Chapter 6
He’d always been able to compartmentalize and put work first when need be. Since his father’s first email, that ability had started to diminish. Now every time Sean walked into the main foyer he expected to see his father there again. Each time he logged into the bed and breakfast email account he kept an eye out for a message from him. As far as he could see, his father had only one reason for contacting him now and that reason was green with giant dollar signs.
Unless the SOB had been living under a rock for the past few years, he had to know Charlie had married into the Sherbrooke family. More than likely he’d also heard how well The Victorian Rose was doing since Jake Sherbrooke’s visit following the hurricane. But if money was Seamus O’Brien’s main objective why wait until now? His sister and Jake had been married for over a year. Why wait that long? It made no sense to him, no matter what angle he looked at it from.
Sean pried the wooden baseboard away from the wall. Before he could retile the bathroom floor, the old flooring needed to come up, including the baseboard along the wall. He would’ve been even further along if he could stay focused. Each time his mind drifted he managed to either make a mistake or injure himself. Already today he’d cut his finger while opening cases of paper towels with a box knife. Thankfully a few butterfly strips took care of the problem, making a trip to the emergency room unnecessary. He’d come upstairs when he’d finished that task, hoping some physical labor would keep his mind occupied. So far, though, it hadn’t worked. To make matters worse, when his head wasn’t consumed with thoughts of his father, Mia took center stage.
Only one word could describe their night of sex when they came back from the ghost tour: incredible. Even before that night of passion, she’d occupied his thoughts. Now she all but consumed them. She’d said she wanted to get to know him better and they’d certainly accomplished that in his bed. More than fourteen hours later he wondered if there would be a repeat performance or if it had been a one time deal.
Rather than waste his energy on thoughts of his father, or sex for that matter, he should’ve been focused on convincing his mother to agree with his plans for expansion. When he’d first proposed the idea, she brushed it off saying they could discuss it later. Since then he’d tried to sit down and review his proposal with her, but she kept putting it off. Her reluctance irritated him. It wasn’t like her to brush off anything business related. Moving on to the next wall, Sean slipped the crowbar behind the wooden baseboard and applied pressure. So far everywhere else the wood had come loose easily; here it didn’t budge. Readjusting his grip on the handle, he applied more pressure, only to be rewarded with the sound of splintering wood.
“Son of a bitch.” He’d managed to not ruin a single piece of wood until now, which meant he could sand them down and use them again. He couldn’t do that with this one.
“Sean,” Mia’s voice carried into him from the other room.
“In here.” He tossed the broken wood off to the side.
“You’re mom said you might be up here.” Mia appeared in the doorway that connected his personal living room to the bathroom. “I hope you don’t mind that I came up.”
Mind wasn’t the right word, although an appropriate word eluded him. “No, it’s fine. What’s up?” Coming to his feet, he moved closer.
“Unless you have plans, I thought we could do something tonight.”
He’d planned on ripping out the old tiles on the floor, but that could wait until tomorrow. “I’m free. Did you have something in mind?”
Mia shrugged and the thin strap of her top slid from her shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe another pool lesson, or a movie at the Edgemore. I’ve never been to a drive-in and the weather is supposed to be nice.”
Unable to stop himself, he slid the strap back into place. Tiny nuclear explosions detonated in his body as his fingers brushed across her skin. “How about we see how we feel later and decide? I’ll meet you downstairs around six?” Loath to remove his hands, he let his fingers wander up her neck and under her chin.
Mia took a step closer and kissed him. Then she pulled away and smiled, causing his heart to pound erratically.
“Sounds good,” she said in a silky voice before she walked away.
Kneeling down, he attacked the wood trim again, hoping the physical activity would diminish the desire now heating his blood.