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‘If you’ve been talking to Kath then you know exactly what’s going on.’
‘She said you’ve decided to hunt down some poor unsuspecting single parent.’ His mouth twisted at one edge. ‘What’s the thinking there, then? You want to make sure he can be a good father before you tie yourself down? Sort of already broken in, kinda thing?’
Maggie flushed under his scrutiny. ‘Funny, Sean, really hilarious. You just have such insight into the female mind that it’s a miracle you’ve stayed single this long.’
He frowned at the sharp tone in her voice; frowned even harder when she turned on her heel and walked away. In the space of a heartbeat he was on her heel. ‘Well, explain it to me, then, ’cos I just plain don’t get it.’
‘You don’t have to get it. It has nothing to do with you.’
‘Doesn’t it?’
She swung round so suddenly he walked straight into her and had to reach out his hands to grasp hold of her upper arms to steady them both. A little juggling saved both them and his bottle from an ungraceful contact with the hard ground that would have been aided by a small thing known as gravity.
When they were both firmly on their feet his hands remained, his hold loosening a little, thumbs brushing back and forth against her skin. He laughed. ‘Did the earth move for you too?’
Maggie felt her skin heat where he was touching, felt the warmth moving up her arm and spreading across her chest. Her heart fluttered and she looked up at him from beneath long lashes. Sean looked down at her with his deep, fathomless dark eyes, the smile still on his lips, and her cheeks flushed a deeper red than before.
Swallowing, she took a shaky breath and asked, ‘How could it possibly have anything to do with you?’
He wondered if she had any idea how much she had got under his skin? They’d been flirting around a deeper involvement up until recently; he wasn’t so stupid that he didn’t know that. But did it really add up to anything more in Maggie’s mind? Or was it simply wishful thinking on his part?
He took the one safe route open to him. ‘Can’t your best mate worry that you might make a mistake?’
Maggie avoided his eyes while her mind worked on an answer to his question. She’d known he would probably have the most difficulty with what she’d decided to do. That he would push the most to find the motive behind her decision. He cared about her in his own very individual way, she knew that much. Knew it and had to skirt around it for reasons of her own.
She could never tell him the truth. Because if he knew he would try to stop her, would argue every step of the way unless she was very much mistaken. And she’d already made up her mind. There could be no shifting her. No turn-around.
His thumbs continued to move against her skin. Soothing, reassuring and letting her know that he was right there, beside her, with her. But little did he know that the touch did more than reassure and the last thing it did was soothe.
For months she had been fighting the pull towards him. At first she hadn’t wanted to face up to the fact that she could even see him that way. As anything more than just a friend, a buddy, her pal, her mate. But it had just been so strong, so very real that it had scared her. It had been a losing battle though.
Even now, while his thumbs moved back and forth and back and forth, her blood was humming in her veins, her skin was heating, her pulse was beating irrationally. She couldn’t let him keep touching her. Bad, bad plan.
Sean watched as she moved out of his hold. He frowned when she seemed to shiver, before wrapping her arms around herself. And she still couldn’t look him in the eye.
If she was this disgusted by him touching just her arms then he was way off base with what he’d thought had been happening between them.
He frowned harder.
‘You don’t need to worry about me, Sean. I know what I’m doing.’ She smiled with a little more conviction as she forced out the words she had been rehearsing in front of a mirror for days. ‘You know how much I want a family; we’ve talked about it loads. The more the merrier, as far as I’m concerned. I’m sick to death of the whole singles thing and I’m not getting any younger. I don’t want to wait till I’m old before I find the right guy.’ She paused for a breath. ‘I tripped across the site when I was doing some background on the dating scene for that piece we did last month and it just made sense to me. That’s all.’
He blinked the whole way through her speech and then asked, ‘Is it?’
‘Oh, for crying out loud, yes!’ The fact that he was still asking questions with that deadpan expression was making her more and more nervous. ‘Why does it need to be any more complicated than that? We’ve talked about what we’d both like from our lives since that night in the honeymoon suite and for me a family is the most important thing. I’m just doing something about it, that’s all.’
That was all. And she’d never even considered him in that equation. Why would she? It wasn’t as if he’d given the impression it was something he wanted in the here and now. It was only recently he’d even allowed himself to admit inwardly that it was something he wanted. How could he have expected her to know? He wasn’t exactly an open up and share kind of guy after all. Not with the deep stuff anyway.
