by Lesia Reid
“Sure, Brit,” Sebastian said.
The two children disappeared up the stairs. They were hardly out of sight when Sebastian pulled her in his arms. His lips were firm against hers. He angled his head into her and she didn’t know when he’d teased her lips apart expect she felt his tongue against hers. She leaned into the kiss. The tip of his tongue teased the roof of her mouth. He moved one hand through her hair until he held her head firm against his. With the other hand he pulled her against him until she felt the hard maleness of him against her belly.
That reality jolted her into action and she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. He let her go as immediately as he had seized her before. “You had no right to take Joey from Thelma’s,” Deana said.
“So sue me,” he said casually and sat in the sofa. He stretched out his long legs on the floor, crossing them at the ankles. He rested one arm on the sofa’s arm and the other he stretched across the back. He wanted to start an argument. He was still upset about Friday and one week away from her didn’t ease his anger.
“He’s not your son,” Deana said.
“Not yet,” Sebastian said.
“He’ll never be your son,” Deana said.
“Wow,” he continued. “You’re not as angry as I expected. Come on, where’s that fire. Or, maybe I should talk about last Friday. That should get you worked up, even though I enjoyed you being worked up then.”
“Shut up!” Deana said.
“You’re still swinging wild,” he said. “Wild—that’s how you were. You were on fire, hot, wet and sexy. And you tasted good.”
“Shut up!” Deana was angry this time.
“That’s not going to happen,” Sebastian said. “I allowed you your victory dance on Friday night because you shocked me. I shouldn’t have left. I should have carried you to the bedroom and resumed the foreplay. But you surprised me. It’s not going to happen again.”
“You were nothing more than an itch to scratch,” she said.
“And now you are my itch, except Friday was only foreplay for my scratch. Slamming the door in my face didn’t put me in file thirteen. Like it or not, Deana, I want you and I’m going to have you. And it’s not a threat, it’s a promise. And you won’t tell me to shut up then, you’re going to want me to touch you.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Deana said.
“I always get what I want, Deana. I’m spoilt; it’s never going to change. Right now I want you, and I will have you, not like Friday. I will have you, all of you.”
The kids running down the stairs prevented her from responding. Britney ran to sit beside Sebastian and Joey was on the floor at his feet. “You have a beautiful house,” Britney said to her.
“Thank you.” For the second time that afternoon Britney forced her to smile and rein in her anger. “It’s bright and colorful. My house is white. When you come over tomorrow, you will see it.”
“Tomorrow?” Deana asked.
“Yes,” Sebastian said. “She’s Jaime’s daughter and Jaime’s invited us for dinner. I accepted.”
She literally bit her tongue this time. The words flew to her brain in Italian, but Joey would have understood, and in English, she would have appalled herself with such language in front of Britney.
“Excuse us a minute,” she said to the children. “Sebastian—kitchen— now.”
“Oh, oh,” Britney said. “Uncle Sebastian’s going to get it now?” “What?” Deana asked, surprised the girl had picked up on the moment. She’d tried to sound as casual as possible.
“That’s what Mom says to Dad when she’s mad,” Britney said. “Sort of like that.”
“I’m not mad at Sebastian,” Deana said.
“Okay.” Deana could tell the little girl did not believe that response. Sebastian took his time getting out of the sofa and following her.
“What are you playing at?” she asked. “I’m not going anywhere with you tomorrow or ever.”
“We are going to dinner tomorrow. In fact, when I take Britney home tonight I will come back here and you can tell me why you are so damned mad at me.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation for my actions.”
“Here’s how it is, Deana. I love Joey, I like you and I think if you give me the time of day you might see that I’m not what you think I am. This is not some childish infatuation that will die from one night of heated sex. We’ve been there and I’m still here. I don’t know on what pedestal Joey’s father is, and I hate being measured against the man. I am Sebastian Torrance, that’s the only person I know how to be. Don’t shut me out without good cause. The harder you slam a door in my face, the more I will pursue you. If you walk, I’ll jog, if you jog, I’ll run. I want a chance with you. If you hate me, then tell me I’m wasting my time, because neither your body nor your eyes say that. So lie to me.”
