Legacy of Magic

by Denise Carbo

  “I like to swim, but you’re not getting off that easy. There must be something you’re looking forward to doing now that you do have the time.”

  What did interest her? Was she so boring, there was no answer? She liked to read on occasion or see a funny movie, but she couldn’t say she had a genuine passion for either. She could take or leave sports. She had no musical ability, or artistic either. The only thing she’d done lately which had brought her any joy, was gardening. Perhaps there was something after all. “I spent a considerable amount of time today in Aunt Addy’s flower beds, and I’m looking forward to making more progress with them tomorrow.”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “Excellent.” He held her gaze as the food was delivered. “I’d say you’ve found your hobby.”

  “Yes, I suppose I have.”

  After sampling her meal, Cory glanced up at Sebastian. “It seems your contacts were accurate.”

  Sebastian paused cutting his steak. One blond eyebrow shot up. “My contacts?”

  “Whoever told you the food was good here. They were right.” The filet mignon melted in her mouth.

  “Ah, yes, it seems they were.” He resumed cutting his steak. “Adelaide mentioned you’re from New York?”

  “Originally, most recently New Jersey. And you, did you grow up here?”

  “Connecticut is my home. You are an only child correct?”

  “Yes, unfortunately. You?”

  “Why unfortunately?”

  “It was rather lonely. I often wished for siblings growing up. Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

  “Yes, and I can honestly say I wished to be an only child from time to time, but isn’t that always the way? You had no cousins to play with, aunts, uncles?”

  “Umm, no, both my parents are only children as well. Apparently, we’re not all that prolific. Are you the oldest or youngest, or somewhere in between?”

  The waiter stopped at their table to check on their meals and inquire about dessert. Sebastian glanced at her over the dessert menu. “Coralea, what tempts you?”

  “Nothing for me, thank you. The steak left no room.”

  “How about we share something, chocolate cake, cheesecake, perhaps?”

  “No, I’m quite full, but please order something for yourself.”

  “Well, I’ll take a slice of the chocolate cake, and perhaps you will be tempted to join me.”

  Cory just smiled in response. She didn’t really care for chocolate, so she wouldn’t be tempted in the least. With the meal coming to an end she realized she had learned surprisingly little about him. She was running out of time to question him about her aunt. “How did you meet Aunt Addy?”

  “It’s a small town.” The waiter delivered the chocolate cake to the center of the table with two spoons. “Ah, here we are, looks divine, doesn’t it? You must try a bite Coralea.”

  “Thanks, but I’m not much for chocolate.”

  The dimple in his cheek deepened. “Isn’t that against human nature? How can you not like chocolate?”

  “No explanation, I just don’t find it appealing.”

  “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Coralea?”

  “Sadly no, I’m an open book.”

  “I wouldn’t say that at all. I think there are a wealth of surprises hiding behind those beautiful blue eyes of yours. I look forward to discovering each and every one.”

  ****

  During the ride home, Cory sat stiffly in her seat. Her clenched fingers were beginning to ache from holding her purse tightly in her lap. She was confident he would try to kiss her goodnight, and she had no idea how to handle it. Should she just stick her hand out as soon as they got home and thank him for the evening? Sebastian was too polite to ignore a less than subtle hint, wasn’t he? Perhaps that was too rude. Maybe she should let him kiss her. Maybe he was a fabulous kisser and she’d be missing out. His motions seemed decidedly controlled and thought out, like he planned every move. He probably had kissing down to an art. Then again, with his spectacular looks he probably didn’t have to try all that hard to seduce a woman. Maybe he was an awful kisser, sloppy or quick and hard, or a combination of all three.

  What if he didn’t even try to kiss her?

  Did that mean he’d lost interest or just that he preferred to progress at a slower pace?

  “You’re remarkedly quiet.”

  “Are you planning to kiss me goodnight?” Oh God please don’t let that have been out loud!

  An amused chuckle filled the car. “The thought had definitely crossed my mind. Are you in favor or against?”

  Cory leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. She’d obviously lost her mind. How could she have blurted that out? On the other hand, at least she knew he hadn’t lost interest. Not that she had decided whether she returned his interest.

  “Honestly, I haven’t decided.”

  “Fair enough. What are your arguments against? Perhaps I can assuage some of your reservations, so the outcome is more in my favor.”

  Still leaning against the seat, she turned her head toward him. “You really are a lawyer, aren’t you?”

  His gaze met hers briefly before returning to the road. “Was there a doubt?”

  “Well there is the scenario you’re a con artist trying to swindle my sweet, elderly aunt.” Dodge that Mr. Marks. If you change the subject this time I’m going to hire someone to run a background check on you first thing in the morning.

  Sebastian eased the car over to the side of the road and parked.

  She tensed in her seat and looked around at the darkened street and woods surrounding the car. If he planned to kill her to get her out of the way, she was going to be really pissed off. She wished she’d worn flats instead of the sexy heels which were now pinching her feet. If she needed to make a run for it, she’d definitely have to go barefoot. Not that there appeared to be anywhere to run to.

