by Lesia Reid
“That is not fair,” she said. “I’ve just met you. Don’t expect me to run head long into some steamy sexscapade with you.”
“If that’s all you think you have to offer me then you think very lowly of yourself and poorly of me. A man does not spend hours cooking a meal and providing limousine rides for a romp in the sack. If you want me to back off say so, but don’t cheapen this date for me, for us. It is almost eight o’clock, I will spend some time with Joey and then Angus will take you home when you’re ready. You can stay here and sulk or you can pretend to enjoy the evening for his sake.”
“We will leave now,” Deana said, getting up from the table.
“You will not,” Sebastian countered. “I promised him I would play a game with him and I am going to. I am not going to start breaking my promises to him because you don’t like me. He likes me and I like him.”
“He doesn’t need a father,” Deana said.
Now she had insulted him. He was on his feet also. In the soft evening lights on the patio, she could see the deep sea blue of his eyes. Anger, yes she could feel his anger. She didn’t care. His control was perfect when he spoke. “I’m not hoping to be his father. I just want to be his friend.”
Deana had nothing to say. She was hoping he would have said something that would help fuel her anger, but nothing. This was the time she felt a shred of emotion for a man, at least since Joey’s father.
This was misdirected hate, the man she hated with all her energies was miles away in New York, and the only emotion she felt had for him was fear and that fear had blossomed into an all-consuming hate that was only tempered by the love of and for her child. She didn’t date often, because behind every sly smile, behind every ‘I can’t believe you’re a mother’, laid the face of Antonio Pacelli— the bastard who fathered her child.
Then there was Sebastian. He had taken a instant liking to her son. He played with him, made him feel like he was part and parcel of the package— mom and child. She almost laughed to herself, because in that thought was the answer to her anger. Part of the package, so if mother rejects him, son loses a friend. Someone he liked. Yes, Sebastian was a close out.
Sebastian didn’t know where to place the anger she stirred in him. He understood her guarding her son jealously, but she had not given him the chance to screw up. He hated being measured against anyone— the primary reason he avoided his mother as much as possible. She always tried to place him in Howard Torrance’s shoes. But he was not his father, and never would be. He was not the uncle who died in Vietnam either. He was Sebastian Torrance, and that’s the only person he knew to play. Now Deana measured him against a man he had not met—Joey’s father. He had to be either special or a first class screw up, but Sebastian didn’t want to be measured against either.
He moved to clear the table. He had to do something in the silence that engulfed them. If he didn’t, he would kiss her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and ravished every hating inch of her until she could think of nothing else. Then he would feel better. He would have earned the hate. Why not, he thought, the evening could get no worse. When he placed the plates on the table, Deana thought he was going to walk away. She didn’t expect him to pull her roughly in his arms and claim her lips. All the anger in him was emptied in that kiss. His lips were rough against hers. They were hard and demanding as his tongue forced her lips apart and one hand tangled in her hair as he pulled her closer. She almost fought against the assault except it wasn’t hate she felt from his embrace; it was wild unbottled, unbridled passion. She felt a fast jolt of electricity up her back, a tingling somewhere in her brain, a shiver in her belly as need coursed through her body. Her hands of their own volition embraced him as she leaned into the kiss.
Sebastian felt the flutter in his belly when she wrapped her arms around him. He wanted her. Her back arched and he trailed a path down her cheek. He kissed her chin, and finally nuzzled the base of her sensual neck. It was better than he thought. She smelled sexy and feminine, she tasted good and he liked the quickening of her pulse against his lips. His anger flew away and left him raw with desire for this woman. He would have taken her then, if he didn’t think about Joey. Reluctantly, he let her go. She stepped from his embrace.
To Deana, Sebastian did well masking the raw desire in his eyes. He went back to stacking the plates, but said nothing to her. There was little to be said. They both knew what they had felt.
“I’m sorry if somehow I offended you,” he said after the long silence during which they completed clearing the table and loading the dishwasher. “I really like you and would love the opportunity to know you better. I don’t care that you’re a cashier at a diner. It’s honest labor. I thought we clicked when we went for ice cream. I thought you were seeing me as a real person, not a name.”
“Sebastian, you are a real person, but I don’t think you’re good for me. You are at most mid-thirties, handsome and rich, why aren’t you married?” “Thirty-five to be exact and I’m not married because I hadn’t met the right person.”
She didn’t miss the fact that he used hadn’t instead of haven’t.
“I’m twenty-four. And don’t say anything about my youth and motherhood. My son’s an A-student and I believe he enjoys life as much as any other child his age with an older mother. I’ve provided for him all his life and I don’t need anyone’s help or charity. Cinderella stories don’t happen in real life. We enjoy them as kids and then we grow up to the real world.”
“I don’t care if you’re a young mother. If anything, it adds to your appeal. I’m not trying to take over your life. I just want a chance to know you better.”
“Joey is my world, and in that world no one else can exist.”
“But you exist somewhere, and that’s where I want to be. Is it my age that scares you?”
Deana almost laughed. She hadn’t thought about the age gap between them. It was silly. She might be younger than him, but in some ways they were on the same brain wave.
