“Yes, thank you.”
He placed the tray on the bed beside me and opened the container. The grilled chicken, steamed rice, and vegetables inside looked much better than what I had been eating at the hospital. I picked up the fork and began stuffing my face, remembering that I hadn’t eaten anything since late last night.
“Where am I?” I mumbled, with a mouth full of vegetables.
“My house.”
“I don’t remember your bedroom being this way, or maybe I have developed amnesia and they didn’t discover it at the hospital.”
“No, you’re okay. I moved a little over a week ago. I finally bought my own place. When this house was placed on the market, I didn’t waste any time putting a contract on it and got a pretty good deal since it was a pre-foreclosure.”
“Congratulations. Too bad I can’t look around.” I smiled.
“We’ll have plenty of time to do that. I’ll carry you around and give you a grand tour later on.”
“Sean, I really appreciate you doing this for me. I know you’re very busy. I promise as soon as my parents or Tasha gets here, I’ll be out of your way.”
“I’m not too busy for you, Karlina. And just so you know…and please don’t get mad…I actually begged and pleaded with Eva and Carla to let you stay with me. I don’t want you to go anywhere, Karlina. You can stay here as long as you want. Though if you decide to go back with your parents or Tasha when they get here, I’ll understand.”
“I don’t want to inconvenience you, you know.” I couldn’t believe he’d actually admitted to begging my friends to be with me. I knew that he was still infatuated with me, but after he’d found out that I had moved on, I was sure that he would, as well.
“It’s not an inconvenience. I almost had a nervous breakdown when I found out. Nothing else matters at this point. Ever since the day I met you, nothing else has mattered.
“A nervous breakdown? Really? I’ve never ever seen you lose your shit. You’re so calm…about everything.”
“I can’t be calm about this.” He turned and looked at me with a serious expression. “I can’t lose you permanently.”
“I’m sorry, Sean.” I pushed the tray aside and wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug. He hugged me back.
“Oh, I’m so glad I get to touch you once again. I know I don’t deserve this, but there was no way that God could have done this to me again. I know that I sound selfish, but…”
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
He pulled away from me and looked down at the empty container. “You sure were hungry. Can I get you something else?”
I was still hungry. “I’m okay for now.”
“Your parents called while you were sleeping. I told them that I would have you call them once you woke up.” He handed me his smartphone from out of his pocket. “I’ll be right back.” He picked up the tray and disappeared.
When he was gone, I called my parents.
“Karlina?” The sound of my mother’s voice was so soothing.
“Hey.”
“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry we weren’t there. I’ve been praying for you non-stop. How’s my little angel?”
“I’m okay. I have a sprained ligament in my leg and my head hurts from time to time.”
“Baby, I could just beat myself up for not being there when you needed me. We’ll be there in the morning, your father and I, okay?”
“Okay. How’s Dad?”
“He left the house about ten minutes ago to fill up the gas tank so that we can leave as soon as we get up.”
“I’m okay, so don’t rush or anything.”
“Sean seems like a nice man. He offered for us to stay in one of his guest bedrooms while we’re up there. Tasha said he was your boyfriend, but how come you didn’t tell me about him?”
“We’re just friends now.”
“Okay, honey. Either way, we can’t wait to see you and meet him.”
“All right, call me before you leave to let me know that you guys are on the way.”
I looked down and noticed that I was still in the slacks and t-shirt that Eva and Carla had retrieved from my condo the other day. I frowned, wishing that I had chosen to wear something else. Maybe if I had known Sean insisted on picking me up, I would have told them to bring me something else. On top of that, I hadn’t taken a shower since yesterday. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, wondering how long I would be subject to hopping around on one foot.
“You still tired?”
I opened my eyes at the sound of Sean’s voice in the room.
“No, just resting. Do you mind if I take a quick bath?”
“No, go ahead. Want me to get it started?”
“If you don’t mind, please.” I leaned over and started removing the cloth bandage from my foot as Sean disappeared into the bathroom.
When Sean came back, he had a black bathrobe in his arms. “Change into this and call me when you’re ready and I’ll help you.”
He handed me the bathrobe and left the room. I was kind of disappointed that he showed no interest in helping me in the bathroom. He had seen me naked before. Maybe he’d lost his passion for me. Maybe he had given up on me, just like I had given up on him. And all for what? Nothing. I felt so stupid for letting Jonathan lie and cheat to satisfy his own self-interests.
“Sean,” I called out when I was undressed and covered in the robe.
Sean peeked in, strode over the bed, and lifted me up in his strong, muscular arms in one swoop. He sat me on the edge of the tub and turned off the water.
“This is a beautiful bathroom,” I said, admiring the huge jetted Jacuzzi tub, almost big enough for three people. The entire bathroom was white with flawless tiles on the floor and walls. The shower stall was also extra big, with two seats built into the corner, each below their own showerhead.
“Thanks. I’m not really into bathrooms, but I figured this one would do.”
“I can’t wait to see the rest of your house,” I commented. “From the looks of the master suite, this place must be huge.”
