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Without turning around, she knew it was Shane. Kain had been careful not to come to her room. He’d been the consummate gentleman. She must have a few screws loose, because she’d missed Shane’s surly disposition.
“What can I do for you?”
“You know you should turn around and check who it is. Or were you expecting Kain?”
She looked over her shoulder at him. He leaned on the jamb, something she was coming to know as his I’m-going-to-play-this-cool stance. Too bad it made her want to shake him up all the more. “Really? I’m tired of that song. Kain doesn’t come to my room.”
“No?”
She folded one of the shirts, stacking it on top of the pants. “No.”
He stepped inside. “And you’re not interested in Kain?”
“I’m not interested in anyone at the moment.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.”
He stopped a foot away from her. “No one at all?”
She turned to face him. “It was just fucking, remember?”
“Right.” The gold color at the center of his hazel eyes caught her attention. A tiny flicker of heat was alive in all the cool green. Without the suit, he was a walking ad for LL Bean. Especially with the almost beard he was sporting. All he needed was a plaid shirt, and he’d be like every other man who came to the Heron. Except none of the fishermen made her feel like Shane did. Not that she hadn’t been interested in a few over the years, but knowing they would be leaving within a week or less tended to put a damper on any ideas besides a fling or two.
Most of the time it wasn’t worth the hassle.
Most of the time she didn’t have time to think about it.
As usual, Shane didn’t expand on that one word. The intensity was a living thing inside him, but it was behind a wall so thick she wondered if it could possibly be breached. Did she even have the right to wonder? Was it even smart to?
Their options were lousy, and nothing about this attraction was smart. He was in her life for one purpose: to become her partner or sell her bed-and-breakfast so they could each start a new life. Part of her wondered what it would be like to be free to do something else, but a larger part couldn’t face the idea of losing her home. It was everything she knew. Everything she’d built with her mother.
But she did have this one slice of freedom.
A few days to see the rest of the country and forget about responsibilities.
She closed the distance between them until her breasts brushed his chest. His nostrils flared, and his jaw tightened. At least she wasn’t the only one who reacted when they were close. “So we’re really going to drive across the country?”
He nodded slowly. “I sold what I could and sent on the materials for my furniture to the Heron.”
The first fingers of annoyance crawled up her spine. “Just like that? Without talking to me?” What the hell was she going to tell her mother?Oh, Mom…by the way. Our home isn’t ours anymore. We have to share it with the boy that replaced us. But that’s okay, right?
It just didn’t make sense that she’d even be attracted to Shane. And yet her painfully tight nipples said otherwise. Even now she wanted to take that final step and surround herself in the outdoor scent that was as much a part of him as his skin.
“I have just as much right to use the property for storage. It is half mine.” The gruff words were chased with a gentle pull of her hair. He wrapped the tail of her braid around his thumb.
He was a constant source of mixed messages. Each stroke tugged the braid lightly, keeping her nerve endings frazzled. As tempting as he was, they were forced to be in each other’s company. Would she want to be around him if she didn’t have to be? Would he want to be around her?
Would this gnawing hunger exist if they’d met each other through friends or at a Christmas party?
She just wasn’t sure.
She took a step back to prove that she could.
The ache didn’t go away, but at least she could think. “You’re right. You have every legal right to be at the Heron, whether it’s your body or your furniture materials. I’ll call my mom in the morning so she can direct the delivery to go into the barn.”
“I appreciate that.”
