Seduced by Sin: Sean (Rugged Riders #3) (8 page)

I
jumped
on the treadmill and set the time and intensity level. I had arrived at the gym about an hour before my Monday circuit training classes were scheduled to begin. As I started running, I thought about the last weekend and the date that Sean and I had gone on after spending yet another day at the investment property. This time, I had helped Sean with the landscaping in the front yard to help him save some money and stick to budget. Later that night, Sean and I had attended the grand opening of a restaurant. We had received the invite-only reservations on our second date at the owner’s other established restaurant. It was apparent to everyone that Sean and I had become an “item.” It had become a habit to spend weekends with each other, and we had taken turns over the last two weekends—and some weekdays—spending the night at each other’s place, and always in each other’s arms.

I knew that it was time to let Sean know how I felt about him. He had expressed his love to me on several occasions, even though he hadn’t received an expression of my feelings in return. Last Saturday, when we were in the Jacuzzi, I did make a start by telling him that I loved being with him and I felt that we would be together for a long time, whether we were just friends or remained in a serious relationship. Before this past Saturday, I’d told myself that his personal assistant, Jessica, might be putting up an extra defensive guard to protect her job. I had found out something completely different after Sean broke the news to her on Saturday that I was currently working on his website for him and that I would need all his pictures on a disk from the digital camera. She didn’t seem too happy about that. I couldn’t get the replay of the events out of my head.

“Sean, I thought you knew that I did my website for my interior design company. We could have already had your website up and running by now before you met her. I just didn’t know you were interested in one. But if that’s what you want, then next time I go out to my car, I’ll bring the camera and we can upload the pictures on your laptop,” Jessica informed.

“Okay, good.” Sean said.

Jessica finally brought the camera over to me while I was working on Sean’s laptop in the kitchen. Sean was upstairs, hanging up lighting fixtures and ceiling fans.

“Here you go…” Jessica said, setting the camera and a USB cord on the island next to me.

“Thank you. This shouldn’t take too long for me to upload and save the pictures and I’ll give the camera back to you before you leave.” I began to hook the camera up to the laptop.

“Just take your time. I can get the camera from Sean anytime.”

“No, you’ll get the camera back from me,” I said, but still, I wondered what she had meant by
anytime
.

“So, how long have you and Sean been dating now?” She was leaning on the island beside me when she asked this.

“A few months, give or take…” I couldn’t imagine why it was any of her business how long we had been dating.

“Looks like he’s pretty pleased with you.” Her voice was very arrogant and pompous.

I turned to look at her, scornfully. “What are you trying to say?”

“Oh, nothing… Just that most of his relationships in the past didn’t last beyond one month. Sean has run through a lot of females.”

“Are you trying to warn me?”

“I’m not trying to warn you. I
am
warning you. I just hope you don’t get your little heart broken,” she said, placing emphasis on almost every word.

“Well, I don’t need warnings from anyone. What happened in his other relationships is his business and, obviously, it doesn’t concern you or me. You shouldn’t assume that all females that date Sean are the same. And you don’t even know me like that.” I didn’t really want to get nasty with her, but she had started something with me that roused disturbance.

“Ah! Well, excuse me for trying to be nice.” She folded her arms across her chest. “You know some things aren’t always as they seem. You might need to ask Sean what his intentions are with you. He’s not the type to settle down. He’ll tell you he’s in love, but when he gets tired, he’ll act as if nothing ever happened. He did it to one of my closest friends and that didn’t turn out so well.” She started to walk away.

“How do you know so much about his relationships? Your job description shouldn’t include keeping tabs on his love life. You must want him for yourself.”

She turned to look at me and rolled her eyes then let out a fake sounding chuckle. Without answering my question, she walked out the door.

I hadn’t told Sean what had happened that Saturday. It really didn’t surprise me the way Jessica had acted out. It was no surprise that she wanted Sean for herself. That was too bad for her because I was certainly not giving Sean up, especially not to her. As I thought about it, I became fired up again. I knew the circuit training workout would calm me down.

After completing my jog on the treadmill, I grabbed my bags and headed to the room designated for the group workout. I almost did a U-turn when I saw Jonathan coming my way. How could I forget that this guy had actually suggested that I give him a call? It was too late for me to turn around because he had already seen me and was smiling as he walked closer, coming towards me.

