* * *
That had been fucking unreal. Disconcerting as hell. And just plain wrong.
And based on how they’d left the conversation…possibly just the beginning.
Sean tossed his T-shirt into the bathroom corner and cranked the water for the shower.
That look. The first one, which thank fuck she hadn’t been able to re-create. He’d never seen her look at him like that before. If he had… Shit, he didn’t want to think about it. Because even knowing what she was up to, that look could put ideas in a guy’s head. Ideas he wouldn’t have a second’s hesitation following through on if they’d been about anyone other than Molly Brandt.
But it had been Molly behind those few seconds of temptation and sin, and the fact that he was about to step into the shower sporting a semi because of her was making him feel like the lowest of the lows. Lower, because even the shame wasn’t enough to take the hard off.
The shower had just started to steam, but no way was he getting in there like that. Reaching in, he turned off the hot and stepped under the icy spray.
“Aghgh!” This scrub was going to be all business. Lightning fast and void of any and all funny business regarding the demon in the next room.
A quiet knock sounded at the bathroom door. “Sean, you okay?”
Lathering faster, he gritted out the single word he could manage. “Yep.”
Fine. Totally good. Not thinking about Molly’s eyes on him. Definitely not letting his dirty fucking mind take it a step further and imagining the tip of her tongue wetting her lip or—
“Because if you need any help in there…you know…with all those muscles, I wouldn’t mind getting all wet to help you out.”
He froze where he was, the edges of his vision blurring in time with his pulse.
She hadn’t. She wouldn’t.
“No thanks, Moll,” he called back, hoping like hell his years of maintaining a cool professional exterior no matter what was going through his mind would pay off. If Molly figured out she was getting to him, she’d never stop. “I got it handled—er—under control.”
Shit. At least he would.
* * *
“You’re shitting me,” Brody said, staring at Sean across the mostly deserted bar. Belfast didn’t open for lunch for another half hour, and while Sean needed to get back to the office, he needed someone to talk to first. And with Molly out of the running for obvious reasons and Max a no-go thanks to the honeymoon as well as being Molly’s extremely overprotective older brother, Brody was the obvious choice. The guy was a world-class listener and in touch with everyone’s feelings on a level deeper than they were. So after taking the world’s fastest shower, Sean had darted into his room like a grade-A wuss, praying Molly wouldn’t be lying in wait outside the door.
Fortunately, she’d shut herself in her bedroom, and he’d been able to dress and duck out of the apartment in record time.
“I only wish I was,” Sean lamented, bracing his elbows on the bar in front of him. Brody passed him a cup of coffee, bringing one for himself as he rounded the bar and took the open stool next to Sean.
“So did it work?” he asked, the oversize mug dwarfed by the guy’s meaty hands.
Sean’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Brody shrugged. “She driving you out of the place? ’Cause you know that kid Gary. He’s going to be back the minute he figures out you’re gone.”
He knew. The dickwad only had a few days left at the hotel. And already there’d been some problems with the job Sean had lined up for him.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Sean answered.
“Glad to hear it, man.” Brody nodded past Sean as one of the day staff arrived. “It’s not affecting you, then?”
“Molly pretending to come on to me?” He shook his head, suddenly fascinated by the black depths of his coffee. “Give me a break, man. No way.”
When he looked up, Brody was watching him with that all-too-knowing look on his face. “You ever think of something more with her?”
Sean coughed, looking around the bar as though he was afraid someone might hear them. Not totally unjustified, considering Molly managed this place part-time, so any staff who happened to be within earshot would probably report back to her before her shift even started the next day. But the girl who’d come in had gone straight to the back, so it was just Brody leaning a burly arm on the bar as he waited for Sean’s answer.
“Fuck no. Come on.”
“Come on, what? She’s hot.” And now that Sean was thinking about it, he remembered how a few years back, Brody had had a thing for her. A thing that had kind of bugged him but never saw the word go. “And if we’re being totally honest here, she’s not that far off from some of the girls I’ve seen you with.”
