“Trust me, by now the whole family wants to know.”
Sean was tempted to bang his head against the bar, but he wouldn’t be able to knock himself out so he didn’t waste the effort. “There’s a sofa in the bedroom. She’ll sleep on it and I get the bed.”
“Chivalrous.”
“I’m too tall for a sofa.”
“I don’t know Emma well, but I seem to recall she’s not exactly short.” Kevin gave him a knowing look. “Not exactly hard on the eyes, either.”
That she wasn’t. But the last thing Sean wanted to do was get tangled up with a woman. Tangled up in the sheets? Usually okay but that, along with playing house, could give Emma the wrong idea. Permanence wasn’t in his current vocabulary. Not that it was necessarily in hers, either, but no sense in taking any chances.
“When does your future grandmother-in-law arrive?” Kevin asked when he finally caught the hint Sean wasn’t going to discuss his fake fiancée’s easiness on the eyes.
“Saturday. We’re supposed to have dinner together tonight and get to know each other, I guess.”
“You think you’re going to get to know each other well enough over a meal to fake out her grandmother?”
“She thinks we can do it.”
“What do you think?”
Sean shrugged. “I told her I’d do it, so I’ll do my best to make sure we pull it off.”
“Does Ma know about this yet?”
“Not yet,” he said, grimacing. He wasn’t looking forward to telling her, either. Assuming Beth wasn’t on the phone with her already, giving her the big news.
Sean stood and picked up his beer, intending to take it upstairs with him. He could return the empty mug later. “I know as soon as I walk away you’re going to call Joe and Mike, so I’ll just leave it to you to spread the word.”
Kevin laughed. “Don’t forget Mitch. And Ryan and Josh and Liz.”
Sean froze, beer halfway to his mouth. Shit. He hadn’t even thought about his brothers and sister and what they might think. Thinking he’d lost his mind was a given, but if one of them got to thinking he needed saving from himself and made the drive over, it would blow everything all to shit.
“Do me a favor,” he said, “and let me give them the heads-up. And try to keep your half of the family in check.”
“I’ll try, but don’t put off calling them too long. Once Ma hears about it…”
Yeah, that’s what he was afraid of. He’d have to talk to Aunt Mary soon and, as much as he didn’t want to, he’d have to have that discussion in person. Hopefully her wooden spoon wouldn’t be close at hand. That sucker hurt.
He went up to the apartment that was supposed to be a temporary home, but was now going to be nothing more than a motel stop, and sank onto the couch. He hadn’t unpacked much yet—not that he had a lot to unpack—so the physical act of moving into Emma’s house wouldn’t be difficult.
And he didn’t think he’d have too hard a time pretending to be attracted to her. Batshit crazy or not, she was tall—which he liked in a woman—and hot, which he really liked. And that hair… She had the kind of hair a man could bury his face in or plunge his hands into, capturing the thick, dark cloud in his fingers.
Sean shifted on the couch, muttering some choice words under his breath. It had been a long time since he’d buried his face in any woman’s hair and now he’d be stuck sleeping in the same room with a woman it would be a bad idea to touch. He’d be close enough to smell her shampoo. To hear the whisper of breath and skin as she sighed and shifted in her sleep. But too far away to run his hand down the long, warm curve of her back and turn that sigh into his name on her lips.
Groaning, he hit the TV power button on the remote control next to his leg, looking for some distraction. A movie. An old fight rerun. Hell, a Three Stooges marathon would do. Anything to get his mind off sex. He couldn’t be thinking those kinds of thoughts.
He was an engaged man now.
Chapter Three
Emma changed her mind about Sean Kowalski at least a dozen times over the course of her work day, but she never got as far as calling Lisa to ask for his cell-phone number—which she’d stupidly forgotten to get—before she remembered what was at stake.
Peace of mind for Gram. Freedom from worrying about losing her home for her. Pretty much everything, as far as she was concerned.
So at six o’clock, she opened the door to Sean with her hair still damp from the shower and a smile on her face. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
He shrugged and held up a six-pack of bottled Budweiser. “I told you I would. I wasn’t sure what kind of wine you’d like, or even if you like it at all, so I brought beer.”
“Sounds good. Come on in. The pizza’s in the kitchen. I’m starving, so I got a Meat Lover’s.”