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  Obviously Sean couldn’t know everything swirling about inside her befuddled brain. She couldn’t even sort it out. All he knew, all he’d heard, was her betrayal. He’d tried to hide the anger and hurt, but she’d spotted the emotions as clearly as the clouds rolling in outside. Although they’d known each other only a few weeks, she could read him as easily as one of her dog-eared paperbacks, the favorites she’d read time and time again and never tired of. Love was the word she always used to describe those books, and she now realized, as much as she’d been fighting her feelings, love best described the way she felt about Sean.

  Was any job worth sacrificing love? No! The jolt to her heart and the speed of her answer helped steel her resolve.

  “Mr. Matthews,” she said, “I’ve just made a monumental mistake.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Al’s gaze met hers, and for the first time she noticed fatigue, along with something else, trapped in the gray-blue of his eyes. He sighed.

  “I have a feeling I know what you’re going to say.” Surprise joined the mass of emotions bombarding her.

  Al spoke before she could reply. “Sean’s been bothering you, and you’ve been afraid to tell me.” Disappointment weighed heavily in his voice.

  “No!” She had already caused Sean enough trouble. Setting the record straight was imperative. “Sean has always been a perfect gentleman.” What else could she say, should she say? Her options seemed limited, but she hoped that the outcome didn’t reflect poorly on Sean. “Mr. Matthews, although neither one of us meant for this to happen, Sean and I have become involved in, what I think is, a serious relationship.”

  She looked with regret, out the door to the empty space where his car had been parked. “That’s assuming he ever forgives me for just now pretending the opposite.” She met Al’s serious gaze, shaking inside her white sneakers. “Although I knew you discouraged relationships between coworkers, Sean said you actually have a strict policy on intra-office dating. If that’s the case and I have to choose between Sean and my position, I choose Sean. I’ll have my letter of resignation on your desk first thing Monday morning.”

  Al’s head dropped, he closed his eyes and was silent for long seconds. “That’s not necessary.” He looked back up, weariness clouding his gaze. “You’ve reorganized what had become chaos since Annie left. I admit, I’m opposed to mixing working relationships with romantic liaisons, but since you’re both single, I’ll stay out of it.”

  Then a spark of the confident man she worked for returned to his eyes. “As long as your behavior at school is above reproach and neither one of you quits. You’re both assets to the school.”

  Gigi’s stomach unclenched, and she exhaled the breath she’d unknowingly been holding. “I’m grateful to hear you say that, but I’m also confused. You gave Sean the impression that to be a couple, we’d have to fight a major battle.” Sean had been willing to face that unpleasant prospect since the beginning. She dropped her gaze. “I was the one hesitant to challenge authority.”

  Al patted her shoulder and then dug his hands into his pockets. “Last year’s scandal was a P.R. nightmare, but this is an entirely different situation. There’s no school board policy prohibiting relationships between two unmarried staff members.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “My preferences are formed from long years of experience.”

  No longer worried about being fired, Gigi’s thoughts shifted to the larger problem. How would she ever make this up to Sean? Wounded and furious, would he give her a chance to explain? Thinking back on all she’d learned about the man, she was hopeful that once he’d had time to cool off, he would listen.

  She also hoped he’d forgive.

  “So, we’re in agreement?” Al prompted. “There’ll be no letters of resignation?” He gave her a weak but sincere smile.

  “Agreed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find Sean.”

  “Just a minute. There’s something else I need from you. It’s the real reason I’m here.” Al glanced up the wooden stairway. “You know Annie.” It was more statement than question. “Of course you do.”

  Hurt shadowed his eyes and made her reach out to touch his arm. “Obviously, we were neighbors. Are neighbors.”

  “Where is she?” His voice was a whisper, and Gigi saw the desperation weighing on his slumped shoulders. This big, hard-edged man, this Rock of Gibraltar, seemed close to shattering.

  She could see his chiseled pride battling with raw human need. Annie had left contact information in case of emergency, but she’d asked Gigi not to tell anyone where she’d gone. The poor woman had left looking almost as miserable as Al. Should she disregard her neighbor’s request and tell him where he could find her?