Sean balked, and Brody held up a hand. “Yeah, she’s nothing like the applicants you take for the future Mrs. Wyse position…but recreationally speaking, you seem to like a little edge, right? And hell, that Jenn McGuire you took home before you and Valerie were on again this last time… She could have been Molly’s cousin, with that hair and those eyes. And Robin Whatshername, she looked like she shopped in Molly’s closet with those boots and the—”
“Yeah, yeah, I see where you’re going with this. Superficially, a few of the women I’ve hooked up with might share a passing resemblance to Molly. But that’s it. I like a little variety is all. That doesn’t mean Molly’s my type.”
She wasn’t. Though now that Brody had him thinking about it, Donna Stoltz had those saucer-big blue eyes too… No.
“But even if she was. You know I’d never act on it. Those girls aren’t…”
Brody waited, and Sean shoved his coffee away as if it were responsible for the turn in the conversation.
“They know it’s not serious. They know before anything happens that I’m not looking for more than a night.”
“Yeah. They know the score,” Brody agreed calmly, making Sean wonder if he sounded defensive or something.
“I wouldn’t want that with Molly.” He swore and shook his head again, meeting Brody’s eyes. “I wouldn’t want that for Molly.”
Brody tossed back the rest of his coffee and pushed off the stool, walking around to the business side of the bar without a word. “She deserves better than some guy killing time before he finds the one.”
Sean nodded his agreement.
She was too special for that. And that was all a guy like him had to offer. Or it had been. Until this stuff with his family, Sean hadn’t really questioned his parents’ plans. They were such a shining example of a successful marriage, so why would he? But now?
Hell, Molly was a free spirit, passionate and exciting. Unpredictable. A force of nature. All the things that made her one of his best friends and favorite people. She’d never want the kind of restrained life he had to offer.
Besides, she was Molly. End of story.
Sean rapped his knuckles on the bar as he stood to go. “I gotta get to work. Thanks for the coffee.”
“Any time. And Sean,” Brody called after him, pointing a stern finger his way. “Stay strong, man.”
“Not a problem.”
Chapter 5
When Molly had stuff going on—heavy-on-the-brain stuff—there were a number of people she could turn to. Sean, Brody, Sarah, Emily…and her go-to girl for the stuff she didn’t need the entire group to know about within five seconds flat.
Janice.
“Molly, what are you doing here?” Jase asked, walking out of his office with a perplexed expression on his face. “Everything okay?”
She opened her mouth to answer when Janice took care of it for her. “She’s fine, everything’s fine, Jase. Just keep walking. They’re waiting for you up on twenty-three, and those updated reports are on the shared drive.” When he didn’t seem to move fast enough, she let out an exasperat
ed breath. “Do you need something else, Jase?”
His brows shot high, his mouth dropping open. “You’re here for Janice?”
The guy had the weirdest thing about his assistant. Like no one was allowed to have her but him. Okay, it was the middle of the workday, and they were sitting five feet from his office, but for crying out loud, the guy needed to learn to share. “Girl talk,” Molly announced, expecting one of those hands-up, backing-away-slowly retreats.
Janice hissed out a breath, looking away as Jase’s face lit up. “Yeah? What’s going on?” he asked, a little too much excitement in his hushed tone as he hauled one of the reception chairs over next to Molly. “We could go in my office. I have some water and raisins in my drawer.”
“Very generous.” Molly knew what this was about and gave his hand a comforting pat. “It’s not dishy gossip, Jase.” Fine, it was, but she needed someone to talk to…not someone she was going to have to explain every subtle nuance to. And Janice knew things.
Janice had less patience and waved him away irritably. “And even if it was, we wouldn’t share it with you. Go to your meeting.”
He huffed and grudgingly got up. “Fine. See you around, Moll.”
He looked like he was about to say something to Janice too but then wisely thought better of it and left without another word.
Janice reached into her drawer and offered Molly a Hershey’s Miniature. “Okay, so let me get this straight. He caught you staring…like tongue-hanging-out, a-little-bit-of-drool-going-on staring…and thought you were just trying to scare him out of the apartment?”
