Chapter 15
She made a day of showing him the side of her that he didn't know. She took him to her apartment so he could spend the day with her and after that they were going for dinner at her dad’s.
He'd wanted her to stay at the manor for the weekend and rest but she'd fought him on that.
“Are you going to argue with every decision I make?” he'd asked her impatiently that morning.
“Probably. But you already knew that I'm not a doormat and I will never be. I stayed away from the office for the past two days because you insisted. So you won that round.”
He'd stared at her
for a moment before he shook his head. “It’s not a
competition.”
“So why do I feel like it is?”
she'd asked with her brows raised.
“Mainly because you're as stubborn as hell,” he'd told her gruffly as he pulled her into his arms.
“I just want you to get to know me better.”
“I pretty much know you very well,” he'd told her suggestively.
“I'm not talking about the physical part of me, Sebastian,” she'd chided him. “I want you to spend the day with me in my surroundings and see what I'm all about.” So he'd conceded and they'd gone to her apartment.
“We've already been here,” he pointed out as he took her hand as they made their way from the parking lot to her apartment door.
“Not during the day.” She swiped her card and the doors disengaged to let them in. He held her hand as they made their way down the small flight of stairs that led to her apartment. She hesitated at her door before turning away and going to the apartment next to it.
“What are you
doing?” he asked her.
“I want you to meet someone.”
She knocked on the door.
“It’s open!” A voice called out.
Mia pushed it open
and he held it open while she went in and closed and locked it behind
them.
“Gertrude, how many times have I told you not to
leave the door open?” Mia chided the elderly woman sitting
hunched over in a rocking chair. Her skin was weathered with age and
her soft hair was all white, making it hard to know what color it had
been. Her dark green eyes were bright though and inquisitive as she
stared at the them. “Girl, who's going to come in and do
anything?” she said with a wave of her hands. She turned the
television off. “I know that face.”
“Gertrude this is my—” She turned to look at Sebastian for a moment and then turned back. “My boyfriend and father of my unborn baby, Sebastian Bell,” she supplied.
“I much prefer her soon-to-be husband.” He came forward and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Gertrude.”
She clung to his hand
and stared at him in fascination. “If I was twenty years
younger I would give her a run for her money!” she croaked.
“Aren’t you a looker, and if I'm not mistaken also a very
rich man.”
“I'm afraid I'm very much committed to
her,” he said with a charming smile as he extricated his hand.
“I'm sure you
are,” the woman said, still eyeing him. “Have a seat. I
hope you've come to spend a little time with an old woman.”
“I
just wanted to show Sebastian around a little bit. Have you eaten?”
Mia asked her.
“I had a little fruit earlier,” the woman told her.
“How about some coffee and cereal?”
“You read my mind,” she said cheerfully. She turned to Sebastian, who had taken a seat on one of the worn sofas across from her. “Your woman is the unofficial super of the building. She makes sure that the elderly are taken care of. It helps that the real super is afraid of her,” she said with a chortle.
“I can believe
that,” Sebastian said, his eyes going to where Mia was in the
kitchen preparing the meal. “I believe everyone is a little
afraid of her.”
“She does speak her mind, that girl of
yours.”
“Im right here, guys,” Mia said dryly as she came out with the tray and placed it in front of the woman.
“You two are just going to watch me eat?” she asked gruffly.
“We just ate,” Mia told her as she sat next to Sebastian. “I really need to show you pictures of the manor. You're going to be so thrilled.”
“I would like that.” She sipped the coffee and stared at them. “So you're taking our girl away from us.”
“I promise to visit and make sure you're okay,” Mia said swiftly.
“You're going to have your own family, girl,” Gertrude told her. “You need to take care of that and make sure you keep those girls from being all over your man.”
“She already warned me about that and I'm a little afraid of her,” Sebastian said with a wide smile.
Gertrude stared at the darkly handsome face for a little bit. “You sure are a looker.”
*****
By the time the afternoon arrived she'd made the rounds to several apartments in the buildings where she introduced him to several people.
“What?” Mia asked him as she placed a large ham and cheese sandwich before him and took her seat opposite to him.
“You're amazing,” he murmured as he picked apart his sandwich. “How did you manage to get to know all those people?”
