Chapter 18 #3
Desperate for a private moment to recover her composure, Carolina thanked Sydney.
Her heart raced as she rushed through the dark bedroom to the adjoining bathroom and closed the door, leaning back against it to drag deep breaths into her straining lungs.
This was utter madness! She couldn’t be in the same room with him without getting hot all over.
She’d lived without sex for thirty years!
How was it that one night with a randy Irishman had her panting like a bitch in heat?
Mortified by her thoughts, she splashed cold water on her face and studied her reflection in the mirror.
Nothing on the outside had changed, but her insides resembled the aftermath of a tornado.
The more agitated she became, the madder she was with Seamus for doing this to her.
She’d said one night. One damned night. What about that didn’t he understand?
“You need to make him understand, before it’s all over the island that you’re sleeping with your son’s employee,” she whispered to her reflection. “Get it together!”
After a few more deep breaths, she felt ready to rejoin the party. Hopefully, Mac and Linda would be up for an early night. She opened the door and gasped with shock when Seamus pushed her backward into the small bathroom and closed the door. The sound of the door locking echoed like a gunshot.
“What’re you doing?”
He grabbed her hips and yanked her into him. “This.” His lips came down on hers, hard and determined.
Carolina intended to push him away, but her arms didn’t get the memo. They looped around him as she returned the kiss with frantic urgency to match his.
Cupping her ass, he pushed his erection against her, and had her on the verge of explosive release in a matter of seconds.
Knowing they could be discovered at any second made the whole thing even hotter, if that was possible. If she’d been looking for proof that she’d taken leave of her senses, here it was, wrapped around her.
When he tugged on the button to her jeans, Carolina realized he intended to have sex right there in Luke and Sydney’s bathroom. Turning her head to break the kiss, she said, “Stop.” With a hand to his chest, she pushed him back. “Stop.”
“Let me take you home.” His voice was raspy as his lips burned a trail on her neck.
“No.”
“Please, Carolina. Tell them you don’t feel good, and I’ll offer to take you home.”
“I can’t. Everyone will know why we’re leaving.”
“No one will know anything other than your son’s employee is giving you a ride home.”
“I told you this isn’t going to happen.”
His fingers dug into her hips as he pushed his hard cock against her throbbing core.
Remembering how he’d stretched her, almost to the point of pain, made her whimper with the need for more.
“It’s already happening.”
“Seamus, please. I can’t do this.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Her head dropped onto his chest as her fingers gripped his belt loops.
“If you mean it, love, you might want to let me go.”
He paused for a heartbeat, giving her a chance to release him.
Almost against her will, her fingers tightened their grip on his jeans.
He chuckled as his lips moved over her neck.
“Don’t get all full of yourself,” she snapped, annoyed by how easy she was with him. “This doesn’t change anything.”
“It makes me so hot when you’re bossy. Like last night when you told me to fuck you harder. So hot.”
Furious with herself as much as him, Carolina let him go, reached around him and opened the door to a rush of cooler air. “Leave me alone.”
With her hands trembling and her heart beating so hard it felt like it might burst, Carolina took a minute in the hallway to pull herself together before she rejoined the party.
Linda pounced immediately. “Are you all right? Your face is all red.”
“I feel like I’m coming down with something. Would you mind terribly if we left early?”
“I’ll give you a ride,” a voice behind them said in a lilting Irish brogue. “I was just getting ready to leave myself. I’m on the eight o’clock boat in the morning.”
Carolina closed her eyes, seeking forbearance. She couldn’t whack him—or murder him, for that matter—in a room full of people.
“Are you sure you don’t mind, Seamus?” Linda asked. “I don’t mind taking her.”
“I’m going right by her place on the way to the Beachcomber,” Seamus said with a crafty grin.
Her place was in the complete opposite direction from the Beachcomber, and he knew it.
Since Linda had been looking forward to the gathering, Carolina hated to drag her away early.
“Thank you,” she said to Seamus through gritted teeth.
He was so going to pay for this, except that was exactly what he wanted.
“If you’re sure,” Linda said, giving Carolina a speculative glance.
“No trouble a’tall,” Seamus said. “Shall we, Miz Cantrell?”
If looks could kill, he’d be so dead.
His decadent mouth curled into the charming smile that’d gotten her into this mess in the first place.
“I’ll call you tomorrow to check on you,” Linda said, giving Carolina a hug.
“I’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s just a bug that’s going around.”
“Of course it is. What else would it be?”
Carolina left Linda’s question unanswered. As she and Seamus said good night and thank you to their hosts, Carolina plotted his imminent demise. She was going to slice him into tiny pieces and ship him back to his homeland in a shoebox. And then she was really going to kill him.