I closed my eyes and worked to calm myself.

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.

When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Ah, that was better. I didn’t need those hand towels, and I certainly didn’t need the fancy little eucalyptus-scented soaps wrapped in pretty purple wax paper. I just needed to relax and accept what was really happening here.

Sean’s beef with Ronan, and my inconvenient feelings for a man my brother disliked immensely were giving me a severe case of anxiety. That was a fact. I needed to simply accept it and get through the evening. That was all.

I sat down on the closed lid of the toilet just as I heard the door open and someone step inside. There was a long, masculine sounding exhalation before Sean said, “Lucy, let me in.”

And just like that, I was on edge again. My eyes flared in disbelief that he’d followed me into the bathroom. There were only six people at our table, and the absence of two wouldn’t go unnoticed. Jumping up swiftly, I threw open the door.

“Get out of here now,” I hissed, my hands going to his chest and pushing him toward the exit. He gripped them in his own and held them there, his eyes meeting mine.

“Relax, no one’s going to catch us,” he said in a low voice. “I just need to make you come. I promise I’ll be quick.”

I stared at him and his audacity for a full three seconds before I shrieked on a whisper, “Are you out of your mind?”

“Lucy, please,” he whispered. “I can’t get you out of my head.”

“Puh-lease! I’m sure you were thinking about me all last night when you were out with other women, ‘testing your new evil orgasm powers.’” I added air quotes to the last part, wanting to be as obnoxious as possible.

“No,” he ground out. “There were no women.”

I gasped, then sputtered in surprise. No women? Why did that make my heart soften so instantaneously? Crap!

He took advantage of my stunned state to march me back into the cubicle, releasing one of my hands just long enough to close and lock the stall door. “But I did think about you all last night when I was alone and I touched myself, imagined you coming on my tongue,” he kissed my jaw, “and fingers,” he kissed my neck, “and cock,” he kissed my lips.

Something like aroused hope and dread had my neck burning and my voice shaking as I pulled away from his intoxicating kiss. “I thought you were going out last night to find somebody else?”

“I don’t want anyone else.”

I . . . who . . . when . . . WHAT?

I needed to think.

I needed a minute.

I needed an ice-bath.

“This is neither the time nor the place, Sean,” I said weakly, right before he smashed his mouth to mine, his tongue sliding past the seam of my lips to taste me. He groaned and the noise did something, turned me into a pliant pile of mush rather than an anxious kleptomaniac mess.

His hands cupped my cheeks as he turned us and my back hit the wall. He ground his erection into my hip, then lifted one of my legs to wrap around his waist so he could press into my softness.

A second later he was fiddling with the button on my jeans and sliding his hand inside my knickers. I moaned when he moved two fingers along my slickness, finding me ready.

I almost let him do it, but the knowledge of Ronan and Annie and everyone else waiting at the table had me channeling all my strength and pushing him away.

“No,” I told him breathlessly. “We can’t do this here.”

Sean exhaled heavily, his breathing agitated. “Is this because of that Tom prick? Because he clearly wants to fuck you.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “No. God, no. Tom is like a cousin to me. You’re being a lunatic.”

The way he lifted one eyebrow said he didn’t believe me.

I laughed my frustration at the ridiculousness of the situation. “What’s going on with you? What are we doing here?”

“Have I been too subtle?” He pressed his erection against me again. “Fine. Let me be clear: Lucy Fitzpatrick, lovely Lucy, I want you.”

I let my head hit the wall behind me as I evaded his kiss, needing him to see he was acting crazy. We absolutely could not have sex in the bathroom. If we had sex in the bathroom, Ronan would find out and the shit would hit the fan.

My voice was unsteady as I tried to think and speak at the same time. “I thought things were clear between us. You said Ronan would never find out. But then I arrive at the photo shoot and you start acting up, trying to rile my brother. It’s so stupid and pointless when you both could easily just get along.”

Sean’s tone was disdainful. “Ronan and I will never get along.”

I held him away, wanting to see his face as I challenged, “Why not?”

Now his brow scrunched up and he seemed conflicted. “Because . . .” he started, then paused as though trying to find the right words. “Because everything he wants just falls right into his lap. He never even has to try and people think the sun shines out of his arse. Maybe he deserves a little animosity every once in a while.”

“And you’re the one to provide it, are you?”

Sean released me and, as much as was possible in the confined space, took a step back. “I don’t see why not.”

I frowned. “Everything doesn’t just fall into his lap. He gets things because he works hard for them. And people think highly of him because he’s a good person and treats them with respect. Why do you have such a problem with that?”