A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman

walking down the aisle to spend my life with a man I don’t love, and I need to put these feelings to rest.”
    He stood his ground, resisting the urge to step back. “I agree, and the best way to do that is to go home— now —to your fiancé.”
    “No! I’m sorry, Sean, but I can’t.” The frantic volume of her words underscored the trembling lift of her chin. “Not until I know if these feelings are gone. I was willing to marry Chester, truly I was . . . until last month. You see, I had a dream about you. You kissed me in that dream, and I haven’t been able to think of anything else.”
    “It was only a dream, Rose, a figment of your imagination.”
    She bent forward, a thread of challenge in her tone despite the wounded look in her face. “Was it a figment of my imagination when you kissed me in the storeroom?”
    His jaw dropped. “You kissed me, as I recall, although ambush might be a better word.”
    “But you responded!” Moisture welled in her eyes as desperation strangled her tone. “Can you deny it?”
    Heat crawled up his face, tapping into a well-hidden temper. He leaned in, hands low on his hips. “I’m a man, Miss Kelly—that’s liable to happen when a woman throws herself at me.”
    Two doleful brown eyes blinked back, dribbling more tears. “I don’t believe that. A man doesn’t just return a woman’s kiss unless he wants to . . .” A lump bobbed in her throat. “Unless he has some kind of feelings for her.”
    “Rose, I don’t have feelings for you—”
    “You said that in my dream too, Sean, but it wasn’t true. I kissed you and you responded just like in the storeroom that time, and suddenly I knew—knew that underneath all your denial, you actually care. Don’t you see? I have to do this! I have to find out for sure, before I walk down that aisle.” Her gaze flitted to his lips and held, skyrocketing his pulse.
    He stepped back as shock coursed through his veins. “For pity’s sake, Rose, you’re engaged to another man—what kind of woman are you?”
    She stepped close and poked a finger to his chest despite tears brimming her eyes. “A woman who wants to make good and sure she’s not attracted to one man before she marries another. And there’s only one way to find out. So you may as well kiss me, Sean O’Connor, because I’m not leaving till you do.”
    He crossed his arms, certain he’d never met a more stubborn woman—outside of Charity, that is. His jaw shifted as he steeled his voice. “Go home, Rose, there’ll be no—”
    Her lunge took him by complete surprise, causing a gasp to choke in his throat. She was maybe five foot three, but the force of her petite frame sent him sprawling back in the chair so hard that she rendered him speechless. A condition that suited Miss Kelly just fine, apparently, as she clung to his neck while parked in his lap, lips fused to his. He could smell the rose scent of her hair and feel the press of her hands as she clutched him close, and for several paralyzing seconds, heat infused his body like a blast from the wood-burning stove at the back of the store. All reason fled, and with a slam of his heart, he found himself responding with a fervor that stunned him so much, he jerked back in the chair.
    “No!” he said, chest heaving as he tried to shove her away.
    “I knew it!” she cried, water welling once again. “You care for me—you do!”
    Shame stung his cheeks as he attempted to rise. “Not in that way . . .”
    She clutched him tightly. “Yes, you do—I knew it!”
    “Rose!” He pushed her back, fingers pinched hard on her arms and no recourse but the truth. “I may be attracted to you, but I don’t want you—ever!”
    The brutal impact of his words appeared to deplete her completely, and with a painful shudder, she crumpled in his hold, body quivering with sobs.
    The sight of his own sisters’ tears had always unnerved him, and it was no different now. Fraternal instinct kicked in, and he