Chapter 19

Saturday, Molly woke to the soft press and gentle scrape of Sean’s lips and day-old stubble working a path down the length of her spine.

“You’re spoiling me,” she murmured, lifting her head enough to peer over her shoulder at another spectacular mess of bedhead.

They hadn’t arrived in New Hampshire until close to two in the morning, and when they finally got checked into their hotel—not a Wyse hotel—Sean had wrapped his arms around her, and they’d gone straight to sleep. It had been heaven in its own way, but after a few hours of rest, there was more she wanted Sean to do to her in this bed than sleep.

“I’m worshiping you,” he corrected, swirling his tongue at the center of her back and sending an overload of pleasure rushing through her body.

She arched into the sensation, whispering Sean’s name. A growl sounded from above her, and then he flipped her over and kneed her legs apart to make a space for himself between.

She hooked a lazy leg over his hip, basking in the feel of his body over hers. “I’ll never get used to this,” she whispered, her hands stroking lightly over his chest. “Waking up to you making my dreams look like nothing compared to my reality.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up, and he rocked slowly into her hips. “Is that what I’m doing?”

He rocked again, finding that perfect point of contact that made her needy and hot, and turned her mindless. Then again, and this time, she met him halfway, her breath hitching as she answered, “As if you don’t know.”

That cocky shrug said he most definitely did. “What I know, Molly, is that you’ve been letting me do every dirty, depraved thing I can think of to you for a month now—and baby, there are not words for how much I love that about you—but you still won’t spend the night at my place, and I can’t park overnight in front of yours because you’re afraid someone is going to see my car and figure out that we’re together. It’s starting to feel like I’m disrespecting the relationship I’ve got with your brother and the rest of our friends by sneaking around this way.”

She’d known this was coming. He’d been quiet about telling everyone for more than a week, but clearly, he’d been thinking about it.

His brows pulled together, and he shook his head. “No biting that pretty bottom lip, Molly. I’m the only one who gets to bite it, and then I get to kiss it better.”

She laughed, turning her head away as she released the abused lip in question. But Sean wasn’t ready to let her off. Cupping her cheek in his palm, he brought her eyes back to his. “I’m serious, Moll. I know you were nervous, but you’ve got to see by now that there isn’t any reason to be.”

Her laughter stopped. Because she knew he was right. She couldn’t keep lying to everyone about what they were doing. She didn’t want to.

Only days ago, she’d been on the brink of confiding in Emily and Sarah, but she hadn’t quite been able to take the leap.

Now Sean’s eyes closed above her, his breath leaking out in a slow stream. “You aren’t ready.”

Before she could agree or disagree or make any more excuses to put off something they should have done weeks ago, he was rolling off the bed. “It’s okay, Moll. I told you I’d give you all the time you needed, and I meant it.” He sat at the edge of the bed and looked at her from over one broad shoulder. “One of these days though, you’re going to realize you can trust me. I figured out what I wanted that night at the campground. It’s you and me, and I swear, if you can find the faith in us, you’ll never regret it.”

“Sean,” she said, sitting up and reaching for his shoulder, her heart aching, knowing that her delay was causing him pain. “I do trust you.”

He kissed the top of her hand and then headed for the bathroom. “We should get ready.”

* * *

“Damn, you look spectacular,” Sean growled, using the hand interwoven with hers to pull her in close. “Let’s blow off the wedding and go back to the suite so I can do my favorite dirty things to you.”

Molly laughed, her shoulder coming up against the tickle of Sean’s jaw. “Right, after you surprised me with this dress and those girls spent all that time on my hair and makeup? It would be a crime not to show it all off.”

“The dress reminded me of your eyes. I needed to see it on you. But believe me when I tell you, it will be worth every penny just to take it off. Or maybe you don’t take it off at all. Maybe you let me unzip it just a little,” he murmured close to her ear, trailing a finger halfway down her spine before dropping a kiss at the back of her neck. “So the straps slide down…and then when I bend you over in front of the mirror, I can see those perfect—”

“Sean,” she gasped, her eyes darting around to check the surrounding lobby for anyone who might hear. But there was no one within earshot, and even if there had been, they were in New Hampshire at a wedding for people Sean only distantly knew.

His hands were on her hips. “I’d push this pretty blue dress up over your sweet ass…rip that scrap of lace from between your legs, and get you so hot and wet, you’d be running down my fingers, Molly.”

She’d stopped walking, her light laughter from Sean’s first suggestion completely evaporated under the scorching description.

His grip firmed. “I want to tell you I’d make you beg me, but it would be a lie. I’d be on my knees behind you, using my mouth, my teeth…my tongue to show you how badly I wanted inside that hot-as-fuck body of yours.”