“Karlina, how are you?”

“Hey. I’m good.”

He still looked lean and muscular in his basketball jersey. And there was no way that I could forget those enchanting green eyes. It was no wonder most of the women back at my dad’s church had wanted to date him.

“Finding things okay here?”

“Yes, I’m headed to my class.” I began walking again and he walked beside me.

“So, what happened to my phone call?”

“I never said I would call you.”

“Oh…I see how it is. Well, can I call you?”

“I told you the last time I saw you that I was dating someone.”

“And…why not date me, too? You ain’t married or anything, are you?”

“No, but, as I said, I’m already dating someone. I don’t do multiple partners. Besides, I’m happy with who I’m with right now.”

“I see…well, I’m not going anywhere. This is
my
gym. And you seem to be a regular here. Like I said before, when you get tired of your man, all you need to do is pick up the phone and call me.”

“You may be waiting your whole lifetime for me to get tired of my man.”

He laughed. “We’ll see.” He opened the door to the training room where my class was held. I could see the women on the other side of the glass door looking at us. “I’ll see you later, Karlina,” he said.

As I was walking in the door, one of the other ladies yelled out to Jonathan, “Hey, Jonathan. You promised us a free childcare center in here a few weeks ago. What’s going on?”

“Okay, ladies! I’m working on it. We need to hire qualified personnel for that. We should be able to start something within a month. Gimme a break here.”

Jonathan hauled ass out of the room.

The instructor walked in the door. Everyone started warming up and stretching. Soon, I had completely forgotten about Jonathan and was thinking about Sean again.

“
I
love you
,” Sean said, running his fingers through my hair.

I smiled and pressed my lips to his, kissing him sweetly. I pulled back and walked back over to the vanity again to apply some moisturizer to my face.

“We should be ready to sell in about two weeks.” Sean was lying on my bed, watching me sitting at my vanity doing my nightly routine before getting into bed. It was Friday night, and Sean had just returned from hanging out with a group of guys on the racetrack.

“That’s wonderful. I can’t believe you can renovate a home in a month.”

“This was one of the easy ones. I was also at an advantage since my contractors were at that house during the weekdays working, as well. I have someone coming to paint the interior, and another coming to lay the carpet upstairs and in the basement early next week. There are a few finishing touches that need to be made, and then we’ll put the house on the market.”

“How was your budget? Did you get a chance to balance it this week?”

“Yeah, actually, I’m right on budget. Only a couple thousand dollars over. The rest of the budget depends on how fast I can get it sold before paying another month’s mortgage.”

“Let me know if I can help,” I said, getting up and walking over to the bed towards him.

“Oh, you’ve helped me a lot already. As soon as I sell, I’ll give you a percentage.”

“A percentage? That wasn’t in the plan. You know that I’m not looking for any money from you. I didn’t do anything. It was a great learning experience, though. Besides, you need to pay your contractors first.”

“They’ve already been paid. And if it weren't for you, I couldn’t have kept a level head during the whole process. You made several suggestions that added value to the home and actually increased our selling price.”

“I want you to enjoy your profit. I was only helping so that I could spend time with you. Besides, I never expected any form of payment.”

“I think you deserve fifty percent of whatever I make. If you are going to be my business partner, you have to learn how to accept your cut.”

“Do I even get a say in what I want my reward to be?” I asked him, rubbing his chest and abs with one hand.

“I don’t know.” He placed his arms behind his head, enjoying the massage. “I guess it depends on what you want? If it involves what I think it does, then I’ll see what I can do.”

We both looked at the tall erection pushing out of his boxers.

“It’s really simple.” I smiled, removing his hard-on from the boxers. “All you have to do is lay there.”

“Help yourself,” he whispered.

He moaned as I went down on him. His eyes were on me, watching as I pleased him with my mouth and tongue. After a couple of minutes, Sean disobeyed my earlier request to lay there and pulled me up, my legs over his, and continued to watch me as I moved up and down over his steely hard length, bringing myself to climax.

