What I didn’t expect when I walked into the living room was to find Sebastian sitting cross-legged in front of my daughter, helping her put a dress on her favorite doll, Clara.
I stared, mouth wide open. What is happening right now?
Sebastian looked up and dropped the doll like it was lava. He then jumped up and left the room without a word.
I was too stunned to say anything; instead I watched him walk out and disappear into the bathroom. The back view was just as delicious as the front. The best thing about him staying with me would definitely be the view.
“You ready?” I asked my smitten daughter.
“Where Seb?” she asked, watching the entry to the living room.
“Just getting ready so we can pick Luca up.”
After more coaxing, I got her to put on one shoe. The other one was apparently too yellow.
She took the one she was already wearing off again and tried on another pair. But by then she’d decided she wanted her yellow shoes after all. This was a familiar dance, and I’d discovered it was best to just go with it.
After ten minutes of back-and-forth, we settled on her sparkly unicorn sneaker on one foot and her yellow shoe on the other. I looked up and saw Sebastian leaning against the wall, watching us.
“You coming as well?” I asked.
“Of course,” he grunted and followed us to Luca’s preschool.
Lena chattered the whole way, including Sebastian in all her conversations.
We drew a lot of attention when we walked to the pickup area. Delilah, one of the moms I usually avoided at all costs, came straight over. She eyed Sebastian like he was her next meal.
“Moira, who’s your friend?” she asked, never taking her eyes off Sebastian.
I rolled my eyes at her. I didn’t think she’d gotten my name right once in the three times we’d talked. She was a snob, enjoyed showing off her money, and thought I didn’t fit into her neighborhood.
She wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t afford the house I was currently living in. But my friend’s boyfriend owned it and had rented it to me at a ridiculously low price. I’d have been stupid not to accept. So here I was in the fanciest neighborhood our small town had to offer, sticking out like a pink flamingo in a flock of geese.
But as long as I could pay tuition, she had to put up with me.
“Sebastian.” I waved in her direction. “This is Callie.”
Delilah huffed when I used the wrong name, and I fought hard not to snicker. She started it.
“It’s Delilah,” she introduced herself, holding out her manicured hand to Sebastian.
Not once did I look at either of them. I was sick of her pettiness. And besides, when I saw Luca come out, I had no reason to waste more time on one of Humptulips’ desperate housewives.
I waved, and Lena ran up to hug him. I joined their little huddle, raining kisses all over his face.
He was on the verge of not letting me kiss him in public anymore. But until he told me to cut it out, I would continue doing it.
So far all I got was an eye roll or exasperated breath. Which I chose to ignore.
“How was preschool?” I asked, taking his hand. Lena grabbed his other one, and we made our way down the sidewalk.
I refused to look in Sebastian’s direction. There was no way I could watch Delilah sink her claws into him. She was on husband number three and clearly working on number four. Maybe I should have told her he was in a motorcycle club. She wouldn’t be salivating all over him then. I knew her standards, and anything less than a doctor or lawyer just wouldn’t do.
“Why did you walk away?” Sebastian growled next to me, and I jumped. How could someone that big be that silent?
Luca gave him the side eye, not quite sure yet what to think of him. I told him about our new roommate as soon as we started walking.
“I was just giving you two some privacy,” I snapped, eying him in my periphery.
He was moody and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. I’d built him up so much in my head that it was hard to see my dreams get squashed by his size who-knew-what feet.
“What the fuck would I need privacy for?” he grunted.
“Language,” I hissed, making sure the kids didn’t hear him.
“They didn’t hear me,” he pointed out.
I gave him the side-eye. “That’s the only reason I haven’t hurt you yet.”
“You think you could take me?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice.
I shrugged. “If I had to.”
He made a noise that could loosely be interpreted as a laugh. “Do you even know any self-defense?”
“I have moves,” I said, concentrating on the sidewalk.
“Okay, show me.”
I stopped and looked up at him. “Show you?”
“Yes, show me what you got.”
I nodded and continued walking. “Okay. Just remember, you asked for it.”
We made it to the house a few minutes later and went into the backyard. The kids ran up to the sand pit, leaving me with Sebastian.
“Let’s do this,” I said, wringing my hands. Truth was I had no idea about self-defense. I didn’t know why I’d said it. Actually, I did. Sebastian had made me mad, and I’d just said the first thing that came to mind. Hopefully I wouldn’t regret it.
I didn’t get time to wallow in my stupidity before he was behind me. He put his arms around me and pulled me to him.
“Try to get out of my hold,” he said, his body plastered to mine.
My senses were suddenly on overload. My body tingled from the tips of my toes to my earlobes from being this close to him. I’d dreamed about being in this position for over a year and didn’t know
