She was still marveling over the size of the master bathroom when she finished going through the apartment and found her luggage standing in the front room. Wow. She hadn’t heard anyone come or go. Taking it, she put the bags in the guest bedroom and considered unpacking, then thought why bother? For only three days? Instead she opened the bags and hung up what needed to be hung, so any wrinkles would fall out, then left the suitcase open on the chair in the room. She thought about taking a nice hot bath, but instead took her laptop into the study next to the room she’d adopted as her own for the next few days and turned on the TV. This one and the TV in the master bedroom were the only two she’d seen in the entire place.
Finding the remote, she looked for something to watch while her computer booted. With all this space, Sean had only two TVs. Sabrina wondered if he didn’t like them? But then, why would he have one in his bedroom? She frowned realizing she hadn’t seen a computer as she wandered the place and thought perhaps he only used one at the office? Or maybe he had a briefcase or bag that he kept it in, but she hadn’t noticed him take one with him. She pulled her computer from the bag, set it on the table in front of the sofa, smoothing her hand over the closed lid before opening it. She loved her computer, it wasn’t anything fancy, but it was her connection to the world, to things more worldly than she’d ever seen from her tiny one horse town. It let her learn, let her study, let her connect to friends and read as much as she liked. It had been her savior and her life line when she was younger. Since she no longer needed the income from her blog, she could probably due without it, but it would be a rough adjustment.
With her computer on, she wished for a moment she’d gotten the wi-fi password, or even her husband to be’s phone number so she could text him and ask. Oh well. She could connect through her phone for now, then get it when he came home. When would he be home? She should probably do something about dinner, but she’d seen what was in the fridge, so she didn’t know what. With nothing else to occupy her, she found an old movie playing on the TV and opened up her email to send her mom a message. She didn’t tell her where she was, or give any details just check in and asked how things were at home. Later, after she and Sean were married, then she’d tell her mother. At least part of it. She might not ever tell her how she’d met Sean. Her mother wouldn’t approve.
“There you are.”
Sabrina jumped and turned to the door of the study, her eyes wide. She’d been so caught up in the old movie on the TV — the third that had come on since she’d sat down— that she’d hadn’t realized she was no longer alone. Sean leaned with one shoulder against the door jam, a smile curving his full lips. She glanced at the clock in the corner of her laptop screen and found she’d been sitting there for close to four hours.
“Hey, I wasn’t sure when you’d be back.” Her face heated. “And I realized after you’d gone that I don’t have your number.”
“I can fix that right now.” He stepped into the room and held out one hand. “Give me your phone.” She handed it to him and watched as he programmed his number in.
“I’ll give you both my cell and the office. Just give Harriet your name, and if possible, she’ll put you right through.”
“All right.” Sabrina looked down at her computer, wondering if she should ask, then decided why not? “Does she know about me? About us?” She looked up to watch his face, she wanted to see if she could read his reactions.
“She knows you’re here and that we’re getting married. As to how we met, she believes we met in Florida. With about half of our ongoing projects in different parts of the state I spend quite a bit of time in Tampa. Given that the agency requires secrecy, I thought it was best.”
Sabrina nodded. She appreciated that he’d told his secretary about her, even if it wasn’t the entire truth. She couldn’t blame him for not disclosing the agency. She’d signed a secrecy agreement when she’d signed on with them and she had no doubt he’d done something similar. But it did make her wonder where they found new clients.
Shaking her head, she turned her thoughts back to the man in front of her. “Florida seems reasonable.” She looked down at the computer on the table in front of her a moment then back at him. “No one really knows where I’ve been the last few weeks, we can even tell my mom we met in Florida. It will make things easy with only one story to remember. I just have to come up with an excuse for having been there.”
“I’m sure we can come up with something.” He took a few steps into the room, looked down at where she sat on the floor then at the sofa behind her. “Something wrong with the couch?”
“No, I just wanted to use the table, and this put it at the right height.”
“You know there are tables in other rooms, right?” He lifted one hand and motioned toward the rest of the penthouse.
“Yeah, but the only other tv is in your bedroom. I didn’t want to intrude there.”
“But you did enough to know it’s the only other tv…” a ghost of a smile curved his lips.
“You said make yourself at home, I looked around.” She shrugged. “That’s not the same as going in and setting myself up in your private space.”
“I’m hoping it will be your private space too in the next couple days.”
“It will be, but until then, I can’t just invade it. It feels weird.”
Sean gave her a look that said he thought she was being a little strange, but she could live with that. She was used to being odd. She was okay with it. He blinked, watched her for a few seconds more, and then shrugged and shook his head.
“I thought you might like something to eat. It’s been hours and it’s dinner time.” He glanced at the tv screen. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“I would.” Sabrina pushed the coffee table away and got to her feet. “I thought about cooking something but I’d need to do some shopping first and I didn’t have a key to get back in.”
“Oh.” Sean shook his head. “Sorry, I forgot about that.” He turned and walked away.
Curious, she followed.
