It really sucks to be in love with someone who sees you as nothing more than a friend.
Not in My Wildest Dreams
McKenna Series #2
Jamie Hollins
Releasing Feb 7th, 2017
It really sucks to be in love with someone who sees you as nothing more than a friend. Darcy Owens knows this from personal experience. From the moment she met Sean McKenna as a wary ten-year-old, he’s owned her heart. So when he asks for her help with an important construction project, she can’t say no.
Building a boutique hotel on Boston’s waterfront is a career-making opportunity, and Sean needs Darcy’s interior design expertise. She’s incredibly talented, and there is no one he trusts more. He knows he can always count on his childhood friend, but doesn’t know why he’s thinking about her tight skirts and blue eyes instead of tight deadlines and blueprints.
When Sean and Darcy’s excitement about their work turns into an entirely different kind of excitement, it’s a sexy surprise. But they soon realize that building a new relationship is more challenging than building a new hotel, especially when life-long habits and old insecurities create cracks in the foundation.
DON'T MISS ANY OF THE MCKENNA SERIES
Sean had never noticed the cobweb in the corner of his
living room before. The thin and delicate web shifted slightly as the evening
breeze wafted in from the open window.
Back and
forth it moved. Back and forth.
He looked
down at his watch for the thousandth time. Half past eight. They were supposed
to meet Ewan and Quinn a half hour ago.
“Darcy! What’s the
holdup?” he yelled. “Did you fall asleep up there or something?”
He heard
some rustling and drawers shutting before she yelled back, “I’m almost done!”
With a
sigh, he let his head fall back against the chair. Women were notorious for
taking forever to get ready. He’d dated a couple of women who would take forever
to put on the finishing touches while he waited in their foyers or living
rooms. He just never figured Darcy would be that type of woman.
Not that he
minded. Not much about her bothered him, except when she made him all hot and
bothered. But then again, he didn’t mind that either.
He’d
gotten the impression earlier she was a little nervous about tonight. She’d
asked a million questions about where they were going and who would be there.
He didn’t know why she was nervous. They were meeting Ewan, Quinn, and some
others who they’d been out with a million times since they were old enough to
get into bars without fake IDs.
Whatever
Darcy’s
hang-up was, it was cutting into their night. They had to stay at the bar for a
socially acceptable amount of time before they excused themselves so they could
hurry home to the confines of his bedroom, where he planned to do all sorts of
naughty things.
It had been
two weeks since London, and he couldn’t get enough of her. She was to Sean what catnip
was to cats.
Darcy was
Sean-nip.
He
twisted his lips at the clever quip and let his mind wander back to last
weekend. He’d driven down to Providence the moment he had left the office on
Friday. They hadn’t left her apartment until Sunday night to go to dinner. He’d
driven back to Boston afterward and floated on some sort of sex high the rest
of the week.
The
moment she’d walked into his townhouse last night, he hadn’t even bothered with
the polite “Hey there” or the casual “So, how was your drive?” He’d lifted her
up by the waist and kissed her all the way out of the kitchen, up the stairs,
down the hall, and into his bedroom. He hadn’t even cared that his roommates
were home and saw the whole show.
He
flexed his fingers against the upholstery on the armchair. Sex had never been
this exciting. Sure, he’d looked forward to it before.
But
being with Darcy was like walking around with a set of blue balls all the time.
He ached at the thought of her smooth skin. He constantly thought about getting
inside her, and then when he finally got there, he never wanted to leave. She
was becoming less inhibited—more confident—and the sex just kept getting
better.
Over
the last two weeks, he’d wondered why that was. Why was she so irresistible to
him when other women were so forgettable? Why did he find himself thinking of
her all day long when he should have his mind on work?
If
he and Darcy had started a relationship years ago, would it have been this
good? Was Darcy some untapped sex siren who would have rocked some other guy’s
world if he hadn’t gotten to her first?
Whenever
such questions would arise, he’d dismiss them as quickly as he could. His
mother always told him he was like an ostrich. Instead of facing issues or
tough questions or challenges, he’d stick his head in the sand and wait until
they’d passed him by.
He
didn’t necessarily agree with his mother’s assessment. In fact, when it came to
his mother’s advice, he usually let it go in one ear and out the other. She’d
have him married with a whole brood of kids by now. That was definitely
something he wasn’t ready for. At least at this point in his life. Maybe
someday in the future. Way in the future.
He
wasn’t running away from tough questions, he just didn’t think it was worth his
time and effort to worry over something that wasn’t going to affect anything in
the present or future.
Why
ponder such things? They were together now, exploring each other and this thing
they had going on. Why sit and think about the past when she was upstairs in
his bedroom at this moment getting dressed in what he hoped included some hot
lingerie?
He
felt himself hardening and cursed. Maybe they should just skip the bar
altogether. Tell everyone that he’d come down with a case of dengue fever or
some shit like that.
He
heard another drawer slam upstairs.
“Seriously!”
he exclaimed. “You must be sleeping ’cause I have no idea why else it’s taking
you so long. I know I wore you out last night and all, but you drank all of
your girlie latte plus half of my man coffee this afternoon. You can’t possibly
be tired with all that caffeine.”
A
laugh floated down the stairs. “I’m not sleeping, I’m getting ready! And stop
flattering yourself, Sean. If anyone wore anyone out last night, it was me.”
“Woman,
please. I’ve been taking it easy on you since you’re just past virginal.”
Another
laugh from upstairs. “What’s the next step then?”
Sean
stood up and went to the bottom of the steps. “See, that just goes to show how
not ready you are. You don’t even know what the next step is.”
He
heard a zipper, then a light switch turned off. “Please, Mr. Sex Guru.
Enlighten me.”
Sean
leaned against the wall. “I can’t. It’s against guru policy to divulge the
secrets of the next level of sexual satisfaction if you’re not ready. You gotta
pass the test first.”
He
heard footsteps and looked up to see Darcy finally coming downstairs. She wore
a long-sleeved green dress and nude high heels. His eyes moved from the
roundness of her breasts hidden underneath the dress down over her shapely hips
and her exposed legs. She looked good enough to eat.
Darcy
stopped on the last step, and her warm, familiar minty scent surrounded him.
“What kind of test is it? Multiple choice? Short essay?”
He
reached for her and pulled her snug against him, loving the way her breath
hitched when he squeezed her ass.
Sean
smiled before answering, “It’s an oral exam.”
Jamie
Hollins was
born and raised in rural Northeast Ohio.
After graduate school, she embarked on a perilous career in Human
Resources where she met plenty of real life characters. When she’s not writing or chasing after her
toddler, she enjoys reading and golfing.
Jamie lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and their dog,
Winston.
Thank you for featuring NOT IN MY WILDEST DREAMS!
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