“That’s not the point! And stop laughing at me. Go sit over there before the whole town is talking about us.”

“Sit over where?”

“On the other side of the booth,” Carolina said between gritted teeth. Sometimes she wondered if he was intentionally obtuse or just trying to aggravate her. She suspected it was far more of the latter than the former.

“But you’re over here, and I missed you so much last night. I could hardly sleep without you.”

“I’m sure you slept just fine.”

He shook his head. “I’m exhausted. In fact, I need you to take me home to your place and put me down for a nap.”

“It’s two o’clock!”

“So?”

Ned Saunders came through the door with his fiancée Francine Chester. They stopped short at the sight of Seamus sitting close to Carolina with his arm around her. Ned and Francine waved to them and slid into another booth, leaning in to whisper to each other.

Carolina burned with embarrassment, knowing they were talking about her and Seamus. “Can we please leave?”

“Are you ashamed to be seen with me, Caro?”

He seemed so wounded that Carolina instantly regretted her reaction to Ned and Francine seeing them together. “No.”

“Really? Sort of seems that you are.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“Let’s go. We’ll talk about it at home.”

Reluctantly, Seamus slid out of the booth and held out a hand to help her.

Carolina let him guide her from the booth and then dropped his hand. As she paid the check and exchanged a few words with Rebecca, who owned the diner, she felt the eyes of Seamus and the other patrons on her. The minute they walked out the door, the news about them would spread through the island like an out-of-control wildfire.

Her stomach began to ache when she imagined Joe hearing the gossip and how he might react to it.

When they were outside, Seamus followed her to her car.

Carolina turned to him and looked up to find him studying her intently. “What?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I, um, are you coming over?”

“Do you want me to?”

“You know I do.”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and he seemed more sad than amused. She hated herself for doing that to him.

“Aren’t you working today?”

“I’m off until tomorrow morning.”

Her entire body tingled at the idea of having him to herself for that many hours. “Oh.”

“Is that a good ‘oh’ or a bad ‘oh’?”

“Good,” she said, suddenly aching for him as his grin stretched across his handsome face. He was so very, very gorgeous and so incredibly sexy and apparently all hers. That part she still couldn’t believe. “Very good.”

“Go. I’ll be right behind you.”