Since Deni had been grabbing dinner and taking it up to her room for the past few weeks, she had no idea where the dining room might be. There were several doorways, but she wasn’t sure which to take. Unfortunately, the first one she tried led to the pantry. The second led to another doorway. When she stepped back and turned to look at the housekeeper, the woman smiled and tilted her head towards the next door.
“Thanks,” Deni whispered, embarrassed.
When she stepped through the doorway, Deni found Sebastian and Chloe sitting at a long table. It wasn’t the banquet table that she’d stumbled upon during her first tour through the house. But it was just as unbearably formal. The shiny wooden table gleamed under the overhead lights and there were about twelve, stiff-backed chairs around the table.
“You’re here!” Chloe smiled, wiggling excitedly in her chair, but as soon as she realized what she was doing, she darted a quick glance at her father, and stilled.
Deni felt as if all of her efforts were worthwhile after that smile and wiggle. Breathing a sigh of relief, she walked towards the table. “I’m here, although it took me a few tries to find this room.” But before she could sit, Sebastian was there, pulling out her chair and holding it for her. Deni looked at him, startled and not exactly sure what to do. Men didn’t pull chairs out for women anymore. But she thought back to the black and white movies, giving him a brief, awkward smile before moving around to the front of the chair and sitting down.
Immediately after, the housekeeper appeared with three plates, setting one before each of them.
“Thank you, Ms. Hopkins,” Deni replied, adding a smile for the woman who looked back at Deni, startled. Ms. Hopkins glanced nervously at Sebastian, then back at Deni. “My pleasure, ma’am,” she said before pushing her way through the room to the kitchen.
Uh oh, another error in household protocol, Deni thought as she suppressed a smile. No speaking to the hired help? But then…wasn’t she the hired help as well? So, if that were the case, then perhaps it wasn’t such a blip on the manner’s ledger that she’d spoken to a colleague. The thought caused a bubble of laughter to well up inside of her. Thankfully, she was able to suppress it quickly, but a glance at the man sitting stoically beside her let her know that her amusement hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“Right,” she muttered under her breath. “What’s for dinner?” she asked lightly, trying to ease the tension in the room.
“Nice of you to join us,” Sebastian commented darkly.
Deni turned to look at the small girl and noticed that she was eating the exact same meal as she and Sebastian. Salmon? And asparagus? Blech! She didn’t like either of those and it didn’t help that there was a small drizzle of the lemony-yellow hollandaise sauce on the green sprigs. She hated asparagus and salmon was just…fishy. No, not fishy but…
With a sigh, she pulled her napkin out and spread it over her lap.
“What did you do in school today?” Deni asked, cutting up her asparagus into bite sized pieces.
“I don’t go to school,” she said, taking a bite of her salmon.
Deni glanced up, then looked over at Sebastian. “Why not?”
“She has tutors,” he told her with a voice that warned her not to question the issue.
“Ah,” Deni sighed. A tutor. What a lonely world. “Well, that sounds like you have a lot of special attention then. What did you and your tutor work on today?”
“Math. I’m working on multiplication tables,” she announced, although she slaughtered the word.
Deni looked up, startled once again. “Wow! Multiplication? I didn’t learn how to multiply until I was in third or fourth grade.” She took another bite of her salmon, then cut her asparagus up into smaller pieces, shoving most of it underneath the smallish pile of rice pilaf. Oh, for a mountain of rice right about now, Deni thought, only half listening as Sebastian listed Chloe’s assignments and studies.
“Do you think your father needs more help cooking this weekend?” Chloe asked, her eyes bright with hope.
Deni quickly glanced at Sebastian, trying to gauge his reaction to his daughter’s question. “Well,” she replied cautiously, noting the confusion on Sebastian’s icily handsome features. Then she realized that this whole exercise was to benefit Chloe, not to pacify the chilly father. So she focused on Chloe. “Yes. My father will need help for a little longer. But even when he doesn’t need help, he still loves the company, especially yours.”
