THE BENNETTS' CHRISTMAS (The Bennett Family and the Masters Family Book 6)

by Brenda Jackson

  Sebrina grabbed her purse and jacket off the bed and left her bedroom to go downstairs. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to find Parker sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. He was usually in bed whenever she left for work.

  He looked over at her, and the moment their gazes met, it was quite obvious the sexual energy between them hadn’t diminished. “Hi, Parker.”

  “Hi, Sebrina.”

  “I’m surprised you’re not in bed yet,” she said, heading toward the refrigerator, determined to ignore the quiver that had passed through her when their eyes had connected.

  “I wanted to talk to you.”

  His words filled her with a sexual rush, and she turned around, and lifted a brow. “Why?”

  “Something came up today at work that I need to make you aware of.”

  “Oh?”

  Sebrina listened as Parker told her about his conversation with Dr. Rosemary Nestor. She could tell from the sound of his voice that he was still pretty upset about it. “I’m not surprised,” Sebrina said. “I don’t know her that well…but I do know she’s not well-liked.”

  Parker nodded. “I gathered as much.”

  “I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve seen her in action. It wasn’t pretty. She tried getting one of the Hispanic nurses on her shift in trouble a few times. The woman, who was professional, efficient and well-liked, eventually transferred to another shift. I don’t know the full story, but I heard her name mentioned a lot.”

  He nodded. “I just think she’s going to be trouble, and I didn’t want you blindsided.”

  “And I appreciate you for telling me. And you were right. Where, and with whom, you live is nobody’s business but yours.”

  “I’m glad we think the same way.”

  Sebrina was quiet for a moment, then admitted, “You know that the word around the hospital is that you and Rosemary are dating. I know you’ve denied it. But that would mean she started that rumor herself. She’s definitely got you in her sights.”

  “Then she needs to get me out of them. I don’t associate with close-minded people.”

  Sebrina smiled. That was one way to describe Rosemary. But she’d heard better. “What did you cook today? Whatever it was smelled good.”

  “Jambalaya. There’s plenty, so help yourself.”

  “Thanks,” she said, opening the refrigerator and pulling out the container.

  “You don’t have to thank me, Sebrina. I love cooking for you.”

  Their eyes met and she drew in a deep breath when every cell in her body seemed to vibrate. Breaking eye contact with him, she glanced at her watch. “I’d better go. One good thing about working the night shift is I don’t have to deal with rush hour traffic. Thanks again for dinner.”

  She almost made it out the door, when he said, “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to remind you about my date tomorrow night.”

  Turning around she plastered a smile on her face. “And I have one tomorrow night as well.”

  Parker lifted a brow. “I thought your date was Saturday night.”

  He’d remembered that, had he? “It was but something came up and Bob needs to leave town Saturday, so we changed it.”

  “I see.”

  “Enjoy yourself tomorrow night,” she told him.

  “Thanks, and you do the same.”

  And then she continued out the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  AS SEBRINA DROVE THROUGH the streets of St. Paul on her way to work, she couldn’t help wondering what was wrong with her? Why did the thought of Parker going out on a date bother her, when they’d both agreed that dating others would be the best way to nip their attraction in the bud?

  Her cell phone went off and she recognized the ringtone. Smiling, she pressed the accept button on her steering wheel and said, “Well, hello, California girl.”

  “Hello, back at you, Bree.”

  Sebrina smiled, thinking of all the good times she’d shared with Victoria, Kennedy and Monica over the years. She still got to visit with Kennedy on occasion, but ever since Victoria had moved to California, she didn’t get to see her as much. Victoria did come to town to check on her business here every three months, though, and they did their best to catch up then. And they kept in touch via phone, when their schedules allowed.

  They hadn’t talked though in a while. For their six-months’ wedding anniversary, Cortez had taken Victoria on a surprise trip to Paris, where they had originally met.

  “How was the City of Lights?” Sebrina asked.

