Seb (24 page)

After Seb slipped a black credit card into the leather folder, he returned his attention to me. “I hope you don’t have anywhere to be in the morning?”

“No, Mrs. Ryan promised she’d hang out with Uncle Charlie until I got back.” Since tomorrow was Sunday, I had planned to go grocery shopping and do some laundry, but I could tell Seb had something a lot more interesting in mind.

“I owe her one.” He smirked as he signed the credit card slip the waiter handed back to him. “Thank you, Roger,” he said, looking at the middle-aged balding man. “Dinner was wonderful, as usual.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Mr. Steele,” he responded, inclining his head to include me. “We hope to see you again soon.”

Apparently Seb was a regular, which meant he’d brought other women there. Probably dozens of other women. Being jealous of the life he’d had before we met was petty, but if falling for Seb had taught me one thing, it was that my feelings for him defied logic.

As we walked out to the car, he obviously sensed my tension, and the arm around my waist tightened. “Tell me what you’re thinking, and don’t say nothing because I’ll know you’re lying.”

I glanced at him, taken aback by how perfect he was. His beauty wouldn’t have been so intimidating had I not known it ran deep beneath the surface. The things he had done for me and my uncle made him the kind of man who could ruin a woman for all others, and as hard as it was, I was still trying to be cautious. “Honestly, I was thinking about all the other women you’ve brought here before me.”

When we reached the car, instead of opening the passenger’s door, he pinned me against it. “Does it matter how many there have been before you if there’ll never be another after?”

I processed the implication, wondering if I would be a fool to believe it. His eyes told me he was being sincere, and the way he gripped my chin before his mouth came down on mine told me he was being sincere. My heart told me I could trust him, but my mind was still chasing a few doubts.

I curled my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. I’d never been big on public displays of affection, but that was because I’d never met a man who made it difficult to keep my hands to myself.

“You’re too tempting,” he said before grazing my ear with his teeth. “I haven’t wanted to take a girl in the backseat of my car since high school.”

I considered the logistics and thought it wasn’t a bad idea if we could find a private spot.

When I glanced over my shoulder to assess the backseat of the car through the window, he growled, reaching past me to open the door. “Don’t even think about it. We need a bed for what I have in mind.”

Oh, okay then.
He wouldn’t hear me complaining.

Once I was settled inside, I fastened the seat belt as I wondered what he had in store for me. We’d made love at least a dozen times, but something told me this time would be different. The air between us felt charged, as though we were both working so hard to suppress our feelings that we ran a serious risk of combustion once we finally let go.

The ride to his place was silent, save the soft rock ballad playing on the radio. But I didn’t mind. I couldn’t speak for him, but I needed that time to imagine how the rest of the evening would unfold.

It wasn’t until he’d raised the garage door that I realized he’d been staring at me as he waited for it to rise.

“What?” I asked, feeling slightly self-conscious under his intense scrutiny.

“I know I told you this before, but it bears repeating: you look stunning tonight, Skylar.”

I was wearing my favorite black dress, which I’d bought for the company Christmas party when I’d been gainfully employed. I’d thought it cost way too much at the time, but I told myself I was dressing to impress the powers that be. Tonight, the only person I hoped to impress was Seb, and judging by the way he looked at me, I had.

“Thank you.” I said.

Stunning was the word I would have chosen to describe him too. His look was sexy yet understated. He was dressed in black from head to toe. A blazer, dress pants, a shirt open at the collar, and polished Italian shoes made him seem too refined to sport grease under his fingernails more often than not.

“But you need to know, this”—his gesture encompassed my body—“is just the icing on my chocolate fudge cake.”

I smiled, knowing that simple reference included some of his best memories. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but I hoped that meant he was open to creating new memories with me.

After pulling the car into the garage, he cut the engine and faced me, seeming so introspective I was getting concerned. As he reached for my hand, he said, “I’m ashamed to admit I’ve been shallow in the past. I often chose women based on pretty faces and rockin’ bodies.”

Uh, was that supposed to make me feel better? Because it didn’t. “And you chose me because…?”
You want something other than a pretty face and rockin’ bod this time?

“Because you’re so much more than that.” He smiled, making my heart flutter the way it always did when I saw that lopsided grin of his. “I can’t deny I was drawn to you because of the way you look, but it didn’t take me long to fall for what’s on the inside, Skylar.”

“Thank you.” I bit my lip as my gaze fell to his solid chest. “I feel the same way. I love everything about you.” I stole a glance, trying to read his reaction to the L-word. It had been intentional, my way of telling him that I was
in
love with him without actually saying it.

“I want this to work,” he said, his voice gruff. “More than I’ve wanted anything since…”

“Since what?”

“Since I wanted the doctors to find a cure for my mother’s cancer.”

I reached over the console and hugged him to let him know I was on the same page. “Relationships are never easy, but if we’re both committed to this, I think we’ve got a real shot.”

He brushed his thumb over my lower lip as though he’d intended to kiss me but was holding back. “I am committed to this. I’m committed to you.”

“I’m committed to you, too.” I assumed that meant he didn’t want me to date other guys, which was a ridiculous notion. I mean, seriously, when you had a guy as hot as Seb, you’d have to be crazy to keep looking.

He swallowed repeatedly, as though his throat was dry. “I thought about how I wanted this to go down, but now that I’m hearing in my own head what I planned to say, it just sounds stupid.”

That someone as confident as Seb had moments of uncertainty like the rest of us mere mortals was cute. “You can say anything to me. I hope you know that.”

