An Outrageous Proposal. Maureen Child

the floor. She gave a quick look to the small kitchen in the back, the closet-sized bath and the storeroom. She’d already been through the place once and knew it was the one for her. But today was to settle the last of her nerves before she signed the rental papers.

      The main room was long and narrow, and the window let in a wide swath of daylight even in the gray afternoon. She had a great view of the main street, looking out directly across the road at a small bakery where she could go for her lunch every day and get tea and a sandwich. She’d be a part of Dunley, and she could grow the kind of business she’d always wanted to have.

      Georgia breathed deep and realized that Mary was giving her spiel, and she grinned when she realized she would never have to do that herself, again. Maeve wandered the room, inspecting the space as if she’d never seen it before. Outside, two or three curious villagers began to gather, peering into the windows, hands cupped around their eyes.

      Another quick smile from Georgia as she turned to Mary and said, “Yes. It’s perfect.”

      Sean came rushing through the front door just in time to hear her announcement. He gave her a wide smile and walked across the room to her. Dropping both hands onto her shoulders, he gave her a fast, hard kiss, and said, “That’s for congratulations.”

      Georgia’s lips buzzed in reaction to that spontaneous kiss even while she worried about Maeve and Mary being witnesses to it. Sean didn’t seem to mind, though. But then, he was such an outgoing guy, maybe no one would think anything of it.

      “We used handshakes for that in my day,” Maeve murmured.

      “Ah, Maeve my darlin’, did you want a kiss, too?” Sean swept the older woman up, planted a quick kiss on her mouth and had her back on her feet, swatting the air at him a second later.

      “Go on, Sean Connolly, you always were free with your kisses.”

      “He was indeed,” Mary said with a wink for Georgia. “Talk of the village he was. Why when my Kitty was young, I used to warn her about our Sean here.”

      Sean slapped one hand to his chest in mock offense. “You’re a hard woman, Mary Donohue, when you know Kitty was the first to break my heart.”

      Mary snorted. “Hard to break a thing that’s never been used.”

      No one else seemed to notice, but Georgia saw a flash of something in Sean’s eyes that made her wonder if Mary’s words hadn’t cut a little deeper than she’d meant. But a moment later, Sean was speaking again in that teasing tone she knew so well.

      “Pretty women were meant to be kissed. You can’t blame me for doing what’s expected, can you?”

      “You always did have as much brass as a marching band,” Maeve told him, but she was smiling.

      “So then, it’s settled.” Sean looked from Georgia to Mary. “You’ll be taking the shop.”

      “I am,” she said, “if Mary’s brought the papers with her.”

      “I have indeed,” that woman said and again dipped into her massive handbag.

      Georgia followed her off a few steps to take care of business while Sean stood beside Maeve and watched her go.

      “And just what kind of deviltry are you up to this time, Sean Connolly?” Maeve whispered.

      Sean didn’t look at the older woman. Couldn’t seem to tear his gaze off of Georgia. Nothing new there. She had been uppermost in his mind for the past two weeks. Since the first time he’d touched her, Sean had thought about little else but touching her again. He hadn’t meant to kiss her like that in front of witnesses—especially Maeve—but damned if he’d been able to help himself.

      “I don’t know what you mean, Maeve.”

      “Oh, yes,” the older woman said with a knowing look, “it’s clear I’ve confused you …”

      “Leave off, Maeve,” he murmured. “I’m here only to help if I can.”

      “Being the generous sort,” she muttered right back.

      He shot her a quick look and sighed. There was no putting anything over on Maeve Carrol. When they were boys, he and Ronan had tried too many times to count to get away with some trouble or other only to be stopped short by the tiny woman now beside him.

      Frowning a bit, he turned to watch Georgia as she read over the real estate agent’s papers. She was small but, as he knew too well, curvy in all the right places. In her faded blue jeans and dark scarlet, thickly knit sweater, she looked too good. Standing here in this worn, empty store, she looked vivid. Alive. In a way that made everything else around her look as gray as the skies covering Dunley.

      “Ronan says you haven’t been by the house much,” Maeve mentioned.

      “Ah, well, I’m giving them time to settle in with Fiona. Don’t need people dropping in right and left.”