  The need to comfort her boss, combined with the suspicions she’d formed about Annie and Al, loosened her lips. “She went to her brother’s cabin in the Hocking Hills. She said she needed time away to think about her future.”

  Something she suspected was hope brought a flicker of life to his eyes. “Do you have a phone number or address? I’ve left about a hundred messages on her cell, but she won’t return my calls.” Then his eyes rounded as if he realized he’d shared too much.

  “She told me there’s no phone at the cabin. She also said she’d be checking her voice mails daily in case I called, but I got the feeling she didn’t want to speak with anyone.” Al grimaced and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. She hurriedly added, “But I have the address.”

  His spine straightened and a spark flashed in his eyes. Telling him had been the right thing to do. Anyone with a heart could tell he had feelings for Annie.

  Al’s hardened hands engulfed one of hers. “Gigi, I know she told you not to give it to me but I need that address.” He stared into her eyes. “I just need to talk to her. That’s all.”

  She smiled and stacked her other hand on his, squeezing encouragingly. “Promise you won’t give up on her? You’ll fight for her no matter how pig-headed she acts?”

  “Wha—?” Al looked genuinely shocked. Or maybe he just wasn’t used to people knowing his vulnerabilities.

  “Sean didn’t give up on me. Don’t you give up on Annie.” She gave his arm a friendly tug. “Now, let’s get upstairs so I can get you that address. Then I need to find Sean.”

  Sean ran his hands through his hair, his elbow resting on a stack of ungraded quizzes. Although the two-hour drive had cooled his temper, the speeding ticket he’d received on I-71 was the icing on this shit-cake of a day. Luckily, the few teachers whose cars he’d seen parked outside the school hadn’t bothered him.

  Hard rain pounded outside the window and on the building’s flat roof, mirroring his stormy mood. The echo of an exterior door opening and closing bounced down the tiled hall. He prayed someone was leaving and not arriving.

  He picked up his red pen and resumed grading. But ten minutes later, he gave up and shoved the stack into his bag. It was almost dusk and he hadn’t eaten since that bowl of Wheaties at eight o’clock this morning.

  “Sean.” Surprised, he looked up to see Al standing in the open doorway. His blue pullover jacket was drenched from the rain, and his tone had lost the hard edge Sean had grown to expect.

  Had Al been looking for him? Had he not believed that Sean’s being with Gigi was innocent? Was he about to lay into him?

  Familiar with the man’s short temper, and off-kilter himself, Sean squeezed the chair’s armrests. Be cool.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m going out of town. If you need anything, I’m only available for extreme emergencies. You’ve got my cell number, right?” Al shifted his briefcase from one hand to the other and his knees flexed as if he was forcing himself not to bolt.

  Sean frowned. Al was oozing energy, but unlike the past few weeks, he seemed . . . what? Enthusiastic? And obviously in a big hurry.

  “Yeah, I’ve got it. Is everything okay?” Concern had dampened Sean’s volatility. He’d expected Al to blast him about being at Gigi’s apartment, but t
he man acted like the encounter hadn’t happened.

  “Just some personal business I need to take care of.” He pointed a finger at Sean. “By the way, you should know Gigi tried to resign today.”

  Sean sucked in a breath. “What?”

  “Seems she decided you were more important than her position here.” Sean was about to beg Al not to accept her resignation, but the man cut him off with a wave of his hand. “I told her I didn’t care. I need her here too badly to let that get in the way.”

  “But—”

  “No time to get into all that right now; I’ve got to go. Just thought I’d let you know. Oh, and by the way, I’m proud of you, son.” He gave Sean the first fully genuine smile since Sean had started at Newtown. “You didn’t force her hand this afternoon when I showed up. You put what you thought was her decision above your own desires. I have a lot of respect for a man who does that.”

  Sean almost swallowed his tongue. It was the first complimentary thing the man had said in weeks, and Sean was speechless.

  “I’ve got to go. Go find your lady and straighten this mess out.”

