To Live (7 page)

"Accounting."

"Sexy and smart." He murmured under his breath, but Kelsey heard him and blushed. "You must be brilliant at number-crunching to land such a high position at Glocal. That company is a pretty big deal, even in the U.S. I think it's among the top PR firms in the world. How did you get in?"

Kelsey swallowed and decided to tell him the truth. "My father owns it. But, yes, I am pretty good with numbers. I did work my way to the top on my own." She didn't want him thinking she'd had everything handed to her.

"Wow! You're the founder's daughter." Shaun was silent for a while, as if thinking about something. "What's his name... Aidan O'Neil. You're Kelsey O'Neil?"

"I am."

"What made you walk away from such a great career?"

Kelsey shrugged. "I did fantastic work for the company for years... for my father. But crunching numbers was never my passion. So I quit and decided to figure out what I love for a change. I came here to take a break and start a new chapter in my life." She refrained from telling him about the trigger of her life-changing decision. Craig was in the past, and she wouldn't pay him any more attention than he deserved.

"Was it your old man who convinced you to work in the family business, then?"

Forced was more like it. Aidan O'Neil always had the last word. "He wouldn't have it any other way. I studied accounting because of him. He's very controlling. It was always his way or the highway."

"It couldn't have been easy to walk away, then."

Kelsey inhaled. "No, it wasn't. We haven't spoken since I quit."

"What would you have studied instead? If your father hadn’t interfered?"

"I wanted to become a chef, to open up my own restaurant one day. My father forbade it."

"A chef?" Shaun arched an eyebrow.

"Something wrong with that?"

"No, no. I'm not trying to tease you. I'm impressed, that's all. Why a chef?"

"The population is growing. There are more mouths to feed." Kelsey shrugged. "I don't know. I love food. I love the smells, the textures, the colors... everything."

"We need more chefs who think the way you do. When am I invited to dinner?" His lips twitched.

"The only problem is I can't cook."

"Oh, yes." He threw back his head and laughed. "How could I forget? You almost burned the cottage down earlier today."

"Don't be mean." Kelsey laughed.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"About?"

"Your lack of cooking skills? Now that your father can't stop you, are you going to go for it? I think you should."

"You don't think it's too late?"

"It's never too late unless you decide it is. You could start by learning to cook more basic meals and then take it from there."

Kelsey's heart hammered against her chest. "You have a point." Her voice was husky. "There's nothing and no one stopping me."

Shaun leaned forward. "I can help you search for culinary classes in Limmery. Who knows, there might even be one or two schools right here in Dreara."

"I'd appreciate that." Kelsey really did like the idea. This was the push she needed.

They continued eating again in silence, while the other diners talked in hushed voices. Finally, Kelsey decided to ask Shaun about himself. She didn't want to pry, and she had to tread carefully. But he'd asked her a few personal questions, so why couldn't she do the same?

"How about you? What did you do before you became an author? Or have you always been an author?"

Shaun looked away and his jaw tightened. "I was a firefighter."

"Really? That's exciting. I was rescued by a man who actually knows his way around fire. Were you at least lucky enough to love your job?"

His eyes darkened as if a velvet curtain had fallen behind them. "Yes." His voice was clipped.

"So, why did you stop? I'm sure it's possible to both write and put out fires."

"Life got in the way." He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Are you done? Can we leave?"

Kelsey read between the lines. He wanted to remain a closed book. But that only made her want to dig deeper, to find out what he was hiding. "Yes, of course. Let's go." She pushed back her chair and stood.

They paid the check on their way out, then drove home.

***

Shaun burst into his cottage and headed straight for the bathroom. He ran the faucet and dunked his head under the water, wishing it could clear his head of Kelsey O'Neil. The girl was getting under his skin, especially tonight. He'd been unable to keep his eyes off those luscious lips, the curves of her breasts, the way her ass moved when she walked. It had taken every ounce of strength not to pull her close and kiss her. He wanted her at a distance now just as much as he wanted her close by. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted her. Finding out she was smart in addition to hot only moved her up on his scale of dateable women, and he didn't date anyone. When he'd asked her to dinner, he hoped they could just be friends. But who was he fooling? He loved the way she bent her head to one side when she smiled, the way her eyelashes stroked her cheeks when she lowered her eyes. The way she hung on his every word, as if there was nothing else she'd rather do. It turned him on.

