Cara O'Shea's Return (21 page)

Her mind supplied the memory of them standing beside her bed.
Have you ever been with a man, baby? I...yes, once.
His somber blue gaze bore into hers. Guilt flooded her and she glanced away.

He moved a step closer, his deep voice husky with emotion. “I don’t care who you’ve been with before me, Cara. God knows I don’t have room to talk. What I care about is what you feel for him. What he feels for you.”

She stared into his eyes and the emotion she read there brought a sting of tears to her own. “He’s my friend.”

He nodded and brushed away the single tear that escaped with his finger. “He’s your friend, and he’s in love with you.”

She shook her head in denial.

“A man in love can spot another man in love,” he murmured, his gaze running over her face before returning to her eyes. “Particularly when they’re both in love with the same woman.”

“Finn.” She whimpered when he continued to stroke her cheek with the tip of his finger.

“He told me you were in love with another man when he met you. That you’ve been in love with this man for years. Am I that man, Cara?”

She began to cry in earnest at having her yearning heart laid bare. Speaking was impossible. She nodded.

He bowed his head until his forehead rested against hers. “I’m in love with you, Cara. I’ve been afraid to take a chance on anything that matters for so long. Afraid it wouldn’t last. When I saw you with Evan yesterday, I was pissed off enough to decide it was time to let you go.” His head lifted, and he cupped her chin with his hand. “But I can’t. I need you, Cara. I need to share that love with you. I know it’s fast, but when I walked in and found you sitting in Maive’s parlor, it was as though I had been sacked by an entire defensive line.”

Her eyes drifted shut on a teary laugh. “I know the feeling.”

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her to pull her close. “You’ve been sacked by a defensive line, have you?”

She opened her eyes, smiling through tears. “No.” She shook her head. “For me it was a flock of butterflies.” A laugh escaped, seeing the puzzlement on his face. “I was eleven when I got my first glimpse of Finn the Fine in action under a tree near the school gymnasium. You smiled at me and winked. My stomach fluttered as if I had swallowed a flock of butterflies. I’ve loved you ever since.”

His mouth crashed down on hers, but after a moment his head jerked back and he grinned. “You were the little girl spying on Alice Butler and me behind the gym?”

She nodded. “Guilty as charged, but not so little.”

He threw back his head and laughed. Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her to the bedroom. “If my former teammates could see me now, an all-pro quarterback in a yellow frilly robe with a sexy bundle in his arms.”

She blushed at his compliment, fingering the lapel of the robe. “Forget your teammates. Meggy’s the one you have to worry about. She
has
seen you in my frilly yellow robe, and she has a long memory.”

He stopped beside her bed, his brows drawing together in a frown.

“Poor baby.” She patted his cheek in sympathy, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

“You know her better than I do. How does she feel about bribes?”

Cara lost the battle with her laughter. His eyes flashed with wicked intent. Holding her out over the mattress, he dropped her. She landed with a shriek in the center of the bed. Finn soon followed to cover her body with his. He dropped a kiss on her nose, and his smile slipped into seriousness.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you last night. Evan told me what happened with your father and Hannah.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “They’ve been through hell.”

“It hasn’t been easy for any of you, but at least now you know Tom didn’t deliberately set out to hurt anyone. He was caught up in an unbearable situation.” She nodded. “Tom loves you, baby. And Hannah is a nice woman.”

“I know.”

He lowered his mouth to hers, nibbling at the corners of her lips. The familiar flame only Finn could fan warmed her and she melted under his delicious ministrations. She joined him in his nibbling until he pulled back to leer down at her.

Pure deviltry sparkled in his eyes. “Now, about that dirt.”

Raised in the Boston area, Mac and her husband live in Phoenix where they raised two rambunctious little boys into wonderful men. Dirt bikes and ESPN are the order around their house, and life at the “Testosterone Ranch” more closely resembles one of today’s wacky reality shows than yesterday’s
Leave It To Beaver
.

The grandmother of two, Mac’s love of the romance genre has been a lifelong affair. A bout with breast cancer strengthened her resolve to see her stories shared with others. As of today, Mac is a five-year survivor, living her dream.

http://mackenziecrowne.com