by Natalie Ann
Isabel walked over and handed the jewelry box to Brynn to open, and Carly watched as Brynn gasped. “Turn around dear and let me put it on you.”
Isabel moved Brynn’s hair out of the way and fastened the pearl necklace around Brynn’s neck, then came around to admire the sparkling—rather large—sapphire pendant surrounded by multiple diamonds. “This necklace is actually twofold. It could be the something blue with the something borrowed, but we know Carly got you those little blue undies that you are wearing right now.”
Everyone laughed as Brynn’s face turned red, but Isabel continued on unfazed. “So instead, it’s going to be something borrowed and something that has a special meaning to me. William gave me this necklace after the birth of Alec and Phil—their birthstone. It seems only fitting that you chose blue as the color of your wedding, along with getting married in September. But aside from that, you are marrying my oldest child.”
“By two minutes,” Sophia added, laughing. Carly had heard this was a running joke between the twins.
“Two minutes is still two minutes,” Brynn replied to her sister-in-law, just like Alec always said back to Phil.
Isabel looked up at the ceiling and blinked her eyes a few times, then leaned down and kissed Brynn’s cheek. “Welcome to the family, sweetie. I always wanted a big family, and now I’ve got four sons and four daughters. Come here girls, all of you, and give me a hug. You too, Carly. Anyone who’s family to Brynn is family to me too.”
Family, Carly thought. Hers might not have been anything like what was in this room when she was growing up, but it was what she craved so much. So she would take it and hold on while she could. Even if it was only for a day.
***
Sean watched Carly on the dance floor again. She’d been out there for most of the wedding, dancing with different people. First, with Phil during the first dance and then a few dances with Brynn’s brother, Drew, when the wedding party paired up with their significant others. At that point Phil went with Sophia, so that left Carly and Drew, the only unmarried bridal party left. Sean tried not to get jealous over those dances.
The rest of the night Carly was on the floor dancing with the girls, and just now she was dancing with two toddlers. Judge Mathews’—who performed the ceremony—grandson, Michael, and Mac and Beth Malone’s son, Evan. To Sean’s keen eye, both boys had to be close to three. He’d been around kids enough—and had enough nieces and nephews—to gauge their ages.
Currently, Carly was holding one boy’s hand with her right and the other’s with her left and they were twirling in a circle, then jumping up and down. It seemed like all the kids surrounded her the entire night.
When the music started to slow down, Sean stood up and made his way to Carly as he watched the two boys run back to their parents, giggling the whole time. “Would you like to dance?”
She eyed him warily and he bit back the urge to ask what caused the change in her again. “Sure. I’d like that,” she said, surprising him.
He reached forward and placed one hand on her waist and another in her hand. She was so tiny next to him, yet she felt just right.
He was a few inches shorter than Alec and Phil, standing at exactly six foot, and not nearly as big as them. He was more along the lines of lean. Lean and mean, he often joked with the brothers in the office when they poked fun at him. He had plenty of muscle on him, just nothing like the brothers. His muscles came from a gym, the Harper brothers’ came from everyday life.
He looked down at her in his arms, her hair pulled away from her face and arranged into some complicated design on the back of her head, pearls weaving in and out. She looked more like a woman to him today than any other time.
Her dark blue gown showed off her body, and even though she wasn’t curvy, the dress accented the few curves she had. Fitted on top, cinched even tighter at her tiny waist and then falling straight to her knees. “You look very beautiful today.”
She slowly raised her eyes and met his. He saw the brown deepen just a fraction and hoped it was attraction and not fear. Tentatively, her smile widened a touch more. “You look pretty handsome yourself today.”
He let out a little laugh and relaxed some more. She was warming up to him, finally, he saw. Of course he did notice she’d had a few glasses of champagne and sincerely hoped she wasn’t drunk. She didn’t look it, though. She looked like someone who was truly enjoying herself and relaxed enough to have a good time. He hoped she’d stay relaxed with him, only he had to tread carefully.
“That’s the first time you’ve complimented me,” he said slyly.
Her eyes lit up even more, almost mischievously. “I could say the same.”
His heart started to knock against his ribs. He’d never seen this side of her before. Correction…this side of her directed at him, and he was going to take advantage of it, see if he could gain any ground. “I always think it, but you run away before I can say it.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure I’m running away. Not like you think.”
It wasn’t hard to miss the way her body arched into his, or the way her fingers were running up and down and over his shoulder in a caress. And he absolutely didn’t miss the way her head rested against his heart. It was just too intimate of a dance for her to feel nothing at all. She wasn’t running now, that was for sure. Nope, she was flirting with him. “Then what is it?”
“Well, I guess you could say I’m running, but I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what crossed your mind.”
“No, it didn’t.” It did, but he wasn’t going to admit it and was thrilled that wasn’t the case. “So what is it then?”
“Maybe I want you to figure it out on your own?”
Okay, definitely flirting. Positively flirting. Good sign. “Do I get a hint?”
“I’ve heard you’re pretty smart. I bet you can figure it out.” With that, the song ended and she looked up at him, sent him another sly smile and glided away toward her table.
