Sean's Reckoning

by Sherryl Woods

  “Why don’t you go call them right now and ask them to come over?” she suggested. “We can order a pizza.”

  “I don’t want a pizza. I want Sean to come over,” Kevin said, clearly impatient that she’d missed his point.

  “Not today,” she said flatly.

  “Then can I go see him at the fire station again?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” he asked, clearly warming to this new idea. “I could call first and ask if it’s okay. If you can’t go, Ruby would probably take me. She probably wants to see Hank, anyway.” His expression turned serious. “I still don’t get why they fight so much, but I think she really, really likes Hank, don’t you? And he’s kinda cool, not as cool as Sean, but okay.”

  Deanna wished she could be as sure of Ruby’s feelings as Kevin seemed to be, but Ruby never mentioned the man’s name. That might be a dead giveaway that she cared…or it might mean the opposite, that she hadn’t given him a thought. It wasn’t as if he was hanging around, at least not while Deanna was around. And since Ruby didn’t have a phone at the apartment, the two of them couldn’t be spending hours on the phone talking, either.

  When she didn’t respond to Kevin’s question, he slid his chair closer. “So, is it okay? Can I call Sean?”

  Deanna knew she ought to nip this whole thing in the bud, but the hopeful expression in Kevin’s eyes kept her from saying no outright. After all, Sean was a grown man. If Kevin was making a nuisance of himself, Sean could find some way to tell him not to come by the station. And Ruby knew how to protect herself if she wanted to steer clear of Hank. She certainly hadn’t seemed all that upset that he’d joined her after dinner the other night at Joey’s. Every time Deanna had glanced their way, the two of them had been laughing.

  She reached over and brushed Kevin’s hair off his forehead. He needed a haircut, but he’d refused, telling her he wanted his hair to be as long as Sean’s. “Okay,” she relented. “If Ruby doesn’t mind taking you, ask her to go to the pay phone with you and you can call.” She tossed him enough change for the phone.

  “All right!” Kevin said, bounding out of the kitchen. “I’m gonna call right now.”

  “Ask Ruby first!” Deanna shouted after him. “And take her with you. Do not go to the corner by yourself.”

  “Ask Ruby what?” Ruby inquired, appearing in the kitchen doorway.

  “If you’re willing to take him to the fire station for a visit if Sean says it’s okay.” Deanna studied her reaction. Ruby’s expression remained completely neutral. “You’re not answering me.”

  “Sure, I’ll take him,” Ruby said with a shrug. “It’s no big deal. Why can’t you take him, though?”

  “Because that’s a bad idea,” Deanna said without thinking.

  Ruby regarded her with sudden fascination. “Oh, really?”

  “I meant that I have things to do.”

  “That is not what you meant,” Ruby accused. “You meant that you don’t want to see Sean Devaney again. Why is that? He seems like a perfectly nice guy to me.”

  “He is a nice guy,” Deanna conceded reluctantly.

  “Then what’s the problem?” Ruby studied her face. “Or do I even need to ask? Are you beginning to see that he’s more than just a nice guy? Are you maybe just the teensiest bit attracted to him?”

  “If I admit that I am, will you leave me alone?”

  Ruby’s grin spread. “For the moment,” she agreed. “I will, however, point out that that makes you a complete and total coward for refusing to take Kevin to the fire station.”

  Deanna looked straight into Ruby’s eyes. “Maybe I’m just playing hard to get.”

  “As if,” Ruby scoffed. “You don’t play at that. With you it’s the real thing.” She regarded Deanna with evident fascination. “Have you kissed him yet?”

  Deanna was debating the technical accuracy of a negative response, when Ruby gasped as if she’d just read her mind. “My God, I’ve got that backward, haven’t I? He’s kissed you.”

  “Once,” Deanna admitted reluctantly.

  Ruby studied her with undisguised curiosity. “Well, tell all. How was it? Was it awful? Is that why you don’t want to see him?”

  “No, it was not awful,” Deanna said. “How could it be? We’re talking about Sean Devaney here.”

