Sultry at 30 (Love Without Batteries)

by Cassandra Lawson

  “Good point,” I conceded. “Let’s not forget you’re the horny woman who wants to beta test an interactive sex toy.”

  “What makes this one special?” she asked. “I’ve never tried them, but I had a character in one of my books using a vibrator that her boyfriend was controlling with his smart phone while he was out of state.”

  “There are some on the market,” he admitted. “That’s part of the challenge from my perspective. I can’t make it function like an existing product.”

  “You never answered me about the beta testing,” she reminded me. “Can I beta test it?”

  “How about if we discuss it later in the process?” I suggested.

  “Fine,” she relented. “We can talk about it when you’re done.”

  This project wouldn’t be completed for several months, and I definitely hoped Delaney would be around then.

  “This is another reason your mom is awesome,” Delaney added. “She has the coolest job. What does your dad do?”

  “Corporate law,” I replied.

  “That’s not nearly as exciting,” she complained.

  “How about your parents?” I asked. “What do they do?”

  “My dad is a minister, and my mom is a minister’s wife,” she replied. “If you’re thinking that means she’s a stay at home wife, think again. My mom works more than forty hours a week, organizing charity events, leading groups, and visiting parishioners.”

  “You don’t strike me as a pastor’s daughter,” I remarked.

  “My parents agree,” she said with a laugh. “My parents were mortified when people in town learned about my writing. It’s far from the only scandal I caused back home, but it’s part of the reason I moved out here after my divorce. My ex-husband is the one who told everyone about my writing, likely to shift the town’s attention from the scandal of our divorce. I’d been hiding my writing from everyone, knowing my parents wouldn’t react well. At the time, I didn’t appreciate my ex telling people about it, but as it turns out, he did me a huge favor. My parents would likely still disagree.”

  “So, they aren’t supportive of your writing?” I asked.

  She thought for a moment before responding. “Not really. We don’t talk about it, and I’m sure it’s easier for them that I live out here where it’s not so in their faces. It’s easier for me that way, too. It took me many years to realize I was being just as judgmental as they were in some ways.”

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  “I rebelled against my parents’ church in my teen years,” she began. “My father didn’t throw a fit when I refused to attend services. My mom was a little more scandalized, but not ugly about it. As for me, I was rude. I mocked their faith and acted up. It took me years to realize I was being a bitch.”

  “It can be hard to see our own mistakes,” I told her. “What’s your schedule like this week? I’d really like to spend more time with you.”

  “I have two regular piano students I meet with in the evenings. The others are all after school. They’re on Monday and Wednesday. Usually, I’m done around eight,” she replied. “I also have some promotional stuff to do online Thursday.”

  “I’ve got late meetings on Monday and Tuesday,” I mused. “Are you free after nine one of those nights? There’s a great tiki bar we could go to.”

  “Tuesday should work,” she replied with a sweet smile.

  “Perfect,” I replied. That was the word to describe how my life was going at that moment.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Delaney

  It hadn’t been easy waiting for date night with Sebastian. When he’d dropped me off on Sunday, he’d done his best to convince me to pack a bag and go back to his place for the night. It had been tempting, but it already felt like we were moving too fast. That was a mistake I’d made before. There was also Sebastian’s age. Most of the time, I didn’t even notice he was so young. In fact, I often forgot about the age gap when we were together. That was easy to do since Sebastian had his life more together than most people my age. While he might be working for his mother’s company now, he’d had a successful career in the Portland area before moving back to take this position. He’d bought a home that I definitely couldn’t afford. I lived a comfortable, but far from extravagant, life on my income.

  When my doorbell rang at eight-thirty, I was surprised. Sebastian hadn’t messaged me to say he was early. He seemed like the type who’d update me if his schedule changed.

