For a moment, he just stared at her. Last night had been the most amazing night of his life, and it scared the shit out of him.
He’d forced himself to accept Trudy's invitation to spend the night together. He had to move on from this crazy attraction he’d developed for Dianna. By the time he’d offered to drive his friend home, he was actually looking forward to being with Trudy. That gave him hope that he and Dianna could return to normal, that it wasn’t as impossible as he’d originally thought.
Then he’d played their little game.
He’d leaned in to kiss her, fully expecting her to find some clever way to stop him like always.
But she hadn’t, and when his lips touched hers, the heat that had overtaken his body shocked him. That she hadn’t intervened shocked him.
His animalistic need roused something within him he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop.
When she ran, his instinct to chase her was born of something primal, but also of something pure, the need coming straight from his soul.
When he’d followed her to her room, he didn’t want to hear any excuses. All he wanted was her.
Thoughts of how to handle the morning after never entered his mind.
A ping came from where he’d thrown his pants last night, pulling him from his thoughts. Shit! The ringtone for his notifications. If he didn’t dismiss it, it would continue every ten minutes until he did.
Dianna stirred. Sean held his breath until she settled back to sleep.
God, she looked so beautiful. Maybe they could find a way to make this work. Maybe after years of living in denial, it was time to take a chance and see if they’d been wrong about insisting they were just friends.
Maybe he could be the man she needed him to be.
With a mental sigh of relief that she hadn’t woken, Sean snatched up his jeans and hurried out of her room to the bathroom. He needed to regroup. He needed to focus. He needed to gather the courage to ask her to be his and his alone.
A ray of hope swelled his chest, squashing that sense of dread.
Last night had awakened something deep inside him. To say it had been the best sex he’d ever had would be an understatement. It hadn’t just been the physical pleasure, but the emotional connection, something he’d never experienced with anyone else. It had overtaken him. He had almost lost control.
He longed to relive it.
Once he was inside the bathroom and the door closed, he went to the sink. After washing his face and using toothpaste on his finger to clean his teeth, he checked his appearance in the mirror above the sink.
There was something different about him—like a calm had settled over his features. He shrugged. That’s what awesome sex and a good night’s sleep will do for you. And he had slept. Better than he had in years, and he knew it was because of Dianna.
Yes, it was all about her, and he was finally ready to accept that.
Standing tall, Sean took another deep breath. He was going to go in there, wake her up and lay his heart on the line, and with any luck, Dianna would agree to give it a try.
If she didn’t…
He didn’t want to consider what the future held if she didn’t.
Just as he placed his hand on the doorknob, his cell pinged again. He pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. Nine-ten. What appointment had he made for this morning that he’d set his alarm for nine? He swiped the screen and went to notifications. Oh, right, he was supposed to play a game of basketball with Tucker and Dianna’s brothers, Derek and Patrick.
Ha! Like that’s going to happen now. He pulled up his text messages, wanting to let his brother know he wasn’t going to make the game.
But he never got to Tucker’s name.
Four new messages from Trudy waited for him.
2:17- Hey, U off work yet? I could come there or U here. Whichever ;) I’m ready.
2:39- Wow, U musta been real busy 2B working this L8. I’m up. Let me know when U can get here.
3:03- Hey Sean, I hope everything’s ok. Call or text.
3:18- I guess ur blowing me off again. Next time be a man and tell me to my face.
Sean stared at the messages, a rock settling in his gut. He read Trudy’s messages again and then scrolled through all the women who’d texted him but he’d ignored the week he attempted to seduce Dianna. Two just texted once, another showed a bit of annoyance, but the last one firmly reminded him of who he really was.
You’re just like every other sweet-talking guy. A loser who will end up old and alone.
Okay, that was a bit harsh and a tad overly dramatic. If he remembered correctly, she was an up and coming actress who’d wanted a taste of summer in the Hamptons, but was unable to afford the ridiculous price tag. They’d spent a couple of nights together in the beginning of the summer before she had to be in California for an audition. He’d forgotten all about her when Sonia came along.
Why? Because that’s what playboys did.
He couldn’t do this to Dianna. She deserved someone who would treat her like the princess she was, not someone who would screw her until he got bored and moved on.
With a sudden sense of panic, Sean snuck back into Dianna’s room and collected the rest of his clothes. He’d call her later and then they’d talk. Right now, he needed time to think.
Sean left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He pulled on his clothes and took a step down the hall.
He hesitated. No, he couldn’t leave it like this. He was acting just like he’d warned her Dean would.
Reaching for the doorknob, he grasped the cold metal, but stopped short of turning it. Instead he placed his hand on the door and laid his head against it. Angst surged through him. If he went back in there now, he knew as sure as he was standing here, he’d end up making love to her again. He couldn’t do that. He needed to make a clean break.
“Please forgive me, Princess,” he whispered and rushed from her home.
Twenty minutes later, Sean pulled into his brother’s driveway. He made his way toward the basketball court Tucker had in his backyard, and stopped. Derek and Patrick were already at it, taking practice shots, and playfully trash-talking each other.