  “It was great! We’re thinking about buying a place there since we like it so much.”

  “Sounds like a good idea. And how is Cortez?”

  “Wonderful, as usual.”

  Sebrina could hear the happiness in her cousin’s voice. It reminded her of when she asked Kennedy about Haddison. “I can imagine.”

  She really couldn’t, but she hoped that one day she would. Unlike Monica, who wasn’t worried about any biological clock, Sebrina really didn’t want to end up an old maid.

  “So, Bree, what’s happening with you? Kennedy told me about your hottie of a housemate.”

  Sebrina shook her head, grinning. “I’m not surprised. Did she also tell you she suggested that I jump his bones?”

  “No, she missed that part. But it sounds like a good plan to me.”

  “Victoria!”

  Victoria laughed. “Just keeping things honest. Unless you’re keeping secrets, I know that you haven’t seriously dated anyone in a while. In fact, I don’t recall you seriously dating anyone, ever. Not since Wade.”

  “I date when I want to do so, Victoria.”

  “Sure, but one or two dates every year isn’t really dating. It’s scratching an itch.”

  “I don’t sleep around, no matter how itchy I get.”

  “I honestly don’t know how you manage.”

  “So says the woman who went nearly four years without sex.”

  “Okay, you got me there. But because I’m getting it on a regular basis now, I’m concerned that your limited sex life isn’t healthy.”

  Sebrina rolled her eyes. “Can we discuss something else?”

  “No. When was the last time, Bree?”

  She could easily tell Victoria it wasn’t any of her business, but she couldn’t. As the oldest of four, she had been thought of as the others’ confidant. She had been the only one who knew about the guy Victoria had given her virginity to in Paris—the guy who turned out to be the man she married.

  “It’s been almost three years. I haven’t met anyone I liked well enough to bother with, not since Ronald moved away.”

  Ronald Hogan had been nuclear engineer she had met at her dentist’s office. They had talked on the phone for a couple of weeks before finally going out. They had dated for six months before taking things to the next level. He was nice and the sex had been enjoyable. Nothing earth-shattering, just enjoyable.

  “So tell me about Parker Stanhope.”

  “There’s nothing to tell. What you’ve heard is true. He’s a hottie. He’s also a man with his future pretty much set since he was accepted into that special mentorship program. He’s only passing through. He’ll work at St. Paul General for a year before moving on to a hospital in Florida.”

  “Is that why you’re deliberately making sure nothing develops between the two of you?”

  “Pretty much. Besides, I’m not interested in him that way and he’s not interested in me that way either. But...”

  “But what?”

  Sebrina nibbled on her bottom lip and knew she had to talk to someone about her dilemma with Parker. “It’s the craziest thing.”

  “What is?”

  “Although Parker and I aren’t really interested in each other, there is a lot of chemistry between us. More than I’ve ever experienced with any man, Vic. Every time he looks at me, I get hot and bothered. I hear his voice and it’s the same thing. I don’t know what to do about it. Like I said
, it’s crazy.”

  “Not as crazy as you think. You and Parker are interested in each other, but obviously neither of you are ready to admit it.”

  Sebrina rolled her eyes. “I just think it’s been too long since I’ve had sex. That should change this weekend when I go out with Bob.”

  “Bob Rollins? Boring Bob?”

  Sebrina fought back a grin. “He isn’t boring. Not really.”

  “Yes, he is. You even said so. Do you think he will shut up long enough to get you into bed? And why on earth are you going back out with him anyway?”

  “Parker and I talked about our predicament and came up with a solution to phase out this chemistry between us—we’re going to start dating other people.”

  “What in the world are you talking about, Bree?”

  It took Bree ten minutes to explain the plan to Victoria. It would have taken less time had Victoria not asked so many questions. “So, Parker has a date tomorrow night and I have one, as well.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “And here I thought, Dr. Bennett, that you knew so much. The heart wants what the heart wants. Sexual chemistry has a language all its own and it’s talking to the two of you, whether you and Parker Stanhope listen or not. So why fight it? You two are in the house all alone. Why can’t you just get it on?”

