Page 30 of Sean
“Sean.”
The word was so much more than his name on her lips.The sound was tremulous and vulnerable.It tightened his insides, and for a minute, his eyes shifted to the contours of her delicate lips.Longing filled him.
She shifted and raised a hand.
Her chair legs screeched on the floor, sliding forward...Out from under her.
Sean grabbed the sides of the chair and kept it upright.
They looked at each other, and the moment felt suspended in time.His feelings, which he didn’t want to admit existed, were met and matched by hers.
This wasn’t nothing.This was...something, and if he surrendered to it, it could be everything.
But a crash burst the bubble of intimacy.The chaos of the event sprang back to life around them.
And a sudden punch of loathing hit him square in the gut.Not for her, but for himself.What was wrong with him?
Sean’s heart was thumping like he was on mile twenty-five of a marathon.
Monica looked shocked to find him there, looking at him with startled eyes, her lips drawn tight.Her nails bit into Sean’s arms while he held the chair steady on either side.
“Whoa,” he said.
“What?”she asked at the same time.
They released each other and sat back, Monica in the chair, Sean on his heels.
A laugh bubbled from Monica’s lips.“I think you just saved my life.”
“Saved you from a bump on the head, anyway.What were you doing asleep in the corner?Aren’t you supposed to be running this show?”
Monica looked at her watch.“This says five after ten.I swear I wasn’t in that chair a full five minutes.”
“Five minutes or thirty, you were out.”
Monica made a step-back motion with her hand.“Let me up.”
As if to remind the adults of his presence Jace let loose a sudden burst of indignant tears.
Sean was still turning when Monica shot past him, focus on the stroller.“You brought the little guy to see me.Don’t cry, baby, I’m here.”She fiddled with the stroller’s safety straps and, once Jace was free, swept him into her arms.“You want some freedom, don’t you?”She looked at Sean.“Has he slowed down?”
Sean didn’t need to be told what she meant.“Not even a little.I thought I’d have to coax him to show Mom and Dad his new skills, but I carried him into the house and set him on the floor, and he was on his feet before I could even get them into the room.I don’t think he even remembers what crawling was.”
Monica lifted the baby over her head and twirled.“You’re such a smart guy.”She lowered him and nuzzled his neck.“I think I love you a whole bunch.”Her attention went back to Sean.“What are you guys doing here?You don’t seem like a craft show kind of guy.”
Sean brought Monica up to speed on his mission.
“Have you found anything?”she asked.
“Ember Abbott is holding an arrangement for me at her booth.I didn’t want to carry it around while I...”His words faded.He wasn’t about to admit to Monica that he’d been looking for her.He needed to clear that nonsense out of his head before it got him into trouble.“...finished shopping.”
“Ember does amazing work.If you want a little something for Jace, there’s a booth in the back corner with some nice wooden toys.”Monica kissed the baby and handed him to Sean.“I’ll show you if you want to walk with me.I need to make another round.”She stood to the side while Sean buckled Jace back into the stroller.
“That’s a top-line model.”She was eyeing the stroller.“Do you and Jace run together?”
Sean clicked the buckle in place and stood.“Almost every morning at home, but not since we came back to Garfield.Mom likes having Jace to herself in the mornings.Of course, she has him in the afternoon and most evenings too.I need to find some daycare, but every time I mention it, she gives methe look.”
“Ah,theMomlook.I know it well.You’ve only been home a week.”Monica motioned him forward, and he fell into step beside her.