After, we were exhausted and fell asleep in each other’s arms as we had done so many other nights before. It had become a habit, a routine, and we were definitely growing on each other as each day passed. I watched as he slept. While lying on his chest, I listened to his irregular breathing and his heartbeat at the same time. Right now, I couldn’t imagine life without Sean. I felt too good when I was with him. He was perfect for me. He understood me, and he had been patient with me. He respected me and always put me first.

I wrapped my arms around his chest then lifted my head and buried my face in the space between his neck and shoulder.

“I love you, too,” I whispered into his neck.

He must have been fast asleep because he didn’t respond, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was that we were both in love.

T
here were
several ladies over at Tasha’s apartment. Apparently, one of them worked at a lingerie shop and had brought a bin of overstocked garments for us to take home. Whenever Tasha held a Girl’s Night Out, she went all out. When one of the women pulled out a twelve-inch, pink dildo, I got up and offered to refill drinks.

I walked into Tasha’s kitchen to get the beverages from her refrigerator. My phone vibrated on my hip, alerting me that I had a missed call. With all the music playing in the living room, I must not have heard it.

It had been Sean. I called him back.

“Hey, you called?” I asked.

“Yeah, how are you?” he said.

“Good, I’m with Tasha today. We’re going out later tonight. Girl’s night out thing.”

“You deserve to hang out with your friends. I’m sure they think I’ve been holding you hostage,” he said.

I smiled. “So, what’s up with you tonight?”

“I’m at the Ridgeview Road property. I have someone coming out to do the appraisal.”

“Oh, is everything going okay?”

“Oh, yes, I’m so glad this one is almost over.” He let out a sigh of relief on the phone. “Listen, do you want to come over tonight?”

“Sean, I honestly do, but you’ll probably be asleep by the time I get home from going out with these ladies. They’re a wild bunch.”

“Yeah, I can hear the background noise.” He laughed. “If anything changes, come on over. My door is always open, and I’ll probably be up late tonight.”

“Okay.”

“If not, we can go out for lunch on Sunday.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We hung up and I grabbed the wine coolers and made my way back into Tasha’s den. No one noticed that I had been gone more than five minutes, and I sat back down and we continued on with the festivities.

A
couple of hours later
, we all arrived at a famous nightclub and bar in downtown Atlanta. When we finally found our section, we ordered a round of drinks to get started.

I didn’t think anyone would notice if I sat at the table all night having drinks, so I made a quiet decision to do just that. Three drinks later, I was certain of this plan. But, of course, some of the ladies had other goals in mind.

“Look at all these fine men up in here,” Tasha’s friend exclaimed, jumping up from the table “I might just find my husband tonight.”

Before I could protest, Tasha grabbed my arm, and, all of a sudden, I was out on the dance floor. I enjoyed dancing through two songs before the DJ played something slow and everyone started getting closer than I wanted to be.

As I walked back to our VIP section, I spotted Tasha, her back against the wall and some guy pressing up on her with one hand on the wall above her head and the other on her hip. I could have sworn that she was moving against his pelvis to the rhythm of the blaring, body-pumping music. I stopped walking when I felt a hand touch the middle of my back.

“Karlina?”

I turned around and looked up into a pair of enchanting green eyes.
Jonathan.
All I could do was stare.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “Are you following me?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. I’m just out having a good time with the fellas.”

“Me, too. Girl’s night out.” I shrugged.

“Oh, I see…” He looked off in the distance behind me. “Your friends out there?”

“Yup.” Suddenly, my head began to throb and I felt really dizzy.

“Karlina, are you okay?” Jonathan had placed both hands on my waist trying to steady me. “Have you been drinking?”

“Yes…” I nodded, reaching out to hold onto his arms.

He chuckled. “Let’s sit down right here before you keel over.” He led me to the booth where no one was sitting.

“Thank you. I think I had too many drinks.”

“How many is too many?”

“One after the other. I lost count after three. And I don’t think the dancing helped any.”

“You know, even when you’re drunk, you still look pretty hot,” he yelled over the music.

I wasn’t sure what to say. “Thank you.”

“I’m disappointed that you haven’t called me yet.”

“You said that when I got tired of my man, then I should call you.”

“Oh, yeah. I did say that.” He nodded. “Can I convince you to call me anyway? You might be glad you did.”

I laughed. “You don’t get it, do you? You won’t take no for an answer. Doesn’t it bother you that I’m involved with someone?”

