I am not acting,” she said irritably.
“One kiss says otherwise.”
“Are you daring me to kiss you, Sean Devaney?”
“Yep.”
“Well, you can just forget it. I don’t have to prove anything to you.”
“Then you don’t mind if I go right on believing what I want to believe?”
She leveled a look straight at him. “Up to you. I can’t control what you think.”
“But you can prove me wrong,” he countered mildly. “Or rather, you can try.”
“That is so…” She couldn’t think of a word to describe just how low she thought he’d sunk, but finally settled on the first one that came to mind. “Juvenile. That’s what it is, juvenile.”
He didn’t seem especially offended by the accusation. In fact, he merely shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
She studied him suspiciously. “About?”
“What the hell did your ex-husband put you through to make you so suspicious of all men?”
The question caught Deanna completely by surprise. Sean had never shown any interest in her relationship with Frankie before. And her ex-husband was not a subject she liked discussing.
“Isn’t it enough that he walked out before Kevin was born and left me on my own?”
“That’s pretty rotten,” Sean agreed. “But I have a feeling it was more than that.”
“Such as?”
“Why waste time with me speculating? I’m asking you for an explanation.”
Deanna thought back to her brief marriage. She’d gone into it with stars in her eyes, convinced she was madly in love and that Frankie felt the same way. Barely eighteen, she had defied her parents, walked away from a promised college education, given up everything and everyone to be with the charming rogue who’d stolen her heart.
But Frankie had been after more than her heart. To Deanna’s everlasting embarrassment, she finally realized he’d been after her trust fund. That money was the only reason he’d been willing to make a commitment to her. After the wedding, when he’d finally understood there was no way either of them were going to get their hands on it, he’d lost interest and moved on to someone a little older, a little richer, someone whose parents hadn’t disowned her.
The humiliation had been almost unbearable. There was no way Deanna could bring herself to crawl back to her parents to ask for help, which, of course, was precisely what Frankie had assumed she’d do. To this day she doubted he knew the dire straits in which he’d left her.
Despite Ruby’s urging her to tell her folks what had happened and that they had a grandson, Deanna had been determined to make it entirely on her own. Though the court had awarded her child support, she’d never expected to see a dime of it, not from a man who’d expected to be supported by her family. So far she’d done a pretty lousy job of triumphing over the past, but at least she hadn’t had to listen to an endless tirade of “I told you so.” One day, when she was really and truly back on her feet, she would contact her parents, but not now.
In the meantime, there were all those scars, the ones that made her question her judgment, the ones that made her distrust all men. Not that anyone could possibly be after her for her money now, she thought, barely stifling a laugh.
She felt Sean’s warm, steady gaze on her and finally lifted her eyes to meet his.
“Where’d you go just then?” he asked.
“Back in time,” she said wearily.
“Obviously not a happy time.”
“No,” she said succinctly.
“Will you tell me sometime?”
“Probably not,” she said.
“Because you can’t talk about it?”
“That’s one reason.” There were others, though. She didn’t want his pity, and she certainly didn’t want him realizing what an idiot she was for being taken in so easily.
“Did you love him that much?” Sean asked quietly.
She had. That was the worst joke of all. She had really loved Frankie, at least the man she’d thought he was. She’d had some sort of Romeo and Juliet fantasy about the two of them defying all the obstacles in their path to live happily ever after.
“Truthfully?” she said wearily. “I didn’t even know him.”
Sean couldn’t forget what little Deanna had revealed about her relationship with her ex-husband. Nor could he keep himself from speculating about all that she’d left unsaid. It was just one more mystery to be unraveled, one more facet to add to this fascination he couldn’t seem to shake.
And despite all his promises to stop hovering over her, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from worrying about the almost driven way she continued to live her life. It went beyond survival instinct. It had something to do with the past. He was sure of it.
Despite her boss’s promise to help her win a settlement from her landlord, as far as Sean could see, Deanna was still working herself to death. He was damned proud of the fact that he managed to keep from butting in, hauling her home and barring the door until she got at least twenty-four straight hours of sleep. But every time he saw her, the circles under her eyes were darker, the weariness in her shoulders more evident.
Even though he’d resolved to keep silent, he couldn’t stop himself from doing what he could to keep an eye on her. Something told him she was
