by Susanna Carr
He frowned. “You are not quitting your job. I’ve already decided that I’m not going to run for office in the next election.”
Sydney’s mouth dropped open. “Why? Because of me? Don’t do that.”
“I want to be with you and I want you to have a chance to rebuild your career. This is the perfect compromise.”
“But...”
“I don’t want you to think that I would use you or work against you for my own gain.”
Sydney weakly closed her eyes. “Matthew, I don’t want you to give up anything for me. Don’t change your life. Don’t change the direction of your future for me.”
“Sydney, my life changed the moment I saw you at your first town meeting.”
She wasn’t sure how to take that. She wanted to be important in Matthew’s life but she didn’t want him to regret giving up something for her. “You’re the clear winner for this upcoming election.”
“How about this,” Matthew said softly. “When the next election comes around, you and I will discuss the idea of me running for mayor.”
Sydney’s heart gave a lurch as she opened her eyes. Matthew was already planning for them to be together for years?
“Tell me you’re not going to quit your job,” he said.
“I’m not quitting,” she promised as she played with the sash of her raincoat, “I’ll make sure Wendy covers town politics. I’m not going to let gossip get in the way of us.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said gruffly as he watched her hands. “Everyone knows that I’m in love with you. You seem to be the last to realize it.”
Sydney clasped his jaw in her hands and kissed him as a sense of joy washed over her. Matthew loved her and he wasn’t going to allow anything to come between them. She wasn’t alone in feeling this way.
When she broke the kiss, Matthew rested his forehead against hers. “Are you wearing anything under that?”
Sydney chuckled and took a step back. “Everyone in town has asked me that, and I’m pretty sure they all know the answer.”
“Did you tell them that it’s for my eyes only?”
She smiled. “I think it was implied. I wouldn’t show up in public wearing nothing but a raincoat for just anyone.”
His mouth tilted in a wicked smile. “I remember you didn’t understand the appeal of the fantasy. Should I explain?”
“No, I’ve got it now,” Sydney said as she began to untie the sash. The way he looked at her made her feel powerful and sexy. He always made her feel that way. “I walked from the newspaper office, through the town square, and into city hall, and I was very clear that I was here to see you.”
“I noticed you walking through the town square,” he admitted huskily as a ruddy color streaked across his cheekbones. He seemed mesmerized by her hands. “I had really hoped you were coming to see me.”
“What if I hadn’t been?” she asked as she unfastened the row of buttons on her coat.
He swallowed hard. “I would have come looking for you,” Matthew said dazedly as he watched her coat sag open, offering a glimpse of her bare breasts.
Sydney paused playfully and splayed her hands against her coat. “Am I getting this fantasy right?” she teased.
“You are,” he insisted as he stood in front of her, his breathing becoming uneven.
“Really? Are you sure?” Her breath hitched in her throat as she grazed her fingertips along the lapels of the raincoat. “It’s a raincoat instead of a trench coat. It’s red—”
“This fantasy is perfect because you’re in it.”
She pulled the coat open and let it drop to the floor. Sydney stood before him naked. Her skin tingled as Matthew’s gaze lingered on her. Anticipation beat hard against her chest.
“Matthew,” she murmured as she watched the desire flare in his eyes, “maybe you should lock the door.”
He reached for her. “I already did.”
TALK OF THE TOWN
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
1
“ISABEL, HAVE YOU READ anything interesting lately?”
Isabel Bennett paused as she brought her napkin to her mouth. She should have anticipated the question. She got it all the time because she was the town librarian. But this question from Sean Hawkins was not as innocent as it sounded.
Sean didn’t do innocent.
Her gaze clashed with his across the dining table. Looking into his eyes gave her a jolt, as always. In the past, she’d ignored this feeling. Hidden from it. The force of the sexual attraction between them had made her nervous. Now she welcomed it.
“I have,” she replied carefully, glancing at her father, who sat at the head of the table. “But nothing that either of you would enjoy.”
“I may surprise you,” Sean drawled.
She knew that was true. He was constantly surprising, but even more so in the past month. She had always suspected that he concealed an animal hunger behind his cool blue eyes. But she had no idea just how ruthlessly he controlled his emotions and his body.
“What’s the title?” Sean asked.
“I don’t recall.” She pressed her finger against her lips as she tried to appear casual. But she never felt casual around Sean. He was the most aggravating man she knew and yet her pulse gave a hard kick whenever she saw him. He wasn’t handsome but she often caught herself studying his square jaw and crooked nose. Thoughts of running her fingers through his short blond hair or loosening the necktie he always wore frequently flickered across her mind. “It was a how-to book. Nonfiction.”
“How to what?”