  Ruby held a hand to her chest. “Oh, my, that good, huh? When did it happen? Never mind. I think I know. It was when he followed you into the kitchen at Joey’s. That’s why you looked completely dazed when you finally wandered out of there, isn’t it?”

  “I did not look dazed,” Deanna said with exasperation.

  “I just call ’em like I see ’em,” Ruby retorted. “Well, well, well…this is definitely a fascinating turn of events. Is Sean the first man who’s gotten close enough to kiss you since Frankie?”

  “Don’t be absurd. Frankie’s been gone for more than five years. Of course other men have kissed me.” Joey. Old Mr. Jenkins at the restaurant. Even one of the law partners at work had given her a friendly peck on the cheek once when they’d said goodbye after an office party.

  “Why is my head screaming ‘Technicality’ when you say that?” Ruby demanded. “I’ll rephrase. Has any sexy man kissed you with mind-blowing passion since Frankie?”

  Deanna sighed. “You’ve been hanging out with lawyers for too long.”

  “Dee?”

  “You’re relentless.”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am,” Ruby said with pride. “Well?”

  “Okay, no.”

  “You did kiss him back, didn’t you? You didn’t freeze up or, worse yet, slug him?”

  “Oh, no,” Deanna said, feeling her cheeks flood with heat. “I definitely kissed him back.”

  Ruby beamed. “This just gets better and better.”

  “It was a kiss,” Deanna reminded her. “It lasted all of thirty seconds, tops. Then he apologized and bolted out of the kitchen.”

  “Smart man,” Ruby said with approval.

  “Smart?”

  “Always leave ’em wanting more. I think that’s especially applicable in your case. If he’d swooped in for another kiss, you probably would have slugged him.”

  Deanna regarded her with dismay. “I do not make a habit of slugging men.”

  “Only because none prior to this have been brave enough to ignore the Do Not Touch warnings posted all around you.”

  Deanna took an exaggerated look around. “I don’t see any signs.”

  “Trust me. Men do. Our Sean is a very brave man. He gets my vote.”

  “Vote for what?”

  “Guy you’re most likely to sleep with.”

  Deanna ignored the fluttering that Ruby’s words set off in the pit of her stomach and held up her hand. “Hold it right there. It’s a pretty big leap from letting the man kiss me once to hopping into bed with him.”

  “Sometimes yes, sometimes no,” Ruby replied knowingly. “I’m betting it’s not much more than a baby step for Sean.”

  “Then isn’t it a good thing I don’t intend to see him again?” Deanna shot back.

  “Coward,” Ruby accused softly.

  Deanna met her friend’s direct gaze without flinching. “Darn straight.”

  For nearly a month now, Deanna had been going out of her way to avoid him, Sean concluded when Kevin and Ruby showed up at the fire station without her yet again. It was getting on his nerves. So was watching this bizarre dance Hank and Ruby seemed to be doing. They barely spoke. Hank merely watched her as if she possessed the key to eternal youth.

  After observing this same ritual for an entire afternoon, Sean finally decided he’d had enough. Since Hank wouldn’t answer his questions, he decided to try Ruby. He sent Kevin off to the kitchen to bring back sodas for all of them.

  “You and Hank have a fight?” he inquired as casually as possible.

  Ruby regarded him with an unflinching gaze. “No. Why do you ask?”

  Sean shrugged, uncomfortable in his unfamili
ar role as meddler. “Seemed for a while as if you two were really hitting it off. Now it doesn’t.”

  Her expression brightened. “Sort of like you and Deanna?”

  He frowned at that. “Who said anything about Deanna?”

  “Since we’re discussing our personal lives, I figured it was a fair question. You going to ask her out?”

  Sean was flustered by the question. “I hadn’t thought about it.”

  “Why not? Didn’t you enjoy kissing her?” Ruby asked bluntly.

  He groaned. He’d thought that was a relatively well-kept secret. “She told you about that?”

  “Not willingly,” Ruby admitted with a grin. “I pried it out of her.”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and wished he had the power to make himself sink through the floor. “Yeah, well, that was probably a mistake.”

  “Me prying or you kissing?”

  He chuckled despite himself. “Probably both.”

