Brook grabbed my hand across the table and gave it a squeeze while Chelsea wrapped an arm around me. I let out a sigh and found myself laughing. It was a weak laugh, but I considered it proof I’d be okay.
“Did I really just complain about a man having a big dick?” I asked.
“Yes, you did,” Brook told me, her lips twitching.
“Did you at least get some good material for your next book?” Chelsea asked.
“I got great material for my next book,” I assured her.
While I wouldn’t say I was completely recovered, I definitely felt better than I had in days. My friends always knew how to cheer me up. Sadly, the pancakes didn’t compare to Sebastian’s. I might never eat pancakes again.
Chapter Twenty
Sebastian
It had been a week since my night with Delaney, and in that time, she’d blocked my number. When I’d first tried calling her, I’d figured it was a fluke. After realizing she really had blocked my number, I’d been tempted to head over to her place and demand she explain what had happened. My sister had been the one to talk me out of that by convincing me I’d just come across as a crazy stalker. It hadn’t taken long for me to move from bewildered to pissed. I could accept Delaney not wanting to see me again, but to tell me through the bedroom door and then block my number was fucked up. It’s not like I was some one-night stand she’d picked up in a bar and decided to discard. I wasn’t buying her excuse about our age difference. While eight years might seem like a lot, I was hardly your typical twenty-two-year-old. Delaney hadn’t even questioned my age before realizing I was friends with Luke, so I doubted that was the real reason she’d abruptly ended things with me.
I should accept that Delaney didn’t want to be with me and preferred to keep the real reason to herself. Accepting that was the smart thing to do, I tried to convince myself. I was currently standing on Luke’s front porch, having messaged him from just down the street to see if I could stop by. Chelsea was Delaney’s friend, so Luke might have some idea of what had gone wrong. Maybe if I heard the real story, I could let things go.
Luke answered the door with Haley cradled in his arms. “Hey, Sebastian. Come on in.”
“Thanks for letting me stop by on such short notice,” I told him.
“No problem,” he assured me. “It seemed like something is really bothering you.”
I followed Luke into the living room and sat on one of the armchairs before leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. “I need to talk to you about Delaney.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “I wanted to talk to you about that, too. Chelsea is pissed at you and she won’t tell me why. What did you do to Delaney?”
“Nothing bad, to the best of my knowledge,” I insisted. “I was hoping you’d know what’s going on.”
“Not a clue,” Luke replied. “Neither Chelsea nor Brook will tell me anything.”
“Why are you asking about Delaney?” Chelsea demanded as she stomped into the room. It was clear she was no longer a fan of mine.
“Because she won’t tell me what went wrong,” I explained irritably. “We were fine. She took a shower and suddenly decided I was too young for her. Now, she’s blocked my number. I didn’t have a fight with her, and I have no idea what prompted her to shut me out of her life.”
“She has every right to stop seeing you,” Chelsea said with a huff.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “I also have a right to know why she suddenly changed her mind.”
“Maybe she’s just done using you,” Chelsea suggested. “It could be that you weren’t very good in bed, and Delaney doesn’t want to repeat the experience.”
My eyes narrowed. “Delaney isn’t the one-night stand type.”
“You barely know her,” Chelsea argued.
“I know her well enough to know that’s not the case,” I insisted. “You know it just as well as I do.”
“Why are you pushing this?” Chelsea demanded.
“I like her,” I replied. “It seemed she liked me, too, but now she won’t talk to me. I need to know what happened. I promise, I’ll leave her alone, but I just need to know what went wrong.”
“You’re just lucky she didn’t find Tori’s number and tell her what a cheating bastard you are,” Chelsea snapped.
I had no idea what she was talking about. Luke was laughing quietly from his seat on the sofa.
“There is nothing funny about this,” Chelsea told Luke, looking ready to smack him.
“Yes, there is,” Luke insisted. “Tori is Sebastian’s sister.”
My brain had finally caught up to where Luke’s was. “Delaney heard me on the phone with Tori, and I assume she also heard me on the phone with Charlotte.”
“Who is Charlotte?” Chelsea asked.
“My four-year-old niece,” I explained.
“Oh no,” Chelsea breathed out. “I should call Delaney.”
“Don’t you dare,” I warned.
“She needs to know this was just a big mistake,” Chelsea argued.
“I’m sure Sebastian will point that out to her,” Luke added with a chuckle.
“It’ll be better if I explain it to her,” Chelsea insisted. “I can smooth things over for you.
“Let Sebastian take care of it,” Luke told her.
“Can you find out where she is?” I asked.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Chelsea hedged. “Delaney will respond better if I explain this to her first.”
“She’ll like this. It’ll be just like a scene out of one of her books,” I assured Chelsea.
“I just got off the phone with her,” Chelsea admitted after a long pause.
“Is she at home?” I pushed.
Chelsea shook her head. “She went out for a run. It would probably be better if you did this another time. We could have her over here.”
“You just want to watch,” Luke accused.