“When I first
got here right after moving out of the home I shared with my mother
and Uncle Beres, I kept to myself.” She got up and went to get
a bottle of water for him and for herself as well as some fruit. She
handed him the bottle and went to take a seat. “I remember
passing a couple in the hallway once and just said hi and they
started talking to me and I wanted so much to just tell them that I
wanted to just go into my apartment and be alone but they kept
talking and I had to stand there and listen and make the necessary
comments. It was half an hour before I could escape and by then
they'd invited me to dinner.” She laughed and he joined her,
staring at her exquisite face. “I tried to find a way to get
out of it but I couldn't and I had to go. I did and I rather enjoyed
myself. Then when I came back to my place I sat there on the sofa and
realized that I was living alone with no friends or family so the
wise thing to do was to reach out and make friends.”
“So
what did you do?” he asked her, fascinated.
“The next day I
went to everyone on this floor and introduced myself,” she told
him with a laugh. “I'm sure they thought I was nuts but I
didn't care and I did make friends.”
“What about
Gertrude? What’s her story?”
“She's rent-assisted because her husband was a veteran and she has people coming in to check up on her but she is very independent and will not allow anyone to sleep over. She likes to be alone so on nights when I'm home from work I like to go over and make sure she eats and the others check on her as well.
Patsy in Apartment C
lost her husband to a car accident a few years ago and has a hard
time finding affordable baby sitters who can sit for her at night and
she can always rely on me as well as some of the other tenants. We
decided to live together and be our neighbor’s keeper, and it
has worked so far.”
“Something that you started,”
he said softly as he looked at her. He'd heard how the people talked
to her and knew that she was highly respected. She'd been working for
him all these years and he never knew what went on in her life after
she left the office. She'd been right. There were so many things he
still didn't know about her but he was going to spend the rest of his
life finding out.
*****
“Uncle B, you didn't have to go through all this trouble!” Mia protested as walked into the warm and cozy kitchen where the enticing smell of something baking filled the house. Sebastian was right behind her and stood back a little as the man hugged her to him tight. He felt a slight sting inside him as he realized that he'd never received that from the man who'd fathered him.
“Not trouble at all,” he said as he held her away from him. “You look beautiful and happy and I have a feeling that it's because of this young man.” He stepped forward and extended a hand. “Very nice to meet you, finally.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Thomas,” Sebastian said cordially as he shook the man’s hand firmly.
“Please, call
me Beres. We're practically family. Please have a seat at the table.”
He gestured at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. “I
hope you don’t mind us eating here. Mia and I never bother with
the dining room.”
“It’s fine.” Sebastian
pulled out the chair for Mia, much to Beres’ obvious delight.
“Is there anything we can help with?”
“Nothing
at all.” He brought over the bowl of friend chicken and potato
salad and took his seat at the head of the table. “I'd like to
say grace.”
Sebastian looked at him in surprise and bowed his head.
“Heavenly Father we would like to thank you for this wonderful meal that you have provided and for this special occasion that brought my daughter and my extended family to this humble table of mine and I am asking you to bless us as we partake. Amen.”
“Amen,” Sebastian murmured softly, sneaking a look at Mia who smiled at him teasingly.
“Eat.”
Beres passed the bowl of crispy chicken to them. “Mia never
told me if you liked friend chicken but I figured that there's no one
alive that doesn't like that type of chicken. Her mother taught me
the art of frying the chicken just right and the seasoning to put on
it to make it just right.” He smiled gently in memory. He
stared at the woman sitting across from him. “She looks like
her mother,” he told Sebastian.
“I saw the photo when
I just came in. And this is very good by the way,” Sebastian
said as he indicated the drumstick in his hand.
“Thank you. I
fell in love with Mia’s mother the first time I saw her. I was
coming out of the store in a dead hurry and bumped into her, spilling
her groceries right there in the parking lot.” He laughed
softly as he remembered. “She lit into me with that sharp
tongue of hers and I stood there like an idiot not knowing what to
say. Do you know what she said?”
“Are you going to
stand there looking and not pick up the stuff?” Sebastian
hazards a guess.
Beres stared at the man in surprise. “How did you know?”
“Because that’s what Mia would have said,” Sebastian said in amusement.
Beres burst out laughing. “He knows you, girl.”