  Al turned and jogged down the hall toward the door. Flipping off the overhead lights, Sean left only steps behind Al.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “She’s not at her place. Have you heard from her yet?” Thunder rumbled outside as Sean slowly made his way down the stairs of Gigi’s apartment building. He’d talked to Heidi twice already, but she hadn’t spoken with Gigi. Heidi had tried Gigi’s cell phone but the ringing he’d heard through the door told him she’d left it inside her apartment.

  “I talked to her brother. He hasn’t heard from her, and her folks are in the Caribbean on a cruise. I’m starting to get worried.” A streak of lightening and its accompanying crack wiped out her next sentence. “Shit,” she said on the rebound. “The rain is really coming down out there. If anything has happened to her, Sean, I’m going to run over you with Rafe’s tow truck, back up, and do it again.” The threat was unnecessary. He’d already been kicking himself for running away, for not sticking by Gigi’s side when Al had shown up.

  “Nothing bad has happened. I’m sure she’s fine. I’ll find her.” He hoped he sounded more certain than he felt. He’d paused inside the exterior door and continued to stare out at the pounding rain. Did Gigi need help? Was her car wrecked in a ditch somewhere?

  Heidi’s voice sliced through his fearful imaginings. “Would she have gone to your place?”

  He hadn’t considered that. “I don’t know, but I’ll check it out.” He disconnected and ran through the downpour to his car, glad to have a destination in mind.

  Short minutes later, relief filled him as he spotted her car in front of his house. The worst of the storm was over, but the steady rain made seeing into the car difficult. He pulled into the driveway and parked, in too much of a hurry to pull back to the garage. He ran to her car and peered through the rain-sheeted windshield. Empty.

  Scanning the yard, he saw no sign of her. Maybe she’d gotten inside the house. His shoulders soaking wet, he ran up the front porch steps. The motion-activated light switched on.

  He scanned the porch. There she was, curled up on the wooden porch swing. The tension that had him strung tight eased. He crossed the porch to squat in front of the swing and swipe the water from his face.

  A feeling of déjà vu coursed through him as he remembered his dream from days ago. The emotions raised in him had been powerful. Overwhelming. He’d paced the floorboards, unable to relax and go back to sleep.

  Those same emotions tugged at him now, finding her here. In the dream Gigi had been seated on this swing. Except then, in his dream, her belly had been swollen by pregnancy. Round with their growing child. That night he’d been alarmed by the momentousness of such a vision. But now, seeing her here, the memory brought only peace.

  How can I be so lucky? She’s sweet and so damned beautiful it almost hurts. Her stacked hands pillowed her soft cheek atop the swing’s hard surface. Her plump lips were slightly parted. Sean braced himself to prevent her from falling out of the swing should he startle her, then he lightly kissed her.

  Her eyes flew open and recognition followed almost instantly. “Sean!” She threw her arms around his neck, tumbling on top of him.

  So much for bracing himself. He rolled onto his back along the wooden floorboards.

  “I’m so sorry.” She showered his face with kisses. “I’m sorry I acted so stupidly earlier. Please forgive me. I told Al you and I were seriously involved and I even quit, but he refused my resignation.” She paused in her rambling to rain more kisses on his face.

  Sean moved his hands from her waist to the sides of her head and held her still. Their gazes met, and his pulse tripped at the caring shining in her emerald eyes.

  “I know. I was in my office and Al came by.” He pulled her lips toward his and kissed her thoroughly. Minutes later, they came up for air.

  “I’ve never had a job that I really enjoyed. One that really challenged me. It had taken me so long to figure out that’s why I always found an excuse to quit. It was the work, not the guys.”

  She seemed excited to have figured out whatever it was she’d figured out. He wasn’t crazy about the guys part of it, but it didn’t sound as though he should feel threatened either. He pulled her down and kissed the tip of her nose.

  “So, you’re not angry with me anymore?” She pulled back to study his face.