  One hand was still on the wheel and the other on the gear shift, when he turned his head to stare at her. “I don’t have copies of my diplomas from Yale, or Harvard Law on me, but I could show them to you if you’d like to come to my office. Of course, if I was really a con artist, I’d probably have the wherewithal to make decent copies. So, what do you propose I do to convince you of my authenticity?”

  Cory studied his tight jaw and compressed lips, and then his hazel eyes staring daggers at her. He was decidedly angry, but why? Because he was offended, or because he was found out?

  “Tell me Sebastian. If your elderly aunt suddenly switched lawyers after decades of using the same firm, and that same lawyer had her making changes to her will and God only knows what else, wouldn’t you be a bit concerned?”

  He took a deep breath and frowned. “Point taken.”

  Shifting in his seat, he used the door as a backrest. “Very well, Coralea, what can I do to relieve your mind?”

  Mimicking his posture, she leaned back against the passenger door and crossed her arms over her chest. “How did you become Aunt Addy’s lawyer and why?”

  “Did you ask Adelaide these questions?”

  “Not yet, I didn’t want to upset her. Why?”

  “For the same reason. I’ve come to care a great deal about her, and I don’t want her unduly upset.”

  Did he know about her heart issues? Probably, he was her lawyer after all, but she wasn’t going to bring it up just in case.

  “I met Adelaide at the grocery store. In the parking lot actually. I saw her unloading her shopping cart and simply assisted her. The next time I bumped into her in town she stopped to say hello, and we ended up having lunch. Over the course of that lunch, she learned I was a lawyer and started asking me questions about her will and estate. After answering those questions, she asked me to represent her. End of story.”

  The explanation sounded simple, straightforward, and plausible. She had no way to be sure, so she would be doing some discreet investigating just to make certain he was on the up and up. An Internet search for
starters and some casual questions to Aunt Addy. Maybe that box and it’s cryptic warning made her overly paranoid, but it fell to her to protect her aunt, and that’s just what she would do. Although, there was no reason to alienate Sebastian over what very well may be just her paranoia.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you Sebastian. I’ll apologize if I did. I only have Aunt Addy’s best interests in mind, and I want to make sure no one is taking advantage of her.”

  “Perhaps my pride was a bit bruised, but no apology is necessary. After all, we both want to protect Adelaide, do we not?”

  Cory fiddled with the clasp on her purse. “Of course.”

  Sebastian suddenly grinned. “Now was that the only reservation you had to kissing me, or is there another dragon I need to slay?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh, as she was sure he intended.

  Putting the car in drive, he continued the journey home. She stared at his profile a moment before turning forward herself. Did she have any other reservations? He was an exceedingly attractive man. They did share an enjoyable dinner together. Yet, she still knew remarkably little about him, but this was only their first date so that wasn’t really a valid argument. An uncommonly long time had passed since she’d been kissed, and she was nervous about it, but a kiss was just a kiss after all. Unless she made it more than that by debating it to death.

  “No other reservations,” she stated as he drove into the driveway and parked.

  Cory sensed his gaze on her but refused to look at him. She opened the door and hopped out, and then forced herself to stand still a moment and take a deep breath as he exited the car and walked around the front of the vehicle.

  “For a moment, I thought you were going to make a run for it. Are you sure you don’t have any other reservations?”

  He stood less than a foot away from her, smiling his megawatt smile.

  “I guess my adolescent nerves decided to make a reappearance, but I think my adult ones have beat them back into submission for now.”

  Sebastian chuckled, then he raised his hand and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “You have an interesting way with words, Coralea.” His warm hand cupped her head with his thumb stroking softly along her jaw.

  The warmth of his breath fanned against her cheek as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, once, twice, and then settled in on the third.

  It wasn’t sloppy or hard, it was soft as a whisper.

  He lifted his other hand to cup her cheek while he deepened the kiss.

  Sebastian’s tongue tangled with hers as his fingers delved into her hair, angling her head closer.

  Cory placed her palms flat against his chest, not sure whether to shove him away, or yank him closer. A second of clarity had her exerting the slightest pressure on his chest. He took the subtle hint and eased back from the embrace with a series of kisses against her lips and cheek, ending with a last soft kiss against her lips.

  His thumbs softly stroked her cheeks before he dropped his hands and stepped back. “That was an exceedingly nice end to a thoroughly pleasant evening.” He placed his hand at her back and guided her up the stairs to the front door.

  “I hope you will agree to see me again?”

  Cory softly smiled as she opened the door. She wasn’t sure what to say to him and didn’t trust any words that might come out of her mouth just then. With her luck she’d blurt out what an astonishingly good kisser he was.

  “Goodnight, Coralea.”

  “Goodnight, Sebastian.”

  After locking the door, she removed her heels and walked back to the kitchen to get a drink of water. Her aunt’s door was closed so she assumed she had already retired for the night.

  She had planned on calling Melanie to dish about her date, but she hadn’t a clue how she felt about it so what could she really say? They had a pleasant evening and he’s a great kisser? That she could see herself slipping into a relationship with him rather easily and how could that be a good idea so soon after her divorce? Especially when she needed to figure out just what she was going to do for work and where she was going to live. And why couldn’t she just enjoy a dinner and kiss without over analyzing it to death?

