Until Shane Callaghan had unknowingly proven otherwise.
From what she’d heard, most men tended to run screaming into the hills when a woman started talking about a serious relationship, especially after such a short time. She didn’t want to do anything that might scare Shane away. Whether she said it out loud or not, she was quite certain she was head over heels in love with him, and she was not about to jeopardize that because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. It would be prudent (and preferable) to keep her thoughts to herself until she had a better grasp of his feelings and intentions.
“Almost as if what?” he prompted.
“Nothing.” She waved it off, hoping he didn’t read the truth in her eyes. Sometimes when he looked at her, she suspected he saw a whole lot more than most people did. Given the intensity of her feelings, she didn’t have a prayer of hiding them from anyone willing to look. She cared for him, so deeply that it bordered on frightening. It was kind of exciting, too, very much like the feeling she got approaching the crest of a thrilling roller coaster ride. She had to keep her arms and feet safely planted and inside the car for just a little while longer.
Shane reached out and pulled her into his arms. It was exactly what she needed. After only a moment’s hesitation, she melted against his chest.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“For what?” A whisper against the top of her head.
“For knowing what I need before I do.”
Lacie’s muted cell phone vibrated across the countertop. Without completely leaving the comfort of Shane’s arms, she reached out and checked the display. Within a few seconds her face flushed a dark pink. “Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” she mumbled, quickly tapping out a reply.
“Problem?” Shane asked, letting his hands drop down to loosely rest on her hips.
“Corinne,” Lacie exhaled, that one word carrying enough martyred weight to assure Shane that everything was, indeed, fine. “She wanted to know if we were ‘done yet’, and whether or not it was safe to come in.”
Shane’s grin grew. “How very considerate of her to ask.”
“Are you kidding? The only reason she hasn’t let herself in is because I dead-bolted the back door.”
“A voyeur, huh?” he laughed.
Lacie looked him up and down, taking in his slightly mussed hair, shadowed jaw, bared chest, and naked feet and sighed. Corinne was going to have a field day with this. “You know self-defense, right?” she asked as she forced herself to the door.
Twinkling blue eyes smiled back at her. “I thought you had my six.”
An answering mischievous grin. “Right.”
It took the better part of five minutes before Corinne could tear her eyes away from Shane and speak coherently with Lacie, and that was only after Shane went into the bedroom to change.
“Oh. My. God. I am so slamming my hand in a car door.”
Lacie laughed. “Back off, sister. He’s mine.”
“Yeah, but he has a younger brother doesn’t he?”
Lacie ignored that and inquired about their mom and dad. Corinne assured her that the trip to and from the airport had been uneventful, that their parents had arrived in Florida just fine, and had, in fact, set sail on their two-week cruise that morning.
“So...” Corinne said flicking a look toward the door behind which Shane had disappeared, “you’re going to tell me everything, right?”
Lacie turned her eyes to her sister. “Not a chance.”
“But I did good, right? Admit it, calling him was a good idea.”
Lacie agreed it was. Had she been aware of Corinne’s intentions when she crawled into bed yesterday, she probably would have resisted the idea. Their relationship was too new to put to that kind of test. But Shane had passed with flying colors, surpassing every expectation she might have had. He was definitely a keeper.
When Corinne was once again struck dumb, Lacie knew that Shane emerged. A glance across the room confirmed this. She was at her own loss for words when he flashed a sexy half grin her way, freshly shaven and changed. She would have to start setting aside money from each paycheck, she decided, to buy him new shirts, because the thought of ripping through this one was just as appealing as the last. The desire to see and have access to that stunning chest was shockingly powerful for a woman who, until Shane Callaghan had walked into her life, had little to no time or interest in getting involved with anyone.