*****
“I believe he does,” Mia said as she looked at Sebastian. His grey eyes met hers and she caught her breath at the look in them. He was telling her without words how he felt about her and she could feel her heart fluttering inside her chest. She tore her eyes away from his and focused on the man telling the story. Her palms felt clammy and she felt as if she needed air.
“What happened after?” Sebastian asked Beres.
“I humbly bent
and picked up the items and put them in the bag and asked her if I
could take her out,” he said in amusement. “I was so
nervous and had no idea what I would do if she refused but I couldn't
stop from asking her.”
“And she said yes?”
“She
went on to tell me that she was the mother of a two-year-old and
didn't have time to go on dates.”
“What did you do?” Sebastian asked, totally fascinated.
“I had no intention of letting her get away so I told her to bring the two-year-old along.” He laughed softly. “She stared at me as if I'd taken leave of all my senses and then told me that I could come over for dinner. I was so elated that I almost left without getting her address.”
“Mia has that effect on me too,” Sebastian said softly as he turned to look at her.
“I doubt that,” she said huskily as she stared at him. The pull was so strong that she was having a hard time behaving as if everything was normal. She always knew that she loved him but after the past few days it felt as if something more had been added. He looked at her as if she was the only person he ever wanted to look at.
“You do,” he took her hand and put it to his lips, kissing it softly.
“Behave,” she told him lightly and pulled her hand away.
They left soon after dessert, promising to visit as soon as the wedding date was decided. But before he could start the vehicle she climbed onto his lap and buried her mouth on his, her fingers digging into his thick, dark hair, she'd barely made it out of the home she'd grown up in and had been so impatient that she'd almost told her dad that they didn't want dessert. She dragged her mouth away from his and took several deep breaths. “Baby?” he whispered softly.
She lifted her head and looked at him. “I sat there opposite my dad and I wanted to go into your lap and remove your penis and sit on it,” she moaned.
“Mia,” he
whispered achingly as he stared at her. “We're still parked in
your dad’s driveway.”
“There's a quiet park just
around the corner. I can't wait until I get to my apartment
Sebastian.”
“Neither can I.”
*****
“Tell the truth: you really wanted a boy didn’t you?” Mia asked him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They'd gone to the usual checkup the day before and had gotten the news that they were having a boy. She'd seen the dazed expression on his face as he heard the news. She'd gotten used to the stares as she made her way into the building each day. They knew that she and Sebastian were an item and that she was pregnant with his child.
She was past caring
what they thought of her and only knew that she was in love with the
man and looking forward to having his child and becoming his wife.
She'd stopped fighting the need for him to reach for her whenever
they were alone in his office like they were now. She was supposed to
be prepping him for a meeting that he had to do shortly but she
couldn't resist him pulling her onto his lap as he sat behind his
desk. He'd given her a dazzling diamond solitaire that she refused to
wear to work, much to his frustration. He tilted his head and looked
at her with a smile on his lips. “I was kinda hoping,” he
admitted. “We should decide on a name. I was thinking Sebastian
Junior.”
“Absolutely not!” she told him with a
laugh. “Our son deserves his own identity.”
“Say that again,” he murmured softly as he stared at her.
“What?”
“Our
son.”
“Our son.” She bent and kissed him full on
the lips, her tongue darting inside his mouth.
His hands tightened around her waist as he deepened the kiss.
“You need to get a room,” Sandra said dryly as she came in and closed the doors behind her. Sebastian’s hands tightened on Mia’s waist as she made to get up.
“Ever heard of knocking?” he asked his sister mildly.
“I knocked but you two were too busy to hear,” Sandra told him.
“What is
it?”
“We have the R&D meeting in a few minutes and
I need to discuss something with you.”
“I'll leave you two alone,” Mia touched her fingers to his lips lightly and moved off his lap. She'd felt his erection and knew he was going to need a minute to recover.
“I can always tell her to leave baby,” he called after her.
“I know,” she said with a laugh as she closed the doors behind her.
*****
“Gabriel, how are you?” she asked as she answered the call.
“I need to see
you, darling. Are you free for lunch?”
“After that
stunt you pulled at the function a month ago I really don't think I
should have lunch with you.”
“Even if I
promise to behave?” he asked her in a persuasive voice. “I
need to talk to you, darling, and you broke my heart by choosing
Sebastian so the least you can do is buy me lunch.”
“I
can't afford to buy you lunch,” she told him with a laugh.
