Page 17 of Overnight Inheritance

“About the deal with Johnson Developments?” he said slowly, as if he was missing something.

“About your little boy leaving with his grandparents.” She withdrew her hand and let her arms hang at her sides, wishing she could do more.

He shrugged his broad shoulders and went back to finishing up with the coffee. “I’ve been away from him before.”

“Thanks.” She accepted the mug he handed her. “Just because you’ve been away from him before doesn’t mean that this time isn’t hard.”

He picked up the second brew, wrapping his long fingers around the mug, then he closed his eyes for several seconds before opening them again. “It’s always hard.”

“Did it get worse after your wife passed?”

“From the day he was born, I never really wanted to leave him. But while Ashley was alive, it was bearable...at least it was until she got sick.” He turned to face her, resting his hip on the counter. “But since Ashley died, I feel this primal need to be there for him all the time.”

The load on his shoulders was huge—he was trying not to let anything slip with the company or his son—and her heart ached for him. “I guess it’s harder because Ashley’s parents are hardly just around the corner. And your father wouldn’t be any help.”

He turned so his buttocks rested back on the counter, then he crossed his legs at the ankle. “I keep Alfie away from my father as much as I can. I can’t think of a worse role model.” One corner of his mouth hitched up. “Except, of course, your father. He was an absolute asshole.”

“I’ve heard that,” she said drily and grinned, mainly because Sebastian had broken the tension, but also because it was a relief that someone wasn’t sugarcoating the truth. “Can’t say I’m sorry to never have met him. What about your mother? Did you say she’d moved away?”

A humorless smile flashed across his face for a moment as he placed his mug on the counter. “She walked out when I was about nine.”

She blinked, trying to make sense of it. “Your mother left you with your father? A man who everyone says is a despicable human being?”

He placed his hands back on the counter, fingers splayed, in a move that should have been casual but somehow looked formal since he was still in a crisp white business shirt and dark pants. “She decided that I was just like him, and she wasn’t putting up with two of us. Moved out, met a guy richer than my father, and moved to Texas. I’ve barely seen her since.”

“You arekiddingme,” she said, her skin growing cold.

His beautiful mouth twisted. “Wish I was.”

“Holy hell. At least I had one good parent.” As if pulled by a magnetic force, she moved closer to Sebastian. The body heat emanating from him called her to move even closer, but she dared not. “Hang on, if you were raised just by Christopher, how did you turn out...” Her voice dried up as she realized she was rushing headlong into saying something that would give away her growing fascination with him.

He grinned, his eyes shining. “Mae Dunstan, were you about to compliment me?”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” she said dismissively. “From what I hear, the bar to be a better person than your father is a very low one.”

The lines around his eyes crinkled. “It was still a compliment.”

“It might have been,” she said, looking at her nails and feigning disinterest. “We’ll never know now.”

He reached for the hand she was holding up and, unable to resist, she reached back. He slid his fingers between hers, the intimacy of the move sending a shiver racing across her skin, the heat of his palm against hers making her heart quicken.

“I choose to believe it was going to be a compliment,” he murmured, his voice low, “and that you’re finally starting to believe that I’m not full of nefarious plans.”

She was drowning in his blue, blue eyes, trying not to get carried away and read too much into the situation, trying to keep things light. “Would an honest, straight-up guy use words like nefarious?”

“This one does.” He tugged her closer, until her feet bumped against his. “This one uses a whole heap of words that might surprise you.”

“Yeah?” she said, but her voice sounded breathy to her own ears.

“We could start withwant.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and the whole world seemed suspended before it kicked back in and thudded against her ribs. “Want?”

“It’s been going around and around in my mind since we first talked on that moonless night.” The intensity in his gaze was scorching. “Before I even saw you.”

She swallowed. “What did you want?”

“To touch you.” He released her hand and wrapped an arm around her back, sending sparks through her blood. “To kiss you.”

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