The small child grinned, but at the dark look in Sebastian’s eyes, her grin faded away.
“What’s this about dinners?” he asked, the cold note in his voice sending icicles in Deni’s direction.
Chloe obviously realized that her father wasn’t happy and cringed. Deni hated that haunted look in the girl’s eyes and turned to glare at Sebastian. “Jenny was sick last week,” she started to explain. “It wasn’t her fault that she got sick, so please don’t blame her.”
“Perhaps this is a conversation that you and I should have in private?” he suggested. When Deni opened her mouth, prepared to argue, one, dark eyebrow lifted, stifling her outburst. Deni could handle an argument but this cold, impenetrable look was her undoing.
“Right. Later,” she sighed, then pushed a bit more asparagus under the rice and finished off her salmon, swallowing the vile meat with a gulp.
The sound didn’t go unnoticed either and Chloe giggled, her chubby hand coming up to cover her gaffe and the smile completely disappeared when her father’s head swiveled in her direction. So instead of being silly, as she should be at her age, she bowed her head and ate more of her dinner, not complaining one bit about the asparagus or the salmon, and completely ignoring the rice.
“Do you not like rice, my dear?” Sebastian asked, and Deni was surprised by his gentle tone.
Her grey eyes, so similar to her fathers, lifted higher, her lip trembling in confusion. “Mother says that rice is a carbo…carbohi-something and I shouldn’t eat them because of something about my figure.”
Both Deni and Sebastian stared at her for a long moment, her grey eyes looking from each of them, growing more worried as she wondered if she’d just said something wrong.
Deni could see Sebastian wasn’t sure how to respond to that. So Deni stepped in, unconcerned with being right or wrong.
“I eat carbs all the time!” Deni announced.
Unfortunately, both of them looked at her plate that still had the pile of rice, that looked bigger now that the asparagus was stuffed underneath.
“But…”
Deni knew exactly where Chloe’s mind went and she took up her fork and scooped up a large bite of rice. Unfortunately, because of her hatred of asparagus, she got more of the disgusting vegetable than she did of the delicious rice. Deni refused to give in though. She chewed the rice-asparagus carefully, maintaining a serene expression on her face.
Chloe looked up at her father, needing additional confirmation that carbohydrates weren’t the enemy of a female body. When he nodded, Chloe lifted her fork one more time and scooped a small bit onto her fork. When she tasted the rice, she tilted her head to the side. “I think I like the rice more than Deni does,” she said, and scooped a bigger bite.
Deni glanced at Sebastian and, darn it! He knew what she’d done. He glanced down at her plate, then back up meaningfully, silently ordering her to finish her dinner.
Deni glared at him. If he hadn’t challenged her with that look, she might have just put her fork down and explained that she was full. But Deni refused to give him the satisfaction. She ate the entire pile of rice and asparagus, choking it down with a large glass of water.
At that moment, Deni wasn’t sure if she truly hated him, or if she wanted to laugh at her childish hiding of the asparagus and the fact that he’d caught her.
Chapter 10
Sebastian kissed Chloe’s forehead, tucked the blankets around her, and slipped quietly from the room. She was wiped out, understandably since she’d been taken from one home to another, t
rying to learn the rules of each parent as quickly as possible. He was fairly sure that she didn’t understand any of it, if tonight’s dinner confusion was any indication.
No matter how much he tried to shield the small girl from the trauma of a contested divorce, there was only so much he could do. She was only five years old! Damn Meredith for telling the small, precious child that carbohydrates were bad for her!
Taking her out of his ex-wife’s house was the first step in ensuring that the girl might have a normal childhood, he knew. Thankfully, other than a few blips, like tonight’s rice issue, the transition seemed to have been an easy one, but only because Meredith was still in Paris. As soon as she returned home, the woman would cause a massive uproar. Hell, she was probably already doing that on the way home from Europe.
Sebastian didn’t envy the pilot and crew of whatever flight Meredith was taking to get home.