Each standing about six foot five, they had thick auburn hair, but their eyes were the exact emerald green as their older sister.
God, how was he going to play basketball with Dianna’s brothers and act like he hadn’t just fucked everything up?
Wishing he had thought this through, he slowly made his way toward the three men.
“Well it’s about time.” Derek playfully punched Sean’s arm.
Patrick tossed the ball to him. “Yeah, where have you been? Hot date last night?”
“I overslept.” He couldn’t look him in the eye, knowing he must have I screwed your sister written all over his face. “Let’s play.”
“Yeehaw!” Derek clapped his hands. “Be prepared to get your ass whipped Donovan.”
Tucker took a pull on the cigarette dangling from his lips. “I’m shaking in my shoes.”
“Get your hyperventilating bag ready, dude. Sean looks about as sturdy as a paper doll and you’ve already had, what? Two cocktails?”
“They were Bloody Marys. C’mon, I’m not a bum.” Tucker grinned and tossed the butt to the ground before stepping on it.
“Yeah, besides, it’s five o’clock somewhere. Right, Tuck?” Patrick asked.
Derek shook his head. “In the morning, maybe.”
“Please,” Tucker waved away Derek’s concern. “If people waited until five in the afternoon to have a drink, Sean would be out of business, right, bro?”
He shrugged, wishing they would just shut up so they could finish the game so he could head for the bar and bury himself in work. “Let’s do this.”
Sean never played worse in his life. Thoughts of the night before invaded his mind, causing him to lose focus on the game. He shouldn’t have left her. He should’ve sucked it up and faced whatever happened like a man.
Just for
a moment, he put himself in Dianna’s shoes, wondering what it would feel like to wake up and find him gone without even a note. The hurt she’d feel because of him had him tripping over his own feet.
After the second game Tucker called it quits. “I’d love to play another one guys, but it’s not fair to have two against one.” He shot an accusing look at Sean.
“Aw, come on,” Derek said. “Let us beat you one more time and then we’ll have mercy on you.”
Tucker shook his head. “Na, I think I’ve had enough slaughter for one day.”
“Suit yourself.” Patrick tossed the ball to Sean. “Come on, let’s go hit Dianna up for some breakfast.”
Sean turned away, throwing shots at the net. “No, you go ahead.”
When his statement was met with silence, he glanced in their direction.
Patrick and Derek stared at him.
“What?”
“You always come with us, even if you’re not hungry.” Derek quirked a brow. “What’s up with you, man?”
“Nothing. I’ll catch you later.” Sean tried again to make it into the net.
Derek shrugged and turned to Tucker. “He’s your problem now.”
In a chorus of “We Will Rock You,” Derek and Patrick hopped into the SUV and drove off.
Tucker strolled over to Sean. “Wanna play some one on one?”
“You said you didn’t want to play anymore.”
Sean tossed the ball again, but Tucker jumped up and caught it. “I did, but I need to win at least once today.”
“And you think you can beat me?”
“With the way you’re playing, Grandma could beat you.”
Sean walked over to the patio table and with a surge of anger smacked his water bottle across the yard.
“Hey, I don’t’ really think Grandma could beat you. Well, maybe, but barely.” Tucker jogged over. “What’s your problem today?”
He braced his hands on the glass top and lowered his head. “Last night, I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
Tucker snorted. “The biggest mistake you ever made was buying those shorts.”
“I’m not kidding, Tuck.”
“So, what did you do? Drive too fast in a school zone?”
He had to tell someone. Otherwise the guilt would eat a hole through his gut. “I slept with Dianna.”
His brother stared at him. At any other time, the shock on his face would’ve been funny. Then his expression turned into a guise of fury. Before he knew what was happening, Tucker pulled back his fist and landed a jab right at Sean’s jaw.
“Shit!” He staggered backwards. “Tucker, what the hell!”
“What the fuck is wrong with you, man? Dianna is off-limits. You know that.”
Yes, he did. They’d always had an unspoken rule where she was concerned. She was to be cherished and protected, not someone to have a casual fling with.
Tucker grabbed the front of Sean’s T-shirt and yanked him nose to nose. “Did you seduce her?”
“No!”
“She was hitting the wine pretty hard last night, did you take advantage of her?”
He pushed him away, his anger rising now, but Tuck held on tight. “You know I’d never do that.”
“Do I? Because a few minutes ago, I never would’ve believed you’d sleep with her either.”
Yanking his shirt from his brother’s grasp, Sean leaned against the table, cradling his face in his hand. “It just happened.”
“How, after thirty years, did you just happen to have sex with your best friend?”
Sean stared above Tucker’s head, reliving the events that would be forever seared into his mind. “She didn’t stop me.”
Tucker prepared his fist again. “You’d better explain that.”
His brother knew about the little game he and Dianna started years ago. Hell, Tucker had even teased her a time or two himself. So when Sean explained how he’d leaned in for a kiss and Dianna didn’t stop him, Tucker’s clenched fist relaxed somewhat.
“So, it really did just happen.”
Sean nodded.
With a sigh, Tucker leaned against the table next to him, lighting another cigarette. “Why now?”