Damn, well, he definitely made ground. Now he just needed to figure out which way to go from here.
Payback
“Are you sure they won’t mind that we’re doing this?” Carly asked Isabel after she was handed a paint roller. Carly knew Brynn was very anal about things in her house. Everything had to be done a certain way, placed in the proper location, and completed to perfection. Carly was lucky Brynn even let her hold a paint roller when Brynn had helped Carly do a few things to her own home, so she didn’t feel qualified to touch anything in Brynn’s new house.
“Not at all. Besides, this is just payback for all the times Alec has come into my home and done things without my permission.” Isabel stopped and eyed Phil. “You should feel lucky your house was completed when you went on your honeymoon. I’m just returning the favor for when you gutted and redid my entire kitchen when your father took me on that cruise.”
Phil actually blushed, and Carly thought it was hilarious. “That wasn’t my idea.”
“I know it wasn’t,” Isabel said sweetly. “But you participated, so you still get blamed.”
“You said you loved it,” he argued.
“I did, and I still do, but you did it without my knowledge.”
“Dad knew.”
“Of course he did.”
“Trust me, Phil,” William Harper jumped in. “She made me pay for it too. Kaitlin is the only one who didn’t get any flack for it.”
“Who says I didn’t?” Kaitlin replied.
Snorting, Phil said, “Really? Mom never gives you grief.”
Ryan, Kaitlin’s husband, said, “She gets just as much as the rest of you.”
“Keep it up, Ryan,” Isabel said, chuckling. “You’ll get the cold shoulder next.”
“Ha, pretty boy. That will teach you,” Ben said, looking at Ryan when he walked in the door with Presley behind him.
It seemed to Carly the whole gang was here to pitch in, more people than Carly could count at the moment. Alec and Brynn had tried to get their house complete
ly finished before the wedding, but they just couldn’t manage it.
Looking around the room, she watched as Isabel handed out paint rollers and instructions just like a drill sergeant. “We all know how organized Brynn is, thank God for that. She’ll need it with as much of a slob as Alec is. Anyway, all their paint had been ordered and Phil knows which rooms are getting what colors.”
Ten minutes later, everyone was assigned to a room in pairs with the exception of her. Brynn’s brother and father, Andy, were off hanging molding.
Carly was left alone in the smaller formal living room. Not that it was small, really. No room in the four-bedroom home was small, not even the finished basement. Thankfully the goal was to just get the main floor and upstairs bedrooms painted today. Worst case, Alec and Brynn could finish the basement.
“So where do you need me?” Sean asked, walking through the front door and spotting Phil.
“Carly is by herself, so grab a roller and help her out. Two people to a room and we should get this done pretty fast.”
The heat rushed to her face, fast and furious. She hadn’t been expecting to see Sean today. When she woke up this morning she was mortified to remember how she’d flirted with him. It had to have been the champagne, of course it was. It was the only thing she could think of.
She’d never flirted with a man like that before. Ever. Not even someone she had been dating.
She remembered everything she’d said to him the night before at the wedding, too. Ugh, so embarrassing—admitting that she ran away from him, and not because she was scared of him. She pretty much threw it in his lap how she found him attractive. At least she thought she did, because it was the truth.
The first time she met Sean she stumbled a touch. Well, stumbled a lot. For the average woman it would have been a tiny stumble, but she was already shy and awkward around men.
Walking into Brynn’s office to talk with Brynn and seeing Sean there threw her off balance back then. He was taller than most of the men she was drawn to. She’d always liked men that were on the shorter side, even skinnier. Not someone that was so intimidating to her in size. Of course most of the men she seemed to be around lately were intimidating to her in size, Sean included, even though he was the shortest man here today.
There was something about Sean that had drawn her in at first glance, almost a year ago. His dirty blonde hair with a hint of red in it, the way his hazel eyes had twinkled when he walked forward and thanked her for bringing Brynn to them. Twinkled was probably the wrong word to describe a man, but it was the only thing she could come up with. Maybe Brynn was right— maybe she spent too much time around young kids.
Still, he was so happy and good-natured. He just went with the flow, always laughing, joking and well…happy. Just like her. Again, not something she was used to from the men she was drawn to.
Even though he was tall, he wasn’t overly big, but definitely wasn’t scrawny. There was a defined look to him. One that worked well on him—and especially attracted her. The one problem was she clammed up around him every time, just like Brynn accused her of.
Now here he was going to be painting right alongside of her. Here she was, without a clue on how to handle him, what to say, what to do, or how to act.
***
Sean looked over at Carly quietly moving the roller up and down on the wall. She’d barely done more than nod her head and politely say hi to him this morning. Now it looked like he might have lost all that he gained the night before.
He wasn’t one for giving in easily though. He would be damned if he was going to take any steps backwards. “Where’s Droopy?”
She jumped slightly, then turned her head to answer. “Sleeping in his crate in the kitchen. Drew brought him over earlier, as they are both leaving for home from here. I’ll take Droopy with me when I’m done.”
He nodded. “Are you ready for babysitting duty?”