Molly unfolded the foil wrapper and nodded.
“So by some miracle, he bought this, and now you’re planning on just going with it…coming on to him over and over…because you think it’s going to drive him away.” At Molly’s nod, Janice let out a lengthy sigh and picked up a framed picture of her year-old son, speaking to it. “I know. Crazy.”
“Come on. It’s not crazy,” Molly countered around a melty bite of heaven. “He thinks of me as a little sister, Janice. If you’d seen how uncomfortable he was, you’d know this is a solid plan.”
“Mmm-hmm. I’m just wondering how you think waving around all those feelings you’ve been ignoring in hopes they’d go away for the past dozen years is going to help you. I mean, the reason you wanted him out in the first place was because you were worried spending that kind of time with him might stir them up.”
Okay, so Janice was pretty wise about stuff like this. And Molly saw her point. Except… “That’s the beauty of it, Janice. This is the perfect opportunity to vent some steam. And it’s total BS that he thinks he gets to decide how things are with my apartment.”
Pursing her lips, Janice drew a slow breath. “Agreed. But that Gary guy had to go, and you weren’t doing anything about it.”
Molly slumped back in her chair. “I know.”
“So what’s next?” Janice folded her arms neatly on her desk. “You going to put on something slinky for when he walks in the door?”
Molly laughed. “Sean’s seen me in everything from my sexiest bra and panties—don’t ask—to a one-piece snowsuit, and the reaction has never varied. He doesn’t see me as sexy. No matter what.” At Janice’s skeptical look, she shrugged. “It is what it is. So I think I’m going to have to rely on words and possibly actions.”
One dark brow arched high. “Come again?”
Heat infused her cheeks. “I mean, it probably won’t come to that. But if the flirt alone isn’t enough to freak Sean out the door, then I may have to up my game…a little…maybe.”
“Molly.”
“Cripes, Janice, I’m not going to grab his junk,” Molly whispered indignantly. “But some handsy stuff with his arms. Or shoulders.” She thought of that moment when he’d whipped off his T-shirt that morning and swallowed. “His stomach.” Leaning forward so she was gripping the edge of the desk in front of her, sitting on the edge of her seat, she blurted out, “Janice, I know you don’t have a lot of love to spare for Sean, but if you’d seen his stomach when he leaned back into the counter—”
“Uh-uh-uh.” Janice cut her off with a wave of her hands and flipped the picture of her son so he was facing the desk. “I don’t want to hear about his washboard abs or happy trail or the magic V that makes smart women stupid on that guy.”
Molly closed her eyes with a sigh. “The magic V, Janice.”
Fingers snapped in front of her, and then Janice was waving her away. “Congratulations, Molly, I just threw up in my mouth.”
Gathering her bag, Molly leaned around the desk and tossed her candy wrapper. Looked like Janice had met her quota of sweetness for the day. “Okay, I’m going.”
“How’s the website stuff going? Did Dave ever call you?”
Molly grinned. “He did, and we just signed a contract Monday. Thanks for putting him in touch. I’ve got a lot of ideas for the site.”
“I bet you do. Loved what you did for Lorie with the salon. It was so original, clean, and simple. You’ve got a nice eye.”
Molly could feel the heat in her cheeks again, the praise—while she was right there!—making her squirm. “Thank you.”
Janice laughed and adjusted her keyboard, obviously ready to get back to work. “Have fun getting Sean out of your space, hon, but be careful. You’ve got a tender heart, and it makes me sad to think how much of it you’ve given to this man already, whether he knows it or not.”
Molly nodded and dropped a kiss on Janice’s cheek before heading out.
* * *
This was stupid.
Sean hesitated outside the apartment door, his key in the lock. Molly had the night off from Belfast, and it was after eight. He was pretty sure she didn’t do cleaning this late. So she might be home. Who was he kidding? The gauntlet had been thrown that morning. She was going to be there. Waiting.