  Looking through my peephole, I found my cousin, Bentley, on the other side of the door. Bentley had been born in this area, my mother’s sister having moved here after she married. My aunt and uncle were great, if not a little strange at times. My uncle had started out as a mechanic, and he now owned his own shop. He loved cars, which explained the names of my three cousins, Lexus, Bentley, and Mercedes. Bentley was the sanest of the bunch.

  Even dressed in a prim business suit, Bentley had a sweet, girl-next-door look, complete with curly brown hair and freckles. She had a curvy frame that made me somewhat jealous. It’s not that I didn’t have curves, they were just nothing compared to Bentley’s.

  “Hey, Bennie!” I greeted her with a warm hug as I motioned her into my house.

  “Hey, Delaney,” she began. “Sorry for stopping by unannounced. I lost my phone at the airport. It’s been one of those weeks.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I told her. She sounded really frazzled and upset. “Are you okay?”

  “No, but I’ll be fine,” she assured me. “I just met a nice guy on the flight, and his number was on my phone. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

  “Maybe you’ll run into each other again,” I remarked. “It could be really romantic.”

  She snorted. “I seriously doubt that, but it’s fine. I’m too busy to get involved with someone, anyway.”

  “Then I take it you didn’t come by here to have me comfort you in your time of loss,” I teased.

  She snorted. “Definitely not. I came by to tell you that your ex-husband is in the area.”

  “Cody?” I screeched.

  “How many ex-husbands do you have?” she asked with a huff before her cheeks heated with embarrassment. “Sorry. That was really bitchy.”

  “I’ll forgive you if you tell me what you know about Cody being out here,” I offered. “I spoke to Elsa Mae just over a week ago, and she didn’t mention anything about Cody coming to California.”

  “Your mother apparently called mine to say Cody was out here to take care of some unfinished business and right some wrongs,” Bentley began. “Your mom said he had big plans. My mom read it to mean he’s coming to try to get back together with you. I guess Elsa Mae’s having health issues.”

  “She is?” I asked, no longer nearly as concerned with where Cody was. Elsa Mae hadn’t mentioned anything about health issues.

  Bentley reached out and squeezed my hand. “She has lung cancer,” she said softly. “I guess she’s been keeping it a secret.”

  “Oh,” was all I could think to say. I loved Elsa Mae, and I was beginning to see why Cody might be in the area. It had always been Elsa Mae’s dream for us to get back together. Selfish dick or not, Cody loved his mother. He might even believe getting back together with me was a good idea because it would make her happy. No matter how much I loved Elsa Mae, that wasn’t going to happen. “Cody didn’t actually say he wanted to get back together with me, did he?” I asked, certain my mom would have called to tell me if that was the case.

  Bentley shook her head. “No, but my mom sent me over here to warn you he’s in the area. I suggested she just call, but she was worried you’d be upset. She is really pissed about him being out here. You know how my mom feels about Cody.”

  I laughed at the reminder. My aunt, Gigi Sue Whittier, was a five foot spitfire. She’d once threatened to fly to Texas to cut Cody’s balls off for cheating on me. She’d been so descriptive, Cody had stayed away while I packed my bags.

  I chatted with Bent
ley a little longer, mostly about the hot guy she’d met on her flight. Too bad she’d lost his number. My cousin had been celibate far too long. I realized it was the pot calling the kettle black, but it seemed that while I was getting laid, I thought everyone should be getting laid.

  The doorbell rang shortly after nine, and when I checked the peephole, I found Sebastian there this time.

  “That’s my date,” I told her.

  “Date?” Bentley practically gasped. “I’ve been here over thirty minutes, and you didn’t tell me you’re going on a date. Don’t you dare say it’s no big deal.”

  “It is kind of a big deal,” I admitted before opening the door for Sebastian. He was dressed in gray pants and a white dress shirt. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. I could tell he’d just come from the office. I was certain he’d taken off a tie and possibly a jacket. Seeing him like this made me want to role-play dominant billionaire and slutty secretary. I was certain I couldn’t pull off reluctant secretary with Sebastian looking this good.