But regaining custody of Chloe was the right thing to do. The child was hurting. He could see it in the wistful way she looked at Deni and the excited chatter during dinner. Not to mention, the casual comments Chloe made about life with her mother. Eating dinner alone in her room each night was only the tip of the iceberg. Apparently, the child had three nannies. And the nannies had been fired several times over the past several months, meaning that new nannies were brought in, further confusing the issue.
Over the past few days, Sebastian had learned from Chloe’s comments that Meredith had thrown lavish, drunken parties and there had been a slew of different men coming through Meredith’s life. Sebastian didn’t care how many men his ex-wife slept with. She could have sex with whoever she wanted, but when she left Chloe alone in the house, that wasn’t okay. Not in any way.
But his ex-wife was a subject for another day. Right now, he needed to find his current “wife” and thank her. Their dinner tonight had been much livelier because of Deni’s assistance. Her stories about her own childhood had given Chloe hope. And Deni had made Chloe laugh. For that alone, he owed her a debt of gratitude.
Knocking on her door produced no sound. Obviously, Deni wasn’t in her room. After their wedding, he’d encouraged her to tour the house and use the facilities. Thinking now, he remembered mentioning the indoor pool.
He decided to check there first, thinking that a swim right about now would be refreshing. Perhaps he would join her.
Deni pushed harder, needing to feel her muscles burn. She mentally counted strokes, regulating her breathing with as much precision as she could muster. Anything to get the image of Sebastian Hughes carrying his tiny daughter upstairs after dinner. The man might be a bastard in the worst way, but he loved his daughter. The way he’d lifted Chloe gently into his arms, tucking her head against his shoulder…it had been incredibly sweet. But nothing had prepared her heart for that brief moment when she’d seen him close his eyes, as if he were trying to savor the precious moment.
What was a woman to do? How could she protect herself when the jerk stopped being jerk-like? When he had those tender, human moments.
Exercise, Deni told herself. Push him out of her mind with exercise. Don’t think about Sebastian Hughes and his beautiful daughter. Focus on bringing her arm up and over with perfect form, breathing in, holding her breath for several more strokes, then breathing out quickly and breathing in. Repeating it until she had the rhythm in her head and nothing else.
When she finally couldn’t go another meter, she floated over to the side of the pool and…
He was here?! What was he doing here? She hadn’t thought anyone would be here at this time of the night. Not that she would know since the whole house looked to be in pristine condition, she couldn’t tell which rooms were used regularly. Not a speck of dust was allowed to float onto any of the priceless antiques in this house. Nothing out of place. Even her black tote bag had vanished from the front hallway. Some mysterious person had probably brought it up to her bedroom and it would magically appear at the front doorway again tomorrow morning when she was ready to walk out the door.
Living in a rich man’s house certainly had its perks.
One of which was watching said man as he tossed his tie over one of the pool chairs.
“What are you doing?” she demanded when he began deftly unbuttoning the buttons of his dress shirt.
“I’m going to join you for a swim. It was a brilliant idea, Deni. Glad you thought of it.”
One button released. Then another. She stared, willing him to speed up. Wishing he wouldn’t continue. If he would just move faster, she could see more of his tanned skin before she got out of the pool. But she couldn’t get out of the pool at this particular moment because…well, her body would broadcast exactly how excited she was to watch him unbutton those stupid buttons! Darn it, she wasn’t attracted to Sebastian Hughes! He was cold and unfeeling! He was rude and uncompromising, a jerk-extraordinaire!
Another button released and she could see more of his tanned skin. Tanned? The man shouldn’t be tan! He worked in an office for twenty-three hours a day! Shouldn’t he be white? Deficient in Vitamin D?
Another button released and she held her breath as more tanned skin was revealed to her shockingly hungry eyes.
She crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her body’s reaction.
He chuckled, as if he knew exactly what she was doing.
