So he’d learned to harness his emotions. He’d always been in control. Until now. He wasn’t as careful when he was with Isabel. She seemed to appreciate his unguarded moments but it was a risk. If she saw how much he desired and loved her, would it scare her off? Would they both have to leave town, scandal dogging their heels?
She reached for the handle to her office door and paused. “Is it because you work for my father?”
“No,” he replied instantly. He respected his boss but Keith Bennett didn’t have a say in his personal life.
“Because he wouldn’t have any objections. The man is always singing your praises. And he does not offer praise easily.”
“No, Isabel, it’s because what we have is short-term and Seedling has a very long memory.” Sean ignored the pang in his chest. He didn’t want this to end but he had to be realistic. “They would always bring up your bad decision to hook up with me.”
Isabel exhaled sharply and wrenched the office door open. “It’s not poor judgment that got me into bed with you.”
“You don’t want to be associated with me,” he said as he followed her into the office.
“Why?” Isabel asked as she walked around her desk. “I have nothing to be ashamed of. I would be proud to be seen with you.”
Her words shouldn’t affect him. He had worked hard to become respectable, but he never really believed he had reached that level. But Isabel was proud of him. And he realized that was all that mattered. “Miss Doris may not agree with you.”
She paused as she reached for her desk drawer. “You are no saint, but neither am I.”
That was true, but she didn’t have to be proud of it. Who would have thought the town’s librarian, Seedling’s good girl, could have him twisted in knots?
“You’re more good than bad,” he insisted.
“Want to bet?”
“That reminds me,” he said as she grabbed her purse from the drawer. “Did you get my text? The one asking you to remove your panties before you stood in front of all of Seedling?”
Heat scorched her cheeks and she clumsily dropped the purse on her desk. “Yes.”
Sean’s body hardened as he imagined her naked under her dress. He thrust his clenched hands into his pockets. “Did you follow it?”
She nervously licked her lips and looked away.
His throat tightened as his blood pounded through his veins. “Show me.”
* * *
ISABEL FLATTENED HER HANDS against her stomach. She was nervous. Excited. She glanced past Sean through the office door.
“No one is here,” Sean said as he kicked the door shut.
She gave a silent nod but she glanced again at the closed door. No one should be in the library. No one would interrupt them. She gave a hesitant step around the desk.
“Stop,” Sean said quietly, raising his hands, motioning her to halt.
She froze and her eyes went wide. “What’s wrong?”
“We should continue this somewhere private.” The gentle smile was at odds with the hunger glittering in his eyes.
She smiled and took another step. She knew she had nothing to be nervous about. Sean placed her pleasure and her privacy above all else.
“Call me selfish,” he said as he watched the sway of her hips, “but I want your whole attention on me.”
“When is it not?” she asked lightly. She was crazy about this man. The moment he had stepped into the library it had been impossible to focus on the event. She’d had to keep her distance so she could do her job.
Sean curled his fingers at his sides. “Did you follow my text?” he asked impatiently.
Isabel stopped and sat on the edge of her desk. “Why did you make the request?”
His eyes narrowed when she didn’t answer his question. “I knew I was going to need an incentive to get through the poetry jam. The ode to a tractor almost had me running out the door.”
She crossed her legs, biting back a smile as the movement mesmerized Sean. “It’s quite a risk you were asking me to take.”
“Hardly,” he argued hoarsely. He dipped his finger under his shirt collar as if it had become too tight. “Your dress goes past your knees. Let me see if you did what I asked.”
She reached for the hem of her dress and slowly inched it up her bare legs. Isabel paused as it reached midthigh. “Here’s the thing...”
Sean groaned and speared his hands through his blond hair. She knew he wanted to rip her dress off and bury himself in her. Her core clenched with anticipation.
“There was no mention of my reward for following your request.” She crossed her legs again.
He tugged at the knot in his tie and slowly exhaled. “It was implied.”