looking forward to seeing them Saturday. Lisa, yes. But it was going to be hard to look Mrs. Kowalski in the eye, no matter how many times Sean told her it would be okay.
“I rented a movie while I was in town today,” Gram said. “Some action movie the girl said was very good.”
Emma was all for a relaxing movie. Something mindless that she could lose herself in and stop obsessing about her body language and every word she said. A mental break was just what she needed.
She felt differently about the movie plan an hour later when Gram sat in the armchair and set her knitting basket at her feet, leaving the couch for her and Sean.
Crap. They couldn’t very well sit at opposite ends of the damn thing. A happy couple would snuggle, maybe sneaking a quick kiss here and there when they thought Gram wasn’t looking. Two hours of up close and personal with Sean Kowalski was about as far from relaxing as she could get.
He got there first, sitting in one corner and propping his feet on the coffee table. Putting in the DVD and getting it ready to play bought Emma a couple of minutes, but then she had to walk to the couch. He seemed to realize at the last second she wasn’t going to sit on the far end and, after glancing at Gram, he lifted his arm and rested it on the back of the couch.
Since her back was momentarily to the armchair, she gave Sean an apologetic whaddya-gonna-do smile and sat down in the curve of his arm. He dropped his hand onto her shoulder as she hit Play on the remote control.
She tried to pay attention to the movie. She watched as a woman dropped a cookie sheet of burnt cookies in the sink, and then a man walked into her kitchen. He had a gun and he told her he’d kidnapped her son. Emma followed along at first.
But Sean’s body was putting off enough heat to melt marshmallows and a whole lot of his body was touching her body. His arm around her shoulders. His thigh pressed to hers. Their feet sometimes brushing. It was distracting.
“You watch,” Gram said. “The man she has to deliver to the kidnappers is going to end up being the father of her son and I bet he doesn’t know.”
Emma managed to keep enough focus on the television to see that she was right but Sean was relaxing, which meant even more of his body was touching hers. And minute by minute she was becoming the marshmallow, melting against him. He smelled good and felt good and…she was in so much trouble. This wasn’t her man to lust after. Well, technically she could. She just couldn’t act on it.
Sean was temporary. There was no sense in getting used to having a man to snuggle on the couch with or to open stubborn jars or to do her heavy lifting because as soon as Gram was gone, so was he. And that’s the way she wanted it. It would probably be another five years before Landscaping by Emma was ready for her to do the husband-and-babies thing.
And when she did go husband shopping, she wasn’t going to settle for a guy whose entire life revolved around football, steak, beer and women. Or a guy who thought only Bob or Fred could mow lawns. Sean wouldn’t even let her drive her own truck.
Halfway through a scene in which the mom and dad were rappelling out of a helicopter with guns blazing to rescue their kidnapped son, Sean’s hand shifted and his fingertips started tracing circles against her shoulder. His attention was on the screen, as was Gram’s, so Emma wasn’t sure he was even aware he was doing it.
She was aware of it, though, that was for damn sure. Aware of the warmth of his touch through her T-shirt and very, very aware of the way her body reacted as if he were stroking parts of her a lot farther south than her shoulder.
When his fingers worked their way down to the end of her short sleeve and touched bare skin, she totally lost track of the plot unfolding on the television screen. Temporary or not, it sure was nice being touched by a man. It had been…a long time.
“Can you pause it for a minute?” Gram
“I rented a movie while I was in town today,” Gram said. “Some action movie the girl said was very good.”
Emma was all for a relaxing movie. Something mindless that she could lose herself in and stop obsessing about her body language and every word she said. A mental break was just what she needed.
She felt differently about the movie plan an hour later when Gram sat in the armchair and set her knitting basket at her feet, leaving the couch for her and Sean.
Crap. They couldn’t very well sit at opposite ends of the damn thing. A happy couple would snuggle, maybe sneaking a quick kiss here and there when they thought Gram wasn’t looking. Two hours of up close and personal with Sean Kowalski was about as far from relaxing as she could get.
He got there first, sitting in one corner and propping his feet on the coffee table. Putting in the DVD and getting it ready to play bought Emma a couple of minutes, but then she had to walk to the couch. He seemed to realize at the last second she wasn’t going to sit on the far end and, after glancing at Gram, he lifted his arm and rested it on the back of the couch.
Since her back was momentarily to the armchair, she gave Sean an apologetic whaddya-gonna-do smile and sat down in the curve of his arm. He dropped his hand onto her shoulder as she hit Play on the remote control.
She tried to pay attention to the movie. She watched as a woman dropped a cookie sheet of burnt cookies in the sink, and then a man walked into her kitchen. He had a gun and he told her he’d kidnapped her son. Emma followed along at first.
But Sean’s body was putting off enough heat to melt marshmallows and a whole lot of his body was touching her body. His arm around her shoulders. His thigh pressed to hers. Their feet sometimes brushing. It was distracting.
“You watch,” Gram said. “The man she has to deliver to the kidnappers is going to end up being the father of her son and I bet he doesn’t know.”
Emma managed to keep enough focus on the television to see that she was right but Sean was relaxing, which meant even more of his body was touching hers. And minute by minute she was becoming the marshmallow, melting against him. He smelled good and felt good and…she was in so much trouble. This wasn’t her man to lust after. Well, technically she could. She just couldn’t act on it.
Sean was temporary. There was no sense in getting used to having a man to snuggle on the couch with or to open stubborn jars or to do her heavy lifting because as soon as Gram was gone, so was he. And that’s the way she wanted it. It would probably be another five years before Landscaping by Emma was ready for her to do the husband-and-babies thing.
And when she did go husband shopping, she wasn’t going to settle for a guy whose entire life revolved around football, steak, beer and women. Or a guy who thought only Bob or Fred could mow lawns. Sean wouldn’t even let her drive her own truck.
Halfway through a scene in which the mom and dad were rappelling out of a helicopter with guns blazing to rescue their kidnapped son, Sean’s hand shifted and his fingertips started tracing circles against her shoulder. His attention was on the screen, as was Gram’s, so Emma wasn’t sure he was even aware he was doing it.
She was aware of it, though, that was for damn sure. Aware of the warmth of his touch through her T-shirt and very, very aware of the way her body reacted as if he were stroking parts of her a lot farther south than her shoulder.
When his fingers worked their way down to the end of her short sleeve and touched bare skin, she totally lost track of the plot unfolding on the television screen. Temporary or not, it sure was nice being touched by a man. It had been…a long time.
“Can you pause it for a minute?” Gram
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