“I’m not waiting,” I insisted. “Either tell me where she’s running or I’ll wait on her front porch for her to get home. I’ve been going crazy all week trying to figure out what I’d done. Now that I know what happened, I want to clear up this misunderstanding right away.”
Chelsea hesitated before answering. “She’ll walk over to Lake Chabot and then run the far side of the lake before running back to her place. I really hope she doesn’t kill me for telling you where she is.”
“She’ll love what I have planned,” I assured her as I headed to the door.
“Have fun,” Luke called out.
“I will,” I assured him. I was a little angry that Delaney hadn’t talked to me about this before cutting me out of her life, even if I did understand how she could have misunderstood my phone conversation. Angry or not, I was definitely looking forward to clearing up this misunderstanding.
Chapter Twenty-One
Delaney
My breakfast date with Chelsea and Brook had helped my mood some, but not much. I’d been in a funk since my night of fantastic sex with scumbag Sebastian. I’d had many naughty dreams inspired by that night. Apparently, my subconscious didn’t realize Sebastian was a lying bastard to be avoided at all costs.
It wasn’t just my slutty subconscious that made this hard for me. I’d really liked Sebastian, and he’d seemed like a nice guy. I kept coming back to that one thought. After a few days, I began to wonder if maybe I’d misinterpreted his conversation. I’d have moments where I was tempted to call him to ask for an explanation. Those were the moments when I gave myself a much needed mental bitch slap. I’d follow that up with a stern lecture to my subconscious nympho, reminding her we could live without Sebastian’s big dick. We could live without erotic spankings and pancakes. There had to be a support group for this sort of thing.
Since I’d blocked his number, I had no way of knowing if Sebastian had even tried to call me. It was always possible he’d gotten what he wanted and decided it wasn’t worth it to try for more. Brook and Chelsea were already trying to convince m
e I should start dating other guys. They’d even suggested helping me set up a profile on a dating site. They were right about not all guys being bad, but I was beginning to wonder if I was a magnet for cheaters.
Ever since I’d woken up that day, I’d been unable to get thoughts of Sebastian out of my mind, and it was making it impossible to write. Chelsea had called me asking if I wanted to go shopping for a new stroller with her and Haley, but I’d decided to head over to Lake Chabot for a quick run instead. So far, I’d just been strolling around at a leisurely pace as my mind wandered. I was surprised and annoyed when I heard a familiar voice call my name.
“Delaney!”
“Fuck me,” I muttered, starting to jog as if I hadn’t heard him. The scumbag didn’t seem to get the hint and began to jog beside me.
“How have you been?” he asked with a grin as if nothing was wrong.
“Great,” I replied with a tight smile.
“Aren’t you going to ask how I’ve been?” he asked, which is when I caught the edge of anger in his voice.
“How are you, Sebastian?” I asked testily as I slowed down to a walk. Clearly, he wasn’t going to leave me alone, and I didn’t want to sound too out of breath.
“I’m pissed,” he replied. “I had a great date with a beautiful woman last weekend, and she blocked my number rather than talking to me about why she didn’t want to see me again. In short, she acted like a child.”
I’d tried really hard to just let things go, but this was too much. How dare he try to make me feel guilty when he was the dirty cheater? I stopped, placed my hands on my hips, and glared at him. “What would your girlfriend have thought of that? Do you think she feels I should listen to your excuses?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he insisted.
“You are such a liar,” I accused. “I heard you on the phone at my house. What would Tori think of you screwing other women? You do remember Tori, right? The woman you love? That sounds like a girlfriend to me. Or is she your wife? Did you lie when you told me you aren’t married?”
“Tori is my sister,” he ground out. “Had you talked to me instead of shutting me out, you’d know this.”
I snorted, but said nothing.
“This isn’t a good place to talk,” Sebastian remarked as he looked around the crowded park.
“I’m not sure there’s anything to talk about,” I said with a haughty flip of my pony tail.
Something in Sebastian’s smile warned me I was pushing him too far, but I didn’t seem capable of stopping. “Why don’t you just go back to your girlfriend?”
My phone had buzzed earlier in my walk, and I finally decided to use it as an excuse to end my conversation with Sebastian. Maybe if I ignored him, he’d get the hint and leave. Looking down I saw a text string from Chelsea and six missed calls. I decided I had to be rubbing off on her.
CHELS: OMG! Pick up your damn phone!
CHELS: Luke says Tori is Sebastian’s sister. He was talking to his sister and then his four-year-old niece.
CHELS: He’s on his way to find you.
CHELS: Sebastian seemed really pissed.
CHELS: Please tell me you got my message before you called Sebastian a liar or worse.
I decided to reply to Chelsea before admitting how wrong I’d been to Sebastian.
ME: I didn’t get the message before I called him a liar.
Looking over at Sebastian, his lips were pressed into a firm line. “Was that Chelsea?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. It really did sound like you were talking to a girlfriend.”
“I’m sure it did,” he replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“You’re mad,” I remarked.