He splashed tepid water onto his face and squeezed his eyes shut. Then he opened them again, reached for a towel, and patted his face and hair dry. When he left the bathroom and went down to the kitchen, Kelsey was still on his mind.

He'd been just fine, fucking the occasional girl every couple of weeks, and writing his book. The cottage Kelsey was renting had been empty for months, and he'd thought it would stay unoccupied for a while longer. He certainly hadn't been interested in entertaining any neighbors. Now the new girl in town had come to mess with his plans. He didn't plan for this shit. He'd been down that road before and it had ended badly.

Now fate seemed to be pushing him back in the direction he was trying to avoid, and he didn't have the power to stop it. One thing was for certain: He couldn't stay away from Kelsey if he tried. She was like some kind of drug. And ever since the day he met her, he found himself smiling and laughing more than he had done in years. It had been way more fun experiencing Dreara with her than alone. The excited look in her eyes when she learned something new was priceless. And there was one more place he couldn't wait to show her. He had to see the sparkle in her eye one more time.

"Damn you, Kelsey O'Neil," he said as he opened a cupboard and pulled out a mug. He'd fill himself up with coffee and write all night if he had to. Sleeping was out of the question.

Chapter Nine

The harsh ringing of the house phone ripped Kelsey out of her sleep. She had been up half the night wondering what Shaun was running from. When she'd finally fallen asleep at dawn, she dreamed of him.

"Hello?" Kelsey was too sleepy to raise her voice above a thick whisper.

"Hi, Kelsey. It's Shaun. I got your phone number from Brian." His voice was strong and clear—no trace of sleep. He sounded like he'd been awake for hours. "Did I wake you? I can call back later."

"No, it's fine. I'm awake." She ran a hand through her hair.

"There's a place each cook, or wannabe cook, must see. The farmer's market. I discovered it a few weeks ago. It's open only on Saturdays. I'll be going there in two hours. Do you want to come along?"

Kelsey blinked the sleep from her eyes and moved the phone to her other ear. A smile spread across her face. She couldn't resist another chance to be with him. "I'm not a cook yet, but okay."

When Kelsey left the cottage at noon, Shaun met her outside the gate. He was wearing a black leather jacket and his hair lay flat on his head, damp from the soft drizzle.

During the twenty minutes it took them to drive to the market, Kelsey was thankful for the music playing on the radio; there was no uneasy silence to fill.

Shaun kept his hands firmly on the wheel and his eyes focused on the road. He was an incredibly careful driver, and she still found it odd. Apart from a word here and there, he hardly even spoke. It seemed as though he didn't want to be distracted.

She couldn't help shooting him occasional sidelong glances. She studied his strong jaw, chiseled face, and five-o'clock shadow, then moved to his manly hands. She had to clasp her own hands in her lap to prevent herself from resting her hand on his thigh.

"Like what you see?" he asked and she peered out the window so he wouldn't see her blush.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I could feel you watching me."

Kelsey swallowed hard and clasped her sweaty hands tighter. Had she been so obvious? "Sorry." What else could she say?

He chuckled from deep within his throat and didn't say anything more.

She relaxed when they finally pulled into a parking lot.

"It's only a five-minute walk from here."

Kelsey smiled and unhooked her seatbelt. She climbed out of the truck and quietly walked beside him. The rain had stopped now and the sun gleamed down from the spaces between the clouds.

"So, what's special about this farmer's market?" Kelsey asked.

"It's a culinary delights heaven. If you loved food before, you'll fall in love with it all over again."

He was right. As they approached a sea of stalls overflowing with fresh jams, chocolate, pastries, fruits, and vegetables, a thrill coursed through Kelsey and the awkward moment in the car was forgotten.