  How could she wonder after those kisses? “Gigi, I couldn’t stay mad at you even if I wanted to. I love you.” He hadn’t meant to say the words aloud. Not this soon. But they’d slipped out before his traitorous lips could censor them.

  Her stunned expression melted into a dazzling smile. “Oh, Sean, I’m in love with you, too.” She hugged him tightly then sat up, giggling. “You’re soaking wet.” She plucked at her shirt which now clung enticingly to her chest.

  He could offer to put it in his dryer. Of course, that meant she’d have to remove it. “Do you mind if we move this into the house?” A pebble or something equally uncomfortable was poking him in the spine.

  “Ohmigosh, of course.” She scrambled off his chest, almost kneeing his erection in the process.

  “Easy.” He moved his hands from the protective position they’d instinctively assumed and stood. “Come on.” He took her by the elbow, craving even that small physical connection.

  She held the screen door open as he unlocked the front door, then he stepped back to allow her to precede him inside. He reached behind her to flip on the switch to the overhead fixture. Feeble light illuminated the foyer. “Should I give you the grand tour?”

  “No hurry. Why don’t you get out of those wet clothes?” She tugged at the bottom of his shirt, and he completed the motion by pulling it over his head. “The room I’m interested in seeing first is your bedroom anyway.”

  The woman is insatiable. Thank you, Jesus.

  “Far be it from me to deny your pleasure.” He swept her up into his arms and carried her down the hallway to the first floor master bedroom. Setting her gently on his bed, he experienced a second jolt of déjà vu. They’d been here together, in his dream. He kicked off his shoes and stripped in seconds while she did the same.

  Then he covered her body with his, and she squeezed his ass cheeks. “Mmm. This is every girl’s fantasy come true. A gorgeous, naked man to have my way with.”

  He cut off her giggle with a kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth. She gave as much as she took, and he reined in his fervor. He wanted their lovemaking to last and, at their current pace, he wouldn’t stand a chance. Rolling onto his back, he pulled her atop him. Then, lifting her, he brought one rosy-tipped breast to his mouth and licked.

  “Mmm,” she purred. Straddling his belly and leaning forward, she arched her back in a wordless invitation for more.

  “You like that, huh?” He licked and nibbled on the other distended nipple. Craving the taste and feel of her milky softness, he suckled mor
e and then more of her into his mouth.

  Her head whipped back in pleasure. “Ohhhhh.” Her fingers combed through his hair, grasping the back of his head, holding him there as if she wanted him to go on forever.

  And he indulged her, eager to feast. Later, when she rocked her pelvis against him, he shifted her enough to focus his hunger on her other breast.

  “Oh, Sean.” The ecstasy in her voice matched the pleasure he received. His fingers kneaded her hips as he licked and suckled and nibbled.

  “I can feel that between my legs. I’m so on edge. I need . . . I want you so much . . . I’m going to go mad if you don’t come inside me.”

  It was a madness he understood well. But there were other ways he wanted to pleasure her before he filled her. When that time came, he didn’t think he’d be able to muster any finesse. Sliding his hands back up to the curve of her waist, he dragged her higher.

  “What are you doing?” Her voice was a combination of breathlessness and confusion.

  “Shhh.” He pulled her up until her knees slid outside his shoulders and her bottom cradled the uppermost part of his chest. She was spread wide before him, her open sex scant inches from his mouth. The musky scent of her passion further aroused him. His iron erection twitched as if grasping blindly for gratification. But his satisfaction would have to wait. He lifted his head to taste her.

  Her breath rushed out, half whoosh, half moan and she grabbed the headboard, leaning into him. Giving herself without reservation. A cry escaped her as he dipped his tongue inside, then retreated to lap at her folds. Mmm. Her essence was an exotic mixture of desire, heat and woman. His woman.

  “Oh, Sean. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before.” She rode him, wild and uninhibited. He opened her wider still and then his hands slid up to massage her breasts. While circling her clitoris with his tongue, he lightly pinched her nipples. Gigi bucked, and then she shattered when he latched on and suckled. She grasped the headboard as if it were the only thing preventing her from shooting skyward.