“Okay, why all this attention? You made the most amazing dinner. You’re dressed in a tux. You bought my favorite dessert. Favorite wine—” For a split second she thought he was going to give her bad news. Her mind went to the dark side, all the things that could go wrong with them or their families. But he wouldn’t have done all this if it was bad news.
Sean stood up and took her hand. “I know that look, Lucy.” He pulled her up and kissed her. “I want you to feel loved.”
“I do. Every day.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and put her head on his chest. “You don’t have to cook elaborate dinners to make me feel loved.”
“I know. But that look on your face when you first walked in … I’ll do it again and again just to see the joy in your eyes.” He tilted her chin up to look at him. “I love you. I will never get tired of saying it, or hearing it.”
Lucy kissed him. “I love you,” she whispered. She kissed him again, lightly biting his bottom lip. “I love you,” she whispered again. She smiled as she kissed his jawline, his neck, behind his ear.
“You do that again and I’ll carry you into the house and have my way with you,” Sean said, pulling her to him.
“This is a house,” she said. She stepped back and pulled the dress over her head. She stood in front of him in her simple black bra and panties and strappy sandals. Maybe it was the second glass of wine, or the flickering candles, or the intimate pool house, but she didn’t feel self-conscious in the slightest. With Sean, she had always felt wholly safe and deeply loved.
She took Sean’s hands and backed into the living area where a mound of throw pillows spilled over the wide couch. She pushed half the pillows to the floor, then pulled loose Sean’s tie with a smile on her face. She took his hands and backed into the couch, pulling him down with her.
No work, no crime, no murder. Just them, alone and together.
CHAPTER NINE
Sunlight woke Lucy for the first time in months. It streamed through the pool house windows at a low angle. Still early, but much later than she was used to sleeping.
She stretched and rolled over to where Sean was sprawled next to her. They were both naked, a throw blanket covering Lucy. Sean had an internal heater, he was never cold. She kissed his bare chest and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
“You know when you kiss me in the morning I get exceptionally horny,” he said, his voice gruff.
“I know,” she whispered and kissed him again.
“If you insist,” he said and pulled her on top of him.
They made love again, a smooth and easy love after a rather wild night. At least wild for them. They’d had sex on the couch, fast and furious, then Sean had fed her the chocolate mousse. That led to a long, slow, and excruciatingly seductive lovemaking that left them both exhausted and unable—and unwilling—to clean up and go inside. Being with Sean made Lucy feel not only loved, but blissfully normal. Wonderfully alive.
Morning sex was a different connection, lazy and fun. Sean held her close when they were both satiated. “We need to shower.”
“I know.”
“And clean up.”
“I know.” She snuggled into him. “I don’t want to leave.”
“Leave? You have to work?”
“No. I don’t want to leave this pool house. I feel like we’re a million miles away from everything and everyone.”
He ran his hand through her tangled mass of hair. “You slept through the night.”
“Yes, I did,” she said with a smile. “Good food, great sex, I think I passed out from sheer pleasure overload.”
“I’m happy to help with that anytime you want, princess.”
“It’s so quiet.”
“There’s no phones, no television, no computer out here. Maybe that’s a good thing.”
She kissed him. “We should do this more often.”
“Agreed. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.” He sat up and stretched. “But duty calls.”
“I don’t have to work today.”
“No, but tomorrow is pool-groundbreaking day at the boys’ house. We still have yard work to take care of before the crew can come in and dig a hole.”
“You know you didn’t have to buy them a pool.”
“The contractor gave me a good deal.”
Two months ago, Sean had bought a house for the boys he and Lucy had rescued from the drug cartel, across the street from St. Catherine’s Church. Father Mateo Flannigan, the pastor at St. Catherine’s, had worked with the diocese to create a much-needed program for boys of convicted felons who had no family to care for them. The foster-care system was overburdened and overworked, and these boys had slipped through the cracks and nearly died because of it. Now they had a home, a school, and people who cared about them. It had been Sean’s idea, and he was emotionally invested in the project. Lucy had never loved him more.
He tickled her and jumped up, bringing her with him. He glanced at the clock in the kitchen. “Seven thirty A.M. You are a lazy butt.”
“Let’s go take that shower, and we’ll see who’s lazy.”