“Rhys and Darcy are tearing it up out there,” Charlie said with a laugh.
Sean had to stop himself from sneering.
The drummer of the band counted off the next song with his sticks, and the singer started to croon “Unforgettable.” Couples matched back up on the dance floor, and Sean watched as Darcy awkwardly started back to her seat before Rhys grabbed her hand. He pulled her into him and wrapped one arm around her waist.
Without thinking, Sean pushed back his chair and headed toward the dance floor. His chest burned like it was full of white-hot embers. He was well past jealousy at this point. He was bordering dangerously on rage. Just as he hit the dance floor, Ellen MacCombie grabbed his arm.
“Time to cash in that dance you promised me, young man.”
Sean stared down at the older woman’s smiling face. Ellen headed up the marketing team at Rolland Construction and was on the later side of sixty.
She’d cornered him in the lunchroom earlier that week and made him promise her a dance. In fact, he usually had to dance with her at all the company functions.
The older woman had a bad case of roaming hands. It made it even more awkward that she always assumed the man’s dance posture and put her arm around Sean’s waist.
Taking a deep breath, Sean smiled and offered her his hand. He led her to where Rhys and Darcy were dancing. As he tried to ignore how close his dance partner’s hands were drifting to his ass, he kept his eyes on Darcy.
Rhys had pulled her close, her breasts pressing against his chest. Her arm casually draped over his shoulder, her other hand clutched in Rhys’s meaty mitt.
Sean was close enough to see their lips move as they talked, but not close enough to hear what they were saying. Darcy stared over Rhys’s shoulder as he whispered into her ear. Occasionally she would laugh or smile, but otherwise, she stared blankly toward the back of the room as her partner moved her in a slow circle.
Sean’s right hand shook violently. He glanced down to see his partner looking up at him expectantly.
“I’m sorry, I missed that?” he told Ellen.
“I said I swear you get taller every year.”
Sean looked down at his tiny dance partner, thankful that she was too short to be whispering naughty sexual harassments into his ear as they danced.
“You know, when dancing, it’s usually the woman who puts her arm on the man’s shoulder, and the man who puts his hand at the woman’s waist.”
“Yes, but I’d never be able to reach your shoulder.” She hugged his waist with her arm. “This is much more comfortable.”
Sean looked up, and Rhys caught his eye. One side of the man’s mouth pulled up in a lopsided grin. Sean glared back.
“Are you having a nice evening?” he asked his partner, trying to keep the curtness out of his voice. It wasn’t Ellen’s fault he was in a sour mood that was only getting worse by the second.
“Oh, yes. This is the best part of the job.” Her hand slid a little farther down on his lower back.
Wishing desperately for the end of the song, Sean looked back to where Rhys and Darcy were dancing. Rhys had his head turned into Darcy’s neck as if he were getting ready to take a nibble. Spots danced across Sean’s vision. He might or might not have growled; he wasn’t sure.
They had turned to where Darcy was facing him. She looked up then and locked eyes with Sean.
God, she was beautiful.
But she couldn’t hide the hurt that lingered in her gaze. She lowered her eyes to the floor just as the song ended.
He quickly thanked Ellen for the dance, but before he could make it to Darcy, she was gone. He searched the room and caught sight of her as she disappeared into the ladies’ restroom.
He was tempted to follow her in, but that would be too creepy even for him. So he went to the bar, ordered himself another Scotch, and waited. He smiled and chatted with a few employees who’d stopped by to say hello. But the entire time, he had his eyes glued to that restroom door.
Finally, she emerged. Sean excused himself and made his way across the dance floor. She was placing her purse back at her seat when she saw him coming. Her perfect face was blank, but he noticed her shoulders tighten ever so slightly. She looked tired, like she hadn’t rested in ages.
He stopped beside her, not knowing what to say. He wanted to yell at her for dancing with Rhys. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss away the sadness that swam in her eyes. He wanted to pull her to the exit and take her home because he wanted her more than he could tell her.