Her breath was coming in shallow pants, the body in question aching in response to his words.

“And then, after I make you come…twice,” he hummed against the shell of her ear. “When your body is slick and sensitive from having me inside you… When I can finally breathe again, because I’ll know, no matter how many guys like that douche with his tongue hanging out over by the concierge look like they want to fight me to take you for themselves, you’re mine… Then I’d straighten your skirt and zip up your back and see if we could get any farther than the hotel lobby before I started trying to talk you into going back upstairs again.”

Trembling, she turned and met the dark wells of his eyes. “You’re serious.”

He looked at her like he couldn’t believe she still didn’t get it. “Always with you.”

Molly nodded, not trusting her voice to form words. Because, God, more than anything, in that moment, she wanted to believe this was real. That she could have this man forever.

* * *

So they missed the ceremony itself. Sean should probably have felt some guilt about it, but this wedding had been more about getting Molly out of town with him than anything else. And while the bride’s family would be happy to see a representative from Wyse there because of the business they did together, the handshake and congratulations he’d offered upon arrival was probably more than they’d expected.

Hell, once he’d seen Molly in the dress he spotted in the boutique window when he’d walked into work the week before, he hadn’t been sure they’d make it to the festivities at all.

But Molly’s will had been shockingly strong during that third trip down to the lobby. So they’d made it after all.

Now halfway through dessert, with Molly’s fingers interwoven with his own on top of the table, Sean was enjoying being surrounded by strangers for the night and getting to be the couple they privately were in a public setting. Call it practice, call it a dry run—whatever, it was one step closer to Molly being his girlfriend back in Chicago around all the people they loved best.

It was coming. He could see it in her eyes. Feel it in the way she leaned into his hold, pulling his arms around her just before they arrived. Something had changed in the hours since they’d woken that morning. He knew it.

* * *

“I don’t think I can dance anymore.” Molly laughed as Sean pulled her flush against him, swaying back and forth to the big band music.

“I should’ve told you to bring your motorcycle boots. You’d be going all night.”

Molly laughed, letting her head fall back. “Can you even imagine my boots with this gown?”

A low growl rumbled from Sean’s chest. Then he leaned close to her ear. “I can imagine those boots with a lot of things. But right now, I’m imagining those boots with a whole lot of nothing.”

God, she loved him. Maybe it was time to just give in and let this thing between them out into the light of day. Then, even if it fell apart and everyone saw how naive she’d been, she’d at least know they’d had a fair shot.

“Sean?” came a singsong voice that had Molly freezing where she stood.

Sean groaned under his breath, cutting an apologetic look her way. “Sorry, Moll.”

“I thought that was you,” exclaimed Paula Stratton, the client whose Gold Coast condo Molly had been cleaning every Tuesday morning for the past several years. She hadn’t recognized Molly yet, but that was sure to change once she paused long enough to take a breath. “Darling, your mother said they had other commitments. Tell me they’ve managed to make it.” Then shifting her focus past Sean, she waved someone over. “Adelynn, join us.”

Adelynn was draped in couture with penciled-in brows and appeared to be about the same age as her friend, both women most likely in their midforties. She stepped around them, her drink sloshing past the rim of her glass as she fell in line with Mrs. Stratton. The corner of Adelynn’s red-lacquered mouth twitched as she took in Sean and then, more critically, Molly. “Oh dear, Paula, from the looks of things, it’s safe to say Beverly and Warren didn’t arrive with their son.”

Sean’s hand flexed at Molly’s back, his body going tense beside her.

One look at her, and this Adelynn woman knew Molly didn’t belong. That if Sean’s parents were there, she wouldn’t have been.

Molly tried not to fidget or touch her hair or pull at her clothes as though she was attempting to figure out what exactly had given her away. Chances were it was the streak of pink in her hair, which was still visible even blown out and styled as it was.

“Paula, Adelynn, what an unexpected pleasure to see you here,” Sean began with that plastic smile Molly hated from the papers, his tone devoid of all warmth or sincerity. “Allow me to introduce you to my date, Molly Brandt. Molly, this is Paula Stratton and Adelynn Wakefield.”

He didn’t realize she and Mrs. Stratton went back several years. Although it appeared neither did Mrs. Stratton, whose brow was pinched as she looked from Sean to Molly and back again, a disconnect there in her eyes as she struggled to place Sean’s date.

Molly straightened her shoulders and smiled, about to remind her client, when a surprised breath escaped the woman, accompanied by a flash of something that looked like distaste in her eyes. Or maybe not, because just as quickly, the socialite returned to her usual friendly self. “Molly! I didn’t recognize… I didn’t realize…”

Maybe it had only been Molly’s own insecurities making her imagine things that weren’t there.