“Go away,” she felt foolish.
He took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “Lie to me and I’ll go,” he repeated. “But before you say another word, I want you to know that I’m falling in love with you. When I walked into Cronus, I wasn’t looking for love; I wanted a cheesecake for my mother. I don’t believe people grow into love. I believe they start out with feelings similar to love that gets better over time. That’s how it started with you. And it’s not infatuation or pure chemistry, it’s more.”
She couldn’t lie to him. She would be lying to herself also. She liked him and he stirred her in ways no one ever had. He was not Antonio Pacelli. But not because she couldn’t lie to him or herself meant she wanted him in her life. She needed space and time to think.
“What time is dinner tomorrow?” she asked.
“I’ll pick you up at five,” he said.
“No limousines this time, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks for this, Deana.”
Chapter 7
Joey frowned when Deana removed a button down shirt from his closet, but fortunately for him, she was only rearranging. His eyes lit up when she pulled out a polo shirt and jeans, not slacks.
“In a few years when you start dating,” Deana said. “You will forget about jeans. You’ll be dressing in fancy slacks to impress the women.”
“Then I won’t go dating. Anyway, why would I want to go out with a girl, she’s just going to be talking about her dolls? Except Britney, she’s good at video games.”
“Ask me that after your first date,” Deana said.
“I won’t be dating,” Joey said. “Not until I’m old like Sebastian and have a big house on the beach and can get a limo to take me everywhere.” “You think I’m dating Sebastian?”
“Aren’t you? Trevor’s mom thinks you are and she says he’s so cute she could eat him up. And Trevor and I said yuck! I just can’t imagine her slicing him into cubes.”
“Do you like Sebastian?” Deana asked.
“Yeah, he’s like me, only bigger. For an old man he’s pretty cool.” “And what do you think about Mommy dating Sebastian?” “Will he be staying over?”
“Maybe,” Deana said.
“If he stays over, can we play video games and will he read to me like you do?”
“Maybe.”
“Cool. I like Sebastian.”
“You will tell me if he ever tries to hurt you, right?”
“Right,” Joey replied. “Where are we going tonight?”
“Do you remember Jaime?”
“Jaime, is he Sebastian’s friend, Britney’s dad?”
“One of his friends,” Deana said.
“Mom,” Joey said in a serious voice. “I think Sebastian is cool, but if you don’t like him, I don’t like him either. You don’t have to find me a dad.” “I will keep that in mind.” Deana smiled at her son. “But I’m not trying to find you a dad. Who told you that?”
“No one, but Thelma said he would make a nice father for me.” Damn, Thelma, Deana thought.
“Joey, if you like Sebastian, it’s okay.”
“Okay.”
Sebastian was on time. Deana was double-checking the locks in the house when the doorbell rang. She heard Joey say the name before the door opened.
“Hello, Sebastian.” She entered the living room.
The sight of her always took his breath away. She looked elegant in the simple wine red dress. She had pulled her hair up and away from her neck, with only a few teasing tresses hanging down to compliment the small teardrop earrings that dangled from her ears. He realized that all the times he had seen her away from work, she wore her hair up. At work, she wore her hair lose but tamed. He stepped over and kissed her on the cheek.
“Hello,” Sebastian said. He felt slightly awkward. He wanted to reach across and kiss her, but he had never done so in front of Joey and he was not sure it was appropriate.
“We’re ready.” Deana picked up her purse and they left the house. He drove the Lexus.
Deana moved to check Joey’s seatbelt, but Sebastian beat her to it. She didn’t protest and smiled as he opened her door. They barely made it out of the driveway when Joey started on a completely surprising conversation. It even surprised Deana, and after almost nine years as a single parent, few things surprised her.
