Seb

by Cheryl Douglas

  Charlie was sitting in the passenger’s seat, waiting for me, when I returned to the car.

  “You ready to do this?” I asked, climbing into the driver’s seat. “It won’t be long before you’re the one taking me for a spin, you know.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears, son,” he said, looking out the window at the cloudless blue sky. “Never thought I’d be the type to believe in miracles, but given all that’s happened to me this past month, I don’t really think I have a choice anymore.”

  I laughed as I backed out of the parking spot. “I guess even us cynics have to give it a rest once in a while, huh?”

  “What made you so cynical?”

  Charlie and I had had a lot of good talks while he was in the hospital. I often stayed to keep him company while Mrs. R and Skylar went home to take a break, so I already felt I knew him better than I’d ever known my own father.

  “My mother was a damned good woman,” I said, itching to get out of the city traffic so I could gun it. “She was taken from us way too soon. I guess I was mad at the world for a long time after she died. I questioned everything, even the faith she’d tried to instill in us.”

  Charlie shook his head. “That’s understandable. When you suffer a loss like that at an early age, you don’t have the tools to process it.”

  “I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been for Skylar to lose both of her parents like that,” I said, gripping the steering wheel just a little tighter. I’d never considered life without my father much of a loss. In fact, we were all glad when our old man disappeared for the last time.

  “She’s the strongest person I know, no question about it.” Charlie’s eyes sparkled with affection and pride. “What she went through would have destroyed most young girls, but not my Sky. She’s tougher than nails.” When I didn’t respond, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “You like her a lot, huh?”

  “Yes, sir.” I wanted to say a million things, but they got stuck in my throat along with those three little words I should have said to Skylar earlier.

  “You need to tell her.”

  He was echoing my brother’s words, and like Gabe’s, I heard his warning loud and clear.

  “I know,” I said.

  “I’d bet anything she feels the same way about you. You’ve got nothing to be afraid of.”

  Was it that obvious I was terrified of being rejected? Jesus, I’d driven cars at top speed, scaled mountains, and jumped from an airplane with my crazy brother, but nothing scared me more than saying those three words to a woman. Even when I felt them with every fiber of my being every damn time I looked at Skylar.

  “Why haven’t you told Mrs. R how you feel about her?” I teased, trying to deflect. “Anyone can see you two are crazy about each other.”

  He laughed, slapping his knee, and the simple sound stunned and thrilled me. It was the first time I’d heard him laugh without telltale coughing and wheezing. He really was getting better, and I’d played some small part in that. I couldn’t think of anything I’d ever done in my life that had been more gratifying.

  “Imagine finding love at my age, when you’re knocking on death’s door. God sure does have a sense of humor, doesn’t he now?”

  “None of us knows how long we have,” I reminded him. “Isn’t life about making the best of the time you have?”

  “It is at that,” he said, shaking his head. “When I was lying in that hospital bed, believing I would never again enjoy another moment like this, it got me to thinking.”

  “About?”

  “All the things we take for granted.” We were finally on an open road with no traffic, and I opened it up a little, making Charlie smile.

  “Such as?” I asked.

  “Being able to breathe.”

  I took a deep breath, just because I could, and it had never felt better. The breeze filtering through the open window had never smelled sweeter. This was living. Full throttle with the wind in my hair, the woman of my dreams waiting on me, and a friend bending my ear about life’s important lessons.

  “Amen to that,” I said.

  “You’re a good man, Seb.”

  “Thank you. The feeling’s mutual.” I didn’t say that lightly. Outside of my family, it had been a long time since I’d met a man as genuinely kind-hearted as Charlie West.

  “My niece has been holding out a long time, waiting for the right guy. She had no interest in settling, and I didn’t want that for her.”

  “Some things are worth waiting for.” I knew now, without a doubt, Skylar sure as hell had been worth waiting for.

  “They sure are.” He grinned, patting the dashboard. “You know, I bought this car over ten years ago. The plan was to work on it a little bit each summer, but other things always got in the way. I got to tell you, I never thought I’d see her look like this.”

  “You can thank your niece for that. Never would’ve happened if she hadn’t marched into my shop and demanded my help.” I smiled at the memory of my sexy little spitfire bowling me over that very first time.

  “She’s a tough one to say no to, ain’t she?”

  I laughed. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never even tried.”

  “Can I give you a piece of advice?” he asked, looking more somber.

  “Sure.”

  “Don’t waste too much time with Skylar. What you two have is special. Don’t take it for granted.”

  “I’ll promise to man up if you’ll do the same,” I offered.

  He laughed, crossing his arms. “You drive a hard bargain, son.”

  “Does that mean you’ll have a talk with Mrs. R?”

  “I’ve been keeping her at arm’s length for so long because I didn’t want her to lose someone else. She’s already lost one husband…” He shrugged. “Didn’t think it was fair to her.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I realize it’s not up to me to decide for her. If she wants to give it a go, I’d be a fool to say no, wouldn’t I?”