He went to a table near the door, opened a drawer and handed her a key. “This will get you in the door here.” He motioned to the front door with one hand. “Come in here and I’ll write down the elevator code for you.” He led her into the living area where he pulled a small pad of paper from a drawer near the phone. He scrawled a few numbers on it and handed it to her. “It’ll be better if you memorize it.” He gave her a hopeful look. “Does this mean you’ve decided to stay here? Or do you want me to get you a hotel room after dinner?”
“I’ll stay.” She let her gaze scan the room. “I’m blown away by how much space you have for just one person.”
“It is more space than I needed, but it was convenient. I like that I don’t have to mess with a car or traffic. I can leave here, walk a block and be to the office in ten minutes, even in heavy traffic.” He glanced around. “Yes. It’s more space than I need, especially by myself. But I was hoping to have someone to share it with. Up until now that hadn’t worked as well as I’d planned, but it’s looking up.”
“Maybe it is.” She propped one hand on her hip. “Now, you said something about food.”
“I did.”
“What do you want to do?” It was almost six, she knew from checking her computer a few minutes earlier. “It’s a little late, but we can get some groceries and I can throw together something simple.”
“No. Let’s go out. We can stop and get some groceries on our way back in if you want.”
“Okay.” She looked down at the loose jeans and comfortable blouse she had on. “Let me change. Where do you want to go?”
Sean frowned and looked at her. “I don’t care. The place downstairs is easiest, unless you don’t care for French?”
“That’s fine. I just wanted to know what to wear.” Sabrina headed for the room she’d taken as hers, trying to decide what would be most fitting for dinner with her fiancé.
Chapter 7
; Sean watched his bride-to-be head into the room she’d taken as her own, at least for the next three days, and couldn’t help but admire the lush swing of her ass. They might just be comfortable jeans, not that he had anything against jeans — this was Texas after all — but they cupped her curves perfectly and made his hands ache to touch her. His mouth watered and his dick twitched in his slacks as he thought about her peeling those jeans off as she changed. The bounce of her full breasts as she tugged the shirt off over her head.
Shit, it was going to be a rough three days at this rate. He pushed thoughts of her out of his mind as he adjusted his pants and tried to find something else to occupy his attention. He went to the fridge and opened the door. Crap, she’d been right. There was nothing there but condiments and a new gallon of milk that Brenda, his housekeeper, must have gotten so he could have cereal before work. He’d been in such a hurry this morning after finding the letter that he’d skipped breakfast. Now, his stomach rumbled and he realized they’d skipped lunch as well.
He turned to look toward the room Sabrina had taken and wondered why she hadn’t said anything. A quick survey of the freezer and cabinets told him he was in desperate need of groceries. Now he was embarrassed he’d left her without checking on it earlier. The almost bare cabinets made him go check the bathroom and laundry room to make sure he wasn’t missing anything and by the time he made his way back to the front room, Sabrina was standing in the middle of the room wearing a loose, flowing black skirt that fell just shy of her knees and a stunning flowered blouse that made her dark eyes shine. Her low heels were just high enough to define the muscles in her calves and leave his hands itching to slide up them.
“Ready?”
“I am.”
He couldn’t help looking her up and down one more time and wondering how they’d managed to send him a woman he found more attractive than most of the women he’d dated in the last ten years.
“What’s wrong?” she looked down at herself as if he’d made a complaint.
“Nothing.” He smiled. “I was just thinking how nice you look. Come on.” He offered her his arm. She wrapped her hand under it and held on next to his elbow. He walked her to the door and out. On the way to the elevator, they passed two of the few other tenants on the floor.
“Hi.”
“Hi, do you have a minute?” he stopped and Sabrina stopped beside him.
“Sure, what’s up?” the woman asked.
“I just wanted to make introductions.” He looked at the woman beside him. “Sabrina this is Becca and Rick Santori. Becca, Rick,” he nodded to them, “this is my fiancée, Sabrina.”
“Oh, so nice to meet you.” Becca gave Sabrina a hug.
“Congrats, man.” Rick shook his hand. “When’s the big day?”
“The eighteenth.”
“Wow, that’s almost here. Are you excited?” Becca asked Sabrina, who smiled.
“I am.”
“How have you been hiding her from us this long?” Rick said to him.
“I met her in Florida, we’ve been seeing each other there. This is her first time here.”
“Well, that explains why you’re there so much!”
Sabrina’s stomach rumbled and he flushed, remembering he’d left her an apartment with no food, no way to contact him and no way to get back in if she left.
“We’re on our way to dinner now, but I wanted to say hi and introduce you since you were here.”
“Oh, go ahead. We don’t want to keep you,” Becca said.
“Have a good night, and congrats again,” Rick said as they continued their way down the hall.
Sean wrapped an arm around Sabrina’s waist and guided her toward the elevator. “I didn’t realize how bare things had gotten. I’ve spent more than half my time gone over the last few weeks. I guess when I was home I got take out or delivery more than I bothered to worry about getting food.” He waited while the elevator closed with them inside then hit the button for the ground floor. “Why didn’t you say anything about lunch? I’m not trying to starve you. I just didn’t think about it.”
