Always and Forever (2 page)

Sabina knew she was getting worked up
, but she couldn’t help herself. “You better not have had anything to do with Shaun asking me on a date tonight, because I know I’m nothing like the woman he usually dates or brings to those stupid mine functions or our barbeques. ”

Crap!
She was babbling hysterically. Sabina blamed it on being so nervous about the date that she couldn’t stop talking. Her dad picked up on her anxiety, stood up, and pulled her in for a hug, running soothing hands down her hair.

“Princess
, I promise I didn’t set you up on a date with Shaun. I didn’t even know you liked him until now. Personally, I think he’s too old for you. I hear he has quite the reputation with the ladies. ” He pulled her back and cupped her face. “That’s not what I want for you. You deserve better. Someone who will adore you for the gem you are. ” He kissed her forehead and smiled at her. “If you ask me, I’d be happy if you didn’t date until well into your thirties. ”

Sabina rolled her eyes and hugged him tight
. “Thanks, Dad. Sorry I jump to conclusions. ” She kissed his cheek. “He’s not too old for me. He’s only in his thirties and I’m in my twenties. Twelve years is nothing. ”

He father huffed and squeezed her tight one last time before she went inside to get ready
. She felt a lot better after talking to her father, but it didn’t explain why he looked so smugly pleased when she first saw him when she walked home. She knew she shouldn’t have accused her dad. But ever since her mother left and moved back to England, her father focused all his spare attention on her. She never went without and always had the best of everything. Her father would do anything to make her happy, even if that meant getting the man of her dreams to go on a date with her. Sighing, she hoped he told the truth and hadn’t messed with her life.

Shaun stared at himself in the mirror and wondered if he should really go through with this
. Sabina was his boss’s daughter. The problem was he’d been dreaming about Sabina since he first met her six years ago.

He had been working for Coal Mine
Plus Industries for six months and had tried to get a meeting for a job as a supervisor. Alan Ross was
the
It man in the mining industry. The guy every mine fought to get to come and work for them was doing the interviews for a new job. Shaun remembered the first time he’d met Sabina and Alan.

Shaun’s palms were sweaty as he walked to Alan’s door
. He opened it to see a secretary sitting at a desk and two other men, one a little older than him and the other in his late fifties, waiting.

Shaun looked at his watch to see
it flash 1:50. He was early by ten minutes. Walking to the receptionist, he smiled down at her. “Hi. I’m here for my two o’clock interview. I’m Shaun Griffeth. ”

She nodded and pointed to a chair
. He sat in the spare seat closest to the other door in the room. He looked around the sparse, quiet room, pausing when he heard some one say, “Dad, you need to eat. ”

He glanced around and it took him a moment to realize the voice had come from behind the door
.

“I’m not leaving until you eat half of it
. I made your favorite. ”

A man with a gruff English accent answered
, “Sabina, I don’t have time. I’m already late with some of the interviews. And I’m going to be here late tonight making sure I have a replacement for—”

“Exactly
, Dad, so eat half now and all you will need to do later when you’re hungry is heat up the rest. Come on, Dad, for me. You’re all I’ve got, and I have to look after my number one daddy. ”

There was mumbling and he strained to hear
.

“I’m your only father
. Okay, Princess. Only because your cooking is so good. ” They were quiet for a little while before he heard, “What would I do without you looking after me? ”

The door opened and he straightened on his seat to see a short
, shapely girl walk out of the room in a school uniform, a white shirt and a grey pleated skirt. Her brown wavy hair fell past her shoulders, and her big brown eyes shined up at the man as she kissed his cheek before she turned that smile on the secretary. She walked over and rummaged through her backpack that had been on her shoulder. “Dawn, I made some biscuits for you. You can put out the rest for whoever wants them. Make sure my dad doesn’t eat them. They’re choc chip and he’s watching his sugar intake. ”

The woman behind the desk’s
lips curled into a huge grin. “Sabina, you naughty girl. Every time you bring food, I swear I gain several pounds. ”

He watched the brown-eyed
, dark olive-skinned beauty laugh before she answered, “You would never know. You look gorgeous. I think you have lost weight. ”

Dawn hugged Sabina and he watched as the girl put the backpack on her shoulder and glanced around the room
. As her eyes rested on him, he felt his heartbeat pick up and his body come alive. This had never happened to him before. Shaun rubbed his sweaty palms on his trousers and watched as the beauty who’d taken his breath away gave him a shy smile and almost ran out of the room.

The man next to him
, who looked to be not much older than him, whispered, “Don’t even think about it. ” Shaun turned to the guy as he continued, “If you didn’t guess already, that’s Alan’s little girl. She’s only eighteen. Almost all of the miners here love her. She brings the best baked goods all the time. She baby sits everyone’s kids and barely charges. But lastly, my mate’s boy dated her for a while. He broke up with her, and a week later my buddy got relocated to the middle of nowhere. You do not mess with his daughter. No matter how cute, hot, or beautiful you think she is, because if you want a future in the mining industry, Alan Ross is the guy you don’t want to piss off. ”

Shaun had been so nervous when he’d gone into the interview that he almost passed out when he was told he had gotten the job
.

Since then
, any time he saw Sabina, he had the same reaction. He ignored it for as long as he could. Not anymore. He’d worked his butt of to be secure in his job. Now after five years, he was going to make Sabina his.