“Among other things,” he admitted. His eyes dipped to my mouth before quickly meeting mine again. There was definitely anger in his smoky stare, but there was also a lot of heat. I’d written about a man turning a woman on with just a look, but before meeting Sebastian, I’d never experienced the phenomenon. I had to fight the urge to squirm.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked.
Sebastian didn’t reply; he simply prowled toward me. I immediately took a step back, not sure why my fight-or-flight reaction had been triggered. I wasn’t really afraid of Sebastian. Turned on but not afraid.
“I wouldn’t recommend running, Delaney,” he warned quietly.
“I’m not running,” I insisted.
“You were thinking about it,” he argued when he was standing directly in front of me. “I think we should move this somewhere I don’t have to worry about you running from me.”
Before I could say a word, Sebastian bent forward and tossed me over his shoulder. I let out a little screech and smacked his back.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Taking you home,” he replied. “If you like, you can pretend you’re being abducted by a pirate king.”
“Sebastian!” I screeched. “You can’t just carry me out of a park.”
“Actually, I can,” he insisted. “What’s it going to be? Pirate king? Billionaire taking you to his exclusive sex club?”
My mouth hung open. Never in a million years would I have guessed my day would take such an unexpected turn.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sebastian
I didn’t need to carry Delaney out of the park over my shoulder. She’d apologized, and we could have easily walked out together or found a quiet place to sit and talk. The reason I was carrying her over my shoulder had to do with Delaney’s reaction to our role-playing in public and the sort of things she wrote in her books. I’d read two while I was trying unsuccessfully to stop obsessing over her.
Delaney wrote about arrogant male gestures, so I was taking the chance that she fantasized about this sort of thing. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t turning me on. Having Delaney squirming around on my shoulder with her ass right by my face was an experience I’d defiantly like to repeat. The temptation to smack her wiggling ass was strong. After our talk, I didn’t think she’d mind, but a crowded park wasn’t the place for that kind of play.
“Sebastian!” she screeched again.
“Yes, Delaney?” I asked in a calm voice as I stalked toward my car.
“Put me down,” she commanded.
“In a minute,” I assured her. I set her down beside my car and opened the passenger door before motioning for her to get in.
Delaney crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I’m not done with my run.”
“We’re also not done with our talk,” I told her.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“My place,” I replied.
“Then I need to go home so I can shower and put on clean clothes first,” she stated.
“You can shower at my place,” I assured her.
“I’ll still need to pick up clothes,” she argued.
I shook my head slowly. “You won’t need clothes.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she just stared at me.
I leaned forward until my lips were right by her ear. “Get in the car, Delaney.”
Her breath caught in her throat, and she nodded before sliding into the car.
I grinned as I walked around to the other side of the car. This could definitely be a fun game. I wasn’t completely over being mad at Delaney for cutting me out of her life without talking to me first, but I’d get over it.
“We really should stop at my house for clothes,” Delaney told me.
“You really won’t need them,” I insisted.
“I can’t just run around your house naked,” she argued.
That was a nice image. “We aren’t going by your house. Whatever you need, you can get from my place. This last week, I’ve gone crazy trying to figure out what I did to screw things up. Then I find out it was nothing I’ve done. You owe me seven nights, and I plan to collect.”
“You’re kidnapping me?” she sputtered.
I laughed at her sho
cked expression. “Not really,” I admitted. “While I was thinking about you this last week, I read a couple of your books.”
“You did?” she gasped.
“I thought it might give me more insight into you,” I explained.
“Did it?” she asked.
“It gave me some ideas of fantasies you’d like to explore,” I replied. “They were also my inspiration for my approach today.”
“Kidnapping me was inspired by my books?”
I laughed at her disgruntled expression. “I did not kidnap you. We both know you didn’t have to get in my car. You’re enjoying this.”
“Fine. I’m enjoying this,” she admitted. “I really am sorry about jumping to conclusions.”
With a nod, I pulled the car out of the parking lot.
“That part makes sense. I can see how my conversation with Tori and Charlotte might have been misconstrued. What I don’t get is why you didn’t confront me about it. I realize we don’t know each other very well, but you seem like the type of woman who speaks her mind. If you thought I was using you, why didn’t you say something?”
Delaney hesitated before responding. “My ex-husband cheated on me, and he always had a good excuse. I talked to a couple of the women he’d slept with, and he always had them convinced he was leaving me or I refused to let him leave. I wanted to avoid hearing you try to feed me some line about how you were justified in cheating on your girlfriend.”
Delaney’s ex sounded like a real dick, and I could understand why she’d wanted to avoid confronting me. “In the future, yell, scream, even throw shoes. Just don’t shut me out.”
“Throw shoes?” she asked. “Why would I throw shoes?”
“That Penelope chick in your book did,” I pointed out.
“She’s insane,” Delaney argued. “Wait! You think I’m as crazy as Penelope?”
“I wouldn’t use the word crazy,” I hedged.
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