Reckless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #2)(63)

Yet Sebastian still wanted more for her. So much more.

“Are you going to stay for dinner?” she asked brightly.

“I would love to.” He wanted to see if the food was up to snuff. If it wasn’t, he’d have to consider how to break it to Charlie.

After her meager belongings had been put away, they headed to the dining room. Francine stared goggle-eyed at the posted dining menu as though she’d never had a choice between grilled tilapia and Irish stew before. They parked her walker outside the dining room in a long line of wheeled conveyances, and Sebastian ushered her in on his arm. At the buffet, Charlie put a little of everything on Francine’s plate. In addition to hot food in warming trays, the salad bar sported an impressive array of cut vegetables, and along the back wall, various desserts decorated the countertop. When Charlie wasn’t visiting, a waiter would assemble Francine’s meal for her.

“If you don’t feel like eating the buffet,” Charlie said once she returned to the table, “you can order off this standard menu.” She held up a small display stand. “Fish and chips. Crab cakes. Grilled ham and cheese. Hamburger. Garden burger. And steamed broccoli.”

“Oh, I love broccoli.” Francine daintily attacked the Irish stew. “Mmm. Very good.”

It wasn’t filet mignon. It wasn’t even gourmet. But thankfully, it wasn’t plastic cafeteria food either.

“Isn’t this marvelous, Sebastian?”

Francine damn near glowed, and it really hit home what her life had been like at Shady Lane. Both Francine and Charlie were so delighted and excited. Was he jaded by five-star hotels and first-rate service? Or was he just trying to make up for not being able to cure Francine of her illness?

Under the table, he put his hand on Charlie’s thigh. Though he’d tried to hold back while they were with Francine—he didn’t want the dear lady to think he was always pawing her daughter—he had to touch Charlie, craving the connection, brief as it was. She laid her fingers over his, keeping him close for a moment. Nowhere near long enough. Forever wouldn’t be long enough.

They were on to dessert when Francine asked Charlie, “How are your class plans coming together for the fall? Any new, exciting projects on tap?”

Charlie suddenly became engrossed in stirring her coffee. But he was glad Francine had asked. He’d been wondering the same thing. Charlie hadn’t mentioned her classes in a while. Was she planning to teach again this fall or take a quarter off while she worked on new commissions? The last thing he wanted was for her to wear herself down.

“I’ve been so busy with the chariot and horses that I haven’t really had time to think much about my teaching schedule.”

Francine turned her bright gaze to Sebastian. “I’ve sat in on her classes several times and she’s such a gifted teacher. She always describes what her students need to do in such clear terms that even I was tempted to pick up a welding torch. Her students absolutely love her. But I’m sure you understand that, don’t you?”

“Yes.” He couldn’t take his eyes off Charlie, couldn’t even begin to hide what he felt for her. “She’s very easy to love.”

Francine beamed at the two of them while Charlie flushed at the compliments. “She certainly is.”

A short while later, they said their good-byes, leaving Francine sitting happily in the lounge meeting other residents and already making new friends. Sebastian and Charlie were still in the middle of the parking lot when he crowded her up against a parked car, cupped her face in his hands, and bent to take her mouth.

She tasted sweet and fresh and perfect. More perfect than anything he’d ever known, anything he’d ever dreamed of. His heart beat in a wild frenzy of need—and love. Endless, boundless love. Her lips parted beneath his on a cry of pleasure, then his gentle kiss turned savage. Possessive. So damned erotic that they could have started a fire right there in public.

When he finally let her up for air, he needed her to know how he felt. “I love you, Charlie Ballard.”

“I know you do. I could hear you saying the words when you were holding my mother’s hand, telling her all you wanted to do was help her.” Her eyes were slightly dilated as she looked up at him, her lips still gorgeously damp from his tongue. “And I could also hear it in your kiss.”

“Then get ready to hear me say it all night long,” he murmured before he took her mouth again.





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE


Three little words. They changed everything. Because Charlie had said them. To him.

Sebastian had wanted her right there against the door of the car, was already half crazy with desire and need. Those words. Her kiss.

He was head over heels.

The moment he got her home, he scooped her up in his arms.

She laughed. Her sexy, throaty laughter always turned up the heat inside him. “What are you doing, you crazy man?”

“Crazy for you.” He carried her off to his bedroom, her body soft, warm, and yielding against his.

He needed her lips, now, her mouth under his. Her kiss seared him, burning straight to his heart. In the bedroom, he let her feet slip to the carpet as he buried his fingers in her lush curves and steeped his senses in her taste.

“Charlie,” he whispered. “I need you.” He needed her skin branding his flesh, her taste on his lips, her scent filling his head.