With This Kiss (11 page)

What an asshole this guy was. Sean could barely remain in his seat. He wanted to rush into the entry and ram his fist through Mark’s face.

But something held him back: the dark knowledge that
he couldn’t listen to the conversation if he announced his presence to them.

And it wasn’t like Rebecca had kicked the guy out yet.

Jesus, she wasn’t going to go back to him, was she?

“It was always about you, wasn’t it, Mark?” she finally said in a soft but firm voice that just barely carried into the back office.

“No, I’ve changed. I swear I have. I’m ready to hear what you need from me. I’m ready for you to tell me how I can win you back.”

“Do you really want to know, Mark?”

“Yes, I really do, baby.”

“Go back home. Go tell your wife you’re sorry you’ve been such a terrible husband and father and hug your kids. You don’t want me.” She paused. “You only want what you can’t have.”

“Rebecca…”

Sean didn’t like the edge that had crept into the man’s tone. Instinctively wanting to protect her, he left the shadows.

“Is there a problem, Rebecca?”

Sean didn’t waste much time looking at Mark, besides confirming that he was scum. Good looking and well dressed, but scum nonetheless.

Clearly flustered and embarrassed by the sure knowledge that he’d overheard everything, Rebecca said, “Sean, I didn’t know you were in the office. I was just telling Mark that I needed to get back to work. Right away.”

Mark’s eyes moved between the two of them, narrowing before he returned his gaze to her.

“When do you get off, Rebecca? I’ll wait for you so that we can talk privately.”

Before he could think about what he was doing, Sean put a protective hand on the small of her back. Her warmth instantly permeated his hand.

Her entire body stiffened at his touch and she shifted to the side so that she was just out of reach. Sean knew he shouldn’t have touched her so intimately, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. It had been pure instinct to want to protect her.

“Look, my schedule is really busy right now, Mark. I can’t—”

“I came all this way, Rebecca,” the man whined. “At least hear me out. Just let me take you somewhere private tonight to explain everything to you. To try and make you understand.”

From his spot in the peanut gallery, Sean could see Rebecca reluctantly giving in.

“I have a meeting tonight, but I could probably spare a few minutes this afternoon.”

He couldn’t miss the triumphant look on Mark’s face as he said, “Tell me when and where and I’ll be there. Your terms this time, Rebecca.”

“At four p.m. Follow signs to the public dock. I’ll meet you out there.”

Sean enjoyed the sight of Mark’s eyes widening far more than he should have.

“Are you kidding? The public dock? It’s freezing out there. Can’t we meet somewhere warmer?”

“I thought you said they were my terms this time?”

The other man did a quick double take, almost as if he didn’t quite recognize the woman standing in front of him. Or her strength.

“Okay,” he said, putting his hands up. “You’re right. I’ll be there.”

Rebecca held herself perfectly still until he had left the inn. Only then did she let her breath go in a slow exhale, her shoulders dropping slightly from her previous battle-ready position.

Sean half expected her to make an excuse about what had just happened. But he should have known better than that by now, shouldn’t he? Because Rebecca didn’t act like other people; she didn’t seem to know how to brush awkward under the rug like anyone else would have.

“I’m really sorry about that, Sean,” she said softly. “I’m just glad no guests came in while he was here.”

Twenty years ago, Sean had learned how quickly things could change in fifteen minutes. How his mother could go from being the person he loved and trusted most in the world to a virtual stranger. Since then, he’d been careful to keep himself far out of the path of any emotions that might put him back in those teenager’s shoes again.

Since meeting Rebecca, however, pushing his feelings away like he always had been had been a surprisingly difficult task. But now that he knew she’d been dating a married man, a man with children, he was glad he hadn’t made the mistake of thinking she was a better person than she obviously was.

Instead of accepting her apology for what had just happened, he said, “I’ve been reviewing the inn’s files. I have a few questions for you.”

She raised her eyebrows at his abrupt change of subject and the hard tone of his voice. “Is that something they teach you in business school? To act like nothing happened when we all know it just did?”

No one had ever been this upfront with him about their
personal life. Especially not an employee. He had no business caring about whom she dated.

It shouldn’t matter, damn it, even though she should have never messed around with a married man.

Wanting to make himself perfectly clear, once and for all, he said, “Your personal life is personal. And so is mine.”

Her big, clear eyes went flat.

“Why don’t you show me those files you were looking at. I’m sure I can clear any issues up for you. And then we can move forward with your training.”

Any easiness that had been between them earlier completely disappeared and didn’t make a return over the next hours as they pored over spreadsheets and files.

At four p.m. Rebecca looked up at the clock on the wall behind the desk and said, “I need to get going.”

Sean hadn’t liked the look of Mark and certainly didn’t trust him. Rebecca going out into the cold to meet with him with no one around to make sure she was okay didn’t sit right with him. Not because she wasn’t strong enough to deal with the guy—behind her seemingly soft exterior was a core of steel—but because it would make him feel immeasurably better to stay close to her just in case the douche bag tried anything.

Which was what had Sean a breath away from grabbing his coat and demanding to go with her to meet her ex.

“I don’t think you should go meet him this afternoon, Rebecca.”

Her eyes met his, clearly irritated by his intrusion into her life. A personal life that he’d told her just hours ago he wanted nothing to do with.

“He’s not dangerous. I can take care of myself.”

