The Summer of Sunshine and Margot(80)

“I slept with her.”

Sunshine felt the kick land squarely in her gut. She knew it wasn’t her business, that she shouldn’t care, that in the scheme of things, there was no way it could matter, but she still felt stunned by the news. Betrayal joined shock, both of which made her feel hurt and uncomfortable. All this before breakfast, she thought grimly.

She took another sip of coffee, hoping to buy herself time and hide any visible reaction.

“Good for you,” she said as lightly as she could. “The dry spell is over.”

She offered a fake smile he didn’t return.

“You’re not happy?” she asked.

“It wasn’t great.” He turned away.

“You mean the sex was—”

He leaned against the counter and swore softly. “No, the sex was fine. It’s everything else. I thought I wanted to get laid and she was certainly up for it but when we were done, it wasn’t what I wanted. Jesus, I sound like a woman.”

“Not really. Your voice is too low.”

He looked at her. “Humor?”

“Too soon?”

He managed a smile. “No. It’s not too soon. I thought I’d feel great, but I don’t. I feel like shit and now I’m stuck with what happened.”

Sunshine’s discomfort faded enough for her to relax. Not that Declan’s sex life was any of her business, but if he hadn’t had a great time with Phoebe then maybe he wouldn’t want to see her again and—

And what? They would start dating? Hardly.

“She’s texted me twice already,” he said. “Maybe Connor and I should move to Bora Bora.”

“That seems like an extreme reaction to a couple of texts,” she said gently. “An alternative solution would be to meet her for coffee.”

“What?” He stared at her. “I don’t want to see her. What if she expects us to do it again?”

Sunshine did her best not to laugh. “Or you could meet her for coffee,” she repeated. “In a public place where your virtue would be safe.”

“You’re mocking me.”

“A little. My point is you can tell her that your night together was great, but you’re not ready to see anyone right now.”

“She’s going to yell at me.”

“Possibly, but it won’t be awful and you’ll be the great guy who was willing to face her.”

“Why can’t I just be the jerk who ends things with a text?”

“Because deep down inside, you’re not a jerk. Plus, you need the practice with women.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Kinda.”

They smiled at each other. Tension returned, but this was a different kind. This was about awareness and the whole man-woman thing and the fact that they wanted each other but couldn’t go there, or maybe she wanted him and the rest was wishful thinking but regardless, there was tension.

Declan took a step toward her. Every part of her wanted her to move closer to him. Every part of her wanted to hold and be held and get lost in his kiss and his touch and...

Somewhere in the back of her head a siren blared. The last sensible synapse in her brain went on alert and warned her not to be stupid. There was so much more on the line than fleeting pleasure.

Indecision held her in check as she battled what was easy with what she claimed she wanted. No, what she knew she wanted. She stepped back.

“I can’t.”

He immediately retreated. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

She pointed to the bowl. “It’s pancake batter. If you could—”

“Yes. I’ll make them.”

There was so much more to say and yet there was nothing left to discuss. Sunshine did the only thing that made sense. She turned on her heel and ran.

  Alec hung on to Margot as they both struggled to catch their breath. They were in his office, in the middle of the afternoon. Somehow her stopping by to say hi had turned into something much more appealing.

He stepped back and picked up her panties. She took them, grinned and slid off the desk. Except for his unfastened jeans and her panties, they were completely dressed.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and shook his head. “Three minutes. I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

She pulled up her panties, then smoothed her dress into place. “Oh, don’t worry about the speed,” she teased. “When my orgasm is that good, I genuinely don’t care that it only took me eight or nine seconds to get there. But we probably should start locking the door.”

He followed her gaze and saw that they had left his office door unlocked. It was a weekday. Not only was his mother in the house, so was Edna, the cleaning team and woodworker Borys doing his repair thing on various columns and carvings. Anyone could have walked in.

“I should have thought of it,” he said, knowing he was normally so careful. But Margot had breezed in and the rest of the world had disappeared.

“Me, too.” She smiled. “Next time for sure.”

He pulled her close and kissed her. For a long time they simply hung on to each other.

He drew back far enough to be able to see her face. “I’m not seeing anyone else. I’m sure you assumed that, but I want to make it clear that there’s only you.”