  “Being married has gone to your head, Victoria. I’ve never just got it on with any guy.”

  “Maybe it’s time for it to happen, Bree.”

  “It won’t. Parker and I are working together as a team to help it fade away.”

  “I hear you, but sexual chemistry between two people isn’t anything to play with. You see how things were with me and Cortez. We tried ignoring it, but it didn’t do any good. So we had no choice but to act on it. I think the two of you should do the same.”

  Sebrina recalled that had been one of the options Parker had suggested in the beginning. “I don’t know. Remember what happened when you and Cortez acted on it? You fell in love with him. I can’t let that happen.”

  “You can’t or you won’t? That brings me to Wade. And you might have noticed, it always comes back to Wade, Bree. You can’t go through life thinking every man will break your heart just because Wade did. If Kennedy could give love another try then you definitely can.”

  “I’m not Kennedy. But even she admitted later that she’d never truly loved Charles, that she just fancied herself in love with him.”

  “Yes, but the pain, hurt and humiliation she felt finding her fiancé in bed with another woman just months before her wedding was still painful for her, Bree.”

  “I know.”

  “You can’t fear what could happen if you were to ever fall in love again.”

  “And I will fall in love again. But why waste the emotion on someone who can’t make me a part of his future?”

  “And you know this how? Because he’s going to move to Tampa in a year? That doesn’t mean a thing. What makes you think he can’t include you in those plans?”

  Sebrina didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. Because she didn’t have an answer to Victoria’s question. And she refused to let her cousin put ideas in her head. “I’m pulling into the hospital parking lot now, Vic. We will have to finish this conversation at another time.”

  Actually, she hoped Victoria forgot all about it, but that was probably too much to hope for.

  “Okay. And Bree?”

  “Yes?”

  “I honestly think you like Parker more than you want to admit.”

  Unfortunately, Sebrina was thinking that very same thing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  PARKER GLANCED ACROSS THE dinner table at his date Gabby, short for Gabriella. The name Gabby suited her better though, because his first impression of her was right on—the woman liked to talk. And she spent most of the evening telling him what she liked—whether it was food, movies, books or even make-up. Like he gave a royal flip about the different types of make-up and which ones better suited her skin. In the beginning, he had given her his undivided attention, listening as she talked. But he couldn’t do it anymore.

  He felt nothing. Not even the slightest tinge of desire and that bothered him. He should have felt something. She was an attractive woman and when he’d picked her up for their date, he thought she looked really nice. He was certain that any other man would have been immediately turned on, seeing the way her dress fit, especially the split up the side showing quite a bit of thigh. But even that did nothing for him.

  A part of him wished that he could keep his concentration on what she was saying, instead of what he was noticing most—the lack of chemistry between them. He’d been attracted to her, and in a way, he still was. But as he had explained to Sebrina that day, an attraction was physical, whereas chemistry was more complex, more emotional.

  Sebrina…

  Here he was on a date with another woman, yet he was thinking about her instead. She was growing on him and he wasn’t sure he could do anything about it. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to.

  So while Gabby - the gabber - was rambling on about something he wasn’t the least bit interested in, his thoughts were on the conversation he and Sebrina had had in her kitchen before she left for work last night. He’d actually felt all that sexual chemistry pushing them together. So it hadn’t lessened any. He figured she had picked up on it as well, given the way she’d hightailed it out of the house once their conversation had been over.

  Before he’d left tonight, he had heard music playing upstairs and figured she was getting ready for her date, as well. He didn’t know when she was leaving and what time she would be home, but then, it really wasn’t any of his business.

  She had the day off tomorrow, like he did, and he couldn’t help wondering if she would even be home tonight. Hell, for all he knew, she might be staying overnight with this Bob guy since they had history. But again, it wasn’t any of his business.