  “You sure would.” Just like I’d be a fool not to tell Skylar the truth tonight—I was in love with her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Skylar

  The dinner conversation flowed effortlessly, reminding me how much we had in common. Even though on the surface Seb and I were different, fundamentally we were the same. We both believed in working hard, making an honest living, taking care of the people we loved, giving back, having fun, and taking a little time to appreciate our blessings.

  Right now, I felt more blessed than I had in a long, long time. Uncle Charlie was not only on the road to recovery, but he seemed open to considering a future with Mrs. Ryan, which thrilled me. She was an amazing woman, and the fact that she’d stood by him even when he seemed determined to push her away proved how much she loved him. That was all I wanted for him—someone to love him unconditionally.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” I asked, blushing when I realized I’d let my mind wander and missed Seb’s question.

  “I asked if you felt like dessert.”

  My blush only intensified when I remembered his unspoken promise to end the evening at his place. After the stressful few weeks I’d had, nothing would have felt better than getting lost in Seb’s strong arms for a few hours. “No, thanks, I’m good.”

  His eyes skated over my body as his tongue glided slowly over his lips. “Then you’re ready to take this back to my place?”

  I’ve been ready since you picked me up. “Sure.”

  I watched Seb beckon the waiter with quiet authority. Everywhere he went, people treated him with respect. Not because they recognized him from some TV show, but because he was the kind of man who treated people the way he expected to be treated. I loved that about him. I loved everything about him. I wanted to tell him that, but I sensed he wasn’t ready to hear it, so I bit my tongue and prayed the words wouldn’t come spilling out in the heat of a passionate moment.

  After Seb slipped a black credit card into the leather folder, he r
eturned his attention to me. “I hope you don’t have anywhere to be in the morning?”

  “No, Mrs. Ryan promised she’d hang out with Uncle Charlie until I got back.” Since tomorrow was Sunday, I had planned to go grocery shopping and do some laundry, but I could tell Seb had something a lot more interesting in mind.

  “I owe her one.” He smirked as he signed the credit card slip the waiter handed back to him. “Thank you, Roger,” he said, looking at the middle-aged balding man. “Dinner was wonderful, as usual.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it, Mr. Steele,” he responded, inclining his head to include me. “We hope to see you again soon.”

  Apparently Seb was a regular, which meant he’d brought other women there. Probably dozens of other women. Being jealous of the life he’d had before we met was petty, but if falling for Seb had taught me one thing, it was that my feelings for him defied logic.

  As we walked out to the car, he obviously sensed my tension, and the arm around my waist tightened. “Tell me what you’re thinking, and don’t say nothing because I’ll know you’re lying.”

  I glanced at him, taken aback by how perfect he was. His beauty wouldn’t have been so intimidating had I not known it ran deep beneath the surface. The things he had done for me and my uncle made him the kind of man who could ruin a woman for all others, and as hard as it was, I was still trying to be cautious. “Honestly, I was thinking about all the other women you’ve brought here before me.”

  When we reached the car, instead of opening the passenger’s door, he pinned me against it. “Does it matter how many there have been before you if there’ll never be another after?”

  I processed the implication, wondering if I would be a fool to believe it. His eyes told me he was being sincere, and the way he gripped my chin before his mouth came down on mine told me he was being sincere. My heart told me I could trust him, but my mind was still chasing a few doubts.

  I curled my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. I’d never been big on public displays of affection, but that was because I’d never met a man who made it difficult to keep my hands to myself.

  “You’re too tempting,” he said before grazing my ear with his teeth. “I haven’t wanted to take a girl in the backseat of my car since high school.”

  I considered the logistics and thought it wasn’t a bad idea if we could find a private spot.

  When I glanced over my shoulder to assess the backseat of the car through the window, he growled, reaching past me to open the door. “Don’t even think about it. We need a bed for what I have in mind.”

  Oh, okay then. He wouldn’t hear me complaining.

  Once I was settled inside, I fastened the seat belt as I wondered what he had in store for me. We’d made love at least a dozen times, but something told me this time would be different. The air between us felt charged, as though we were both working so hard to suppress our feelings that we ran a serious risk of combustion once we finally let go.

  The ride to his place was silent, save the soft rock ballad playing on the radio. But I didn’t mind. I couldn’t speak for him, but I needed that time to imagine how the rest of the evening would unfold.

  It wasn’t until he’d raised the garage door that I realized he’d been staring at me as he waited for it to rise.

  “What?” I asked, feeling slightly self-conscious under his intense scrutiny.

  “I know I told you this before, but it bears repeating: you look stunning tonight, Skylar.”

  I was wearing my favorite black dress, which I’d bought for the company Christmas party when I’d been gainfully employed. I’d thought it cost way too much at the time, but I told myself I was dressing to impress the powers that be. Tonight, the only person I hoped to impress was Seb, and judging by the way he looked at me, I had.

  “Thank you.” I said.

  Stunning was the word I would have chosen to describe him too. His look was sexy yet understated. He was dressed in black from head to toe. A blazer, dress pants, a shirt open at the collar, and polished Italian shoes made him seem too refined to sport grease under his fingernails more often than not.

  “But you need to know, this”—his gesture encompassed my body—“is just the icing on my chocolate fudge cake.”

