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twenty-seven
Sean sat in front of the window, bathed in full sunshine. He’d pulled the chair from Sunny’s vanity and plunked it right there, with a view to the gardens. His skin looked tanned and his hair tinged with blond in the bright light.
“What’re you doing over there?” Sunny sat up in bed and stretched.
“Watching.” His chin rested in his hand, so the word came muffled.
“Watching what?” In all their weeks of weekend mornings, she’d never found him anywhere but in her bed, getting dressed or gone.
“Your rescue.” Sean continued to stare out the window. Eventually, he stood, flipped the chair around and settled it back at the dresser with Sunny’s makeup and mirrors. “You’ve got some loyal people helping you. Impressive.”
“Thanks.” Sunny glanced at the clock and jumped from the covers. “Oh, jeez. I’m going to be late.”
“For?”
“Meeting with Pete about the pups.” Sunny yanked on a pair of leggings. She hurriedly pulled on a T-shirt, then realized she’d forgotten her bra and stripped it off.
“You hang out with Pete a lot.” Sean watched her scramble around. “I think he’s sweet on you.”
Sunny’s fingers slowed on the clasp of her bra. “I’ve known Pete since I was a kid. And it’s Cici he’s sweet on. Besides, he knows we’re sleeping together.” Top on again, she glanced in the mirror, saw she’d put on a black bra beneath a white T-shirt and stripped the top over her head again. She balled it up and tossed it in the corner. “Sorry. I’m not a morning person by nature.” Sunny dug a black shirt from her drawer and pulled it over her head.
“No need to apologize.” Sean leaned against the wall, like he was settling in for a show. “I’ll watch you undress as much as you want.”
Sunny gave his reflection a smile as she fluffed her hair with her fingers. No time to make it look good.
“Is that what we’re doing?” he asked.
Sunny dabbed gloss on her lips and rubbed them together. “What?”
“Sleeping together. Is that what we’re doing?”
Sunny tossed the gloss on the table and turned to face Sean. “Well—” she shrugged “—aren’t we?”
“Yeah.” Sean pushed off the wall. “Sure.”
Sunny rubbed her lips together again, slowly. “Are you...? What are you...?” She put her hands on her hips as the question faded out. This was a new scenario for her. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure she’d ever had a man ask her where they were at in their relationship. She’d certainly never asked it herself. Besides, she knew Sean was technically still married, even though he was separated.
“I was thinking.” Sean’s expression was his typical cool, calm and collected. “We should have dinner, maybe.”
“Dinner?” Sunny shifted her weight from foot to foot. Shoes. She needed shoes. “Um...sure.” She disappeared into her closet and returned with a pair of red Italian sandals.
“Sure?” Sean narrowed his brow, gave a little shrug.
“Sure.” Sunny slipped on the sandals and grabbed her purse. “We can have dinner.”
“When?”
“Soon.” Sunny glanced at the clock. “I need to get going. Just text me and we’ll figure it out.”
Sean shrugged again. “Okay.”
Sunny walked over, planted her hands on his chest, leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips. “Gotta run. You know the way out.”
Sean caught her arm as she turned to go, drew her back in and gave her a long, slow kiss that made Sunny want to get undressed and get back into bed. The way Sean’s hands slipped beneath her shirt told her he felt the same way. “No, no, no,” she whispered, pushing him gently away. “Oh! White Fern Road.” In all the mess with Janice Matteri, Sunny had completely forgotten about the poor dog that lived out by the barn. “Have you had a chance to peek over there?”
He held on to her another second, then released her. “White Fern Road. Yeah, I peeked over there. Didn’t see a dog at all.”
Sunny’s chest tightened. “Maybe he was around the other side, where you couldn’t see him.”
