‘Now that I wasn’t expecting—underwear to match your dress.’ He closed the gap between them and traced the outline of her strapless lacy bra with the tip of his finger.
‘I had it dyed at the same time as my shoes,’ she said.
‘Attention to detail—I like that,’ he said approvingly.
She slid her palms against his pectoral muscles. ‘Very nice,’ she said, and let her hands slide down to his abdomen. ‘A perfect six pack. I wasn’t expecting that.’
‘I don’t spend the whole day in a chair. The gym gives me time to think about things,’ he said.
‘Good plan.’ She slipped the soft cotton from his shoulders.
‘So now I’m naked to the waist, and you’re not. You said we were in this together, Claire.’
‘Then do something about it,’ she invited.
Sean smiled, unclipped her bra and let the lacy garment fall to the floor. Then scooped her up, carried her to the bed, and Claire stopped thinking.
CHAPTER FIVE
CLAIRE’S MOBILE SHRILLED. Still with her eyes closed, she groped for the phone on the bedside table. ‘Hello?’
‘C’mon, sleepyhead! You went to bed before I did—you can’t still be snoozing,’ Sammy said cheerfully. ‘There’s a pile of warm pastries and a bowl of freshly picked, juicy Italian peaches down here with our name on them. And the best coffee ever.’
Breakfast.
Claire had arranged to meet Sammy for breakfast.
And right now she was still in bed. With Sean. Whose arms were still wrapped round her, keeping her close.
‘Uh—I’ll be down as soon as I can,’ Claire said hastily. ‘If you’re hungry, start without me.’
‘Don’t blame me if the pastries are all gone by the time you get here. See you soon,’ Sammy said, her voice full of laughter.
‘Who was that?’ Sean asked when Claire put the phone down.
‘Sammy. We arranged to have breakfast together this morning.’ Claire dragged in a breath. ‘Except...Sean, I...’ She frowned. ‘And now I’m being incoherent and stupid, and that isn’t me.’
‘Lack of sleep,’ he said, nuzzling her shoulder. ‘Which is as much my fault as yours.’
Oh, help. When he was being sweet and warm like this, it made her want what she knew she couldn’t have. And she really had to be sensible about this. ‘Sean—we really can’t do this,’ she blurted out.
‘Do what?’
‘Be together. Or let anyone know about what happened last night.’ She twisted round to face him. ‘You and me—you know it would never work out between us in a month of Sundays. We’re too different. You have a twenty-year plan for everything, and I hate being boxed in like that. We’d drive each other bananas.’
‘So, what? We’re going to pretend last night didn’t happen?’ he asked.
‘That’d probably be the best thing,’ she said. ‘Because then it won’t be awkward when Ash asks us both over to see the wedding photos and what have you.’
‘Uh-huh.’ His face was expressionless.
And now she felt horrible. Last night had been a revelation about just how much attention Sean paid to things and how good he’d made her feel. And it had been better between them than she’d ever dreamed it would be as a starry-eyed teenager. If only they weren’t so different, she’d be tempted to start a proper relationship with him. Seriously tempted. But she knew it wasn’t going to work out between them, and she didn’t want her oldest friendship to become collateral damage of a fling that didn’t last. She swallowed hard. ‘Last night... You made it good for me. Really good.’
‘Dear John—it’s not you, it’s me,’ he intoned, raising an eyebrow.
‘It’s both of us, and you know it,’ she said. ‘You hate the fact that I follow my heart. I know what you call me, Sean.’ Just as she was pretty sure that he knew what she called him.
He shrugged. ‘I guess you’re right.’
So why did it make her feel so bad—so guilty? ‘I’m not dumping you, and you’re not dumping me, because we were never really together in the first place,’ she said. ‘We’d be a disaster as a couple.’
‘Probably,’ he agreed.
‘Sammy’s waiting for me downstairs. I don’t get to see her that much, with her job taking her away so much. I promised her I’d be there. I really have to go,’ Claire said, feeling even more awkward. She wanted to stay. She wanted to pretend that she and Sean were two completely different people and that it would have a chance of working out between them.