“Just six bedrooms.”
“Six bedrooms! That’s huge. What will you do with six bedrooms?”
“The basement and kitchen are what really sealed the deal for me. As for what I’ll do with six bedrooms…I’m still working on it.”
“Well, I’ll take you up on that tour when I get done in here.”
“I’ll be in the bedroom catching up on ESPN while you’re in here. Call me when you’re done.”
“One more favor…”
“Uh-huh?”
“The duffel bag the nurse gave you has my change of clothes.”
Sean retrieved my duffel bag from a closet on the other side of the door and set it beside the tub.
“Anything else?”
“No, thanks for everything,” I said and watched as he turned around and headed for the door.
“Just shout if you need me.” He closed the door behind him.
25
We started our tour outside, and my mouth almost dropped to the sidewalk that we were walking on. The entire house, which was over six thousand square feet, was red brick with a brick paved circular driveway to match. In the middle of the driveway was a huge bird bath water feature. Off to the side was an attached three-car garage. The home sat on several acres of lawn space, in addition to having a swimming pool and Jacuzzi in the back. The home had six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a basement, a formal living room, a family room, a den, a formal dining room, and a magnificent chef’s kitchen, complete with all marble countertops and stainless steel kitchen appliances including a forty-two-inch refrigerator, double oven, and a huge cook top range and grill. The entire first floor had hardwoods throughout, except for the kitchen, which had travertine. The basement had a home theater system pre-installed from the previous owners. That floor was what I thought of as a man’s heaven because the theater system was on one side with a game room housing two pool tables and a poker table on the other. One of
the bedrooms and baths was also located in the basement. Every detail in the home was exquisite. Most of the rooms were empty, waiting for furniture and decoration, which confirmed that he had only recently moved in. He’d said the formal living room, family room, and bedroom furniture had only just been delivered yesterday.
We were standing in the middle of the family room, my arm wrapped around his waist for support. “This is beautiful. Everything is so perfect.”
“Thank you. It means a lot to me that you like it.”
I realized that I was a little too ecstatic and toned my excitement down.
“You did a good job picking this place out.”
I suddenly envied the girl that would get to spend her nights in this house with Sean. I envied the girl that would get Sean all to herself while I stayed a single woman because of the cheating, lying, dirty bastards that I was always attracted to and fell for.
A pain suddenly shot through my foot and I moaned and then tried to bend over to rub it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just my foot…”
“Sit down,” Sean said, helping me over to the sofa behind them.
When I sat down, I tried to lift my foot up to rub it, but another pain shot through it. “Oh!”
“Sit back, Karlina. We must have put too much pressure on it walking around here.” He took my foot in his hands and began massaging my calf above the bandages. “Better?”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded my head, closing my eyes.
He continued to caress my leg until the pain had subsided. I opened my eyes and Sean was staring at me, intently. He had stopped massaging my leg and was now holding it in his lap. He looked so damn fine with those full-set lips and thick eyelashes. I suddenly got the urge to kiss him. I wanted to forget all the physical and emotional pain that I was going through. I wanted to give in to the love and passion that I felt for Sean.
He broke the glance and looked away. He got up as if nothing had happened between us. “I’ve still got a bottle of chilled wine in the fridge. We can go down in the basement and watch some movies if you want.”
“Sure.”
* * *
At my request, earlier on Saturday morning, Tasha had gone to my condo to bring a few changes of clothes until I could get over there. She literally scolded me for giving up on Sean and spending too much time on Jonathan, all to no avail. Even though I knew she was right, she hadn’t been in my shoes that night when I’d discovered Jessica at Sean’s house. And she hadn’t been in my shoes all those nights that Jonathan and I were together either. Just as it seemed that Jonathan and I were really feeling each other, I had gotten yet another bombshell. Was it time for me to just call it quits and live the single life forever and label all men lying, cheating players? Now the man that had confessed love to me was less interested. Even though he showed concern for me and wanted to help me out while I recovered from the accident, his attitude toward me was very different. His feelings for me still appeared strong, but he’d always remember that I resisted him so many times before. I still felt the sexual attraction and love towards him, but it seemed like every time the tension grew between us, he would turn away or change the subject.
Last night, after the movie, Sean had carried me up the stairs to his bedroom, but instead of sleeping beside me in his bed, he had slept in the guest room next door. It was like a blow to my heart. Was he involved with someone else now? Whatever it was, I couldn’t help but think that Sean had given up on me at last. He was just being the man he was raised to be by helping me out.
As I was making last-minute tweaks to the curls in my hair, I heard a knock on the bathroom door.
“Your parents are downstairs.” It was Sean.
I half walked, half hopped over to the door, and he was standing there in a pair of black slacks with a fresh, crisp crease down the pant leg and a white, button-up, collared shirt. His face was freshly shaven and flawless, instead of covered with the two-day beard and carefully trimmed mustache he’d sported this morning. He smelled good, of aftershave and cologne. He looked as though he were going out on a date and trying to make a good first impression. There was no doubt, he was fine as hell and looked like a model that had just stepped onto the red carpet. Suddenly, I felt out of place in my sweats and tight-fitting baby tee. I wore thick white socks over my bandages instead of shoes.