Social banter and bargaining filled the air, and traditional music and cheerful laughter welcomed them.

Shaun placed the palm of his hand on the small of her back and guided her through the river of people. Even through her jacket, heat flooded the place where his palm rested so casually.

"This is amazing," she said as they passed a stall with a pig on a spit.

"I agree. I come here almost every Saturday."

"I can see why."

"Shall we get something to eat?" he asked.

"How can I refuse?"

They found a free bench under a blue tent and feasted upon warm, freshly baked bread smothered with herbs and seeds. Small cubes of homemade butter melted from the loaf's heat.

"Thanks for inviting me here." Kelsey sank her teeth into her bread and watched Shaun watching her. She didn't look away. The man she saw in him seemed so different from the one everybody gossiped about. They called him a womanizer, but she hadn't seen a single woman enter or leave his cottage.

The bread was the most delicious brunch Kelsey had ever eaten. But it wasn't just the food that she enjoyed. It was the cool air on her cheeks, the sound of children laughing in the distance, the genuine smiles of the people all around them... and Shaun...

"Hang on." Shaun slid closer on the bench. He reached out and brushed a crumb from the corner of her mouth, leaving it tingling. Then he offered her a hand and they rose.

They explored more stalls until Shaun suddenly halted and looked at her with a wicked grin. "Let's give them something to talk about."

Kelsey frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you see everyone staring at us? I guess they're wondering what a girl like you is doing with a man like me."

Kelsey looked around, and sure enough, people were staring. "Wow, they're not even making an effort to hide it. Are we that interesting?"

"I'm sure they think you're my latest conquest."

Kelsey lowered her gaze. "They'll soon find out that's not true... We're only friends." She tried not to sound disappointed.

"Or we can give them something to talk about. Then we can go back to being friends."

Kelsey met his gaze again, which was dark with mischief. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering her question, Shaun pulled her against him and kissed her hard on the lips. At first, she froze in his arms, too shocked to think about what to do next. But his kiss had an effect on her... She melted under his touch. Against her will, she found herself parting her lips and allowing her tongue to tangle with his. As his tongue teased hers and explored her mouth, her legs lost all strength, but he held her firmly. She wound her fingers into his hair to deepen the kiss, but he stopped and moved his lips away, leaving her weak and dizzy, and aching for more.

Touching her pulsating lips with the tips of her fingers, she looked around. Some people still gawked, while others turned away in apparent disgust.

Humiliation washed over her. The new girl had become entangled with the mysterious womanizer. Publicly.

"Now, let's pretend nothing happened." Shaun slipped his hand through her arm and nodded at two giggling teenagers.

On trembling legs, Kelsey followed. She was completely under his spell.

They both did some shopping at various stalls, and then started walking back to the truck. During their walk, Kelsey wanted to talk about what had happened, but she couldn't form the words. She was scared to even think about what was happening. The sexual tension between them was so strong, it terrified her. She couldn't have a one-night stand with this man. She didn't think she could stop at one night.

"You know," Shaun finally said. "I'm not one for PDAs, but what happened back there was damn satisfying."

"I... I enjoyed it too." She could still feel the memory of his lips on hers.

"You should have seen the looks on their faces," Shaun continued.

Kelsey's heart sank. "That's what you enjoyed most?"

"That and your kissable lips, of course. Who wouldn't want to kiss you?"

She was dumbfounded. Should she thank him? On one hand she was flattered, but on the other she felt used. Mostly, she was angry with herself for running straight into a train wreck. She decided not to say anything, not even during the drive home.

"I hate eating alone," Shaun said as they stood in front of Kelsey's gate. He lifted the two white bags filled with his shopping from the market. "Do you want to join me for dinner?"

"Who's cooking?" Kelsey smiled. He wanted to spend time with her twice in the same day. Even though he'd said their kiss meant nothing, there was something between them—some delicate thread she wanted to explore further. But for now, as he'd proposed, she'd act as if the kiss hadn't happened. She was an adult and she could handle it. All in all, he had been kind to her. The least she could do was join him for dinner..