Page 31 of Sean

“Yeah. We should try it again.”

He paused, studying her face as if he wasn’t quite sure how his suggestion had landed. Julia held her breath, hoping he’d make good on it. Then, after an agonizingly long wait, his lips met hers.

The kiss started slow and sweet, but in seconds it deepened. She parted her lips and warmed at the sensation of his tongue gliding against hers. He groaned when she nipped at it. His hands slid into the back pockets of her jeans and cupped her butt. She could feel his arousal and couldn’t resist rubbing against it. She was considering slipping her hands under his shirt when she heard voices outside the garage.

“Aunt Julia,” Lucy called. “Are you in there?”

She jumped back, bringing her hand to her lips. “Be right there, sweetie. I’ve got to—”

Before she could move completely away, Sean pulled her back against his chest for a beat, kissing her swift and hard, then releasing her before she was ready. For a second, she felt disoriented, dizzy. She righted herself and went out to greet the kids. Sean stayed in the garage, probably needing a minute to pull himself together. Julia had to focus all her attention on her niece and nephew to keep from imagining how Sean was managing that. It did make her smile to herself to know that she had that sort of impact on him because he’d sure pushed all of her buttons in the best possible way.

SIXTEEN

Sean’s stomach growled again. He’d run and eaten breakfast by himself early that morning. Since then, he’d stayed in his room, responding to work emails.

Truth be told, he’d kept to himself since sharing that dynamite kiss with Julia in the garage. He’d sat next to her at the dinner table, but the conversation had been dominated by Eden talking about her role in the upcoming school play. It was a lucky break for him since he had no idea what to say to Julia.

He’d revealed far too much by admitting that he liked her. And then that kiss had rocked him. She’d fit against him perfectly, like two pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. He couldn’t get it out of his mind, which was why he’d stuck to his room on a rainy Saturday morning and missed lunch. It was after one now, but the house was full of the noise of kids playing. There was no way to stay out of sight if he snuck down to the kitchen to grab a sandwich. He was going to have to man up.

“There you are,” his mother said when he entered the kitchen. “Julia didn’t come down for lunch either. I thought you two might be—”

Sean shot his mother a look that stopped the rest of that sentence. “I was working,” he said. He didn’t need his mother speculating about his relationship with Julia. Because, hell, he didn’t know what to make of it himself. “Anything left over?”

She nodded to the cutting board where slices of homemade pizza sat. “Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” he said and grabbed a plate from the cabinet. He was fully expecting a grilling from his mother, but she surprised him by going through the swinging door. A minute later, he heard her talking to the kids. They had some sort of game going on in the living room.

He ate while leaning against the counter. He was just considering escaping outside and going for a walk when the laughter from the living room drew him in that direction.

“Stop!” Lucy yelled the second he crossed the threshold. “Get up on something quick. The floor’s lava.”

“Huh?” He took stock of the room. His dad was standing on the piano bench. Tara and his mother were on the couch with Amos between them. The girls were either on the coffee table or straddling the arm of a chair.

“Hurry.” Eden made a mad gesture toward him, and he scrambled into his grandmother’s rocker and pulled his feet off the floor.

“What’s going on?” he asked, crouching low to keep his balance.

“It’s a game my mother taught me,” Lucy said. “You have to move around the room without touching the floor.”

“Why?”

Eden rolled her eyes. “Because it’s lava. You’ll get burned.”

The floor looked the same as it always had to him. Hard wood and wool rugs. But what did he know? “What happens now?”

“Everyone has to move. We have until the count of twenty to be in a new spot. Ready? Go.” Lucy hopped from the coffee table to the couch as everyone else scrambled. His dad made a huge leap to reach the chair that Alice had just left. Amos dove toward the piano bench, nearly wiping out in his haste to reach it. Kids and adults were moving in every direction as Lucy yelled, “Eight! Seven! Six! It was now or never.

Sean was at a disadvantage having picked a rocking chair, but he stood on the seat, giving himself one second to balance before taking a mighty step to join Amos at the piano.

“Two, one. Everyone set?” Lucy scanned the room. “We did it. Next time faster.” She started the countdown again, from fifteen this time. Sean snatched up Amos and jumped toward the chair his father had been in, nearly colliding with him. Ally Mae put one foot on the floor and got eliminated, so she perched on the back of the couch and took over the job of counting.

After two more rounds, all the kids but Lucy and Eden were out along with Emmy and Kelly. It got more competitive as the pace quickened, and Sean found himself laughing his head off at the ridiculous game. Everyone was laughing, and it was chaos, but fun.

Where was Julia? She’d love this, and she had to be able to hear them. He was suddenly worried about her. Kelly had said that Julia had missed lunch. Was she deliberately isolating herself? If so, why? He intentionally landed with both feet on the floor during the next period of movement and slid out of the room to go in search of Julia.

He headed to her room and tapped softly on her door.

“Come in.” As he entered, she rose from where she sat by the window, flicking away a tear as she moved. “Are the kids okay? Are they causing trouble? I can hear them.”

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