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But Lucy wasn’t any woman. He’d known that from the first time he’d met her.
And she was his partner’s sister. Patrick was his friend and business partner. He hadn’t told Patrick he was interested in Lucy.
And she wasn’t the kind of woman he usually dated. He liked dating girls who liked to have fun, just like him. Skiing, spontaneous trips cross country in his plane, skinny-dipping in a lake. His ex-girlfriends were generally nine-to-fivers or trust-fund princesses with no devotion to anything but themselves. He liked that, because that meant he never felt guilty when he broke it off.
None of those girls had lasted more than a few months.
That Lucy was special couldn’t be more obvious to him, but Sean knew himself and had never shied away from the truth. He screwed up relationships right and left. Not at the beginning—he had courtship down to a fine science. But after the romance wore off, he became bored with the monotony of the same old, same old. Different girl, same problems. Superficial desire that wore off quicker with each passing woman.
There was nothing superficial about Lucy Kincaid, and absolutely nothing superficial about his desire for her.
“What’s going through that mind of yours?” she asked.
“I want to kiss you,” he said before he realized the words left his mouth.
“Do you usually ask first?”
“No.”
She tilted her chin up defiantly and looked almost angry, her dark pupils widening. “Then don’t ask.”
Sean put his left hand on the back of Lucy’s neck, her long, soft hair luxurious in his fingers. He searched her face for any reticence, any doubt. Her expression was serious and for a second he thought he’d misunderstood her, that she wanted him to back off. Then her full lips parted just a fraction, and he leaned down and kissed her.
She tasted sweet, like the cheesecake and champagne they’d shared. He’d intended to give her one warm good-night kiss with a promise of more, but he didn’t want to let go. He wanted to taste more of her, to feel more of her. He gently pressed his body against Lucy, her back bending as her head dipped back to continue the long kiss.
Her hands found his biceps, then inched up to his shoulders. Her thumbs held his neck, attaching him to her as much as he kept her close to him.
Any other woman, and he’d be moving this dance to the bedroom. But Lucy wasn’t a one-night stand. He was confident in his powers of seduction, but he didn’t want to push too fast. He wanted—needed—to do this right.
But she fit so well against him, he didn’t want to stop.
Yet if he didn’t, he would make mistakes. He knew it as certainly as he knew that the sun would rise over the Atlantic tomorrow.
He slowly pulled his lips away, holding her close. He looked down at her face. Her eyes were closed, but they opened the moment after he broke the kiss. She appeared bewildered, like she didn’t know where she was, as if she’d been lost for the last few minutes. She licked her lips, then glanced down and stepped back demurely, almost as though embarrassed. He pulled her back to him and kissed her lightly, showing her that there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
“I’d like to take you on an official date,” Sean said.
“A date?” she repeated.
“Tonight wasn’t official. This was…filling in for your brother.”
“I—”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” she repeated.
“I’ll pick you up at ten a.m.”
“Ten.” She shook her head and glanced down, sheepish. “I have church. I usually go to nine o’clock Mass. How about eleven or so?”
He almost said he’d pick her up at eight-thirty for church, but he hadn’t stepped inside a church since his parents’ funeral fifteen years ago. “I’ll pick you up there. Ten, okay?”
She nodded. “Holy Trinity. On Thirty-sixth between—”
“I know where it is.” He kissed her again. “Ten in the morning.” He kissed her one last time. “I’d better go before we let any more snow inside.”
Lucy had forgotten she’d opened the door, and stared at the puddle of melting snow that had blown in through the crack. “I’d better clean that up before Kate sees it,” she said, then smiled at Sean. “You’re a distraction.”
