“O-oh,no, I’m n-not married, and I don’t—” I stopped myself before I could tell him Idon’t have children, just as Sebastian swung into the living room. “Actually, Ihave custody of my nephew.”
“Hey,do you mind if I order a pizza?” Sebastian asked, and I shot him an irritatedlook, while I pointed at my phone. “Oh,sorry,” he drawled quietly. “Godforbid someone does you a favor.”
Thedig was personal. Too personal for someone who had only just met me.
“Well,Ms. Clarke,” Mr. Dolecki replied, a sense of pleasantry in his voice that Iappreciated in comparison to Sebastian’s brashness. “I would be happy to put thetwo of you up. In a hotel, I mean. Is this weekend okay?”
“Uh…” God, it was so sudden. I did want to sell the damn house, but I had onlyjust answered the phone, and now he wanted me to travel to the city. And on myagreed weekend off, no less. “Would you mind if I thought about it?”
“Oh,of course! I’m sorry for being so forward. I’ll admit, I instantly fell in lovewith the house from the pictures and got excited. But, please, take a day ortwo to think things over. I know it’s a lot to ask.”
“Thankyou so much. You can expect a call from me within the next twenty-four hours,”I replied gratefully. I jotted down his work and home phone numbers, and wishedhim a good night before hanging up.
WhenI laid my phone down on the coffee table, I looked up to find Sebastian stillstanding there, staring at me expectantly. I tried to remember what exactly itwas he had wanted and when I came up empty, I asked him to repeat himself.
“Oh,don’t worry about it. Greyson already called for the pizza,” he responded. “Whowas on the phone?”
Itwasn’t any of his business, but I still found myself saying, “Someone saw thelisting online for Mrs. Worthington’s house and loved it so much he calledright away.”
Impressed,the corners of his mouth turned downward with his nod. “Wow. That’s fuckingawesome. Why did he care if you were married?”
“What?”I asked, tucking the notepad back into my briefcase. “He didn’t—”
“Youtold him you weren’t married, so I assumed he asked.”
Theaudacity of this man was something else. “He didn’task. Heofferedto pay for a hotel for my husband and I, if I had one, so I told him I didn’t.”
“Hm,”Sebastian grunted, narrowing his eyes with suspicion. “Why would you need tostay in a hotel?”
“Ohmy God,” I breathed out with my sigh. “If you reallyhaveto know, helives in New York City, and would like to meet me to discuss the sale of hishouse.”
“Oh,well, you don’t need a hotel then.” He nodded as though agreeing with himself.“You and Greyson can stay with me.”
Iblinked up at him, thoroughly exasperated. How the hell could he possiblysuggest something like that? We had only just met him. We hardly knew him. Stayingin his house over the weekend seemed foolish and risky, and so, I found myselfshaking my head.
“Thatis definitely not a good idea.”
“Ohyeah? And why not?” He folded his arms over his chest as Greyson walked intothe room, phone in hand.
“Pizza’scoming,” he mumbled.
Sebastianasked him how much it came to, and just as I stood up to grab my purse, he helda hand up to stop me. “I got it,” he said, pulling his wallet out and handingGreyson a few bills. “Tell the guy to keep the change.”
Greysonnodded and wandered out of the room, leaving Sebastian and me alone once again.He stared at me, waiting for my reply with his head cocked and fingers tappingon his bicep.
“Sebastian,you onlyjustmet us. You can’t expect me to feel comfortable staying inyour house,” I explained, unsure of why I even needed a reason.
“Yeah?And you’re just going to go meet this random guy who only just called you?Alone?”
“Thisis business!” I shouted with an exasperated shake of my head. “You can’tcompare—”
“You’reright.” He smirked. “Itisdifferent. You actually know who I am. Plus,Tabby, didn’t you want me to help with Greyson? This is a perfect way to start,isn’t it? I could hang out with him while you’re doing business, and it’s a loteasier for me to do that in a place where there’s, uh, actually shit to do thatdoesn’t involve tractors and haystacks.”
Ihated that he was actually making sense, not to mention that it might be goodfor Greyson to get away from this damn town for a couple days. And, rememberingwhat Jess and Alex had said, maybe it would be good for me too.
“I’llthink about it,” I told Sebastian, and he grinned brighter than I ever would’veexpected.
“That’sall I ask.”