He nodded, bringing my hand to his lips. “I do.” His eyes locked on mine. “But, uh, this is tough for me. I’ve never said this to another woman, and well, it’s a pretty big deal.”

My heart was pounding so hard I feared he could hear it. “I’m listening.”

“I realized when I first started dating that a lot of girls threw this love thing around like it meant nothing.”

I could only imagine how many girls had confessed to loving Seb over the years. That was part of the reason I hadn’t told him how I felt about him yet. I didn’t want to be one of many.

“But it meant something to me. That’s why I could never bring myself to say it.”

I watched him circle my ring finger with his thumb. He seemed so lost in his own thoughts I wasn’t even sure he realized he was doing it. “Not even to Emma?”

He shook his head. “That was always a bone of contention in our relationship. I guess in the end, that’s why she couldn’t be honest with me about the mess she’d made of things. If she believed I loved her, she would have known that I’d have stood by her no matter what.” He shrugged. “’Cause when you love someone, that’s what you do, right? My brothers taught me that.”

“That’s how I knew what I felt for you was real.”

The hopeful expression on his face brought tears to my eyes. Didn’t he know, couldn’t he see that I was as crazy about him as he was about me?

“When I found out about your uncle, I couldn’t stand the thought of letting you go through that alone. I had to be at the hospital with you, to hold your hand, and…” He drew a deep breath. “I don’t know, give you a shoulder to cry on if you needed it, I guess. I needed to be the one to tell you everything would be okay. And once I made that promise, I knew I had to do everything in my power to keep it.” He leaned in to kiss away the tear that slipped down my cheek. “I couldn’t stand the thought of letting you down. Not again. When I realized you were going to give me another chance, even though I wasn’t convinced I deserved it after the way I acted when I found out about Jarod, I knew I’d have to spend the rest of my life making sure you didn’t regret it.”

Was he really talking forever?
A few months ago, that would have sent me running, but after living without him, I could honestly say I never wanted to experience that again.

“I don’t regret a single second I’ve spent with you,” I whispered. “Sure, we’ve had some ups and downs. I’m sure we’ve both had a few doubts, but so what? That’s part of building a relationship, right? Chances are we’ll have a few more. We’ll fight. We may even break up. But does that matter as long as we keep coming back to each other?”

“That’s just it,” he said, looking sullen. “I don’t want to lose you again. I can handle fighting from time to time as long as you promise you’ll never leave me again.”

“Easiest promise I’ve ever made,” I said, curling my hand around the back of his neck to bring his attention back to my face. “I didn’t want to leave you the first time. I just wanted us to trust and respect each other, that’s all.”

“That’s all? That’s everything.”

He was right, of course. Without trust and respect, we didn’t have a hope in hell of making this thing work. “Yeah, it is. But I think we learned a lot from this, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I learned being together makes me happy and being apart makes me miserable.”

I smiled at the simplicity of his statement. “And really, what else is there?”

***

Seb had implied in the car that he loved me, but now he was telling me with his hands, his eyes, and every beat of his heart. His body was aligned with mine, his lips hovering above my mouth.

He whispered, “I love you, Skylar.”

I felt as though I’d been waiting all my life to hear those words from a man like Seb, someone who would be there to pick me up when I stumbled, hold me while I cried, and cheer me on when I doubted myself. “I love you too.”

He released a body-racking breath as though he’d questioned whether I could or would return the sentiment.

Words were no longer necessary as we let our bodies do the talking. We moved in unison, an erotic dance that felt as if we’d already been partners for life. His kisses were more sensual than they’d been before, as though that last piece of his heart he’d been guarding was now free to love me completely.

Completion was swift and intense for both of us, and it came with an unspoken promise of so much more. It felt like a new beginning for us.

He rolled over and pulled me close, cradling my head against his chest. The only sound in the room was our labored breathing as our heartbeats returned to normal, but I didn’t need him to tell me how he felt or what he was thinking. I knew there was nowhere else on earth he would rather be and no one else he would rather be with.

“It’s gonna be hard for me to let you go home,” he said.

“I had a little talk with Mrs. Ryan earlier.” I felt as if I was already home, in this bed, with this man, feeling more satisfied and fulfilled than I ever had in my life, and I wanted him to know the day would come when I could move on to the next phase of my life with him. If not today or tomorrow, hopefully soon.

“Oh yeah?” His index finger glided up and down my arm, making thrill bumps rise. “What did she have to say?”

“She feels like she’s making progress with Uncle Charlie. Who knows—if his condition continues to improve, we may be hearing wedding bells in the not-too-distant future.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

I looked at him. “Did my uncle say something to you about Mrs. Ryan?”

“Anyone can see he’s crazy about her. He just confirmed that.”

I sighed, thinking of how wonderful it would be for two of the people I loved most to get their happy ending. “None of this would be possible without you, you know.” I kissed his chest, surprised his huge heart could be contained in there. “You really came through for us.”

“I was just returning the favor,” he said and kissed my forehead.

“What do you mean?”

“I may have helped save your uncle, but you saved me.”

I laughed, slapping his chest playfully. “Sure, I did.”

“I’m serious.” He grabbed my wrist, holding my palm flat against his chest so I could feel the steady beat of his heart. “You have no idea how lost I was.”

His somber tone made me look up. Getting lost in those light blue eyes was so easy I almost forgot what I was going to say. I’d tried to make the best of the hand I’d been dealt when my parents died, but meeting Seb had reminded me how important it was to belong to someone who belonged to you. “You weren’t the only one. I was lost too.”

“Then I’m glad I found you.”

I smiled as tears streamed down my cheeks. “I’m glad we found each other.”

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