Bippity boppity bite me.
"Good to see you, Danica."
She gave him a bland smile. "This is Natalie and Ross Andersen."
"Nice to meet you. Sean Grayson." He shook hands with both of them. "Danica's already familiar with the display home, but if you don't mind my horning in for a few minutes, I can point out a few things that can be customized and what variations we offer on the floor plan."
The Andersens seemed happy to have his input. He was using her clients as human shields, knowing Dani couldn't kick him to the curb while maintaining her professional veneer. Behind Natalie's back, Dani scowled at him in silent accusation.
He responded with a beatific smile.
They proceeded through a generous foyer into the living room. Although the house was a two-story, the upstairs rooms were built around the first floor in an L-shape. The living room had a high ceiling with two skylights.
Natalie smiled up at them, charmed. "I wonder if you can see any stars at night."
"Doubtful." Ross joined his wife beneath a skylight, putting an arm around her waist. "They've done a nice job of preserving trees around here and not putting the houses right on top of each other, but it's still an urban area. All the light pollution washes out the night sky."
"Oh, I don't know," Sean said softly, for Dani's ears only. "I've certainly seen stars in a living room."
Sense memories blazed through her. Their mingled cries in her own living room. The leather of the couch cool against her skin, contrasting with the trail of heat created by his hands. She tried not to think about how closely he'd held her afterward.
Sean pivoted on his heel. "And right through here is the kitchen." The model home included a flat-top stove and a kitchen island. "These counters are standard height, but we've also done some customization in the neighborhood to make individual kitchens more ergonomic."
"Deviating from the norm can hurt resale value," Dani warned her clients.
"One compromise for that is altering the height of a single counter surface to give yourself a break," Sean suggested. "After all, people spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Standing, stretching to reach things, bending over..."
His gaze flickered to Dani, and her cheeks flamed. At the earliest opportunity, she was going to replace that damn couch.
His voice was completely composed as he continued talking about the kitchen, not betraying any sign that he shared her mental images. As he led them through the bedrooms, his demeanor was friendly but businesslike. Few listening would ever realize he was simultaneously having two different conversations-one with the Andersens, and one with her. Whatever assurances she'd made herself that she could remain strictly professional, he wasn't playing by the same rules.
He showed them the master bathroom, with its spacious tiled shower and built-in bench. "I wish the shower in my town house was this roomy," he joked. "Heck, you could fit two people in here. Easily."
For a moment, she could almost feel steam caressing her body as Sean lathered shampoo through her hair. She gave herself a mental shake, pulling herself out of the memory, glad neither of the Andersens seemed to notice. But Sean's eyes met hers over the top of Natalie's head, his expression knowing.
After a quick scan of the bedroom and its vast walk-in closet, Natalie slid open the glass door that led to the balcony and stepped outside to check the view. "Ross, look. You can see how the entire neighborhood is laid out from up here."
He joined his wife, closing the door behind him.
The second they were alone, Dani socked Sean in the arm.
His lips quirked. "I'm not typically into the rough stuff. But for you, I-"
"What is wrong with you?" she demanded in a fierce whisper. If he pretended not to know what she was talking about, she was going to sock him again. "Do you normally try to seduce everyone that sets foot into the display home?"
"No. Just you."
The simple, poignant admission deflated her righteous fury. She'd expected him to play dumb and had been working herself up for a fight. Or, considering that the Andersens could rejoin them at any moment, at least a really angry glare. But he wasn't denying his actions.
Instead, he stared at her with such open hunger that if he pulled her into his arms right then, she wouldn't have been surprised. Indignant, maybe. Conflicted and confused and uncomfortably aroused. But not surprised.
"Sean..." Damn. The way she'd said his name didn't sound like the admonishment she'd intended. It sounded dangerously close to an invitation.
He reached out, his hand cupping the side of her face. She swayed on her feet, unconsciously leaning toward him. Desire warred with common sense. The Andersens were right outside.
"I screwed up." Compared to the amiable sales-pitch tone he'd been using, his voice seemed naked now, stripped of everything but unvarnished emotion. "I know how badly I screwed up. But if you'll give me a chance..."
Wasn't that what all liars and cheaters said? It'll never happen again, baby. It was just this once. Sean sounded more convincing than most, but that wasn't a guarantee. It might simply mean he was a skilled liar.
Seeming frustrated by her silence, he dropped his hand to his side. "You can't tell me you don't have any feelings about us."
"Buyer's remorse." She took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest. "And embarrassment. I shared a really uncomfortable elevator ride with your brother."
He winced. "You talked to Bryce?"
"Yeah. And, not that he's entitled to an opinion, but I don't think he approves of our jumping into bed together."
Sean's face tightened. "If he said one insulting word to you, I-"
"No, nothing outright." She was startled by his protective tone and how quickly he sprang to her defense. As an only child, she didn't have any personal basis for comparison when it came to sibling relationships, but she'd watched Meg with her family plenty of times. The Raffertys razzed each other and even seriously disagreed on occasion, but the core of their relationship was loyalty. They presented a united front to outsiders.
Apparently, such was not the case with Sean and his brother. One would think that identical twins, sharing the same DNA, would be the closest siblings of all.
"It wasn't that he said anything hateful," she clarified. "He just seems..."
"To have a stick up his butt?" He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Sorry. I shouldn't be crass. Or involve you in family squabbles. It's just that my holier-than-thou brother-"
"It is beautiful out there," Natalie said, stepping back inside. "Of course, if we moved into the neighborhood, I'd want a house without a view of the community pool. I'm not sure my self-esteem could take Ross watching babes in bikinis while I'm pregnant out to here with twins."
"Hey," her husband said sternly. "You are a babe. And carrying our children-" The unexpected sound of a foghorn filled the room. Ross pulled a cell phone from his pocket. "That's my agent. I need to take this." He retreated back onto the balcony for privacy.
"Twins, huh?" Sean smiled at Natalie. "I have a twin brother myself. We're nothing alike, though. He's Mr. Book Smart and I have what one counselor called 'kinesthetic intelligence.' Which is a fancy way of saying, I'm good with my hands."
Dani kept her gaze steadfastly locked on the baseboard, refusing to risk a glance in his direction.
"We're having twin girls," Natalie said.
"Congratulations." Sean leaned forward, his voice an exaggerated whisper. "Boys are obnoxious handfuls."
Natalie laughed, while Dani resisted the urge to nod in emphatic agreement. Sean was infuriatingly, blood-pressure-raisingly obnoxious. But he was also so much more than that.
"How long have the two of you been married?" Sean asked conversationally.
"Seven years."
"Well, it's easy to see you were made for each other." Sean unknowingly echoed the opinion Dani had always held about the Andersens.
Natalie giggled. "It's sweet of you to say that, but it wasn't always apparent. We had a rather, er, tumultuous courtship."
The door behind them slid open, and Ross raised his eyebrows at his wife's amused expression. "Did I miss something funny?"
"Natalie was just telling us that, early on, the two of you hit some bumps in the road," Dani said. "Which, personally, I find impossible to believe."