“How long have they been here?”
“About twenty minutes.”
“Oh.” I wondered what Sean and my parents had been talking about for twenty minutes.
“You seem to be moving around on your feet pretty well.”
“Yeah, the pain is almost gone as long as I don’t put too much weight on it.”
“Well, come on, don’t you want to see your parents?”
“Yeah,” I nodded as he wrapped his arm around my waist, helping me towards the door and down the stairs.
When I reached the living room, my parents were standing up, waiting for me. I was almost the spitting image of my mother, who was slightly shorter than me. We had the same shoulder-length hair; athletic, but sensuous body frame; baby doll face, and almond brown eyes. I got my height and dark caramel complexion from my father.
“I haven’t seen you in months!” My mother was ecstatic and rushed towards me, replacing Sean at my side. “How’s your leg?”
“I’m feeling okay, just a little swollen.”
We took a seat by my father, who turned to me with an indifferent look on his face. I knew the look. He looked as though he’d come prepared to lecture or preach at me.
“Before you say anything…I know what you’re thinking,” I said.
“I just wanted to say that you should drive more carefully next time. I’m not going to beat you over the head about how and why it happened. I just hope a lesson came out of this, that’s all,” he said. “Other than that, you know that Daddy’s glad to see his little angel.” He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed.
“I’m glad to see you, too, Dad. But I wasn’t driving.”
My daddy pushed my shoulders back and looked at me. “You let someone else drive that car you pamper and cherish so much?”
“Someone else was driving and the guy in the other car was drinking.”
“Oh, that’s awful! Was the person in the car with you all right? Who was it?” my mother asked.
I shook my head. “It was another friend of mine.”
Sean was sitting on the chair across from me, but he looked worried and distant.
“We’re just so glad you’re okay.”
“We called the hospital Friday and took care of your bills.”
“Thanks, Dad. But, you didn’t have to do that. I have insurance and I was planning to take care of that on Monday.”
“Insurance doesn’t cover anything, and that’s the least we could do. You’ll have to get a new car, won’t you?”
“I have a feeling that my car is totaled, so probably.”
“Well, we just thought we would help out, that way, this won’t set you back financially,” my father continued.
“I’m fine, Dad, really.”
“Honey, we were talking to Sean and he was telling us that he’s a broker and deals in investments. I know how you’ve been telling me that you need to move out of that expensive condo to something more reasonable. Sean’s been telling us about the market and he is very knowledgeable. Why don’t you let him do your financing and just purchase something? We’ll pay the broker fee and your closing costs, of course, as an early housewarming gift.”
My mother was smiling at me and Sean. She actually liked him. It wasn’t often that she liked the men that I brought home to her. Either they didn’t have any manners, or they weren’t successful enough for me in her eyes.
“I haven’t decided whether I’ll purchase or rent yet.”
“Well, when you’re ready, you know I’ll be happy to help,” Sean said.
“Sean, I can’t help but say this again, but you have a l
ovely home. This is enormous for one man by himself. Do you live here all alone?”
I knew that my mother was asking him in a round about way if he was single.
“I only recently purchased this place. It is very spacious, which is one of the reasons why I fell in love with it,” Sean said. “And, yes, ma’am, I do live all by myself right now, but I’m working on that.”
“Oh, don’t call me, ma’am.” My mother smiled.
I turned and looked at her in surprise. What was my mother up to? She didn’t have a problem with all my other ex’s calling her ma’am. “Your parents must be so proud of you. From what you’ve told us and what we see here, you are a very educated, successful young man. Have they seen your home yet?”
“No, but I’ll invite them out soon. They are proud of me. I have other brothers, too, so I don’t get all the praise really.”
They laughed.
I was glad that Sean’s relationship with my parents was getting off to a good start.
* * *
After dinner, which was delivered and catered by a gourmet restaurant courtesy of Sean, the four of us sat around in the living room discussing current events. Sean surprised me by asking my dad out for drinks. Even though he was a pastor, my dad was not a man to turn down a night on the town. Before he met my mother, he’d thought he was the player of the century. While Sean and my dad went out, my mother and I went upstairs to get ready for bed.
“Sean would make a good husband for you, Karlina. He looks like he’s got plenty of money, class, and respect.”
“Mom.”
“I’m just saying. It’s not about the money, but it’s been a long time since I’ve met a young man more pleasant than him. Where did you say he’s from? Virginia, right?”
My mother was setting out clothes for tomorrow as I sat in the chair watching her. She spread the clothes out on the guest bed and then came to sit in a chair beside me.
“Yes, he was born and raised there, but how do you know that he’d make a good husband? You don’t know Sean. You’ve only known him for what…eight hours?”
Seduced by Sin: Sean (Rugged Riders #3) Page 15