“Are you done swimming laps?” he asked, walking over to the table that held several rolled towels. He grabbed one and started to open it up and she realized that he expected her to step out of the pool and into the towel. She could just imagine those strong arms wrapping around her, enclosing her in his embrace.
But that’s not going to happen, she told herself. She was a bank employee that was helping him to regain and retain custody of his child. She was expendable. She wasn’t here for any of the hanky panky that her body was clamoring for.
“Deni?”
Huh? He’d asked a question and, she blinked, realizing that he was standing beside the pool, waiting for her to step out and into the towel.
Was she done? Laps. Deni looked behind her at the softly rippling water. The pool was heated and, even on the coldest of nights, the pool would feel luxurious. So, was she done?
Not if she had to step out of the warm, sensuous water and into his arms!
“Oh. No, I’m going to keep going,” she decided. Then she turned, ignoring the burning in her arms and legs from the previous forty minutes of exercise and pushed off again, heading towards the other end of the pool. Executing a perfect turn, she pushed off at the other end and started back again. But this time around, her heart was pounding from more than just the exercise.
And then something else occurred to her. She stopped in the middle of the pool and looked up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She’d pulled it up into a band, but the water had pulled several locks free.
“You’re not…” she stopped and turned around, frowning at him.
“I’m not what?” he asked, shrugging out of his shirt and tossing it on top of his tie.
She stared at him, unaware of her mouth hanging open. “You’re not going to swim naked, are you?” she gasped, horrified and fascinated at the possibility.
He blinked, and threw back his head, laughing. When his laughter finally slowed, he walked over to the edge of the pool, his eyes still glowing with laughter. “Would it bother you if I did?” he asked softly, almost gently.
How was she supposed to answer that? “Yes. I think it would bother me a great deal,” she said, her voice breathy and deeper than she’d ever heard it before.
When she could no longer maintain the intensity of his eyes, she pushed off again and started swimming, putting all of her effort into the strokes. Faster and harder. She pushed herself, trying to pretend that Sebastian wasn’t about to enter the pool in moments. And he wouldn’t do it naked! Oh please, please! Don’t let him be naked! Deni wasn’t sure what he would look like, but magnificent came to mind. Amazing, probably.
And not hers!
The current pushed her and she wasn’t expecting the change. She lifted up, but slipped on the bottom of the pool, water filling her mouth and causing her to choke. She floundered for only moments before strong, rock hard arms lifted her up and pulled her against an equally strong and muscular chest.
Deni gasped, water coming into her mouth and lungs, causing her to choke again.
“Easy,” Sebastian soothed, pulling her in closer.
She grabbed his neck, but then her fingers jerked away, resting lightly on his biceps, his chest…but those places seemed too intimate. She tried to figure out where to put her hands, then finally just let them rest on his forearms.
“You okay?” he asked when she’d stopped sputtering.
“Yes. Thank you. I’m normally not this clumsy in the water.”
“I know.”
He knew what?! “I’m sorry?”
“You’re a strong swimmer. I just caught you off guard.”
“Right,” she replied, not sure what to say. Then she realized that he was in the pool and…was he wearing a swimsuit?
“I’m wearing a swimsuit,” he assured her, obviously reading her mind. She relaxed and he chuckled. “Would it horrify you if I wasn’t?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
She couldn’t answer. Instead, her fingers tightened her around his arms for a brief moment before pushing away from him. Thankfully, he released her, but kept his hands on her waist until she’d regained her foothold.
“Thank you. I was on my swim team in high school, so I’m normally a good swimmer.”
“I noticed.”
She dipped her gaze lower, verifying that he was truly wearing something and relieved when she saw the blue bathing suit.
He laughed, following her eyes and she glared up at him. “I know it’s funny to you, but put yourself in my position. I’m married to you but in name only, living in your house, but an employee. In both your house and your business.” She shoved away from him, heading for the side of the pool. Unfortunately, he didn’t take the hint and swam next to her, easily keep up with her.
Wanted: Wife for Hire (The Diamond Club Book 8) Page 7