  “So, what kind of things do you like, Parker?”

  He blinked. Was Gabby actually giving him an opportunity to speak after a good hour of her nonstop chatter? He wondered what she would think if he said, ‘women who didn’t talk a lot’.

  Parker decided to pick up the conversation and run with it while he had the chance. “I like strawberry cheesecake.” Saying that made him remember the time he and Sebrina and gone out after the movies for dessert. He had enjoyed his time with her.

  “That’s it? The only thing you like is strawberry cheesecake?”

  He shook his head. “No. I like all sports—especially football and basketball. And I love sports cars. Fast ones. A Corvette is my dream car.”

  “Now isn’t that something. That’s my dream car, as well.”

  Then she highjacked the conversation again, telling him about her brother who had a Corvette and who was a member of a Corvette club. That led her into telling him all about her brothers—she had two—and she obviously admired them both.

  Parker sipped his wine while she talked, wishing he was somewhere else. He definitely wouldn’t be going out with her again.

  He leaned back in his chair, getting comfortable—after all, he was obviously going to be here a while. Gabby actually paused for a moment to give the waitress her dessert order, but then launched into a discussion about her favorite sweets. He nodded, although he really didn’t give a damn. Hopefully, after she ate the chocolate cake she’d ordered, he’d be able to take her home.

  Suddenly, every male hormone in his body went on full alert. He knew it wasn’t Gabby who’d caused the reaction, so he glanced around the crowded restaurant. Was his libido signaling that there was another woman—a better woman for him—in the restaurant?

  Yes, it was.

  He watched as Sebrina and her date were escorted to a table across the room. Her beauty tonight left him speechless. Of course, Gabby wouldn’t notice, since he hadn’t been able to talk much tonight anyway.

  But his date m
ight notice that he was suddenly mesmerized by Sebrina. She had looked good when they’d gone out to the movies together but seeing her now, wearing a red dress that perfectly draped her curves, he couldn’t contain his excitement.

  He shifted his gaze from Sebrina to the man at her side. The guy was tall and nicely dressed. The suave and sophisticated type. What had Sebrina told him the guy’s name was? Barry, Ben, Bob? Yes, it had been Bob and they had dated before for a while. Parker had remembered that much. She was smiling at the man, and it looked like she was hanging on to his every word. Or was she simply pretending, the way he was doing with his own date?

  She hadn’t looked across the room, so she hadn’t seen him yet. He shook his head. What were the odds that they would end up at the same restaurant? Her table was within view of his, so he kept stealing looks at her, only breaking eye contact to glance at Gabby and nod on occasion. His date was so into what she was saying that she hadn’t even noticed she had lost his attention a while ago.

  But then, maybe she had. She broke into his thoughts to ask, “So what do you think, Parker?”

  About what? He figured it would be rude to ask her to enlighten him as to what the conversation had been about. That would make it obvious he hadn’t been listening, so instead, he said, “I honestly don’t know what to think.”

  That must have been an okay answer because she smiled and continued talking. “I didn’t know what to think, either. But then like I told Harry...”

  Harry? Who the hell was Harry? he wondered. He dared not ask…

  She continued her chattering, only pausing when her dessert was delivered. At first, he had declined dessert, but had changed his mind before the waitress had walked off. He’d worried that taking the time to eat a slice of chocolate cake would keep him at the restaurant longer. But now, there was no need to rush—not when the object of his desire was sitting across the room looking sexier than any woman had a right to look.

  But he didn’t want to be rude, so he decided to try and give Gabby his absolute attention for a while. It didn’t work, though. He discovered his gaze returning to Sebrina’s table more than it should have. She and her date had ordered their meal, and Parker couldn’t help but notice that the guy seemed to be talking as much as Gabby was. Periodically, Sebrina would take a sip of her wine and nod.