“I didn’t either until after you were gone. That’s when I realized I didn’t have a key or even your phone number. Since I didn’t think about any of those either, I really couldn’t blame you.”
“Still. I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention. Now you have a key and my numbers. We’ll get groceries tonight and I will have someone set up accounts for you, so you can get groceries and clothes and whatever you see fit.”
She looked at him a moment. “What would you say if I want to totally re-decorate the penthouse?”
“Go for it, make it your home. But before you get rid of what’s there call down to the front desk. I rented the place furnished.”
“Oh.” She blinked a couple times. “That explains a lot.”
“Like what?” He watched until the elevator doors slid open, then stepped off, with her right beside him, her hand still tucked against his arm.
“Well,” she turned a pretty shade of pink. “I know I only spent a few hours with you this morning, but the white furniture and mirrored surfaces just didn’t seem to match. Especially not with someone who wants children.” She met his gaze. “Children are messy, white and mirrors show it the worst.” She gave her head a little shake. “Added to the fact you’re in construction. And this,” she lifted his hand and ran her fingers over the palm sending sparks of heat through his entire body, “tells me that while you might own the company and spend part of your time in the office, you still spend a significant amount of time on site, swinging a hammer or some other manual labor.”
“I get the kids are messy part, but what do my hands have to do with anything?” He closed his hand around hers and kept it there as he walked them both to the restaurant only a matter of feet away.
The maître d approached as they stepped in the door and seated them right away. Sean waited until they were seated, with semi-privacy as there were people around but no one close, with menus before he was going to ask again but he didn’t have to.
“Construction is a dirty job, at least parts of it.” Sabrina shrugged. “I couldn’t see someone who chooses manual labor when they don’t have to picking out furniture like is in the penthouse.”
Sean was intrigued. He didn’t care much for what was there, but he also didn’t care enough to shop for something else.
“What would you choose for me?” He held up one hand. “Just out of curiosity. Not what you’d get for us, but what do you think I would like?”
“Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes and watched him across the table for a moment. “Natural. Polished woods but medium golden tones, not dark or too pale. Think honey oak, something a few shades lighter than the floors. Rich deep colors like burgundy and emerald green. I like the hardwood, but a few rugs here and there would be good so your feet don’t get too cold in the winter. I imagine you tend to wander around barefoot when you can.” He had to admit, she wasn’t far off. He probably would choose natural wood and dark colors, reds and greens. Add in a little blue and he’d be in hog heaven.
“What about you? What do you like?”
“Natural woods are good, and I like red, green and blue, but I’d go for lighter tones than I’d chose for you. Something bright. But not pastels.” A fine shudder went through her and he smiled at how expressive and transparent she was. “I like jewel tones, strong colors and pastels are watered down, in my opinion. They’re okay for babies and the people who like them. I’m not one of them.”
Sean smiled as he watched her talk. He liked that she knew what she liked and wasn’t afraid to say it.
“On a related, but only tangentially, topic, tell me a little more about you. Why marry a stranger?”
She looked down at her hands. “I already told you. I want to be able to raise my kids myself. I wasn’t having any luck finding anyone who was interested in me the way I am, much less in me staying home with the kids.” Sean suspected there might be more to it than that, but h
e let it go.
“So, you’re from Arizona and you like to read and watch movies? What more is there to know about you?”
“I have a degree. I’m also fluent in three languages, counting English.” She looked away to stare out the window across the park that butted up against the building. “I’m not lazy. I plan to teach our children as much as I can. I just know what I want.”
That she felt like she needed to tell him she wasn’t lazy made him wonder who had accused her. He knew she had a degree, that had been one of his requirements. He wanted his children to see the value of an education and wanted their mother to see it as well.
“What’s your degree in?” That he hadn’t specified.
“Early childhood education.” She looked back at him. “I wanted to have the best shot at teaching my — our — children as best I could.”
He was impressed, few people would have thought that far ahead.
“Can I guess your languages?” He smiled and hoped she realized he was trying to be a little playful.
“Sure. Let’s see how well you’ve figured me out,” she shot him a playful look, “or think you have.”
“You’ve already said including English,” he held up one hand with one finger lifted, “so I’m going to guess Spanish, because you’re from Arizona and I’m sure there’s as many people there as here who speak only Spanish.” He lifted another finger and looked at her. She had a good poker face. It gave nothing away. “The third is a little harder, but I’m going to guess Japanese.”
“Why Japanese?”
The waiter appeared and took their orders. Sean waited until he’d gone then answered.
“I chose Japanese because while Spanish makes sense locally, I thought Japanese would be more useful for the world business market.”
“It would make sense, if that was why I’d chosen it. But that’s not why I learned it and while I do speak Spanish, Japanese isn’t my other language.”
“Hmm…” He narrowed his eyes and wondered for a moment what might have motivated her if it hadn’t been teaching her children, which seemed so far to be why she did most things. “Italian?” he wasn’t sure why he’d picked that but her dark hair and tanned skin could be from an Italian family.
Billionaire Bachelor: Sean (Diamond Bridal Agency Book 7) Page 3