Instead of doing any of those things, he held out his hand to her. “Dance with me?”
She looked at his hand for a long time before she slowly placed her slim fingers into his palm. The lead singer was doing his best impersonation of Elvis Presley as he started to sing the opening to “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
Sean led Darcy onto the floor and gently pulled her into his body. Her arm rested lightly on his shoulder, and he couldn’t help but run his hand down her lower back. She fit perfectly against him, the height of her heels helping her chin hover just beside his neck.
Her hand was warm and soft in his. He would have captured it against his chest if it weren’t such an intimate gesture. He turned his head into her hair. The familiar scent of peppermint tickled his nose.
She calmed the rage that had been rolling inside of him. Come to think of it, even when they had been younger, she had been able to steady him.
“Are you sure you should be dancing with me?”
The sharpness of her voice pulled him out of his warm and fuzzy place.
“Please don’t be mad at me,” he whispered. She sighed against his neck but didn’t say anything. “I’m just trying my best to follow the rules,” he explained. “No interoffice relationships. And even though we technically aren’t interoffice, I didn’t want to flirt with the gray area.”
She was quiet for a moment before she said, “Are you ashamed of me?”
He stopped and pulled back so he could face her. “Of course not. What the hell would make you think that?”
“Who else knows about us?”
He frowned, slightly confused. “Quinn and Ewan. Probably a few other people.”
“Your parents?”
Sean shook his head slowly. “No, I haven’t told them yet. But I will.”
“When?”
“Soon, I promise. I just haven’t had the chance. I’ll do it this week.”
She just looked at him with those big eyes. He should have told her that he missed her. That he thought about her every day. That this whole night he’d been fucking miserable because he’d been forced to keep his distance for appearance’s sake. He’d known that even if he talked with her casually, he’d be tempted to put his hands on her, and he just didn’t trust himself.
Even holding her at that moment was torture. She wasn’t close enough. He wanted to run his hands along her skin. He wanted to taste that delicate soft spot behind her ear.
But he couldn’t, and it was killing him.
He should have told her all of those things. But he didn’t. Sharing emotions was not his forte, but he could show her how he felt if she’d let him.
“Let’s get out of here. Let’s go back to my place.”
She lowered her eyes to his chest and swallowed. They continued to sway to the music along with all the other couples on the dance floor. His hand tightened on her waist.
“Not tonight, Sean.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“I’m beginning to think the only thing you want me around for is sex.”
He stared at her, completely dumbfounded. He blinked but couldn’t formulate a response. How could she think that?
Long-term relationships were not the norm for him. And theirs was the first long-distance relationship he’d ever tried. Didn’t she understand that meant something? Didn’t she know that he started every workweek thinking of how he’d never be able to wait until Friday night to see her again?
&
nbsp; Of course, when they saw each other, the first thing he wanted to do was rip her clothes off. But that was because he’d missed her. And instead of sounding needy and telling her over and over again how much he’d missed her, he showed her. And showing her meant kissing every inch of skin on her body and making her scream his name until she was hoarse.
She was way more to Sean than just sex.
“That is absolutely not true,” he countered. “I can’t believe you’d think that.”
Her sad eyes looked up into his. “So if I agree to come back to your place tonight, but we don’t have sex, you’d be okay with that?”
“Of course.” And he meant it.
“All right then. Let’s go.”
Sean grinned. “Great, let’s do it. I mean… not do it, do it. There will be no doing it tonight.” He held his hands up in front of him. “Unless you change your mind, of course. But as of right now, there will be no it done in my house at all tonight.”
And there it was—a smile pulled at Darcy’s lips. That was a start at least.
Chapter 27
The white face and black dials of the clock hanging over the bar at Katie’s Pub in Ballagh were permanently etched onto the insides of Darcy’s eyelids. She’d been staring at it for so long, every time she closed her eyes there it was.