  “You look fantastic,” he murmured as he leaned in to brush his lips against mine.

  In jeans and a dark blue sweater, I had nothing on Sebastian, but I knew he meant the words.

  Bentley cleared her throat, reminding me she was still in the room. “Not a first date, I see.” Her lips were twitching as she made that statement.

  “Sorry, for being so rude,” Sebastian told her.

  “Me too,” I agreed. “We shouldn’t have ignored you. Sebastian, this is my cousin, Bentley. Bentley, this is Sebastian.”

  They shook hands and exchanged a few pleasantries before Bentley finally left.

  “We should probably leave before I give in to the temptation to strip you naked and lick every inch of your body,” he rasped out. “If that happens, I might need to spank your perfect ass.”

  My breathing quickened, and my body tightened with need. “I like that suggestion. Seeing you dressed like this, I was hoping we could play dominant billionaire and slutty secretary.”

  Sebastian pulled me against his chest and kissed me until I was moaning and clutching his shirt. When he finally pulled his mouth away from mine, his eyes were dark with passion. I could feel his erection pressed against my belly. He wanted me just as much as I wanted him.

  “Bedroom?” I asked hopefully.

  Sebastian shook his head before pulling away. “Anticipation is half the fun. Let’s go get some dinner. I haven’t eaten since before noon.”

  “No tiki bar?” I asked.

  “We can always go there after dinner,” he offered.

  “Back here is better,” I insisted. “Eat fast.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Sebastian

  Teasing Delaney was incredibly hard since it also meant teasing myself. It had taken all my restraint to leave her house for dinner rather than dragging her back to her bedroom. I blamed my arousal for the fact that I hadn’t noticed Delaney’s distraction earlier.

  So far, we’d just made small talk over dinner. Something was bothering her, and I was pretty sure it had to do with her cousin’s visit. We’d texted several times throughout the day, and she’d seemed fine.

  “Did your cousin come with bad news?” I asked, figuring there was no reason to beat around the bush.

  “Yes,” she admitted with a sad sigh. “My mother-in-law, my ex’s mom, is sick. She didn’t mention being sick. This whole mess is complicated, and it involves my ex, so maybe we shouldn’t talk about it.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “We just started dating,” she explained. “You don’t want to hear the ugly sordid details of my wretched marriage.”

  “How about if I tell you my ugly story, and then you can tell me yours?” I suggested. Eventually, someone would bring up Tessa. At first, I’d done everything in my power to avoid thinking about her. Now, it didn’t hurt nearly as much.

  “That sounds reasonable,” she agreed.

  “I broke up with my fiancée just over two years ago when she tried to poison me,” I began, waiting for Delaney’s reaction before continuing.

  “You win,” she said with a shake of her head. “Your ex is much worse than mine. Cody never tried to kill me.”

  “She claimed she wasn’t trying to kill me, just make me really sick,” I added. “After I caught her cheating on me with one of her college professors, I told her it was over. Since we were living together, I decided to be reasonable and move to the couch while Tessa worked on finding a new place to stay. She was really nice to me, even fixing me meals on occasion. I thought she was just trying to get me to forgive her. Then I started getting really sick. She became the doting caretaker, and I was starting to think I might be able to forgive her for cheating on me. According to her, that’s all she wanted, but I’m not sure I believe her.”

  “How did you find out about the poison?” Delaney asked. I could tell she was having a hard time believing something like this could happen in real life. It wasn’t easy for me to believe at times, so I knew how she felt.

  “She bragged to her friends and one of them called the police,” I explained.

  “This is insane, Sebastian,” she said with a shake of her head. “Is she in prison?”

  “She served her time in a psych ward, and she was released a few months ago, shortly after I moved back up here.”

  “Is she dangerous?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “She has some issues, and I guess they have her on meds to help with them.”