Shaun was determined to find out if Sabina would make the perfect wife
. He was ready to settle down. He’d sown his wild oats, and he’d tried lots of fish in the sea, but none compared to Sabina’s beauty inside and out. Shaun loved her cooking, and she always made him feel welcome when he made an excuse to visit her father so he could see her, or any time he went over for a barbeque. She was also easy to talk to, and she never vied for his attention or got jealous like other women did. When he’d bought his house close to Sabina, he’d put in a state-of-art kitchen just for her. His goal was to get her to cook just for him.

He was in a stable position
. Sabina’s father couldn’t do anything to him. Alan was his friend. After fixing his shirt again, he walked out of his room to his car.

On the short drive to pick Sabina up
, he repeated, “My job is secure. Sabina isn’t just some woman I know. She’s special. ” After arriving at her house, he took a deep breath as he got out of the car and walked to Sabina’s front door. The door opened before he had the chance to knock, and Alan glared at him. Shaun looked down and cleared his throat. “Hi, Alan. I’m here to pick up Sabina. Is she ready? ”

Alan’s eyes narrowed
. “Where are you taking her? ”

Shaun
opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when Sabina came down the stairs with her hair pinned up and curls falling around her face. Her eyes were shaded pink and her lips with a matching glossy lipstick, and her body…wow, she was all curves. She wore a simple black dress with a pink ribbon in the middle that brought in her waist. She looked stunning.

“Dad
, you promised. Shaun, I’m ready to go. ”

Speechless
, he nodded and walked her to his car.

Alan narrowed his eyes and Shaun got the warning
.

****

Sitting in the restaurant overlooking the beach, Shaun listened as Sabina talked happily about how she loved teaching kindergarten and her side project of teaching dance, both tap and jazz. He knew everything already because she’d told him it all at a barbeque or a dinner at one time or another, but he loved the sound of her voice and wanted to hear her say it all again, just him. He didn’t know what it was about Sabina that drew him specifically. She wasn’t model material by any means, but no matter what he did, Sabina was all he thought about.

Shaun tried to date other women
. He’d actually become known as quite the player. His problem, though, was she overshadowed every other woman he had ever dated. Her laugh, her smile, and the way she showed love to the people she cared for was what drew him. Shaun wanted to be one of those people she cared for and loved.

“Why did you choose Caves Beach to live
? There are a lot of places closer to the mine. ”

It took him a moment to answer her
, as he knew she wasn’t ready to hear the real reason. Shaun didn’t know if he wanted her to know he chose Caves Beach so he could be close to her. He didn’t want to scare her.

“I like living close to the beach and the schools are good here for when I do finally have…” He trailed off as she turned pink and looked anywhere but at him
.

“Why did you ask me on a date
? ”

He stared
, stunned. How could Sabina ask such a silly question? He glanced around the restaurant and down at their empty dessert plates before he answered. “I asked you because I wanted to get to know you more. Why do you think I asked? ” He watched as the pink on her cheek darkened to a red.

“My dad didn’t put you up to it
, did he? He didn’t promise you some promotion, or that he would put in a good word to someone. You’re not doing this as a friendly favor? ”

Shaun looked at her and raised his hand to ask
for the check. After he paid, he stood up and held his hand out to Sabina.

She said nothing
, and he was too stunned to say anything. Did he tell her it was the total opposite? That he was an almost thirty-five-year-old man who was bordering on stalker material with her and endangering his job just being with her?  And that, thanks to this date with her, his friendship with her father was probably over?

****

Oh no, I’ve blown it.
Why the hell did she have to ask about whether her father asked him to take her on a date or not?  The problem had been that all night she’d talked, and he’d barely said a word, just stared at her and asked her more questions.

Lost in her thoughts
, it took her a moment to realize he went the opposite way from her house. “You went the wrong way. My house is about four streets over. ”

“Yes
, I know. I’ve been there many times. I’m going the right way. ” Shaun turned into one of the newer estates and drove down a couple of streets before parking in the driveway of a two-story brick house. “What do you think of my home? ”

Sabina looked around at the manicured garden and the dark blue paint on the frames of the windows and the door
. It was nice, very neat. They got out of the car, and Shaun opened the door into an arched hall that led into a beige lounge room with a black leather sofa. They walked farther down and he pointed to a door on the other side.

“That’s to the garage
, although I don’t use it often. ”

Sabina nodded
, way too nervous to talk. She was in Shaun’s house. The next room was a combined family-kitchen and dining room, very large and airy. She noticed the stairs at the back of the room. A huge plasma TV and dark green leather lounge sat on the other side.

She turned back to her favorite part of the room
. The kitchen. Its black marble countertops sparkled, and the dark mahogany wood with the white tiles made the area look like a show home. Sabina could see only the best of the best had been put in.

She walked over to run her hands lovingly over the oven
, which looked like it had never been used. “You don’t cook, do you? ” Sabina shivered as Shaun came up behind her and slowly turned her to face him.

“No
. I’m sure you can tell it’s still brand new. Never been used. I was told it’s the best. Top of the line. What any chef would want. ”

Sabina gulped as she looked into his deep
green eyes, barely a breath away.

She
tried to calm her racing heart as she took a deep breath and a step back almost into the stove. “Y-yes, ” she stuttered and cleared her throat. “It’s the best. I would love to have a big top-of-the-line oven like this. ”

He beamed at her
and boxed her in, his mouth over her ear. “I knew you would. ” He lifted her and sat her on the counter. Startled, she didn’t see his mouth descend on hers.