twinkle was back in full force as he brushed his mouth over hers. “Come on, Holly. Reach with me.” He kissed her then, and it was intoxicatingly slow, and wonderful and perfect, the way his mouth fit over hers, the way he coaxed her tongue into his mouth, the way he gave, then took, then gave again, until her head was spinning and her body felt like it would simply float straight up to the ceiling if he wasn’t holding her down.
“Sean,” she whispered when he lifted his head. “You’re braver than I am.”
“Says the girl who took off across an entire ocean, to a foreign land—”
“England is hardly—”
“Shh, let me spin my tale of Holly’s Great Adventure. You’ve had one, you know. Most eighteen-year-olds, especially ones reared in small towns, would freak at the thought of moving out of state. Even I stuck close. Not you, racing off to Oxford, settling in London. You reached.”
“I ran.”
He lifted his head then and let her slide down his body so her feet were once again flat on the floor. Funny, but when he looked at her the way he was now, she still felt like she was floating.
“And now?” He pushed her hair from her face, stroked her cheek with his thumb, searched her eyes. “Are you running again?”
“I—don’t know. Maybe. My life is there.”
“You had a life here, once.”
“I did. But it’s not one I want to come back to.”
“Good, because that particular version is no longer here. But there is a foundation here, a place you know, that you loved, that loves you. With people you’ve known your whole life. Who would support you, because you’re a Willow Creek girl. You’ve had family around you your whole life, if you’d just opened your eyes and looked. They don’t have to be bound by blood or a shared gene pool, you know.”
“I do. Know that.” But did she? Had she ever really taken the time to think about it that way? She’d spent most of her time wishing her life was different and plotting a way to put it behind her, start over.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. You didn’t exactly have anyone pointing the way. Nobody blamed you for taking off, you know. They all thought you were quite the smart, sharp one, so worldly and bold. They were all proud of you, still are. But they’d love to have you back.”
“They—it’s been a long, long time, Sean. They don’t even know me. Not the adult me.”
“One thing I learned about this town is that you’re always known to the ones who knew you when.”
“Maybe that’s true for the Gallaghers. Everyone loves your family and you are a good percentage of the town all on your own.”
He laughed. “We both have a place here. Your mom and dad were both loved, respected, and you gain a lot, automatically, just from that.”
“Doesn’t seem right,” she said, more to herself than him, “given I didn’t appreciate it all that much.”
“That’s the other part of small towns…you’re always one of us. Flaws and all.”
Now she laughed. “Says the flawless guy.”
His eyebrows raised in true surprise. “Hardly. Step across the street and any number of my cousins or aunts will happily list for you all of my faults in colorful detail. On second thought, I’m trying to get you to give me a shot here, so forget I mentioned that.”
Her laughter faded but the smile remained. He made it almost impossible not to. He was charming, and sexy as hell, and the way he kissed her…there was no comparison she could draw, because it was incomparable.
He backed up and sank down onto the divan, pulling her down into his lap. “Just…think about the things I’ve said. At least give it some consideration. All of it. Not just the me part.” He grinned. “Well, maybe put a little emphasis on that. See? Not flawless. But I find myself feeling really greedy where you’re concerned. Like so much time has passed already, and I can’t stand the thought of losing any more of it. It’s too precious. That’s another thing my parents taught me.”
“Oh, Sean—”
“I didn’t say that for the sympathy vote. But it is something I carry with me. It’s why I do most everything I do. No regrets, that’s my motto. And it’s a good one. Maybe you should think about it in those terms.” He shifted and laid her back on the divan, lowering his head toward hers.
She should have pushed at