‘Fine.’ He took a breath and looked away from her. ‘Good luck with that. Just be sure you don’t end up chatting to some speckly faced kid.’
She waited several long moments before she replied. Ignoring the jibe at the end of his sentence, she decided to take the easy route out with a softly spoken, ‘Thank you.’ And then she walked away.
Sean frowned as he watched her leave. He drained the remnants of his bottle and then marched off in search of a new one.
He’d been very wrong on this thing he had with Maggie, or had thought he had with Maggie. There were no visible signs of her holding an unrequited adoration for him. It was just an awful shame that he didn’t feel the same way.
But he wasn’t about to spill that to her when she was so obviously uninterested. Because he might have lost his mind but he wasn’t about to part with his pride. There were limits.
But he had thought, for a while, that there was something more there for her too. He wasn’t an adolescent or so inexperienced that he hadn’t noticed when she’d looked at him with a slow-burning smoulder in her eyes. Maybe it had even been the catalyst for his own silent smouldering. But something had changed her mind. Something more involved than what she’d just stated was behind this scheme of hers. And even if she wasn’t in love with him, the part of him that was her friend, that cared so much, just couldn’t stand by and let her make a big mistake. Not if her motives weren’t genuine.
He was going to find out what was going on. Whether she liked it or not. Because it mattered to him. He might not be able to show how much he cared right that minute but he could show it in another way. He could help her find the right guy for her.
He could also try and persuade her that that guy was right in front of her nose.
CHAPTER THREE
SHE spent most of her fourth date with Bryan studying him and comparing him. To Sean. Damn the notion that had occurred to her that he looked like him. Because the thought had got stuck in her head and she’d felt the need to make sure that he didn’t. Only to end up realising just how short Bryan fell of the ideal that, apparently, was Sean O’Reilly.
It wasn’t Bryan’s fault. He was a nice guy. A nice, sweet, gentlemanly kind of a guy. But, having now compared him with Sean, Maggie knew that they’d be lucky to make it to a fifth date.
Damn Sean. Not that he’d done anything beyond just being there. In the background, all the damn time of late, as it happened.
Somehow she managed to smile her way through dinner and remain attentive through drinks. But the end of the evening couldn’t have come soon enough. She was just going to have to keep looking. Because somewhere out there, there had to be someone who could measure up to what she couldn’t have. Ever. No question about it.
Bryan insisted on walking her to the large front door, even though she insisted she knew the way. But she wasn’t cruel enough to jump out of his car and run. After all, it was hardly his fault.
It was dark, clouds covering what there was of the moon. And, with the large old country house that was divided into apartments being so far from the road, there wasn’t even a glow from streetlights. But Maggie knew the way, and even had to reach a hand out to steady Bryan when he stumbled on the edge of the path.
‘Sorry.’ He smiled at her in the dim light. ‘I’m supposed to be making sure that you’re all right.’
She smiled back, linking her arm through his as they made it to the door. ‘We talked about having low lights put along the path but no one has quite got round to it yet.’
‘I could help put those in for you.’
‘No.’ She almost sighed with relief as they reached the bottom step, the low glow of the hall light shining down on them. ‘It’s fine. Those of us who own apartments here do that kind of thing between us.’
‘Well, you’ve only to ask.’
‘I know.’ She removed her arm from his and turned to smile up at him. He really was just such a nice guy. Uncomplicated, open, sincere…
‘It’s fine, really.’
Bryan continued to smile at her. ‘I just hope I can make it back to the car in one piece.’
‘I could walk you back a little.’
‘Now, that would kind of defeat the purpose of my getting out of the car in the first place, wouldn’t it?’
‘I guess it would.’
There was an awkward silence as Maggie suddenly realised that Bryan was looking at her intently. Oh, God. He was going to try to kiss her, wasn’t he?
‘Bryan—’
‘I just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed spending time with you, Maggie.’ He stepped closer.
Maggie froze. He was going to kiss her. Her mind searched frantically for the words to get her out of the inevitable. She could hardly run screaming into the house, having encouraged him for this long, now, could she? He didn’t deserve it.
She swallowed hard. One kiss wouldn’t kill her. In a way she guessed she owed him. And then she’d find a way to let him down gently. First thing tomorrow.
