“What?No. Of course not.”
But Meghan’s sudden lack of eye contact, added to the laser-like attention she gave the already-clean plate, tipped Chloe off. She tossed the rag into the sink and crossed her arms, giving Meghan apointed stare. “This is me you’re talking to. Your left eye is twitching like mad and you’re avoiding eye contact. On top of that, you got all squirrelly when Mom mentioned that guy from the restaurant, and Sean looked like he was chewing on sawdust at the idea of you dating someone else.”
Meghan’s shoulders sagged. “All right, all right. I’ll admit I’ve been having some—I guess I’m attracted to him, that’s all. So sue me, he’s an attractive guy.”
Attracted.Chloe’s tension eased. Didn’t sound as if she’d acted upon that attraction. Yet. “Okay... but you wouldn’t go there, right?”
Meghan put the last plate in the dishwasher and swung the door closed. “I know all about Sean’s track record—you’ve regaled me with all the stories. Believe me, that’s the last complication I need in my life.”
Relief bloomed inside Chloe. “I’m glad to hear you say that. You know I love my brother like mad, but he seems incapable of settling down. He goes from one woman to the next—”
“I know, I know. You don’t have to spell it out for me.”
The problem wasn’t that Meghan was attracted to Sean. The problem was that the attraction went both ways. And there was no way they didn’t recognize the electricity sparking between them. Mutual attraction could be a powerful thing. “He’s a great guy. He really is—but I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“I don’t want that either, believe me.”
The patio door eased open, ushering in the sounds of surf and chatter. Mom poked her head inside. “Time-to-play-fun-game. Leave-plates-and-come-out-on-deck.”
Chloe laughed. “All-right. Be-there-in-a... bit.”
Mom slipped back outside as Meghan groaned. “Isn’t there a deck of Uno cards around here somewhere?”
“Come on, girl. Put away those big fancy words and let’s have some fun.”
After a lot of verbal stumbling and raucous laughter, they ended the game a few minutes before the fireworks were to begin. The women had lost, due in large part to Meghan, though no one made her feel bad.
Dad helped Liam arrange the chairs in the sandy yard while Mom went to the kitchen for a drink and Meghan hit the bathroom.
It was now or never. Chloe cornered Sean in a shadowed corner of the deck. “I want you to leave Meghan alone.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I can see you’re attracted to her.”
He frowned at her. “And how’s that any of your business?”
“She’s my friend and you’re my brother. Come on, Sean, can’t you see this is a train wreck waiting to happen?”
“Says who?”
Just the fact that he asked the question ratcheted up her tension. He was obviously entertaining the idea. “You know she just got out of a bad marriage, right? She’s only now beginning to feel like herself. I don’t want to see her hurt again.”
“I wouldneverhurt Meghan.”
The sheer intensity of his declaration would keep her awake tonight. But his fervent expression also softened something inside her. “You wouldn’t mean to, pal, but you would. You just can’t help yourself.”
He flinched.
Chloe set her hand on his arm and he shrugged it off.
“I’m not trying to be mean, Sean. You’re a good guy and you know I love you. But you have a short attention span where women are concerned, and Meghan is in a vulnerable place right now. Surelyyou can see that. She’s been through a lot and she deserves someone who can—”
“Know what, Chloe? You’re hardly qualified to dole out dating advice. You’re trapped in a fake relationship with a celebrity—andyou’rethe one heading for heartache. If you can’t see that, then you’re blind as a bat.”
Like a punctuation mark on the end of his sentence, the firstboomof fireworks sounded and color bloomed across the night sky.
***
