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“He’s all right.”
It felt too formal to take her to the lounge. Instead, Sean led her to the pub and stood aside for her to enter. They weren’t open yet, so they wouldn’t be disturbed. When she slid onto a barstool, he went behind the counter, deliberately putting a barrier between them so he wouldn’t be tempted to do something he shouldn’t.
He leaned his backside against the shelves and crossed his arms. “Coffee? Something stronger?”
“Coffee,” she said, fiddling with the strap of her handbag. “Please.”
He switched on the machine and prepared a cappuccino with foam, which he placed in front of her with the sugar.
“Thanks.” She played with the spoon, running her pretty blue nails up and down the handle.
He imagined those nails on his back and frowned at himself for the unwelcome reaction the image conjured in his pants.
She didn’t seem to know where to start, so he said, “You were going to tell me why Cain went to see you.”
She glanced up. “I wanted to give him back the pub.”
It didn’t make sense. “There’s no spa?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t want it. Not after, well, everything. I didn’t want anything from you or Cain. I gave it all back.”
“What about Matthew?” he asked.
“He got into a university in Copenhagen with a partial scholarship. I’m still working, so I can pay the shortfall. Then Cain came to see me and gave Matt a trust fund.”
“Is that why you’re here? To tell me you gave back the bar to Cain?”
“No.” She stared at her hands. “Cain told me about the bar, about why it was so important to you.”
When she met his gaze again, the bright green color of her eyes shocked him like it always did, no matter that he’d memorized it down to every little darker spec.
“It was for your sister,” she continued. “Don’t you want that anymore?”
“I did what I did for Maddy. My heart wasn’t in it. It just took me a while to realize that the bar was her dream, not mine.”
“What’s yours?”
He sighed. “I don’t know.”
Her gaze fixed on the tattoo on his arm. “That may be a good clue.”
He look at the law of Newton inked on his skin. “Science teacher?”
She uttered a clear, beautiful laugh. “Maybe. Is that why you had them tattooed on your body? Because you’re a geomancist?”
“The laws create balance and in it perfection.”
“The perfection you couldn’t find in your own life?”
It symbolized the control he’d once lacked with his art, but had found, thanks to Armelle. What he wanted most, he hadn’t found—his beautiful, courageous kitten.
Her presence was too painful. He could drink it in all day like a desert would suck dry a stream, but he needed for her to get to the point.
“Just say it, pussycat. Tell me why you’re really here.”
She bit her lip. “For you.”
The earth stopped turning. He couldn’t have heard right. “For me?”
“If you’ll have me,” she added shyly.
He pushed the coffee aside and leaned his elbows on the counter to put them on eye level. His kitten’s eyes never lied. “I give you nightmares.”
“The only nightmares I still have are because I worry about you.”
“You worry about me?” he asked in a husky voice.
“Because I love you and I don’t want anything to happen to you, ever.”
She loved him? “You don’t trust me.”
“I know none of what happened was your doing. It was all Cain’s idea, his manipulative plan.”
His heart stuttered before galloping. “You better be sure this is what you want, pussycat, because if you let me have you, I’m never going to let you go. If you stay, it’s forever.”
“Well, then I guess…” She stared at him with her big, green eyes. “It’s a yes.”
Fuck.
It was too good to be true, but he wasn’t going to waste time with questions. He was going to stake his claim on her so she could never get away again. Right now. Yes. He straightened, knowing exactly what the next step of their relationship would be.
Sean changed from being tense to going into predator mode. He advanced on her from the bar, his broad chest rippling under the thin white cotton of his T-shirt. Stalking her like this hot-wired her rusty hormones.
“Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered?” he asked.
“Is that a macho way of telling me you missed me?”
“I missed you very much, pussycat.” His gaze traveled over her. “Every beautiful inch of you, but we’re going to fix that. Now. Get up.”
She got to her feet, her heart pounding with anticipation. He offered his hand in silent invitation. When she placed her palm in his, he led her through the back, up a flight of stairs. He opened a door and kicked it shut behind them.
Asia looked around. It was a typical male room—a boy’s room, actually—with football flags and rock star posters on the wall. “Was this your room?”
