Now if only I could get him hard on me.
Stifling a smile, I recalled how divine it had felt when he’d let himself relax for a few minutes with me on the bottom of the boat. I probably pushed it too quickly with the hand thing, but I couldn’t help myself—and he’d felt so good beneath his shorts. Thick and long and solid. Lust zinged between my legs and I pressed my thighs together.
Damn. Sebastian needed time to work through whatever had his mind all jacked up when it came to touching me, and I wanted to be patient for him, but lord almighty I had some frustration to work off.
The thought made me wonder what he did to relieve that kind of tension, and right away I pictured him naked, lying in that bed in the loft getting himself off, the muscles in his arms working hard, his abs flexed.
Oh crap. I better look away from him right now.
Maybe I’d get the vibrator out tonight. The way I felt right now, it wouldn’t take more than a minute.
• • •
While Sebastian cleaned up, I sat outside on the patio and tried very hard not to think about him in the shower.
OK, somewhat hard.
After about fifteen minutes, he came out to the patio dressed in khaki pants and a fitted navy blue button-down with the sleeves cuffed up. “This OK?”
“Of course. You look great.”
“I didn’t have time to shave.” He rubbed his chin. “Sorry.”
“Stop it. I like the scruff. And we are very casual, I promise. I texted my mom that I was bringing a friend to dinner, and she was delighted. But we better hurry so I have time to change.”
We pulled up between the big house and my guest house right at six thirty. Sebastian waited in the living room while I stealthily scooped a clean pair of panties from a drawer and flipped through casual dresses I had hanging on a rack beneath some corner shelves.
“That your closet? Very clever,” he said.
“Gotta make use of every inch of space in a place this small. OK, I’ll be right out.” I grabbed a flowy little dress with cami straps and a deep V neckline and ducked into the bathroom. Tossing my shorts, panties, socks and t-shirt in the hamper, I threw my hair up in a clip and quickly showered, then slipped on the new panties and the dress. Crap, was it too sexy? The neckline was low and I didn’t wear a bra with this dress, but the dress wasn’t tight or short, and the pretty floral pattern gave it a touch of innocence. I put on some deodorant, fluffed out my hair, and added a dab of perfume behind each ear. A quick swipe of pink lip gloss was the only makeup I had time for.
“OK, dressed,” I said, sliding open the repurposed barn door that now served as bathroom door. “Now shoes and we’ll go.”
Sebastian was standing by the window, hands in his pockets. He turned to me, his eyes traveling down my body. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he cleared his throat. “You got the bin pulls attached. I like them.”
“Me too.” I hurried over to the corner shelves, beneath which I had shoeboxes stacked, and dug out my light brown wedge sandals. “Actually, I’m happy with the whole place. Wish my mother wasn’t kicking me out of it next week. It’s rented for the summer,” I went on when I saw the question on his face. I shoved my feet into the sandals and tugged the straps over my heels.
He nodded in understanding. “So you need to find an apartment?”
“Yes.” I grabbed my phone off the table and led the way out, pulling the door shut behind him. “But before that happens, I’ll need to find that better paying job. Working for Natalie is fun, but it won’t pay my rent.”
Sebastian fell silent as we headed across the drive toward my parents’ house, and he walked sort of slowly and stiffly, like a prisoner headed for the guillotine.
“Hey.” I grabbed his hand. “No worries, OK?”
He looked down at our hands, his mouth set in a grim line.
“Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
“You know what I used to do when I’d get nervous before auditions?”
“What?”
“I’d imagine the very worst thing that could happen. Like forgetting my lines or falling on my face. Wetting my pants. Those things still wouldn’t kill me.”
He stopped walking right before we got to the front porch. “Except when I imagine the worst thing that could happen tonight, Skylar, I’m not wetting my pants. I’m stabbing someone.”
I turned to him. “Who are you stabbing?”
“I don’t know. Whoever’s closest.” His worried expression told me he was serious, and I was tempted to hug him, tell him he didn’t have to come to dinner if he didn’t want to, assure him I understood. But somehow I thought that wasn’t what he needed.
“Well, remind me not to sit next to you, then.” I headed up the steps. “Come on. Let’s do this.”
• • •
My family welcomed Sebastian warmly, Natalie giving me a smug smile behind his back as he shook our father’s hand.
“I take it things are going well,” she whispered on our way to sit down at the big antique table in the dining room, which was already laden with platters and serving bowls full of food.
I shrugged. “They’re OK.”
“I want details!”
“Tomorrow at work,” I promised.
“Sebastian, why don’t you sit here next to Skylar?” my mother suggested, pulling her usual chair for him. I sent her a grateful look.
Natalie sat on Sebastian’s other side, and Dan next to her. I wondered if she’d confronted him about the text messages yet. We’d have to talk about that tomorrow, too.
“Sebastian, did you have an older brother?” asked Jillian, who was seated across from him. “I went to school with a Malcolm Pryce.”
He nodded. “Yes, that’s my brother. He’s three years older than I am.”
“Does he still live around here?”
“Traverse City. He’s an attorney in my father’s practice, also.”
OK, so far so good. He wasn’t exactly relaxing in his chair, but his tone of voice sounded normal.
Jillian picked up a salad bowl. “Oh, are you a lawyer?”
“Yes.” He swallowed, maybe bracing himself for more questions about his past, and I put my hand on his leg to remind him he had a friend at the table. I wasn’t going to let the conversation go anywhere that would embarrass him. I might not have a college degree but I was a master at manipulating a crowd. He patted my hand, and I smiled at him.
Suddenly I could feel my mother’s eyes on me, and I could just imagine how pleased she was—not only had I brought a handsome new friend to dinner, but he was a lawyer too. Imagine that, Skylar did something right! Frowning, I picked up my wine glass and took a big sip.
The rest of the meal went smoothly, and even if Sebastian remained a little tense, he fielded questions politely and complimented my mother on her cooking. I winced once when Dan asked him why he’d moved back here from New York, but he simply said he missed the area and wanted to be closer to his family. My shoulders wilted with relief, and I put my hand back on his leg under the table. He covered it with his again, and this time, he left it there.
Our eyes met in the mirror above the sideboard on the opposite wall, and something about the look we exchanged made my panties get a little wet. Maybe it was just the candlelight playing tricks on me, but I liked the fire I saw in his eyes, which looked darker in the dim room.
After coffee and dessert, my sisters and I helped my mother bus the table, and then they shooed me back into the living room, where Sebastian sat with Dan and my father discussing the lack of skill in the Tiger bullpen.
He stood when I entered. “I should get going.”
“I’ll walk you out,” I said, hoping our evening wasn’t over but unsure how to keep it going.
Sebastian thanked my parents for dinner and shook everyone’s hands—I wondered if handshakes still bothered him—and we walked outside. The sun was setting, bathing the farm in beautiful amber light. Row after row of cherry trees in bloomed on the hills, and I inhaled the lush air, which was much cooler than it had been all day.