Mr. Maybe

by M. Kate Quinn

  She lifted her head to his gaze, and his hands did not let go of their hold. She and Shane continued their united movement, left and right with tiny steps, matching sways. His eyes shone bright with pride or some emotion that touched her. A kiss beckoned, and his mouth was perilously close.

  Stop. This good and nice man belonged to someone named Dana. Kit halted her steps, and he almost fell toward her in her abruptness. If she didn’t stop now, she would be no better than her selfish cousin. She was not Co-Co. She would not tread where she didn’t belong even when every cell of her body wanted to.

  “You okay?” His eyes implored.

  “Shane, I, uh, appreciate your help—”

  “You’re dancing, Kit.” His mouth curled into a broad smile.

  “Am I?”

  “Are you kidding me? Yes. You’re doing it.”

  She laughed. The moment belonged to him, though. He led, she followed. And the song had ended.

  “Thank you for giving me the lesson. You’re better than that video I was watching.”

  “The key was going with it. Let the music be the guide.”

  She swallowed hard. “Well, I appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  His eyes held hers, and her heart stuttered in her chest. He was so close all she’d have to do was lean into him, and she wanted to. With every cell in her being, she wanted to.

  “We can’t do this.” Her words were a whisper, riding out on a shaky breath.

  Shane didn’t respond, but his gaze remained locked on hers.

  “We’d regret it,” she continued to herself more than to him. “We can’t hurt someone else.”

  “Dana and I agreed to end things.”

  Her heart fell from her chest. “You did?”

  “It wasn’t working.”

  “Oh.”

  “The truth is that things were off for a long time. She and I don’t want the same things. Honestly, I’m sure she’s relieved. She and I didn’t work. But it was more than that for me.”

  Kit didn’t know what to think. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts. Shane had ended his relationship. The truth was that she was developing feelings for him. Somewhere along the line the pretense they were playing had given her real feelings. Were they falling for their own ruse? His gaze searched hers. This was crazy. If she took one step toward him, she’d lose what little perspective she had at the moment. There would be no turning back. Her feelings were too new, and she was too raw.

  “I should call it a night, Shane.”

  “Okay.” He let his arms fall to his sides, and she immediately missed his touch. “Same here.” He picked up the remote and switched off the television.

  “Thank you again, though, for the dance lesson.”

  He smiled. “I knew you could do it.”

  “That makes one of us.”

  “Good night, Kit.”

  “Good night, Shane.”

  Kit went into the kitchen to turn off the light and make sure the back door was locked. She heard his footfalls up the stairs to the loft. With each step that carried him away, her mind implored her to call out. But she would not.

  She padded down the hallway to her room and closed the door behind her. She stripped out of her clothing and pulled on an oversized T-shirt. She went into the bathroom to perform her normal nightly routine while trying to shut off her mind. She could hear the shower turning on upstairs, and her mind teased her with what Shane would look like naked under its spray.

  Her chest heaved as thoughts circled around in her mind and whipped through her veins. Maybe it was the white zinfandel, but she could not erase that fireman from her mind, could not dispel the lingering heat from his touch on her skin.

  She crawled in under the covers of her bed and pulled them up to her chin. Shane and Dana were over. Was it really true? When it came to men, she was terrible in discerning truth, yet from what she knew of Shane Dugan, he was no liar. The only lie the guy was guilty of was the one she’d convinced him to be part of.

  She heard the water shut off upstairs. The creaking of the floorboards sounded in her ears. She tried to envision him as he walked across his room. Was his mind doing the same things to him? Was he thinking about her, too? Exhausted from her overactive brain, she finally fell asleep.

  An hour or so later, she woke with a start. She thought she’d heard a noise downstairs and strained to listen, but the house was silent.

  Needing a glass of water, she slipped out from her covers, and her feet found the terrycloth slippers. She crossed the room and slowly opened her bedroom door, doing her best to not make a sound. She made her way down the hallway to the kitchen. The moonlight filtering in through the window over the sink served as her beacon as she gently opened a cabinet and soundlessly withdrew a water glass.

