When he turned, Siobhan was leaning against the counter by the door. The heat in her eyes when she smiled did nothing to cool him off, and he wasn’t sure he was capable of getting past her without touching her.
Especially when she pushed away from the counter and took a step toward him, holding up her index finger. “Just one more.”
“We both agreed it wouldn’t happen again,” he pointed out, using every last scrap of willpower he could summon.
“Then we can both agree it’ll happen just one more time.” And then she hooked her finger in the neck of his tee and tugged.
He was lost.
When their mouths collided, he wasn’t sure which of them moaned, but he felt it through his entire body. The fingertips of one of her hands bit into his upper arm while she slid her other hand up the nape of his neck. When her fingers tangled in his hair, he groaned and deepened the kiss.
It was gripping her hips and pulling her hard to his body, making her gasp against his lips, that broke through the hunger and reminded him this was just a kiss. One more kiss, and nothing else.
With a reluctance he hoped she could feel, he released her hips. Then, pressing his hand to her cheek, he planted a final quick kiss to her mouth. Then moreabsolutely the lastfinal kiss.
“I have to go,” he whispered, and his voice was so hoarse, they were barely words.
“I know. I wish…”
With every fiber of his being, Brian wanted her to finish that sentence, but he knew pushing her would only end in more frustration for both of them. Their situation was what it was.
He also knew some of the nosier members of his family were probably still sitting by the campfire, counting how many minutes he was inside Siobhan’s camper. They’d given his family more than enough to talk about this week already.
“Good night, Siobhan,” he said, moving past her.
“Brian?” When he turned back, she gave him a grin that was going to keep him up half the night. “Sweet dreams.”
Chapter Thirteen
The one thing no number of group chat text messages or checked-off tasks on lists could control was the weather, so Brian couldn’t have been happier to wake on Monday morning to a gorgeous August day.
According to the forecast, which had a history of being close but not exact for their location, it would be warm and sunny, but not humid enough to trigger a late-afternoon thunderstorm. It looked as though that was going to hold true, and he knew he wasn’t the only one breathing a sigh of relief.
Of course, there was a lot left to do between now and the vows, including the rest of the guest list arriving from Maine. Also, setting up the arch and wrapping it with the vines and flowers that had been made for it. The chairs needed to be set up.
“You’re making that growling sound again,” Rob said, and Brian spun, not realizing his brother had come into the kitchen.
Usually Rob and Hannah stayed in a camper on site twenty-nine, leaving Brian and Stella alone in the house unless Joey or Danny showed up to help for a weekend. But since Joey had his wife and daughter with him, they were staying in the camper, and Rob and Hannah hadmoved into the house. If Danny hadn’t begged for the pull-out sofa in their parents’ RV, he’d be sleeping on the lumpy couch.
“Last time you growled like that, it was because Siobhan would be showing up,” Rob continued. “Just a wild guess, but this one’s not about her. Or, if it is, maybe for a different reason?”
His brother was fishing, and it wasn’t subtle. “Just thinking about all the stuff on the to-do list today, and how hard it’s going to be to keep everybody on task when the cousins from Maine start rolling in.”
“I think we’ll all be glad when this week is over.”
No.
The word surprised Brian, and he was thankful he didn’t say it out loud. But it felt true. He wasn’t going to be glad when this week was over because everything would change.
He recognized that he, Siobhan and Oliver were in something of a bubble right now, removed from real life. Tomorrow that bubble was going to pop and they were going to have to learn how to navigate the situation they’d found themselves in all over again.
With one hundred percent less kissing, he reminded himself, and he must have growled again because Stella bumped his leg, looking for pets. He scratched her head, hitting the sweet spot behind her ears, and let it soothe away his aggravations of the morning.
It was going to be a good day.
Two hours later, it had become a mantra he repeated to himself through clenched teeth.It’s going to be a good day, dammit.
The family from Maine had arrived and, as expected, the schedule went out the window. While there were morehands to help, all of the greetings and the lightning rounds of catch-up had to be done.