“Age, if I was that petty I would start sounding like the stupid people who think Joey is my brother rather than my child and I’m using him to say stay away.”
It occurred to her now that she was using Joey to tell him to stay away. Not in the way most of her dates had gone, but to lock him out. She enjoyed the ice cream shop, but she knew then and now they were from two different worlds.
Sebastian didn’t reply. He sighed and looked at her defiant dark eyes. “Let’s go see what your son is up to.”
Thank heavens the room was sound proof. Between Joey’s shouts and the noise blaring on a 15-foot giant screen, she had a headache. She knew Joey was in video game heaven. She sank into the sofa while Sebastian took a place on the floor with a game control in his hand. Her lips were slightly swollen from his assault, and her body yearned for his embrace once more.
Chapter 5
By the end of the week, there was no one that Joey knew who did not know he rode in a limousine to dinner at the mansion on the beach and the limo took him to school the following Monday. This tale was only second to playing Grand Turismo on a 15-foot screen in the mansion on the beach.
Deana was still wondering why she had allowed the conversation between Sebastian and Joey to get as far as it did. She scolded herself a hundred times for allowing the limo to take Joey to school. It was imperative she kept her life quiet and a secret. She was also sorting out the emotions she felt for the man. The thought of him made her angry and swell with the desire at the same time. It didn’t help that he sent her flowers on Monday afternoon with a huge apology for: whatever I might have done to offend you.
On top of her woe, Ivy had not returned to work because she had the flu so Deana was forced to double up on her shifts. This meant that by the time she got home, spent some time with Joey reading then seeing him off to bed, she was bone tired, but she had to spend another hour or two making desserts for the store in the mall and cheesecakes for the diner.
“Good, that I catch up with you
,” Thelma said, letting herself in the house. Trevor ran upstairs to Joey’s room.
“He’s packed and ready to go,” Deana said.
“I want the details.” Thelma dropped in the sofa.
“What details? Joey is ready.”
“Dinner at the Torrance mansion and don’t leave out anything.” “We had dinner, that was it and Joey played video games.” “Come on. No kisses.”
“Okay, one kiss.”
“Yes.”
“You know Carl would not appreciate me asking about your love life,” Deana said.
“So there’s a budding romance?”
“No.”
“Limousine ride, home-cooked meal and son very happy. I’m missing something in there. Oh yes, the details.”
“No budding romance, but a few moths in the stomach.” “Not butterflies?”
“They are not that big and it doesn’t feel that wonderful yet. And so you can stew on it all night, he’s one hell of a kisser.”
“Now you’re talking. I hear there were flowers all week, must have been some kiss.”
“How much do you pay him?” Deana was referring to Joey. “Well, there’s the two buck each week for cleaning up after video games and books.”
“Excuse me. Joey!” Deana called. “I’m dying to get in the tub. I have a budget to balance, for sale signs to make and I do not want to discuss Sebastian Torrance anymore.”
The boys came running down the stairs, Joey with his backpack on. “Ready,” Joey said.
“Okay, honey, I’ll see you Sunday, mind everything Thelma and Carl say, okay?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Sure this isn’t a problem?” Deana asked Thelma for only the hundredth time since giving permission for the sleepover.
“When has a sleepover ever been a problem?”
“Thanks, I really need to get this done this weekend.”
“No problem.”
The women hugged before Thelma left with the two boys. Deana locked the doors and thought about the task in front of her. The summer was fast approaching and her budget was not yet balanced. She needed to tidy up and get the for sale signs ready for the morning.
She had a simple plan. She was never going to be a pastry chef, she was never going to have enough money to have her own pastry store, but she knew how to use her hands. She had attended every free house repairs and remodeling class at the hardware store during her time off and when Joey was in school. She learned how to lay tiles, paint, lay a laminate floor, paneling and a lot more. She’d made a steal on her current house. And with durable simple material, she had almost doubled the value of her home. Joey loved it there, but it was money she could use. If she sold now, she could make a small fortune. It wouldn’t be enough to make her financially independent, but she could spare more time for her son and not worry about the next paycheck.
Joey protested the idea of parting with the house when she told him two months ago. She understood, it hurt her to part with it too. It was their first real place. The first place they owned. He was too young to understand the economics of it, but she had tried to explain it anyway. Her saving grace had been another house on the same street for sale. That would keep Joey on the same street with Trevor. It was a bargain. Not as good as the one she currently had, but it was reasonably priced. She’d made an offer already. This weekend was her open house. If all goes well, she should be closing on the other house in a few weeks.
She soaked in the new tub for an hour. It was almost eight o’clock and with Joey gone, she didn’t need to get dressed. She pulled on an old bathrobe and moved to the kitchen. The budget and the “for sale by owner” signs waited.
The new house was pending foreclosure when she found it. It needed a lot of work. Deana was not afraid of the work. Her current residence had needed a lot of work also, and she’d carved it out nicely for her son. Hard work was nothing if it meant making Joey’s life better.