  “Hi.”

  Her insides squeezed as she turned in the semidarkness.

  Shane.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What are you doing up?”

  “Couldn’t sleep.” Shane took a step in her direction. Moonlight cut across his face and illuminated his eyes. They were tender yet imploring orbs fixed on her.

  “I was, um, getting water.” Air suffered to escape her lungs. The empty glass sat in her palm. She gripped it.

  “Kit…”

  The way he said her name was like a plea, and her heart squeezed in response. Her feet carried her a breath closer. She put the glass down on the counter. The click of glass meeting the laminate surface was the only sound in the darkened room.

  “Dancing, uh, isn’t the only thing I’m bad at, Shane. My heart does some misstepping of its own.”

  “I know you’ve been hurt, Kit.” He closed the space between them. He reached for her hand in the darkness and brought it to his chest. He pressed it. “I wouldn’t.”

  She lifted her face toward his, and her lips parted naturally. Her heart stammered as her mind buzzed with all the reasons this was a bad idea. But those thoughts disappeared in the hammering of her heartbeats. Was she making one more bad choice? Just this once she was going to trust her feelings. Just this once.

  Shane turned her hand over and brought it to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss to her palm, making the skin there tingle. And as if music had been turned on, giving her a reason to move, she pressed to him.

  He claimed her mouth in a kiss, and heart thundering, she returned it. Her hands moved to bury themselves in his hair. Enjoying the thickness of the strands, she wrapped her fingers around them and tugged. A low moan sounded in the back of his throat as he circled his arms around her and squeezed her closer. In return she cradled his head and deepened their kiss.

  He lifted her into his arms, and she wrapped her legs around him. Their bodies bumped in the doorway to the living room in a hasty move to the sofa, and together they collapsed on the cushions. A rush of greedy hands pulled and pushed at their clothing until their garments were tossed to the floor.

  ****

  Shane pushed himself up and cast his gaze over Kit’s naked form. She was beautiful. Simply beautiful, soft, and female. The tip of his index finger touched tentatively at her shoulder, and the sound of her sucking in her breath stirred him deep in his belly. Even in the darkness he could see her smoky eyes, moist with wanting, were locked on his. He ran that finger down a slow path along her soft, smooth skin. The pad of his finger was alive as it traced her contours, marking a path where his mouth needed to go. He ached for her.

  As though reading his mind, Kit reached up and pulled his head down to kiss him again. The cavern of her mouth welcomed him as she deepened their kiss. His lips slid to her neck, the tip of his tongue tasting her salty sweetness. He pressed his mouth to her shoulder and languidly traveled his lips down her form, pausing to suckle and knead, searing a path to her apex.

  Her soft moan nearly sent him over the edge. He buried himself inside her, and she lifted her hips to him. They moved together, a perfect rhythm in their fiery, intimate dance until their passion cla
imed them.

  Chapter Twenty

  In the morning Kit headed over to Rosie’s Bridals for her fitting appointments with two brides-to-be, one of whom being her blasted cousin. But today even Co-Co didn’t rattle her. She had bigger things to digest.

  She was grateful Shane had already left when she’d gone into the kitchen after getting ready for work. The memory of last night punctuated every second she’d spent in her morning routine. Stepping down the hallway, she held her breath until she knew he had left for work already.

  She was unsettled, off kilter. Despite the too-hot shower this morning, last night was alive in her mind and on her skin. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his eyes and the hunger in them as he looked at her. She was a dichotomy of wanting to remember every nuance of their lovemaking and wishing she had an ice pick to stab into her frontal lobe. Instead, she ate a doughnut from the wax paper bag Shane had left on the kitchen counter. She saw the note and stopped midchew.

  Good Morning

  Had a feeling you’d be second-guessing last night. I hope you aren’t. I’m not.

  They didn’t have any jellies left, so I got you a glazed.

  Enjoy!