Isabel narrowed her eyes at him but he seemed unfazed. Calmly, he curled his large hand around the delicate coffee cup in front of him before bringing it to his mouth and taking a drink. Sean already knew the title of the book, she realized dazedly. Where did he get his information? As her father’s second-in-command at the Bennett Company, Sean was smart and resourceful. But why did he have to use those talents to dig up dirt on her?
She was tempted to make up a title just to get out of this awkward situation, but she knew Sean would call her on it. The man was a worthy opponent and she had lost as many arguments with him as she had won.
Isabel struggled to hold Sean’s gaze as the heat crept up her neck. “It’s called How to Seduce a Man,” she said hoarsely. Fire leaped into Sean’s eyes but he gave her a warning look. She maintained steady eye contact with him until she heard the clatter of her father’s silverware hitting the fine china.
“Really, Isabel?” Keith Bennett said. “Why are you reading that?”
Because I need all the help I can get. Isabel shrugged. “It’s this month’s selection for the book club.”
Her father’s eyebrows dipped as he stared at her with confusion. “The Seedling Women’s Reading Circle allowed you to return? This is wonderful. How did you manage that?”
“The seduction book doesn’t sound like the kind of selection the reading circle would make,” Sean murmured as he set down his cup.
Isabel cast him a sharp glance before she turned her full attention to her father. “Dad, I’ve already told you. I am banned for life from the reading circle along with my friends.” She had been labeled a troublemaker and was asked to leave and never come back. All because she’d campaigned for the book club to read her favorite book—The Secret Diary of an Anonymous Victorian Lady. That book had changed her point of view on life and not just because of the sexual content. She had felt so strongly about the erotic diary that she hadn’t backed down when the reading circle selection committee warned her to drop the idea. It was the first time she’d ever been considered trouble and she found the situation both liberating and unco
mfortable. “So we have started our own book club.”
Sean leaned back in his chair. “What kind of books do you read?”
He reminded her of a jungle cat who was in a lazy sprawl but could pounce at any moment. Isabel bit her lip, wondering how much she wanted to reveal. “Right now we’re reading a book that’s being challenged at the library.”
Sean’s eyebrow arched. “Who is challenging it?”
She pressed her lips together. How did this man find a way to ask all the questions she didn’t want to answer in front of her father? “A few members of the reading circle want it banned.”
“You are purposely reading books that other people are against?” Keith shook his head. “That sounds like something...” His voice trailed off.
She knew what her father had been going to say. That was something that Charlene, her mother, would have done. When Isabel was twelve, her mother, chafing at small-town living and married life, had caused one scandal after another before she had walked out of their lives for good.
“What business do you have creating this club?” Keith’s voice rose. “It sounds like the only reason you started it was to provoke the reading circle.”
“Not at all,” Isabel said. “We’re reading what we want to read.”
Her father should understand that about her. She had spent most of her childhood with her nose in a book. Her favorite place in the world was the Seedling library. She was more comfortable there than in the home she grew up in. The library was where she had spent hours dreaming. It was a safe place where the librarians hadn’t judged or censored her as she explored ideas and other points of view. Now, as the librarian herself, she wanted to offer the same safe place she’d enjoyed to the community.
“You need to end this book club before any word gets out. Isn’t it bad enough that you were kicked out of the reading circle? Do you not realize how much of a privilege and honor it was to have been accepted into the circle? You’d been on the waiting list from the time you were seventeen until you turned twenty-one.”
Because the town had been waiting to see if she had inherited her mother’s traits or her father’s. “Dad, you wouldn’t understand.”
“You’re right.” He rose from his seat and tossed his linen napkin on the table. “I don’t have a clue what has gotten into you. Hawkins, I’ll be in my study when you’re done.”
Isabel didn’t watch her father stride out of the room but her stomach twisted with guilt. She knew she had been disappointing him recently. She hadn’t been meeting expectations. Not since she’d read The Secret Diary of an Anonymous Victorian Lady.
Isabel wasn’t sure what had made her pick up the runaway bestseller but it had made her look at her life and at herself. She wasn’t living the life she wanted. She wanted to be bolder. Braver.
Isabel looked across the table at Sean. She wanted a life of passion.
“As always, Sunday night dinner was a pleasure.” She got up from her chair gracefully while concealing the emotions churning inside her. “Good night.”
Sean stood up when she did. “I would think that after twenty-eight years, you would know how to talk to your father.”
“After working for him for three years, you’re an expert?” She shook her head. “Who are you to lecture me? You were feeding the fire. And how did you know about the book I’m reading? Or the book club?”
“Was it supposed to be a secret?”
“No, of course not.” But she didn’t want him to be aware of her reading material. It wouldn’t help her mission if Sean was forewarned.
“Maybe you should treat it as such,” he said as he followed her out of the dining room. “Working at the library means so much to you. It’s your home away from home. But your bosses won’t tolerate any scandal and your reputation can’t take another hit.”