  “You regret kissing her?” she asked, clearly disappointed. “Because I don’t think she does. I think she’s scared, not sorry.”

  Sean was intrigued by her interpretation. “Why would she be scared?”

  “Because she hasn’t dated much since Frankie left. The scumbag really destroyed her self-confidence, if you know what I mean. She doesn’t trust her own judgment when it comes to men, so she avoids all of them.”

  Sean studied her with a narrowed gaze. “Is there a point to all this insight you’re sharing with me?”

  “Just that you’re the first guy she’s shown any interest in. Add to that the fact you’re a nice guy, and that makes you the perfect candidate to help her get her feet wet.” She surveyed him closely. “Unless that kiss scared you, too. Is that it, Sean? Are you as much of a coward as she is?”

  Sean ignored the taunt. “Who told you I was a nice guy?”

  “Nobody told me. I am a good judge of men. Not that you could tell it by the one I married, but I learned a lot from that mistake. My standards have improved.”

  “Is that why you ended things with Hank?”

  She regarded him with surprise. “Who said I ended things with Hank?”

  “I just thought…”

  “You thought I’d dumped him because I figured out that he’s a big flirt.”

  “To be honest, yes.”

  Ruby patted his cheek. “Honey, that just makes him a challenge,” she said.

  Shaking his head, Sean watched her as she sashayed off toward the kitchen in search of Kevin. He had to give her credit. She understood Hank probably better than Hank understood himself, which raised an interesting point. Did she understand him, too? Was he avoiding Deanna because he was a coward?

  Yep, no question about it. With his reputation on the line, he picked up the phone on the wall, took a slip of wrinkled paper from his pocket and dialed her number at the restaurant. He was relieved when Deanna was the one who answered on the first ring.

  “Ruby, is that you?”

  “No, it’s Sean.”

  “Oh.”

  “I thought maybe we could go out for dinner sometime. Are you interested?”

  Silence greeted the blunt question, then she finally demanded, “Did Ruby put you up to this?”

  Sean chuckled. “Sweetheart, Ruby may be able to manipulate your pal Joey, but she doesn’t get to me.”

  “That doesn’t mean she didn’t try. I know she and Kevin are over there.”

  “Look, leave Ruby out of this. It’s a simple question. Would you like to have dinner with me sometime or not? Yes or no?”

  “You could come by Joey’s,” she conceded eventually. “We could eat together when I take my break.”

  Sean bit back a grin at her attempt to avoid being on a real date with him. “As attractive as that offer is, I think I’d prefer a time and place when I can have your undivided attention.”

  “Why?”

  Sean barely smothered a laugh. He was tempted to suggest that she must not date much if she couldn’t figure out the answer to that one herself, but he decided that would probably just infuriate her. If Ruby was telling him the truth, she really didn’t date much.

  “So we’ll have time to talk,” he said instead.

  “About what?” she asked suspiciously.

  This time he did laugh. “The weather. Kevin. Hank and Ruby. The Red Sox. Whatever we decide we want to talk about. We’re adults. We have varied backgrounds. The possibilities are endless.”

  “Oh.”

  “Deanna, this isn’t a trap,” he said gently. “I just thought you might enjoy a night out with somebody waiting on you for a change. There’s no hidden agenda.” He hesitated, then, unable to resist teasing her just a bit, he added, “I won’t even kiss you again unless you ask me to.”

  He waited for a response, but she remained perfectly quiet. “Would you be more interested if I said I would kiss you?” he asked.

  She laughed, although it sounded to him as if her laughter was a little choked.

  “That’s what I was waiting to hear, of course,” she said gamely. She drew in a deep breath. “This invitation of yours—it’s not very specific. Are you just testing the waters, or did you have a particular night in mind?”

  “First night we’re both free,” he said at once, ridiculously pleased that she was considering the invitation. “I’m off tonight and tomorrow night, then again over the weekend. How’s your schedule?”

  “I’m working tonight and tomorrow night and over the weekend,” she said.

  “Including Sunday night?”

