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Her senses whirling, her free hand lifted to his chest, feeling the solid strength of muscle under the thin fabric of his shirt, feeling the steady thud of his heart. Ally could think of nothing but the way he made her feel. The way no one had ever made her feel before…
Sean growled something inarticulate and then dragged his mouth away from hers, trailing hot, biting kisses down the length of her throat before cupping her face in his hands.
His breathing was harsh and uneven as he stared down at her. ‘Now tell me it’s not worth it, Ally.’
And with that he released her and turned on his heel, leaving her with limbs trembling and heart pounding, wondering what had hit her.
CHAPTER FIVE
ALLY closed the door of her consulting room and sank into her chair. She couldn’t concentrate on the flickering computer screen in front of her. She couldn’t concentrate on the list of patients waiting to be seen or the mountain of results to be checked. In fact, she couldn’t concentrate on anything. It was a cold Monday morning and all she could think about was Sean and the way it had felt when he’d kissed her.
Why had she let him do that? Why?
She gave a groan and closed her eyes. The truth was that he hadn’t given her any choice. At least not in the beginning. But after that…well, after that she’d been as keen as him. Something had sparked between them, something she’d never known could happen.
She opened her eyes and lifted her chin. Well, it wasn’t going to happen again. It was only a kiss, for goodness’ sake. She could live with a kiss.
Straightening in her chair, she bit her lip, her emotions tumbled. How was she going to face him? He hadn’t stayed to supper on Saturday night. He hadn’t even stayed to have a co
nversation. He’d just kissed her until she’d been a gibbering wreck and then had walked out, leaving her to deal with the aftermath of her unleashed emotions. And now she had to face him.
Pulling herself together, she picked up the stack of results on her desk and started going through them, noting which were fine and which needed follow-up.
A tap on her door made her jump, and her hands trembled as the door opened and Sean strode in, closing the door firmly behind him.
Ally stared at him warily and he gave her a wry smile.
‘Don’t look like that. I’ve come to apologise.’
‘What for? Forcing me to kiss you? Taking over my home?’ Ruining a perfectly peaceful existence by making her feel things she didn’t know it was possible to feel? She glared at him, anger masking the other emotions that wrestled inside her.
He gave a short laugh and raked long fingers through his cropped hair. ‘Like I said, I’m sorry. I suppose I’m just not very good at taking no for an answer.’
‘Well, you’d better learn fast because it’s the only answer you’re ever going to get.’ Ally turned back to her pile of results, determined that he wouldn’t see how much her hands were shaking.
‘Why?’ His voice was hoarse and heart-stoppingly male. ‘Because you want to protect Charlie? Maybe she doesn’t need protecting. People come and go all the time—it’s a fact of life.’
‘Not for everyone.’ Ally stared at the results without seeing them. ‘Some people are lucky enough to have constancy and permanent relationships, and that’s what I want for Charlie. I don’t want her hurt.’
He paced over to the window, the tension visible in those broad shoulders as he stared out across the fells. ‘So you refuse to take any risks or have any fun of your own in case it ends up hurting Charlie.’
‘And me.’ Ally stared bleakly at his broad back. ‘In case it ends up hurting me. Which is what you’d do, Sean.’
He turned then, his dark eyes intense. ‘You don’t know that.’
She knew that. Dear God, she knew. ‘You’d break my heart, Sean—’
‘This is totally illogical.’ He raked long fingers through his hair and made an impatient sound. ‘What is it you want? Guarantees? There are never any guarantees—people never start a relationship knowing how’s it going to end.’
‘You do. You’ve told me as much.’ She held his gaze steadily. ‘You’re very honest about the fact that you avoid intimacy and you don’t want children, so a relationship with you can only have one ending—and it’s not the one I want.’
He stared at her for a long moment, his jaw tense. ‘There are reasons for the way I feel.’
‘Share them.’
There was a rap on the door and Helen entered with a pile of notes, smiling briefly as she noticed Sean.
‘Oh, hello, there, Dr Nicholson. I didn’t know you were in here.’