He put his index finger on his cheek, tilted his head, and pretended to think. “No.”

“Jonathan, I’m sorry, but I’m in a faithful relationship.”

“If you’re in a committed relationship, then tell me why were you on the dance floor dancing that way.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “Have you been spying on me?”

“No, I wasn’t spying on you. I saw you surrounded by a few men and didn’t want to interrupt you. When you started walking over here alone, I thought I would come say hi.”

“Maybe you misunderstand me, Jonathan.”

“There’s no misunderstanding. I wanted you while I attended your dad’s church, I just didn’t have the guts to tell you back then. Plus I was kind of intimidated by you being the pastor’s daughter and all. Let’s cut to the chase…I still want you.”

“I know you do, but people in Hell want a glass of iced water, too.”

“Oh, it’s like that now?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, can you just give me a chance? I really just want to be friends. We don’t have to be in a relationship.”

This guy really wasn’t going to quit until I gave in, which was not going to happen. But, there was just something about those enchanting green eyes and his non-stop persuasion that made me want to get to know Jonathan a little better. Even if it were only to have his company at the gym every now and then.

“We can be friends, Jonathan.” I stood up, but he was sitting on the outside of the booth so there was no way I could escape without him letting me get past him. “And I need to go…my girlfriends are waiting for me.” The only way I could get past him was to squeeze myself between him and the table in front of us. “Can I get by?”

“I’m not stopping you,” Jonathan said, still sitting in the way.

“Jonathan, you know that I can’t get by without stepping over you.”

“That’s fine with me.”

“Okay, since you’re being stubborn...” I tried to step over him, ending with one leg on each side of his thighs.

His hands touched my hips while I was straddling him. “I don’t care about your man, Karlina. I told you that when we saw each other the first time at the gym.”

“And that’s the problem right there.” I walked away from him without another word. I was going to have to find another gym.

“
T
hank you
, Eva. I owe you one.” I grabbed my overnight bag and lifted myself out of the car. Eva had just pulled up in front of Sean’s place.

After the Girl’s Night Out, everyone had disbanded, and Eva, one of Tasha’s friends, had offered to drive me over to Sean’s since I’d had a little too much to drink. Apparently, Eva and Sean lived on the same side of the city.

“Do I need to walk you up there? You still look a little hung over. Are you gonna be okay?” Eva asked.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Thanks again.”

I threw the bag over my shoulder and closed the door. I’d wanted to surprise Sean, so I didn’t call him. I knew that he was probably still up, working on a floor plan for his next property. When I reached the door, the lights to Eva’s little Honda disappeared as she drove off.

The lights were still on in Sean’s home, which was a good sign. He was still up, as promised. He was in for the surprise of his life because I was going to show him a good time tonight. My overnight bag was stuffed with some of the lingerie the ladies had selected from earlier tonight.

I rang the doorbell. I waited about ten seconds, but he still didn’t come to the door. I rang the doorbell again and then grabbed my cell phone out of my bag. Maybe he was on the lower level and didn’t hear me.

The door swung open moments later, and I looked up at a surprised Sean.

“Hey!” I grinned.

“Karlina?” He wasn’t smiling. Wasn’t he happy to see me? He had said he wanted to see me tonight.

It looked as though he had been lifting weights. He only wore a pair of jogging pants and there was an iPod clipped to the waistband. I wanted to run my fingers over his ripped eight-pack ab muscles.

“We all left the nightclub early.”

“Oh.” His eyes traveled from my face to the bag in my hand. He was now biting his bottom lip.

“I meant to call you, but I wanted to surprise you. I was thinking about you all night…and you know what.”

“Karlina, have you been drinking?”

“Yes.”

“Did you drive here?” he gawked.

“No, of course not. I had a friend drop me off.”

“Karlina, I had no idea you would come.” He looked back and gestured into his house. “We’ve been working on getting the listing up in the MLS.”

“Okay.”

He turned around and looked inside his home. He looked really uncomfortable.

“Well, are you going to let me in?”

“Sean, who is it? I have to pick my daughter up from my mother’s, so can we hurry up? I can come back tomorrow if you’d like…” a woman’s voice called from within his house. I didn’t have to think twice to know whom the voice belonged to. It was Jessica!