  “No. Actually I’m off by three on Sunday afternoon, but I’m usually pretty beat. I don’t know what kind of company I’d be. And that’s usually the time I reserve for Kevin.”

  “Then bring him along,” Sean said, seizing on the excuse to avoid risking another one of those sizzling kisses. “I don’t mind.”

  “You don’t?”

  “Of course not,” he said with total sincerity. “He’s a terrific kid. Besides, you know I’d be the last person to want to steal some of your time with him.”

  “Then Sunday sounds good,” she said.

  “I’ll pick you up at five. We’ll make it an early evening, since Kevin has school the next day.” It also meant less time with Deanna on a sultry spring night when the senses tended to take over.

  “Perfect,” she said, sounding oddly relieved, as well.

  If they weren’t a sorry pair, Sean thought wryly as he hung up. He wasn’t sure which of them was worse. Bottom line, they were both cowards.

  Which raised an interesting point. Neither of them would have a thing to fear if there were no attraction at work between them. That meant they were both terrified for a reason. And it went back to that kiss.

  So, he concluded happily, he had absolutely nothing to fear as long as he didn’t kiss her again.

  Of course, as soon as he hit on that as the perfect solution, the desire to do the exact opposite and kiss her senseless slammed into him and wouldn’t let go. Sunday night began to loom as a monumental test of his willpower. He had this gut-deep feeling he was going to lose.

  Chapter Six

  Ruby listened to Deanna’s announcement that Sean was taking her and Kevin out to dinner on Sunday without saying a word.

  “Well, say something,” Deanna finally said. “I thought you’d be dancing around the room. This is what you’ve been hoping for, isn’t it?”

  “Actually, what I was hoping for was you and Sean, all alone in some romantic setting where you could pick up where that kiss left off,” Ruby retorted. “Have you lost your mind? The first sexy man you’ve been attracted to in years asks you on a date, and you’re taking your five-year-old son along?”

  Deanna frowned. “Sean didn’t seem to mind.”

  “No, I don’t imagine he did,” Ruby scoffed. “He may be the only person in Boston more terrified than you are of having a real relationship.”

  “And you reached this conclusion how?”

  “By
talking to him,” Ruby explained with exaggerated patience. “It’s a fascinating concept. You should try it sometime.”

  They were interrupted by the sound of the buzzer from downstairs.

  “That’s probably Sean,” Deanna said, actually relieved by the interruption. For once, seeing Sean seemed preferable to listening to any more of Ruby’s analysis of her cowardice. “Will you get it, while I go and hurry Kevin along?”

  “If it weren’t for the fact that your son would be disappointed by having to stay home after you’ve promised him an evening with his hero, I would never let you get away with this,” Ruby said, her expression grim.

  Deanna frowned at her. “It’s not your call.”

  Ruby sighed. “No, sadly, that’s true.” She waved Deanna out of the room. “Go. Fetch Kevin. I’ll get the door. Maybe I’ll have more luck explaining to Sean how real, grown-up dates are supposed to work.”

  “Don’t even think about it,” Deanna warned, almost afraid to leave her friend alone with Sean. Ruby rarely hesitated to speak her mind.

  “Oh, go on,” Ruby ordered. “I promise I won’t embarrass you.”

  Deanna left the room reluctantly. To her relief, when she returned—without Kevin, who was still in the bathroom—Ruby and Sean were discussing baseball, not the rules of dating.

  “Hank’s a big baseball fan, too,” Sean said, his expression completely innocent. “Maybe we could all go to a Red Sox game sometime.”

  “Sure,” Ruby said easily, surprising Deanna with her ready agreement.

  Sean seemed taken aback, as well, but he rallied quickly. “I’ll talk to Hank and work on getting the tickets, then. You and Kevin up for it, Deanna?”

  “Kevin would be thrilled,” Deanna said honestly.

  Sean’s gaze locked with hers. “And you?”

  She flushed under the intensity of his gaze. “Sure. I’d love to go.” What could be safer than a ballpark, surrounded by thousands of screaming fans, one of them her five-year-old son? If there was a way for Kevin to continue seeing Sean from time to time that wouldn’t put her heart at risk, she was willing to consider it.