“Reputation.” Isabel made a face as she walked into the hallway to get her purse. “Who cares about that anymore?”
“It’s worth more than you think,” Sean said in a sharp tone. “Especially in a small town like Seedling.”
It meant too much in Seedling, Isabel decided. “A reputation is just another way to cage you in.”
“Spoken like a woman who takes her reputation for granted.”
She whirled around and placed her hands on her hips. “You think my reputation is a gift? An honor? It’s a burden. I can tell you it has done nothing for me or my social life.”
“You’re looking at it the wrong way,” Sean said as he mirrored her stance. “The good girl is immediately accepted and invited anywhere without question.”
“Not in bed.”
Sean froze. Isabel watched his harsh features tighten as if he was preparing for battle.
“Everyone believes I’m a good girl,” she said softly. “But you know differently, don’t you, Sean?”
“Isabel...” His voice was just as soft but she heard the steely warning.
“Although,” she said in a drawl as a naughty smile played on her lips, “we didn’t quite make it to a bed. Do you remember?”
Sean’s hands clenched at his sides. “We are not discussing that.”
“When was that decided?” she asked as anger flashed through her. “It’s been a month since we had our one-night stand and you have not mentioned it once.”
“I’m trying to be a gentleman,” he said in a low growl. “I know you were under the influence of that book.”
Isabel’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me?”
“You would not normally act that way.” His voice was low and fierce as color scored his cheekbones. “You wouldn’t do those things.”
Her mouth dropped open as she realized he was completely serious. “You think a book made me have sex with you?”
* * *
YES, SEAN THOUGHT GRIMLY as he watched Isabel’s stunned expression. He realized that didn’t say much for his own opinion of himself, but there was no other explanation. Before reading the diary, Isabel Bennett had had no use for him. She’d been an ice princess who’d either given him haughty stares or ignored him completely.
So he refused to be ignored. He’d challenged her at every turn, demanding to be noticed. At first it had been a form of entertainment. He would say something provocative just to get a response out of her. He wanted to see the spark in her dark blue eyes.
He hadn’t expected to see grudging respect for him or the gleam of an interesting battle. He enjoyed watching Isabel’s lively responses and hearing her impulsive and uncensored opinions. There’d been times when he’d sensed a sexual buzz beneath their skirmishes, but he had assumed that he was the only one experiencing it. She’d had no interest in him. Until she read that book.
Isabel had surprised him that night a month ago. They were alone in this house, waiting for Keith to return from a business trip. The tension between them was thick and their bantering had taken a sharp edge. Isabel had made the first move. And he had responded without considering the consequences because it had been his dream come true.
“That’s insulting,” she said through clenched teeth. “What kind of person do you take me for? Am I so weak-minded that I would act against my nature because of something I read?”
He gave a cautious glance in the direction of the study. “You weren’t yourself that night,” he said quietly. He hadn’t been himself, either. Their one-night stand had been fast and furious. They hadn’t even taken the time to get naked. It had been as if they had broken out of their cages, hungry and wild.
“Then how do you explain your actions?”
He stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“According to you, I was under the influence of an erotic diary.” She tilted her head as she gave him a knowing look. “You didn’t read that book. How do you explain your behavior?”
He couldn’t explain it t
o her. Because it meant that he had not suppressed the wild and savage Hawkins boy from the wrong side of the tracks as well as he’d hoped. And Isabel, of all people, had uncovered that side of him. He wouldn’t let her do so again.
“I’m a man. An opportunist.” He had to let her think it meant nothing to him. “But there will be no repeats.”
“You’ve never made a pass at me the entire time we’ve known each other,” she said as the hurt shone in her eyes. “If you were such an opportunist, you would have made a move before then.”
“I didn’t make the move.” It hadn’t been easy but he had kept his distance. “You did.”
She took a step forward and he braced himself. Her light floral scent and the heat from her body affected him. He tried to drag his eyes away from her pink mouth as his lips stung with raw need. He had wanted to kiss her all evening.
“I did initiate our one-night stand,” she said proudly as she crossed her arms. “You think it was because of the book, but it was all me.”
“If that’s true, why did you wait so long to make a move? I’ll tell you why. It was because that book put the idea into your head. And I was available when you needed a man to put the idea into practice.” The knowledge ate at him. “Any man would have done the same.”
She reared her head back with surprise. “It was not a case of you being in the right place at the right time.”
“I’m not discussing this anymore,” he said as he towered over her. “That night was a mistake and I don’t repeat my mistakes.”
Isabel abruptly looked away. “If that’s the way you want it.”
It wasn’t what he wanted but what he needed to do. He wanted to gather her in his arms and apologize but this was for the best.
Though what he really wanted was another night with her—hell, he wanted every night with Isabel. But he was not going to start something with the boss’s daughter. Especially if this fire inside her kindled an even more dangerous fire inside of him.