  Entering her room, she dropped down onto the bed and closed her eyes. She wasn’t going to give this another thought. If he called, she’d decide then if she wanted to go out again. Meanwhile tomorrow morning she would be doing a search on the Internet to verify what he told her and ease her mind. A good, okay, great kiss wasn’t going to distract her from making sure he was who he said he was.

  Chapter Six

  “Son of a bitch!” After cutting his hand for the third time in the last hour, Finn tossed his wrench into the open toolbox at his feet and grabbed the rag resting on the fender of the car to wipe some of the grime off his hands. He’d been working on Cory’s car all morning, and his temper had risen with each problem he’d discovered. There was nothing major wrong with it, but lack of maintenance had produced plenty of mechanical issues for him to address. The filth coating the engine made it all the more difficult and time consuming. Why did people think they could just drive a car day after day and not have it serviced? Then they were always so surprised when something broke, and it ended up costing a ton of money to fix.

  “Karl, I’m heading home for a shower and lunch. Be back in about an hour.”

  “Sure thing boss. You better get that hand looked at.”

  Finn looked down at the blood dripping from his hand and swore again, “Damn it.” He grabbed one of the industrial paper towels out of the box by the vehicle Karl worked on and wrapped it around his hand.

  “Listen as soon as you finish with the Jeep, take your lunch. Just flip the sign on the door and lock up. There’s nothing too pressing today, and if anyone needs anything they can leave a message.”

  Karl’s guileless brown eyes stared at him from his round, scruffy face. He was the perfect employee for Finn. Nothing much ever ruffled Karl. He came to work, did his job well, and went home to his wife at the end of the day after stopping for a drink with his local buddies. “All right, if you say so.”

  Finn nodded and walked out the garage door. He’d driven his yellow convertible Mustang to work today, hoping to enjoy the Spring weather. Now he wished he’d taken his truck. He was filthy, and the cream-colored seats in the mustang were a bitch to clean. He grabbed a blanket from the trunk and spread it over the seat before climbing in and heading home.

  As he drove into his driveway he spotted Cory working in the backyard next door. It looked like she was digging a hole, for what he could only imagine. Once he parked in the garage and got out of his car, he took several steps closer to the garage opening ready to give her a piece of his mind about the neglect of her car. He hesitated and changed direction, heading into the house. His hand was bleeding through the towel.

  After showering and bandaging his hand, he made himself a ham and swiss sandwich and grabbed a can of soda and headed out to his back deck. He plopped down into the wrought iron chair and propped his legs up on the railing as he polished off his sandwich and chugged the last of his cold soda. He looked across his lawn to Addy’s backyard to see if Cory was still out there.

  She knelt on the ground. Her back was to him, so he couldn’t see what she was doing. Her hair was up in a ponytail and every time she moved it danced around her shoulders. Her blue shirt rode up exposing the pale skin of her back. Finn became fascinated with watching it inch up each time she leaned forward.

  The woman had a shape that made his hands itch to get a hold of her. Long legs and more than a handful on top. He dropped his legs down and stood. Maybe it was time to go over and have a chat with his new neighbor. He smirked in amusement. He couldn’t wait to hear her response to his lecture about the proper way to take care of her car.

  ****

  Cory wiped the perspiration off her forehead with the back of her wrist and sat back on her heels. She’d been working on her aunt’s gardens for a solid three days now and
had started on the backyard. Gardening was a ton of work, but she couldn’t remember when she had enjoyed herself more. She planned on finding a local nursery in the next day or two to get some advice and maybe add a few plants to the beds.

  “Making mud pies?”

  She glanced back to see an irritating Finn over her shoulder. His damp hair glistened in the sunlight. His mouth was quirked in that ever-present smirk he always had around her.

  “Is that a tattoo?” Finn peered at the back of her neck. “Didn’t take you for the type. What’s it of? A symbol or something?”

  Cory pulled her ponytail over the mark. “No, it’s just a birthmark.” She swiveled to face him and looked up at him looming over her.

  His hip was cocked to the side with one hand in his pocket, and the other hanging down by his side. A white bandage caught her eye. “What did you do to your hand? Put it somewhere it didn’t belong?”

  “Now it’s interesting you brought that up.”

  Cory rolled her eyes and stood dusting off her knees as she did so. She leaned back against the tulip tree that was the center of the garden she was working on. She couldn’t wait to hear what antagonistic remarks he had to say…not.

  “Are you aware a car requires routine maintenance? You don’t just get it in it every day and drive it into the ground. It needs some TLC every now and again to keep it running in good shape. An oil change, a tune up, fluid check, tire rotation, do any of those things mean anything to you?”

  She stared at him wondering if she should bother answering him. Admittedly car maintenance was not her strong suit. She couldn’t remember the last time she had brought it in to be serviced. There had been a lot of other things going on in her life lately.

  “After working on your car all morning, I know the answer is a big fat no.”

  Okay, apparently this was a sore point with him, but wasn’t he going a little overboard? “Aren’t you being a little dramatic? It’s a car.”