“Even though you're pregnant and shortly getting married to a billionaire? I told you he doesn't deserve you. I would have showered you with millions of dollars by now.”
“Sebastian knows that I'm not into him for the money,” Mia said with another laugh. “What’s wrong?”
“Aside from my
broken heart? I just need to see you and talk. There's a problem with
a business deal and I need a fresh perspective. So how about
it?”
“When?”
“Now,”
“Gabriel!”
“I'm sorry about the short notice but I'm flying out tomorrow. Please?”
“Okay.”
*****
“Please don’t freak out,” she said as she went into his office. She knew he had meetings for the entire day and had made sure he had lunch prepared for him.
“Why would I freak out?” he asked her.
“I'm going to
lunch.”
He stiffened as he looked at her. “With
him.”
“He called and said he wants to talk and I
agreed to lunch. Please tell me you're okay with that.”
“And
if I'm not?” he asked coolly.
“Then I would
have to tell a man I consider my friend that my fiancé isn't
comfortable having lunch with him.”
“You would put me
in that position?” he asked her coldly.
“I wouldn't want to,” she told him, undaunted by the look on his face. “But I would like to think that I've proven to you over and over again that I'm all yours and that Gabriel is just a friend.”
He stared at her for a moment and then looked down at the figures he'd been perusing when she came in. “Jealousy is new to me,” he made an effort to speak calmly as he looked at her.
“And you have
no need to be.”
“I know that but it doesn't make a
hell of a difference,” he said with a grim smile. “Go to
lunch with him Mia, but if I see a photo with the two of you in an
intimate situation I'm going to find him and rearrange his pretty
face.”
She walked towards
him and sat on his lap. She tilted his head and stared at him,
admiring the strength of his handsome face and the light in his grey
eyes. “Is it weird that I'm totally turned on by the potential
violence of your jealousy?”
He stared up at her for a moment
and then laughed. “Absolutely.”
“Well I am, and later tonight I'm going to have you repeat those words to me and show you how turned on I am.”
“I can't wait,” he murmured as he took her lips with his. He lifted his head and stared at her. “Just a reminder as to who makes you wet.”
“As if I needed one.”
*****
“I'm surprised that Sebastian allowed you to come. He's a much bigger man than I am,” Gabriel said as he held the chair out for her to sit.
“Sebastian doesn't allow me to do anything, as you put it Gabriel. I simply told him that I was going out to lunch with you.”
He grinned at that and nodded as the waiter came over. “I would love to pay money to see his expression and how he took it.”
“He promised to rearrange your face if you pull another stunt like you did at the function,” she told him calmly as she placed her order for the shrimp salad.
“Ouch.”
He shuddered and smiled. “Hands off, I promise,” he said,
lifting his hands. He placed his order and waited until the man had
left. “So how are you, darling?”
“I'm great.
Very soon I'm going to be inviting you to our wedding.”
“I'm
not sure my poor heart can take seeing you walking up the aisle to
get hitched to another man,” he told her lightly.
“I would be very offended if you weren't there,” she told him pointedly.
“I didn't think you had a cruel bone in that very beautiful body of yours,” he complained. “Okay darling, just let me know when. And if there's any chance during that time that you'll come to your senses I'll be there to sweep you away in my Corvette. It’s very posh and has these seats that recline at the touch of a button.”
“I'm sure they do,” Mia said with a laugh.
He waited until the meal was served and they'd almost finished eating. “I've come up on a situation that isn't a usual one for me.”
“You've found a woman who finds you resistible?” she asked him mildly as she sipped her lemon water.
“I'm already
looking at her,” he said with a smile. “We're interested
in this building in the downtown area of where I live and we've been
given the go ahead to purchase it but there's a community center
there and the person who runs it is refusing to leave.”
She
looked at him curiously. “Have you spoken to the person and
told them that you've been given the go-ahead?”
He nodded as he pushed away his plate. “It’s a very prickly person...she reminds me of you. She's refusing to budge. What do you think I should do?”
“Charm her,” Mia told him.
“Already tried
that, darling. What else?”
“Find out why the place is
so important to her.”
He stared at her for a moment.
“Thanks, darling. I'm going to do just that. Are you sure
kissing is off limits?”
“Definitely,” Mia said with a laugh. “I love your pretty face the way it is.”
“I think you're right.”