He knew she wanted to believe that, but didn’t she see how her kindness made people want to grab hold of her and never let go until they’d drained her dry? No wonder her mother wanted to come and drag her back home.

He caught his thoughts too late. How could he still be thinking any of that after what he’d just learned? She’d been the other woman. She was responsible for a marriage breaking up. What if one of Mark’s kids had caught him with Rebecca?

It would have scarred them for life.

“If something happened to you, Stu would never forgive me.”

“Ah. Yes. Stu.” Each word was flatter, harder than the one that came before. “Well, he isn’t here to stop me, is he?”

And clearly, thought Sean as she practically slammed the door in his face, he’d better not, either.

“He’s watching us, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know, Mark. What Sean does is his own business.”

For a moment there she’d thought he was going to insist on coming with her. She never would have let him do that in a million years… so, then, why did she appreciate knowing he was, in fact, watching over her? Especially because Mark’s behavior did suddenly make her more than a little nervous.

“I don’t like the way he looked at you,” her ex said as if he had any claim to her at all.

Rebecca stared at him. Had she really been in love with him? Or had she just been in love with a fantasy of the perfect man?

It was almost funny just how imperfect Mark had ended up being.

Maybe next time around instead of searching for perfect she should look for imperfect so that things could only get better, instead of worse.

The thought had her mouth moving up into an unexpected smile.

“You’re so beautiful, Rebecca,” Mark said, brushing her cheek softly with the back of his knuckles.

A year ago, she would have nuzzled into his caress, rather than flinching and pulling away.

Things had changed.

“I need to get back to the inn, Mark. I just came out here to tell you that I’m not going to get back together with you.”

Anger simmered in the eyes that she’d once looked to for approval. For what she’d thought was love. But he banked it and tried to give her a caring look.

“I remember the way you cried when you found out about my wife. You can’t have gotten over me that quickly.”

“I cried because I was ashamed of what I’d done.”

He blinked, before recovering quickly. “Oh, baby, you weren’t to blame for anything. Dating you on the side was the only way we could be together. But now we won’t have to hide our love from anyone.”

He was reaching for her again, but before he could touch her she backed even farther away. Sean had been right about one thing—coming here to try and talk some sense into Mark had been a mistake.

“I don’t love you, Mark. How could I, when you don’t even know what love really means?”

The wind whipped up around them and she pulled her jacket tighter around her.

“And you think you do?” His laugh was harsh. Mean. “I saw the way you looked at that guy in that podunk little inn. You think he’s going to give you what you’re looking for?”

His words almost made her stumble. They certainly had her heart filling with dread at the knowledge that what she already felt for Sean was big enough for Mark to see.

“Do you really think there’s a man out there who is ever going to be able to live up to your fairy tale?”

Anger had her whirling around to face the man she wished with all her heart she’d never met, never wasted two years of her life on. “There’s a big difference between lying about every single thing for two years and wanting a fairy tale.”

Letting the wind whip her hair and her clothes around on the public dock, she let the anger drain out of her. The man standing before her simply wasn’t worth it.

“Good-bye, Mark. Good luck with your marriage.”

But instead of heading back to the inn, she walked across the park and headed for Lake Yarns on Main Street even though the Monday night knitting group wasn’t meeting for another hour or so, and she didn’t have any of her things.

She just couldn’t go back to the inn. Not yet. Not until she’d calmed down. At least she had something to thank Mark for. He’d just reminded her of all the reasons to keep her distance from Sean. Facts were facts: she always fell for powerful, self-absorbed, cold men.

She wasn’t going to do it ever again.

Sean kept his eyes trained on Mark until he got back into his car and sped away too fast on Emerald Lake’s icy roads.

The whole time she’d been out there with that scumbag, he hadn’t been able to breathe right.

Telling himself she was a valuable employee and he would have been just as concerned about another employee’s well-being, he didn’t realize his mother was standing beside him, following his line of vision out the window until she said, “Is everything all right, Sean?”

Hell no, he wasn’t fine. He was thinking far too much, far too often, about a woman who shouldn’t even be on his radar.

Having no intention of sharing any of that with his mother, he simply said, “The snow is going to melt soon.”

He moved away from the window and she followed him over to the check-in desk. Only a coward would pray for a guest to walk in asking for help right now. And, unfortunately, only a lucky coward would see that prayer answered.

“I’m really sorry, Sean, about what happened over at the house yesterday. You shouldn’t have had to see your father and me behave like that.” She waved her hand in the air. “Bill is a little tense lately.”

Not wanting to get anywhere near the middle of their relationship, he asked, “How’s his business going lately?”

“Fine. Same as always.”

“And your graphic design clients?”

“I’m still working for about as many as I did when you lived at home.”

He could see how disgruntled she was when he refused
to pick up the emotional threads she was dangling in front of him. She should know better.

“We were hoping you could come to dinner tonight. It’s been so long since your father and I got to spend some quality time with you. We don’t know anything about your life. How your job is going.” She paused, a hopeful glint in her eyes as she added, “If you’re dating anyone.”

“Sorry, I offered to work the desk tonight.”

A smart man wouldn’t have let her crestfallen expression crawl beneath his armor. But if his consistently inappropriate reactions to Rebecca were any indication, Sean had a feeling his smart days were long behind him.

“But tomorrow night will probably work.”

His mother’s smile was so bright, so big, it completely transformed her face. And despite himself, Sean saw just how beautiful his mother still was.