It was a little past ten thirty p.m., and she still sat alone at the end of the bar waiting for Sean to show up. He hadn’t called to say he wasn’t coming. Her phone sat directly in front of her on the bar.
Technically, she wasn’t sitting alone since the entire town of Ballagh was there celebrating Christmas Eve. Her grandmother and Phee were somewhere in the pub, probably huddled against the fireplace in the corner.
Ewan really wasn’t one for decking the halls. The only Christmas decoration he’d put up was the evergreen wreath on the door. Some strands of lights or garland would have spruced the place up a little. She’d have to make the suggestion to him. Maybe he’d hire her next year for the job.
Work was incredibly slow at the moment, which wasn’t surprising since the holidays usually kept people from starting any major projects until the new year. Darcy wasn’t worried since she had a few new client consultations set up for January.
Now the clock read 10:41 p.m. She raised her hand to flag down another drink.
The pub’s only server, Jenny, was by herself behind the bar. With the size of the crowd in here, Ewan probably should have hired a couple extra people for the night. Even he was uncharacteristically absent, leaving Jenny to handle the many thirsty mouths of Ballagh.
Just as she made up her mind to hop behind the bar to help, she saw the door leading to Ewan’s upstairs apartment open. Quinn and Ewan slipped out holding hands. He kissed her knuckles before letting her go and slid behind the bar to fill some orders.
Her roommate’s cheeks were flushed as she floated along the high barstools toward where Darcy sat. She was totally gonna bust her best friend’s balls for having a quickie with Ewan upstairs.
Quinn stopped just in front of Darcy with a giant smile on her face. Her eyes were red and a little wet like she’d been crying.
Darcy frowned and stared at Quinn. She wasn’t Sherlock Holmes or anything, but if Quinn were upset, she wouldn’t be smiling.
Her roommate bit her lip and raised her left hand. A sparkly diamond solitaire twinkled from her all-important ring finger.
“Oh, my God!” Darcy screamed. She threw her arms around her best friend’s neck and hugged her. “Oh, my God.”
Darcy looked behind the bar and saw Ewan smiling down at the tap handle he was using to pour a beer. Everyone else in the pub was staring her way.
She didn’t care.
One thing that could be said about Darcy Owens. It might be hard to earn her trust, but once you did, you were in like Flynn. Or rather, you were in like Quinn. She loved her roommate to the moon and back, and she couldn’t have been more excited for her and Ewan.
She pushed Quinn back and smiled. “Congratulations! I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say!”
Quinn beamed, wiping the corner of her eye with her fingertips. “You, speechless?”
Darcy laughed. “When did it happen? How did he ask? Tell me everything!” she said, grabbing ahold of Quinn’s hand to get a closer look at the ring. It was a modest oval cut, probably one or one and a half carats, on a thin diamond platinum band. It was exquisite. Ewan had done a fantastic job.
“He just asked me. Upstairs.”
“Did he get down on one knee?”
Quinn laughed. “No. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and asked if I’d be his wife.”
“That’s it?” Darcy scoffed. “No bended knee? No professions of love?”
“Well, he did read me a lovely poem he wrote.”
Darcy’s mouth fell open. “Ewan writes poetry?”
“Of course not. I was kidding!” Quinn joked. “But it was a perfect. He caught me completely by surprise. The ring is beyond lovely. And I’m seriously floating right now.”
Before Darcy could ask anything else, Mrs. McKenna arrived, yanking Quinn off her stool.
“Oh, my darling girl!” Ewan’s aunt exclaimed. “I just can’t believe it! I had no idea Ewan had even bought a ring.”
Mrs. McKenna hugged Quinn so tight that her face started to turn red. The older woman let her go and cupped Quinn’s face with her hands. “I’m so happy for the two of you. You’re already a part of our family, but congratulations anyway!”