I slowly looked back at Sean, who looked like someone had just stabbed him in the stomach. “Are you serious?” I hissed.

“No. I’m sorry. I mean— It’s not what you think. We’re working on the listing for the house tonight.” He was stumbling too much. He reached out for me. “Please, come in.”

My mouth gaped open and I couldn’t say anything. This couldn’t be true! I needed to see it for myself. There was no way this bitch was at my man’s house at this time of night.

I rushed past him into the house and saw Jessica sitting on a bar stool typing on Sean’s laptop on the kitchen counter. When she turned around to look at me, her jaw dropped, as well. Like the seductress that she came off to be, she had on a black skirt that was so tight and so short that when she crossed her legs on the stool, it was a mystery as to how her nasty behind wasn’t hanging out.

“Hi, Karlina!” She greeted me with a smile. She turned completely around on the stool, uncrossed her legs, raised a glass of wine to her lips, and emptied the contents. She placed the empty glass on the counter and leaned back on the marble, using her elbows for support. She looked way too comfortable for just being someone’s business partner.

“If you two are busy, I can leave.” I turned around on my heels, brushing past Sean so hard that I almost knocked him over. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to his chest.

“Karlina? What’s wrong with you? You don’t think that I would…that I would—”

“That you would what, Sean?” Jessica interrupted and jumped up from the stool, crossing her arms over her chest. I looked down at her bare feet against the hardwood floors. “That you would be having sex with me?”

I gasped and felt the blood boiling in my body.

“Is that what you meant to say to her?” Jessica's voice was getting louder. “Why wouldn’t she think that you would be having sex with me? We’ve had sex before. Did you tell her that?” She then turned to me and said, “Did he tell you that, bitch?”

“Bitch?” I dropped my bag to the floor.

Before I could pursue her, Sean pulled me back, holding my hands in his.

“Please, Karlina, calm down,” he begged.

“You’re telling me to calm down?”

“It’s not what you think. Jessica and I were working, plain and simple. Jessica, you know that you and I have nothing going on here. Why would you start something like this?”

“We have nothing going on, huh?” Veins bulged on Jessica’s neck.

“Right, nothing! Jessica, what you and I were doing is business. When things between you and I started to get too unprofessional, I told you that I needed to seek another agent. The plan was to finish out all current projects together so you could keep up with your bills and find some other work and then go our separate ways. We decided to keep this professional a long time ago. You don’t seem to recall that, though, do you?”

“You said something about finding another agent, but you never told me that you wanted to stop seeing me.”

“Well, obviously, if you and I had a conversation about keeping things professional, then I didn’t want any relationship with you.”

“Are you just saying that because she’s standing there?” Jessica laughed sarcastically. “If our relationship was over, you never told me. You said you just needed some time to yourself. You can’t keep both of us if that’s what you’re trying to do. You need to choose between me and that right there.”

“There’s no need to choose.” I bent down to pick up my bag. “You want him so bad, you can have him.” I reached for the doorknob, but Sean pulled me back behind him.

Sean dropped his head in both hands and then looked up. “You know what, Jessica? Please get your things and leave.”

“What?”

“As of tonight, I no longer need your help. I’ll mail your paycheck before the house even sells. Consider our contract null and void. I’ll pay the penalties. Please, just go…now.”

Jessica started shoving papers and her belongings into a handbag. “I can’t believe you!”

“Jessica, I didn’t call you over here tonight, and you know that.”

“Where’s my cell phone?” Jessica shouted.

Sean walked over to the living room and picked up a cell phone and a pair of pumps that were under the coffee table and handed them to her.

I began to walk to the door, heartbroken. I stormed down his driveway, wishing that I hadn’t been such a fool. I reached in my bag, furiously searching for my phone. Everyone that I could call to come and pick me up was too damn drunk, and I didn’t want to bother Eva again either. I dialed 411 on the keypad.

“Thank you for calling four one one. What city?”

“Karlina, what are you doing?” Sean was yelling from his steps.

“I’m going home!”

“How?”

“A fucking cab!”

He stormed over to me and took my bag and purse from me. “I’m not letting you call a cab. You are in no position to jump in a car with a stranger.”