Something Sean had been unwilling to contemplate was nagging him at the back of his mind. His brother asked a good question. Why, after all these years, had Dianna suddenly let the teasing get serious?
He could think of only one conclusion and it singed a bit.
“I have my theories,” was all he was willing to say.
But Tucker had other ideas. “Such as?”
“I can’t tell you without betraying her confidence.”
“Oh, no, dude. I’m in it this far, you might as well bring me in all the way.”
Maybe if he told his brother everything that had happened from the day he found out about Dianna’s plan to lose her virginity to chasing her into her house after she ran from him, Tucker could offer a different perspective.
By the time he was done, Tucker’s face was one big ball of red. “I am trying really hard not pummel you right now.”
“Why? I told you, everything that happened last night she started three weeks ago with the stupid plan.”
His brother’s features softened, and his shoulders relaxed. “You’re right. Maybe it was just her way of getting what she’d wanted all along without you feeling guilty about it.”
Dianna had said as much the night she’d called a halt to his seduction. Had she planned this all along?
No. He wouldn’t believe she would do that to him.
“It wasn’t like that. Last night was…”
“Awkward?”
Sean shook his head.
“Weird?”
“Amazing,” he whispered.
Tucker stared at him for a long moment, letting out a long stream of smoke. “Wow.”
“What am I going to do, Tuck?”
His brother raised his hands in a helpless gesture. “Finally admit it, I guess.”
“Admit what?”
“That you’re in love with her.”
“What?” Sean pushed away from the table in one swift motion, moving to the chair that held his duffle bag. “You’re out of your mind.”
“Come on, Sean, stop lying to yourself.”
He searched through the bag for another bottle of water, resting it against his aching jaw. “I love her, sure, but I’m not in love with her.”
“Whatever you say, bro.” Tucker stubbed out his cigarette, then scooped up the basketball and walked over to the court.
Sean slammed the bottle down and followed, angry that his brother apparently didn’t believe him. “I’m not.”
“Okay, fine you’re not.” He sailed the ball through the air and found its target. “So, now that she’s no longer off-limits, is she worth the effort?”
Blind rage spread through Sean’s body. In seconds he tackled Tucker, forcing him to the ground. Sean hovered over him, spitting out his anger. “If you lay one finger on her, I’ll beat the shit out of you, I swear.”
Instead of knocking him off or fighting back, Tucker gave him a lopsided smile. “But you’re not in love with her.”
Well, that was an effective sucker punch. Such an intense surge of jealousy had rushed through him when he envisioned Tucker with Dianna, he wanted to inflict serious pain.
His anger eased as he climbed to his feet and returned to the patio table, flopping into one of the chairs. Visions of last night swam through his mind unchecked and he allowed himself to relive those moments in her arms. “Maybe I am.”
“So what now?” Tucker sat in the lounge next to him.
“I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t plan last night, but she used me, Tuck. I’m not sure I can get past that.”
“How do you know she used you?”
“It’s the only explanation I can come up with for how she acted last night.”
“Really?” Tucker gave him his are you that fucking stupid look. “You can’t think of any
other reason?”
Sean shook his head.
His brother lowered his face into his hands and whispered, “I guess you really are that fucking stupid.” Then he lifted his head and glared at Sean. “Isn’t it possible she’s in love with you too?”
The small ray of hope he’d felt earlier in Dianna’s bathroom peeked through the gloom. Sean sat up straighter. “You think that’s possible?”
Opening the cooler at his side, Tucker pulled out a pitcher and filled a chilled glass with dark red liquid. “After decades of denial, you just realized you’re in love with your best friend. At this point, I’d say anything is possible.”
Could that possibly be true? And even if she were in love with him, was he worthy of it?
Not right now, he guessed, but if she did love him in return and put her faith in him, maybe one day he would be.
Jumping to his feet, Sean pulled Tucker into a headlock and kissed the top of his head.
He jerked away. “Dude, don’t make me punch you again.”
“You’re the best, Tuck. I’ll talk to you later.”
With a renewed sense of purpose, Sean hurried to his car. He had to plan on how to make things right, but first he needed to let her know he hadn’t abandoned her.
Once settled into his Porsche, he grabbed his phone and pulled up his text messages. He deleted all but the ones Trudy sent last night. She deserved an explanation as well. Then he brought up Dianna’s name. With his thumbs poised over the virtual keyboard, he froze.
Should he call? No, that was a bad idea. First, her brothers were on their way to her, and second, he wanted to talk to her face to face, and knowing Dianna, she wouldn’t let him get off the phone that easily, regardless of whether her brothers were there or not.
What on earth was he going to say to her? In the end, he decided to keep it simple.
Sorry for running out this morning. Had an appointment. I’ll come by later.
He waited a few minutes for her response, but when none came, he figured she was still asleep and put his car into drive.
He had some shopping to do.
Chapter Eighteen
WIND CHIMES PIERCED Dianna’s dreams. With a groan, she hugged her pillow and moved away from the offending sound. But something in her mind nudged her to wake up.
Angels in Seashore Cove (Love and Laugh in Seashore Cove Book 2) Page 20