Quinn smiled and gave her future aunt-in-law a hug. Darcy watched the two women and secretly wished that one day, Mrs. McKenna would be able to have the same conversation with her. But instead of aunt-in-law, she’d be Darcy’s mother-in-law. With the way things were going with Sean, she definitely had her doubts.
Katherine McKenna turned her lovely smile to Darcy. It was the same smile that her son always had on his face.
“Another wedding, Darcy. Can you believe it?”
“I know. It’s exciting.”
And Darcy really meant it. Since Ewan wasn’t really close to his parents, and Katherine and Conner McKenna had raised him, she wasn’t sure how that whole soap opera was going to work out. She hoped for Quinn’s sake that it wouldn’t be a hassle. And knowing Ewan, he’d make sure nothing hassled his bride.
“Speaking of exciting, did Sean mention our big New Year’s Eve party?”
Darcy’s heart jumped up in her throat. Mrs. McKenna was talking about the giant family party that the McKennas threw every year on New Year’s Eve. The entire town knew about the party.
When Darcy had been younger, she’d dreamed of Sean inviting her. She’d get to dress up and walk around the party as his date. But this year, she had actually forgotten all about it.
“No, he hasn’t mentioned anything about it.”
Katherine shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I just reminded him last week. I told him to talk to you about it. You must come, Darcy.”
Sean must have talked to his parents about us!
Mrs. McKenna had never invited her in the past. Neither had Sean, for that matter. His parents must know, which meant Sean had actually done what he’d said he was going to do. Darcy smiled, feeling more hope for their relationship than she had in weeks.
Before Darcy could say she’d come, Mrs. McKenna added, “And if you’re seeing anyone, please bring the lucky fella along. The more the merrier!”
Darcy’s smile fell and she felt physical pain in her chest. He hadn’t told them after all.
It seemed like in the past few weeks with all the little ups and downs with Sean, tiny fissures had formed all around her heart. But that one statement from Mrs. McKenna was like a hammer striking a delicate porcelain vase and shattering it for good.
Darcy was tired of the disappointment. She was tired of setting herself up to get hurt. And it wasn’t like Sean hadn’t known things had been shaky for a while. He had to have sensed it too.
Darcy had been making herself
miserable. She was paranoid about how she stacked up against other women that he’d been with before.
Was she as good in bed? Did they have the same types of things in common? Did Sean take her to the same restaurants? Did he find her as attractive? Did she make him laugh more than they did? Was she special to him or was she just a woman he was dating for the time being?
All the problems had started when she’d told Sean about her parents. There was nothing she could do about her past. With how fucked up things had been after that, from his nonstop working and not having time for them to the fact that he kept her a secret from his co-workers and family, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She was waiting for Sean to call her and tell her things weren’t working out. He could have any woman he wanted. What the hell was he doing with her?
She was tired of the worrying. She was tired of losing sleep over it.
She was tired of it all.
“Thanks for the invitation, Mrs. McKenna, but I think I’ll be in Providence during New Year’s. I have a big project I’m working on.”
“Oh, what a pity. The invitation is always open if your plans change, dear.”
Darcy managed a smile for the older woman, but inside she felt completely numb. Sean’s mother went off in search of her nephew, and Quinn turned to Darcy and squeezed her hand.
“Darce, what’s wrong? It looks like someone just told you the world was coming to an end.”
What a coincidence. That was exactly how Darcy felt.
She shook her head and smiled at Quinn. “I was just thinking about something at work.” She tossed back the rest of her whiskey she’d been nursing for the last hour. “Hey, I’m sorry to bug out on you, but I’m gonna get going. But later, you’re gonna give me a play-by-play of Ewan’s proposal, and we can talk wedding shit, all right?”
Quinn nodded wearily. Darcy knew her roommate didn’t believe her, but she didn’t care. She wanted to be alone. She couldn’t think with all the happy people and the noise.
Not In My Wildest Dreams (McKenna Series Book 2) Page 31