It would be summer in three weeks and she would have to pay for Joey’s summer camp. Then she would be hit by schoolbooks, clothes, shoes and the list was endless. She needed to balance that budget to see where she stood. She gathered her folder that contained their living expenses, projected cost and incomes along with a cold bottle of Arbor Mist and settled at the table in the breakfast nook.
I shouldn’t have bought the Playstation, she thought, looking at the last red spot in her budget. But, she reasoned with herself. It helps to keep Joey busy when my eyes cannot be on him. She shoved the thought out of her head and settled down to what she had, what was tangible, what she could do.
She was half way through rearranging her bills when the doorbell rang. She pulled her robe closer and went to the door, a glass of Arbor Mist in hand. She looked through the glass. It was Sebastian.
“Merda!” She opened the door.
“You’re a regular Miss Putty mouth.” He smiled and handed her flowers.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. They hadn’t spoken since he said good night at his house a week ago.
“I wanted to see you. It seems that even though you have insulted me, my pride is not wounded enough that I can stay away. And I’m leaving for Denver in the morning, I didn’t feel comfortable knowing at the end of next week I wouldn’t have seen you in two weeks and,” he paused. “I’m babbling. May I come in?”
“Sure,” she stepped away from the door and let him in. She locked the door and headed towards the kitchen. He followed. “May I offer you a drink?”
“I’ll have some of whatever you are having,” he said. He saw the papers on the table, the “for sale” signs and guessed she was working. He took a seat at the table while she placed the mixture of red and white roses in a clear vase. She placed them on the bar area of the kitchen then fetched a glass from the kitchen cupboard.
She poured the glass of Arbor Mist and took her seat at the table once more. There was some order to the madness of papers in front of her, which she refused to move on his behalf. She didn’t want to move to the living room either as that would be too intimate. And Deana knew she had thought about what he might look like without a shirt.
“Sorry if I interrupted your work,” he said.
“No problem,” she replied. “I needed a break anyway.” She absently rubbed the back of her neck with one hand and only stopped when she saw him staring intently. “It’s been a helluva week.”
“Where’s Joey?”
“Tormenting Thelma with video games and tale of his ride to school in a limousine and eating on top of the ocean. For forty-eight hours, I won’t have to help him recall all the details of last weekend.”
“I’m happy at least one person enjoyed himself. What were you doing?” He glanced down at the stacks of papers under her arm and all over the desk. “My budget; some of us have those.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to be defensive.
“And some more than others,” Sebastian said. “Are you selling the house?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Why? It’s beautiful.”
“It’s an investment that has reached maturity.”
“Where are you going to live?”
“Three houses down. I already have an accepted offer. I just need to get this on the market,” Deana sipped her wine. She wondered if he knew how sexy his mouth was when he spoke. She tried not to think about it.
“How does Joey feel?”
“He doesn’t like the idea, but he feels better knowing he’ll still be a stone’s throw away from Trevor.”
“And you, forgetting about the investment part. How do you feel?”
“I’ll feel better when it’s over. It doesn’t matter how I feel in the end. I’m doing what I know is best for us, Joey and myself. I got this house up to scratch and I can do it with another one. It might even be easier, this could be called practice.”
“That was Deana the mother, what does Deana the individual feel?” “There’s no such person,” Deana said.
“Of course there is.
I’ve met her once, maybe twice. She’s kisses like hell and she smells like a thousand roses.”
Deana blushed, but didn’t rise to his bait. “There is only one Deana and she wants what’s best for her family. I want Joey to have the best of everything. I want to spend less time at work. I want to be able to say, ‘No,Travis, I will not work after six in the evening because I want to spend the time with my son.’ Now, I play the swap games that get the worst shifts, but I spend some time with Joey.”
“Do you get child support for Joey?”
He saw the quick flash of fear in her eyes, replaced almost instantly by blazing anger. He braced himself for the fire, but it didn’t come. He watched her eyes as she visibly reined in whatever beast was about to break lose and sipped her wine.
“No. We don’t talk about Joey’s father around here. I give him all he needs and that it is.”
“And if he needs more later?” Sebastian asked.
“You mean if he needs to learn to pitch a ball, go fishing or how to drive a car? I will teach him all I can. Kids have survived for years without fathers. Joey has me and I have him. What do you want anyway Sebastian Torrance?” He was irritating her. This was a subject she was not comfortable with, and though she knew the day would come when she will need to explain Antonio Pacelli to Joey, she dreaded it and would put it off as long as possible.
Sebastian knew she was angry at him again. It seemed no matter how hard he tried, he would always do or say something that rubbed her the wrong way. But from the first time he heard her with Joey, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever was.
“I thought I would take you and Joey out for an evening on the town but since he’s not here, I will settle for the mother.”
“I have things to do. I am very tired and I start an early shift at the diner tomorrow. Plus I have an open house starting around noon. We don’t all fly to Denver on the whim.”
“That’s unfair. I invited you and Joey.”
“Yes,” Deana said. “I’d be fired and Joey loses a week of school. In this house, we live in the real world where we have budgets and little boys move from the houses they love. Good night, Sebastian Torrance.”