  She stared at the message he’d written on a sticky note from the pad she kept by the landline. His printing was spiky and appeared hurried. She reread the words. She had to like a guy who knew she preferred a jelly doughnut over a glazed. Despite the admonishments that threatened her thoughts and sought to devour logic in gulps, her mouth curved into a smile. She bit into the doughnut and savored the sweetness.

  As soon as she came into the workroom at Rosie’s Bridals, she knew Rylee’s antenna was up. Kit had never been able to hide much from her best friend. Besides, she was pretty sure she was beaming like a certified idiot.

  “Good morning. You look funny. Everything okay?”

  “Sure.” Kit swallowed. The word had come out too quickly and too loud. Although she’d become an aficionado in the art of lying, she just couldn’t fib her way around the fact that she was slightly nuts about a guy she’d only known for a blip of time. Nuts was indeed the operative word.

  Rylee put down the paperwork she had in her hand and came over to where Kit stood at the rack of dresses that were awaiting alterations. “Okay, you want to fill me in? Something’s up.”

  A million excuses pelted her brain, but she knew eventually she’d confide in her friend. Maybe Rylee would have some advice on how not to be a screwball over what happened last night.

  “My first bride is due in about a half hour. Then I expect Co-Co around noon.”

  Rylee nodded as if she understood, but she didn’t. This was not about Co-Co.

  “Ry, I may have made the biggest mistake of my life last night.”

  “You didn’t actually go over to your cousin’s and chop off her bangs while she slept, did you?”

  It was Rylee’s attempt to lighten the mood. And yes, she had said she’d like to hack up Co-Co’s perfect bob, but they both knew she’d never do such a thing. Last night, though, was up there on her list of shockers.

  “I had sex with the fireman.”

  Rylee just stared at her. She blinked and blinked again.

  “Yup. You heard me. I did him. On my couch. Twice.”

  “Oh boy. Um. Okay, then.” Rylee put a finger to her lips. “And how are you feeling about that?”

  “Hell if I know.” She sat on one of the stools. “I was perfectly fine staying away from him despite his cuteness. You have to admit the guy’s pretty cute.”

  Rylee’s head moved in a slow, tentative nod.

  “Despite his appeal, staying away from him was pretty easy considering he had the girlfriend over in Milan. Right? You know me better than anyone. I’m not a cheat. I don’t cheat. But then he and the girlfriend called it quits.”

  “They did?”

  “Yup. Done.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Oh, like maybe five minutes.” She put her hands in her hair and gave the strands a good shake. “At least that’s what it seems like in retrospect. What’s wrong with me?”

  Rylee plunked herself on the stool next to Kit and touched her knee. “Look at me, Kit.”

  She lifted her gaze. “I’m insane.”

  “You like the guy, my friend. Even I’ve known that for a while. So I don’t think you’re insane. Preemptive, maybe.”

  Kit groaned.

  Rylee rose from the stool and marched over to the minifridge. She withdrew a bottle of vitamin water and handed it to Kit. “Here.”

  “I need more than this if I’m going to drown myself.” She unscrewed the top of the bottle and took a swig. “This should be vodka.”

  “How do you think he’s feeling this morning?”

  “He bought me a doughnut.” She met Rylee’s gaze. “Don’t look at me all googly eyed. It could have been glaze-dipped repentance on his part. I mean, he just broke it off with the girlfriend. Who knows? Maybe they’re already back together by now. And once again I’ve picked Mr. Wrong.”

  “I don’t think he’s Mr. Wrong at all, Kit.”

  “You don’t?”

  “I do not. Not the way he looks at you and the way he comes by the shop to bring you a coffee in the middle of the day, the way you light up when you talk about him. I think you two were destined for this to happen.”

  “Oh, Rylee, please don’t go there with me. I might start to believe it. And I can’t set myself up for more heartache. I can’t be thinking this fireman is my Mr. Right.”

  “Okay, so give yourself a break then, Kit. Think of him as Mr. Maybe. How about that? Shane Dugan is Mr. Maybe.”

  She mulled the words. “Mr. Maybe.”