Waiting for him to cry uncle and move out.
She was probably armed with an arsenal of innuendo and the kind of feigned advances that, if he were a better man, wouldn’t get to him at all.
Time to sac up, Wyse.
Letting himself into the apartment, he braced—for what, he didn’t even know.
“Evening, lover,” Molly purred from the couch, her laptop balanced on her long, outstretched legs, a spiral notebook open on the couch beside her. “Here to get your things…or am I getting lucky?”
“Molly,” he acknowledged with a tight smile, ignoring her question. “You have dinner yet?”
He normally would have had something sent up from the restaurant to his office, but his head had been full of this shit with Molly all day, and he’d barely been able to focus on work, let alone remembering to eat. So now he was ravenous.
“Uh…actually no. I was kind of caught up with this site and…no.” She set the laptop aside and swung her legs over the edge of the couch to stand.
Great, and she was wearing those cutoff jean shorts that showed exactly how toned and strong her thighs were. White tank top. Pink bra that matched her hair. Pink was his fucking favorite. She had to be wearing it today.
Padding back to the kitchen in her bare feet, she opened the cabinet and pulled out a box of mac and cheese. “I’ve only got one. Think that will be enough?”
He crossed to the kitchen and took the box out of her hand, leaning over her to put it back on the shelf. “You don’t have any butter, and I threw away whatever unholy thing your milk had become this morning.”
“Oh yeah?” she said quietly…too quietly, bringing Sean’s focus down to where he’d inadvertently pinned her between the counter and his body. Shit, she was blinking up at him with those big, blue eyes that were wide and soft and—Jesus, the way she was looking at him.
The lover talk and sexy outfit were nothing compared to that look.
He stepped back a couple paces, pissed with himself
for giving her another opening to screw with him, and pissed with her for taking a crowbar to the easy physical comfort that had been a part of their relationship for as long as he could remember. He didn’t want to watch his step with Molly or have to think about where his hands were or anything else with her. It hadn’t ever been like that between them. He didn’t want it to start now.
“Grab a sweatshirt or something. I’m taking you out for dinner,” he snapped more harshly than he should have.
Putting as much distance as he could between them, he walked to his room and shrugged out of his jacket before tossing it on his bed. Jerking his tie loose, he looked through the open door to find Molly in the middle of the apartment, one blond brow, a few shades darker than her hair, arched. “You really want to go out?” she said, pulling her lip through her teeth in a scary way that made him want to reach for some lip balm for her. “Pretty sure we could find something here.”
She was working some kind of swivel thing with her hips while she stood, her arms going to her stomach and then behind her, as if she wasn’t sure where to put them. A wave of relief washed over him as he realized that look from the counter had been an anomaly. Something Molly had stumbled on by accident. Hell, it was probably a trick of the light. Whatever, the important thing was that she wasn’t going to nail it every time.
More comfortable, he grinned at her. “You ready to risk the quarter box of chicken-flavored crackers that have been open in your cabinet for the last two years? ’Cause I’m not. How about Italian?”
Tossing his tie on top of his jacket, he rolled his sleeves and then grabbed his keys. “Let’s go.”
After a beat, the pretense fell away, and Molly shrugged. “Fine.” She followed him to the door and stopped, her nose scrunching up as she pulled a bit of stretchy fabric from her tank top away from her belly. “This okay for where we’re going?”
His jaw firmed, and he gave her a curt nod before looking away. Because yeah, score one for Molly. She’d gotten to him again. “You’re fine.”
* * *
Dinner was fantastic. Not surprising, considering Sean picked the place. Any cuisine, price range, or vibe, he always knew the best places around the city and the little hole in the wall with rustic decor, low lighting, and Puccini playing in the background was no exception. Molly had a heaping plate of the best lasagna this side of the Atlantic, and Sean had gotten the cioppino—because he hadn’t tried theirs before—and based on the low, guttural moan after the first bite, followed by one of those deep meaningful looks over the top of his spoon, she was pretty sure he liked it.
Just This Once Page 5