“Sure. How hard can it be, right? As Brynn keeps telling me, all he does is sleep, eat and go to the bathroom.”
Sean tried to bite back a laugh. Guess she never had a dog before. He’d had plenty growing up, and puppies did a lot more than that. The good thing was Droopy would be in the office during the day and not left alone to get into mischief. Though Droopy did seem to sleep more than most of the puppies he’d had growing up. Bulldogs were obviously a much lazier breed, even when puppies. Guess it fit Alec well. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
She nodded and went back to her painting. A few minutes later she spoke up. “Don’t get so close to the ceiling.”
“What?”
“Isabel lectured us all to stay away from the ceiling with the rollers. To use a brush, so we don’t get paint on the ceiling. The crown molding will cover up any gaps, but I know Brynn and she will flip out if paint gets on her ceilings. At least that’s what Isabel said.”
He knew Brynn too; she was very particular about the way things were done. “Thanks for the warning. I’m surprised they got everyone here to do this.”
“Why?”
“I’m not so sure Alec and Brynn are going to be happy about us finishing their house for them.”
Softly, her eyes got a tender look in them, then her lips quirked up next. He wanted so badly just to put the roller down and walk over and pull her into his arms. That would be a little bit too bold. It’d taken him months to even dance with her. “I said the same exact thing, but Isabel explained she was taking responsibility for it.” He watched as she nervously pushed at her hair, then pulled a rubber band off her wrist and put her hair into a ponytail.
He nodded once and tried not to sigh over her continued shyness. “Well, if she is taking responsibility for it, then we should get to it.”
An hour later, they’d finished the room and were wiping their hands off. Sean looked around and decided he and Carly did well. He wasn’t one for construction work, but he could do the basics. He’d helped his father with repairs around the pub plenty in his life. And Carly, for all of her protesting that she barely knew what to do with a paint roller, had done a pretty decent job, too.
“Should we see where else they need help?” she asked.
“We could. Or we could take a break and talk.”
He walked out of the room into the kitchen, grabbed a couple bottles of water, then brought them back, handing one to her. “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the floor. Not real chivalrous, but it was the best he had to offer.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked, sitting Indian style, looking leery and making him feel guilty. He didn’t want to upset her or make her nervous. And he definitely didn’t want her to run out of the room, but he was afraid she might with the way her eyes were darting around.
“Nothing serious,” he assured her. Well, it was to him, but he didn’t want to let on. “I did some thinking last night.”
“Oh no,” she groaned, blushed, and buried her face in her hands. “About last night. I’m sorry about what I said and how I acted.”
He stopped for a moment, curious, and asked, “Why are you sorry?”
That question seemed to throw her for a loop, and she sat there quietly gathering her thoughts, it seemed. “I behaved inappropriately with you,” she finally said.
He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s what you think is inappropriate? Carly, that was nothing. And,” he said quickly before she could interrupt, because he saw her open her mouth and try to defend herself, “I was happy. Thrilled. Even flattered.”
“You were?” she said, looking baffled at the moment.
She couldn’t be this naive, but maybe she was. “Listen. I’ll be honest with you. I’m not sure if it was the champagne that loosened you up.”
“It was. It absolutely was,” she confirmed before he could say another word.
“Then wait here while I run to the store and buy some more.” He had to laugh at her shocked expression but continued on before she could speak again. “Carly, I find you attractive. I have for a long time.
I even alluded to that last night when you made the comment about guessing why you ran away all the time. After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that you find me attractive as well.”
He held his breath. He was taking a risk throwing it out there like that. All or nothing, he told himself. If she said no, he was prepared to argue, because he knew she would be lying. The dance they shared yesterday was still too fresh in his mind. Thankfully, she was truthful. “Well sure, I find you good-looking.”
“Gosh, you don’t have to sound like you’re pacifying me.”
“I wasn’t doing that, really I wasn’t,” she said quickly.
He snickered at the distraught look on her face. “Relax, Carly, I know that. It was just the way you said it. Listen, I’ll make this easy and straightforward. I find you extremely attractive. I like the person you are, from the handful of times we’ve talked, and I admire the person you are from everything Brynn has said about you. I’d like to get to know you a little bit better, and would like to take you to dinner sometime if you’re interested.”
She opened her mouth and then shut it. She seemed almost thrown off by what he’d just said about her, but it was the truth, every word of it. She was a great person.
Before she could answer, Isabel walked in and eyed the two of them knowingly, then said, “Sorry to interrupt, but since you two are done, why don’t we all grab a quick lunch and let the paint dry some more. Then maybe you wouldn’t mind painting another spare bedroom upstairs? Phil, Ryan, and Mac are going to start hanging the crown molding with Drew and Andy. We’re making a lot of progress.”
“Sounds good,” Sean said, then turned to Carly. “Think about it and let me know tomorrow when you drop off Droopy.”
Happy Thoughts
So Carly thought about it all night long. It’s not like she had anything else she could be doing, like sleeping. No, that would be the normal thing to be doing at midnight, except Droopy was having none of that.