  Could he be? Could this really be the start of something real and good? She dared to allow one word to rest in her heart. Maybe.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Shane finished early at the academy and itched to talk to Kit. He just wanted to hear her voice. But he refrained from contacting her. He knew what he was dealing with. Her breakup with Brian was months ago, but now with her cousin marrying the guy, the relationship-gone-wrong was in her face day in and day out. He blew out a lungful of air. Timing wasn’t his strong suit.

  But last night was something. His mind played it over and over again, the way she looked at him, the way her mouth fell open slightly when he touched her skin, her lower lip glistening, wanting him. He stirred. Man, he had it bad.

  He didn’t know what this meant, though. Was that a momentary lapse in judgment? Couldn’t be. Kit wasn’t that kind of woman. She didn’t give herself on a whim. He must matter. But maybe not.

  He got into his truck and sat there with his hands on the wheel. Was it bad news that she hadn’t called him yet today? What did he expect? Had she found the note he’d left her? His mind was a roller coaster gone off the track.

  After starting the engine, he turned in the direction of the firehouse and hoped Hop was there.

  ****

  Co-Co arrived right on time, and this time she was alone. No offense to Aunt Dee Dee, but Kit was in no mood to deal with the two of them today.

  “Helloooo.”

  “Hi, Co-Co.” Kit retrieved the dress from its plastic bag with a heavy tug of the zipper. The fabric was weighty to her touch, like the regret that had started to blanket her heart. She’d tried to hold on to the heady feelings of this morning, the delicious memory making her blush in the daylight. But as the minutes ticked by, doubt was a needle and thread stitching her uncertainty to her heart like a patch over a jagged tear.

  She placed what used to be Gram’s dress onto the hook above the dressing room door. After first-round alterations, the gown looked so tiny in order to fit her cousin’s slight frame, almost like a costume for a preteen.

  “Isn’t it lovely, Kitty-Cat?”

  “It is.”

  Co-Co pouted her lips. “So why aren’t you gushing over it? You’re the one who worked your magic.” She touched the beading. “Look how beautiful. No one wo
uld ever know you had to replace the missing beads. Seriously, Kitty-Cat, you’re a genius.”

  She didn’t want Co-Co’s accolades, given with the same conviction as anything she cast her approval upon. Wedding dresses and a bowl of salad greens got the same enthusiasm. In her world everything was so beautiful. She swallowed hard. For once in this crazy prewedding ordeal, her raw nerves had nothing to do with Co-Co.

  “Did you take a grumpy pill today?”

  “Not at all.” Kit forced herself to end it there. What good would it do to sully one of the happy bride-to-be’s moments? “I’m awkward with compliments, Co-Co. You know that.”

  Her cousin smiled something close to genuine. “Don’t I know it.”

  Kit slipped the dress from the satin hanger. “Let’s see how it looks, shall we?”

  Co-Co clapped her hands, as if it were snack time in kindergarten, and traipsed into the dressing room.

  ****

  “How’s it going at the academy, Irish?”

  Hop sat at his desk in the captain’s office on the third floor, the two big front windows of the small room open and the blinds pulled up. Outside, downtown Sycamore River was alive and bustling.

  “It never gets old. You’ll see.”

  “What doesn’t?”

  “The way this town just gets in your blood. I look out this window each day and fall in love all over again. Like loving a good woman.”

  When he didn’t comment, Hop narrowed his gaze, his furry eyebrows tipping toward each other in a scrunch of his forehead. He pointed to the guest chair. “Plop a squat.”

  Shane sat, placed his elbows on the arms of the chair. He didn’t know where to begin, how to formulate a thought.

  “The days are flying by, that’s for sure,” Hop offered. “You getting nervous about graduation?”

  “Uh, yes, but.” He pulled in a lungful of air. “I wanted to run something by you.”

  “Sure, kid. What’s on your mind?”

  “Kit.”

  Hop shoved his glasses up on his head, leaned back in his chair, and folded his arms across his barrel chest. He blew out a low whistle. “Oh boy, Irish, you’re treading in dangerous territory.”