“Do you like my mother?” Joey asked.
Sebastian didn’t miss a beat. He noticed Deana’s sharp intake of breath and smiled before answering. “Yes, is that a problem?”
“Only if you hurt her,” Joey said. “My friend Trevor and I will toilet paper your house like they do on TV. And Trevor will because he thinks my mom is sexy—which is icky because my mom is old. But I have some other friends at school who thinks she’s fine. And one of the guys at the arcade he’s twice as big as me, he says my mom is a hottie. Trevor would have punched him, but he was big.”
Deana wanted to laugh but she was too surprised to.
“I’ll just have to make sure I don’t hurt you or your mom,” Sebastian said.
“Good, because I would sure hate to toilet paper your house. It’s so big; we would run out of paper very fast.”
“Joey Lang,” Deana said. “You need to slow down. Sebastian is not used to having a kid around.”
“It’s fine, Deana,” Sebastian said. “You may have a few years on me in parenting, but I’ve been there for the seven years of Britney’s life. Plus our recent mall expedition proves I’m not a klutz with kids. I forgot to ask how the multiplication was coming, Joey?”
“It’s okay. Mom makes me recite my tables every evening anyway. My teacher says I’m a math wiz. I love school but I can’t wait for summer. I will be nine and mom says maybe I can have a party if the house is up for visitors. You should come.”
“I would love to,” Sebastian said. “And if the house is not done, you can have your party at mine.”
“Awesome,” Joey said. “Then we’ll just have it at your place.” “Joey,” Deana warned.
“It’s a deal,” Sebastian said.
“You’re spoiling him,” Deana whispered.
“And I want to spoil you too. I’m working around to it,” Sebastian said.
Joey was quiet for a while. The whole car fell silent. He was literally the life of the party. For eight going on nine, he was in that phase where he wanted answers for everything and he had too much to say.
Joey wasn’t always chatty. At home he could bury himself in a video game as easy as reading a book. He was well read for his age, because she fretted about everything. She wanted him to have a good life, and she knew his best foot forward would be a great education. He played a lot of video games, but in exchange, he gave in to her when she insisted on reading, spelling and dictionary time. They had worked out a happy compromise.
In some ways, Deana was happy it was always the two of them. He was her world and she poured all she wanted and could have been in him. He never resisted the change from small books to larger books. She was a proud mother listening to her son.
“Do all your friends have big houses?” Joey asked as they pulled up the driveway of a sprawling craftsman house.
“Some of them do.”
“I like our house,” Joey said. “It’s small but I know where everything is. The new house is a little bigger, but I think I’ll be able to find everything.” “I like your house too,” Sebastian said.
Sebastian parked and they got out of the car. Mack was already there. They didn’t need to ring the bell; Jaime was making his way out of the house. He shook hands with Sebastian and Joey and kissed Deana on the cheek.
“Come in.” Jaime ushered them across the threshold. “Make yourself at home. Everyone is out on the deck. It’s such a beautiful afternoon we decided to barbeque.”
“That’s a lie,” Sebastian said to Deana. “As long as there are no hurricanes, Jaime would barbeque every day of the week. We have to thank Bridget for hiding the keys to the grill or he would never be able to leave it alone.”
“Guilty,” Jaime confessed. “But it’s a strong Davis tradition. Every Davis knows how to barbeque, even the two my father somehow adopted when I was four.”
“Just like every Torrance knows how to handle a hammer, even the two my father adopted when I was four.”
“Are we going to bore Deana rehashing history?” Mack asked, making his way towards them. “As I recall it was my father who adopted two devils and taught them how to camp and hunt.”
“Lord, have mercy.” A pretty black woman made her way towards the group. Deana saw much of Britney in the woman, the same beautiful smile and smooth skin. She knew without a doubt this was Jaime’s wife. “Don’t let them start with their stories. You would have grey hairs before they’re done.”