“Hello, Mrs. Stratton. Nice to see you.”

“And you too, dear.” Mrs. Stratton raised a brow and turned to her friend to continue the introductions. “Adelynn, Molly’s the girl who cleans for us.”

There was nothing wrong with what Mrs. Stratton had said, but suddenly, the air changed. Adelynn’s eyes sharpened, her mouth pursing into something that wasn’t quite a smile but made Molly feel a bit like the butt of someone’s joke, despite the fact that the only words exchanged had been to finish the introductions.

Still, she was there with Sean, and she wasn’t going to let him down.

“Beautiful reception, isn’t it?” she offered to both women.

“Why yes, Molly.” Mrs. Stratton nodded enthusiastically. “It’s lovely. Though this venue doesn’t hold a candle to our Wyse.”

Molly waited for Sean to acknowledge the compliment, but he just stood there watching the other woman with something Molly didn’t recognize in his eyes. Something cold and untouchable.

He looked…upset.

Jumping in before Sean’s silence became uncomfortable, Molly smiled widely. “I couldn’t agree with you more, Mrs. Stratton. If you ask me, the Chicago Wyse Grand Ballroom stands alone.”

“Oh, Molly, you’re familiar with the Wyse? Do you clean there as well?”

She shook her head. Something about the question—the delivery more than the words themselves—rubbed. No. It was nothing. Or at least, nothing she was going to let get to her.

“Yes,” Mrs. Wakefield chimed in, sounding delighted. “Is that how you came to be acquainted with Sean? Or perhaps Sean’s hired you for some other purpose?”

There was no mistaking the pointed inflection in her words, and Molly’s mouth sagged open in disbelief as humiliation burned up her neck and cheeks.

Sean went rigid beside her, and when she looked up at him, he was openly glaring, the muscle in his jaw clenching and unclenching as though he was barely restraining himself.

“Adelynn,” he warned between gritted teeth, pulling Molly closer to his side. “That was a mistake. Apologize to Ms. Brandt.”

“Sean,” Molly whispered, grabbing his hand. “Let’s just go.”

Mrs. Stratton turned away, covering her mouth as she quickly excused herself, leaving Adelynn standing there all too amused by her hurtful, disgusting implications. “What did I say?”

“Something, I assure you, you will regret,” Sean snapped back.

The other woman blinked, looking back and forth between them again, suddenly seeming to rethink her approach. “Sean, I didn’t mean—”

“Of course you did,” he answered in a cutting voice that sent chills down Molly’s spine.

Then he was pulling her through the crowd. They didn’t stop to say goodbye as Sean ushered her out of the reception, avoiding her eyes as they went.

Not that she could blame him.

When they reached the drive where Sean let the valet know they needed a car, Molly kept walking to the edge of the pavement. The temperature had dropped, but even gulping the brisk night air, she couldn’t cool the burn of humiliation.

Sean stepped in silently beside her.

“I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life,” she whispered. “Is that what it would be like every time we ran into someone from your other life?” They weren’t touching, but she could feel him tense just the same.

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t really need to. She knew. It wouldn’t be every time, because regardless of social status, most people weren’t built that way. But some were. Which meant every time they did go out, she’d wonder whether it would be that time.

Her stomach tensed at the miserable thought.

Sean shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her. Still not meeting her eyes. Still not saying a word.

The look on his face was tortured. Guilty.

“They know your parents,” Molly stated, searching his reaction, finding only the muscle in his jaw clenching and releasing. “Your mother is going to hear what happened. I’ll never be able to look her in the eyes again.”

He looked up at the night, his breath straining as he wiped a hand over his face.

“My mother doesn’t care about those two social-climbing harpies. But she does care about you. She loves you.”

“Trying to convince me…or yourself?” Molly wasn’t entirely certain Beverly Wyse was capable of love.

When he finally met her eyes, she saw defeat in them.

This was the reality check she’d known was coming.

This was where Sean realized what being with her would actually mean. That for as much fun and feel-good as they had alone, she was never going to fit into his world the way one of those women his parents were always picking for him would.

She swallowed, steeling herself against the stab of pain in her chest. “Your parents know what good friends we are, Sean. If you tell them that’s all this was, they’ll believe you. No one has to know.”

That brought Sean’s head around in a snap. He searched her eyes, the easy smile he always had for her nowhere to be found. “Is that what you want?”

No. Never. She wanted Sean. She wanted a life together where the only thing that mattered was them. But she’d learned early on, you couldn’t always have what you wanted. No matter how long or hard you wished for it. “Can we just go back to the hotel? Deal with the real world tomorrow.”

Sean nodded, looking away. “Yeah, we can do that.”