  “You’re a lot calmer than I would be in that situation,” Delaney remarked. “I’m freaking out about my ex being in the area and all he did was cheat on me.”

  “Your ex is out here?” I asked.

  She nodded. “That’s what my cousin told me. This is what I get for rebelling as a teen.”

  I chuckled. “What does this have to do with you rebelling as a teen?”

  “We’re not done talking about your ex,” she argued.

  I shook my head. “My ex poisoned me, so I can get away with the short explanation. Tell me how your rebellious teen years led to the situation you’re in with your ex.”

  “As you may recall, I’m the daughter of a preacher,” she began.

  I nodded. “I imagine you were quite rebellious as a teen.”

  She shrugged. “Other than refusing to go to church, not so much before I started dating Cody my senior year of high school. I’d never been his type, so I was shocked when he asked me out. He was the popular guy who always had some perky blonde at his side. I agreed to go out with him because I was a dumb teen girl who’d watched way too many movies where the popular guy realizes the nerdy girl is the one he’s always been looking for.”

  “You were not the nerdy girl at school,” Sebastian scoffed. “I know nerdy. I perfected nerdy in high school.”

  She giggled. “I believe you. And no, I wasn’t a nerdy girl, but I was kind of in my own world, so I didn’t have many friends. I was always dreaming of stories to write. I also didn’t care much for fitting in with the crowd.”

  “A rebel loner,” I deduced. “That makes more sense than a nerdy girl. Rebel loners are hot.”

  “That only works for guys in high school,” she argued. “For girls, if you’re a loner, people just think you’re weird. At least, that’s how I felt when I was in high school. Still, I’ll go with that description because it makes me sound more badass than referring to myself as the weird girl.”

  “I thought you’d like that term,” I told her with a grin. “So, the rebel loner and the jock hooked up senior year of high school, fell in love, and got married.”

  She shook her head and looked down at her half-eaten slice of cake with a laugh. “Not even close. The rebel loner got caught fooling around with the jock in the back of her daddy’s church. After that, we got to have a lovely shotgun wedding our senior year of high school. Cody definitely didn’t love me. In fact, I was just an experiment. We weren’t married l
ong before he was back to screwing pretty blondes. If I had to guess, I’d say he never really stopped screwing them.”

  “It must have been rough being married that young,” Sebastian remarked.

  “Actually, it felt more like we were playing house,” she admitted. “His parents put us up in a nice little cottage behind their home. Most of the time, I was there alone. Cody didn’t have time for me with all his girlfriends. It seemed that being forced to marry the preacher’s daughter gave him a tragic hero status. People believed I trapped him into it, and Cody did nothing to correct their misconceptions.”

  “I’m surprised you put up with that,” he said with a shake of his head. “You don’t seem like the type to tolerate being treated that way.”

  “I’m not, and I wasn’t back then either,” I assured him. “I lasted two months before I left Cody and moved back home. When I told my parents he was cheating on me, they were fine with me leaving him. That is until Cody went crying to them about how much he loved me. He swore he was sorry for screwing up. He even claimed to have realized how much he’d sinned.”

  I snorted. “And your parents bought it.”

  She nodded. “My father is big on forgiveness. It’s one of his best qualities, so I don’t want you to think I’m complaining about that.”

  “Did you believe him?” I asked.

  “Not at first,” she replied. “As it turned out, he really did regret screwing up. Apparently, by leaving him, I became the biggest challenge he’d ever had. There was also the fact that he looked bad when I left him. He was determined to find a way to win me back, and he started trying to prove to me how much he loved me. Cody was a rich boy with full access to his trust fund, so he had the money for all the big gestures. It started with flowers, moved on to jewelry, and he even bought me a car. Everyone thought I was crazy for not going back to him. Eventually, I got a lecture about how important it was to try to make our marriage work. My parents were ashamed of me for not at least giving Cody a chance when he was so obviously in love with me. At least, everyone else thought he was in love with me.”