“Hello, Bridget,” Sebastian hugged and kissed the woman. “This is Deana and her son Joey.”
“You are a handsome young devil,” Bridget said. “I’ve heard so much about you over the past week, I feel I already know you. And Deana, nice to finally meet you. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Stacey, she’s married to the other musketeer.”
“It’s nice meeting you,” Deana said. She was ready for a handshake, but Bridget looped her arm through hers and was leading her to the back of the house. She turned to see the men and Joey following with huge grins on their faces.
Mack’s wife was a petite woman who appeared to have sunk in a cozy recliner and had no intentions of getting up. Deana could see why when she got out on the patio. She was in the late stages of her pregnancy.
“This is Stacey. Stacey, Deana. Have a seat; we don’t go near the grill on barbeque days. So what do you want to drink, we have anything that can be mixed, red and white wine. What’s your choice?”
“Ah…”
Joey passed her and sat at a small table with Britney. There were cookies and milk was on ice. Britney attempted to pour a cup, but Joey took it from her after the first splash.
“How about a margarita?” Bridget asked.
“You’re doing this to tease me, right?” Stacey said. “Everyone will be having a margarita except me.”
“I could make you a non-alcholic pina colada,” Bridget said to Stacey. “Slap me in the face again,” Stacey joked.
“I’ll have the margarita,” Deana said, sitting in the empty chair on Stacey’s left.
“Good.” Bridget moved to a bar which was an extension of the patio and started a mix.
Joey tried the milk he had poured. It wasn’t like the milk he had at home. He took the cup over to where Deana was seated.
“Excuse me. Mom, it’s not soy milk,” Joey said.
“Oh,” Bridget said. “I’m sorry. Let me fetch you a glass.”
“It’s no problem,” Deana said. “If you have lemonade that will be fine.”
“Nonsense,” Bridget said. “Sebastian told me to get soy milk but it just slipped my mind when I brought the milk out. I have a bottle in here. Hang on.”
Bridget poured the glass of soymilk for Joey and he went back to the table with Britney, who curiously enough wanted to taste soymilk.
“It doesn’t taste like milk,” she
said.
“That’s because it’s not from a cow.”
“What is soy?” Britney asked him.
“Beans.”
“How can you get milk from beans? Are you drinking beans? I hate beans. Mom makes me eat beans but—” Deana lost the rest of the conversation as Bridget returned to the next chair and pulled her into one of her own. The three men were at the grill in the yard.
“So you’re the woman who’s got our poor Sebastian running crazy?” Bridget said.
“I don’t know about running crazy—”
“He is,” Stacey agreed. “And he adores your son.”
Deana felt odd. The men were gathered in the yard, her son was having milk with his new playmate and she was supposed to be bonding with these women. She never bonded with any woman except Thelma and it started because they had sons about the same age and in the same class at school. Joey was always the center of whatever conversations she had. She was lost without him.
“So where are you from?” Bridget was asking.
“New York, but we haven’t lived there for a while. In fact, we left just after Joey was born.”
“And your family?”
“Joey’s my only family,” Deana replied. “Do you have a restroom I may borrow?”
Bridget directed her to the restroom and she left. Sebastian saw her leaving the group. It amazed him that in such a short time, he was able to read her by her movements. He could tell now that something was bothering her— just the slight slump of the shoulder. He gave Jaime his pair of tongs and moved towards the patio.
“Is something wrong with Deana?” Sebastian asked.
“Other than she’s shy, no,” Bridget said. “She just needs to use the restroom.”
“I better find her,” Sebastian said.
“Leave her alone,” Stacey said. “She might not like you fussing.” “I’ll check just the same.”
He found her just as she exited the bathroom. She had a frightened look on her face and tried to mask it with a smile.
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked.
“I feel like I’m at the meeting of the wives club. The children are playing by themselves, the men barbequing and the women making small talk.” “Do you want to leave?”