  I smiled, knowing that simple reference included some of his best memories. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but I hoped that meant he was open to creating new memories with me.

  After pulling the car into the garage, he cut the engine and faced me, seeming so introspective I was getting concerned. As he reached for my hand, he said, “I’m ashamed to admit I’ve been shallow in the past. I often chose women based on pretty faces and rockin’ bodies.”

  Uh, was that supposed to make me feel better? Because it didn’t. “And you chose me because…?” You want something other than a pretty face and rockin’ bod this time?

  “Because you’re so much more than that.” He smiled, making my heart flutter the way it always did when I saw that lopsided grin of his. “I can’t deny I was drawn to you because of the way you look, but it didn’t take me long to fall for what’s on the inside, Skylar.”

  “Thank you.” I bit my lip as my gaze fell to his solid chest. “I feel the same way. I love everything about you.” I stole a glance, trying to read his reaction to the L-word. It had been intentional, my way of telling him that I was in love with him without actually saying it.

  “I want this to work,” he said, his voice gruff. “More than I’ve wanted anything since…”

  “Since what?”

  “Since I wanted the doctors to find a cure for my mother’s cancer.”

  I reached over the console and hugged him to let him know I was on the same page. “Relationships are never easy, but if we’re both committed to this, I think we’ve got a real shot.”

  He brushed his thumb over my lower lip as though he’d intended to kiss me but was holding back. “I am committed to this. I’m committed to you.”

  “I’m committed to you, too.” I assumed that meant he didn’t want me to date other guys, which was a ridiculous notion. I mean, seriously, when you had a guy as hot as Seb, you’d have to be crazy to keep looking.

  He swallowed repeatedly, as though his throat was dry. “I thought about how I wanted this to go down, but now that I’m hearing in my own head what I planned to say, it just sounds stupid.”

  That someone as confident as Seb had moments of uncertainty like the rest of us mere mortals was cute. “You can say anything to me. I hope you know that.”

  He nodded, bringing my hand to his lips. “I do.” His eyes locked on mine. “But, uh, this is tough for me. I’ve never said this to another woman, and well, it’s a pretty big deal.”

  My heart was pounding so hard I feared he could hear it. “I’m listening.”

  “I realized when I first started dating that a lot of girls threw this love thing around like it meant nothing.”

  I could only imagine how many girls had confessed to loving Seb over the years. That was part of the reason I hadn’t told him how I felt about him yet. I didn’t want to be one of many.

  “But it meant something to me. That’s why I could never bring myself to say it.”

  I watched him circle my ring finger with his thumb. He seemed so lost in his own thoughts I wasn’t even sure he realized he was doing it. “Not even to Emma?”

  He shook his head. “That was always a bone of contention in our relationship. I guess in the end, that’s why she couldn’t be honest with me about the mess she’d made of things. If she believed I loved her, she would have known that I’d have stood by her no matter what.” He shrugged. “’Cause when you love someone, that’s what you do, right? My brothers taught me that.”

  “That’s how I knew what I felt for you was real.”

  The hopeful expression on his face brought tears to my eyes. Didn’t he know, couldn’t he see that I was as crazy about him as he was about me?

  “When I found out about your uncle,
I couldn’t stand the thought of letting you go through that alone. I had to be at the hospital with you, to hold your hand, and…” He drew a deep breath. “I don’t know, give you a shoulder to cry on if you needed it, I guess. I needed to be the one to tell you everything would be okay. And once I made that promise, I knew I had to do everything in my power to keep it.” He leaned in to kiss away the tear that slipped down my cheek. “I couldn’t stand the thought of letting you down. Not again. When I realized you were going to give me another chance, even though I wasn’t convinced I deserved it after the way I acted when I found out about Jarod, I knew I’d have to spend the rest of my life making sure you didn’t regret it.”

  Was he really talking forever? A few months ago, that would have sent me running, but after living without him, I could honestly say I never wanted to experience that again.

  “I don’t regret a single second I’ve spent with you,” I whispered. “Sure, we’ve had some ups and downs. I’m sure we’ve both had a few doubts, but so what? That’s part of building a relationship, right? Chances are we’ll have a few more. We’ll fight. We may even break up. But does that matter as long as we keep coming back to each other?”

  “That’s just it,” he said, looking sullen. “I don’t want to lose you again. I can handle fighting from time to time as long as you promise you’ll never leave me again.”

  “Easiest promise I’ve ever made,” I said, curling my hand around the back of his neck to bring his attention back to my face. “I didn’t want to leave you the first time. I just wanted us to trust and respect each other, that’s all.”

  “That’s all? That’s everything.”

  He was right, of course. Without trust and respect, we didn’t have a hope in hell of making this thing work. “Yeah, it is. But I think we learned a lot from this, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I learned being together makes me happy and being apart makes me miserable.”

  I smiled at the simplicity of his statement. “And really, what else is there?”

  ***

  Seb had implied in the car that he loved me, but now he was telling me with his hands, his eyes, and every beat of his heart. His body was aligned with mine, his lips hovering above my mouth.