a smear of soap across her left cheek, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Down on his knees in one of the inn’s bathroom floors was just about as strange as it got in Sean’s world. But, then, it got even stranger when he realized that the inside of his chest felt off-kilter. Like muscles that hadn’t been worked in a very long time were trying to move again.
She looked over her shoulder at the toilet. “You’re really good at that, you know.”
He planned on making some sarcastic comment about his toilet-cleaning skills, but before he could even openhis mouth, she was holding out a hand to help him up off his knees.
The touch of her skin against his stopped every synapse in his brain from firing. How could they, when electric sparks were too busy going off in every other part of him?
And as he pulled his gaze up from their joined hands to her beautiful eyes, he saw that her impish little smile was gone now, too. Her full lips had opened into a tempting
O
of surprise.
Maybe if he’d had any control whatsoever over himself around her, he would have located that sarcastic comment and put it out there between them. Maybe if he wasn’t so mesmerized by the color in her cheeks from the hard work they’d been doing, he would have let go of her hand and gotten the hell out of the too-small bathroom.
Instead, he found himself reaching out with his free hand to brush away the soap bubbles on her cheek.
He didn’t just hear her swift inhale; he felt it reverberate through her jaw to his hand. And all he could think was how soft her skin was.
“You had some soap on your face.” His words sounded strangled. Borderline gruff. He wouldn’t have recognized the voice as his own if he hadn’t felt it come up his throat.
“Thank you for cleaning it off.”
Jesus, her breathy words did crazy stuff to his insides, had him thinking, wondering even crazier things.
Would her lips be as soft as her skin?
Would they taste like the first ray of sunlight in spring?
Sean had lived a perfectly controlled life for nearly twenty years. But in less than twenty-four hours this woman, his brother’s ex-fiancée, was destroying that control.
Without even trying.
She’d been his brother’s fiancée.
His brain was finally starting to register sane thoughts again when Rebecca took an abrupt step back from him.
“Lunch. We missed lunch.” Her cheeks were far more flushed than they’d been before they’d touched. She covered them with her hands as if she could somehow hide her reaction from him. “You must be starving. I’ll go see what Mrs. Higgins can whip up for us.”
She turned and fled the room. But Sean stayed exactly where he was.
For whatever reason, he couldn’t think straight around her. Which meant he needed to get a grip right here, right now, before he joined her for lunch.
His reaction to her was unacceptable. Period. She was not only his brother’s ex-fiancée, but she was also his employee. Sean had never mixed business with pleasure. He wouldn’t start now. Not only did he need Rebecca to keep running the inn during Stu’s absence, but working closely with her was the best way to learn the hotel business top to bottom. He needed more experiential data in hand before making any acquisition decisions for the inns he was considering purchasing.
Putting his hands on either side of the sink, he stared at himself in the mirror he’d cleaned with his own two hands.
Coming back to Emerald Lake had never been easy. He’d prepared himself for dealing with his family. With his mother, especially.
If only he’d known that the real person he should have prepared himself for was Rebecca. For sweet smiles. For charm that masqueraded as guileless honesty.
In the end, it was the most dangerous thing of all about Rebecca. He could protect himself from her beauty. Even from the attraction that sparked between them like a live wire.
But the seeming purity of her responses, the way she spoke every thought and
Down on his knees in one of the inn’s bathroom floors was just about as strange as it got in Sean’s world. But, then, it got even stranger when he realized that the inside of his chest felt off-kilter. Like muscles that hadn’t been worked in a very long time were trying to move again.
She looked over her shoulder at the toilet. “You’re really good at that, you know.”
He planned on making some sarcastic comment about his toilet-cleaning skills, but before he could even openhis mouth, she was holding out a hand to help him up off his knees.
The touch of her skin against his stopped every synapse in his brain from firing. How could they, when electric sparks were too busy going off in every other part of him?
And as he pulled his gaze up from their joined hands to her beautiful eyes, he saw that her impish little smile was gone now, too. Her full lips had opened into a tempting
O
of surprise.
Maybe if he’d had any control whatsoever over himself around her, he would have located that sarcastic comment and put it out there between them. Maybe if he wasn’t so mesmerized by the color in her cheeks from the hard work they’d been doing, he would have let go of her hand and gotten the hell out of the too-small bathroom.
Instead, he found himself reaching out with his free hand to brush away the soap bubbles on her cheek.
He didn’t just hear her swift inhale; he felt it reverberate through her jaw to his hand. And all he could think was how soft her skin was.
“You had some soap on your face.” His words sounded strangled. Borderline gruff. He wouldn’t have recognized the voice as his own if he hadn’t felt it come up his throat.
“Thank you for cleaning it off.”
Jesus, her breathy words did crazy stuff to his insides, had him thinking, wondering even crazier things.
Would her lips be as soft as her skin?
Would they taste like the first ray of sunlight in spring?
Sean had lived a perfectly controlled life for nearly twenty years. But in less than twenty-four hours this woman, his brother’s ex-fiancée, was destroying that control.
Without even trying.
She’d been his brother’s fiancée.
His brain was finally starting to register sane thoughts again when Rebecca took an abrupt step back from him.
“Lunch. We missed lunch.” Her cheeks were far more flushed than they’d been before they’d touched. She covered them with her hands as if she could somehow hide her reaction from him. “You must be starving. I’ll go see what Mrs. Higgins can whip up for us.”
She turned and fled the room. But Sean stayed exactly where he was.
For whatever reason, he couldn’t think straight around her. Which meant he needed to get a grip right here, right now, before he joined her for lunch.
His reaction to her was unacceptable. Period. She was not only his brother’s ex-fiancée, but she was also his employee. Sean had never mixed business with pleasure. He wouldn’t start now. Not only did he need Rebecca to keep running the inn during Stu’s absence, but working closely with her was the best way to learn the hotel business top to bottom. He needed more experiential data in hand before making any acquisition decisions for the inns he was considering purchasing.
Putting his hands on either side of the sink, he stared at himself in the mirror he’d cleaned with his own two hands.
Coming back to Emerald Lake had never been easy. He’d prepared himself for dealing with his family. With his mother, especially.
If only he’d known that the real person he should have prepared himself for was Rebecca. For sweet smiles. For charm that masqueraded as guileless honesty.
In the end, it was the most dangerous thing of all about Rebecca. He could protect himself from her beauty. Even from the attraction that sparked between them like a live wire.
But the seeming purity of her responses, the way she spoke every thought and
Similar Books