With a breath she found words. ‘You’re a very nice person, Bryan.’ ‘And so are you.’
He stopped an inch or two away from her and asked, ‘I was wondering if you would mind if I kissed you?’
She smiled weakly. ‘That would be all right, I think.’
Lifting his hands, he cupped her elbows and moved his head closer to hers.
Maggie held her breath and hoped fervently he wouldn’t try for anything more than a kiss. Her guilt only actually stretched so far.
But all he did was brush his mouth across hers. Then he blinked down at her, his nose close to hers, and said, ‘Thank you.’
Maggie blinked back. That was it? ‘You’re welcome.’
Bryan stepped back and released her elbows. ‘I had a lovely time, Maggie. I’ll call you tomorrow.’
Still blinking in astonishment, Maggie nodded as he turned away. ‘OK.’
There was a small scuffle of gravel followed by a brief grunt. Maggie raised her eyebrows. ‘You OK?’
‘I’m fine!’ he called back to her. ‘Don’t worry. I’m almost at the car now.’
After another few seconds she heard a door open and saw the dim light from the car’s interior. Then the engine started and she waved as the headlights spun over her.
She glanced up at the dark sky and sighed.
‘Well, he’s a keeper.’
Her head jerked in the direction of Sean’s voice as he stepped out of the dark and into the circle of light at the door. ‘How long have you been there?’ He smiled slowly. ‘Since just before that passionate kiss goodnight.’
Her chin rose an inch. ‘I had no idea you were into voyeurism.’
‘I could take it up with all this romance in the air.’ He stepped around her and looked upwards. ‘I don’t think I’ve come across a guy so swept up in passion that he took the time to ask permission for a kiss and then said thank you afterwards.’
‘And I suppose you wouldn’t wait to ask?’ The words dripped with sarcasm but she wavered when he fixed her with his dark eyes, his smile slow and sensual.
‘Hell, no.’
Her mouth went dry.
Sean’s smile grew when she didn’t come back at him with one of her usual quick answers. ‘There’s a lot to be said for spontaneity.’
‘There’s also a lot to be said for good manners.’
He stepped around her again when she tried to move. ‘So does he ask permission for everything he does?’
‘I’m not answering that.’
‘I can just picture it.’ He stopped in front of her as he continued in a low drawl, ‘I’ll just bet he’s mannerly every step of the way.’
Maggie clenched her teeth. She wouldn’t let him get the better of her. ‘He’s a very nice person. Unlike some people I could mention right now.’
‘I’m sure.’
‘He’s considerate.’
‘I’d imagine so.’
She frowned up at him, her eyes sparking. ‘He would never do anything I didn’t want him to.’
Sean tilted his head to one side and studied her for a split-second. ‘Or surprise you with anything that you might enjoy either.’
Maggie’s breath caught and without her thinking about it her eyes swept to his mouth.
Sean stepped closer. ‘Where’s the thrill, Maggie, the passion? How can he get your pulse racing if he asks permission for everything?’
She knew she should have a smart answer for his questions but right at that moment, for the life of her, she couldn’t find one. All she could do was watch his mouth as he spoke and feel the air crackle around her.
‘Would you mind if I kissed you, Maggie?’
Her eyes shot up to meet his.
‘Would you mind if I undressed you a little, Maggie?’
She swallowed hard.
‘Would you mind if I took you to bed, Maggie?’ He blinked down at her, his dark eyes getting darker. ‘Or maybe you wouldn’t mind if we just made love right here, Maggie?’
‘Stop it.’ The words tumbled out on a shaky breath.
‘Is that really what you want?’ He stepped back from her. ‘That cool politeness every step of the way?’
‘You have no idea what I want.’
He glanced down, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans before he looked back at her. ‘Maybe not. But I know what you deserve. And that guy isn’t it.’
Maggie felt her lower lip tremble. She would not break down in front of him, she couldn’t! She couldn’t show him that his words had got to her, on many levels. Because every question he had asked had her running hotter than Hades. Because the questions had come from his lips and her imagination had provided the mental images to go with them. Bryan had been nowhere in sight, mentally or physically.
With a deep, steadying breath she looked him straight in the eye. ‘You have no right to tell me what I do and do not want from any guy. I make my own decisions.’
