Sebastian smiled, he’d seen it just recently when he’d gotten his hair cut and finally was able to look into a mirror. He had heard it all his life, but now he couldn’t deny it. What once had been a pale imitation of the great man was now like looking right at him. “Thank you, ma’am, that’s quite a compliment.”
Nancy nodded and continued to look him up and down. “When did you get in? Do you have a place to stay? Of course you can always stay at the ranch once we get that paperwork settled. The keys are in the office. Is that why you’re here? I was just on my way out, but I can head back in and pull the file if you’d like. We really should set up a time to go over everything.” She pulled out her phone and began sliding her finger rapidly over the screen.
She had gone into full business mode and Sebastian let out a soft huff of a laugh. He needed to get the conversation back on track. “Actually, Mrs. Keaton, I’m here to see Susan Fuller.”
Nancy looked up from her phone and frowned. “Susan? I heard from Jack Was she got in quite early this morning as a matter of fact. I imagine she’s over at the hospital with her father. Marcus was injured recently.”
Relief, anger, and concern all swirled through Sebastian in a jumble that he could barely control. He was relieved that she had arrived safely and he finally had a firm destination to find her, anger that she had returned to an area that may put her life in danger, and concern for her emotional well-being. How was she handling the situation with her father? Was she okay? He felt the overwhelming need to get to her and be by her side for emotional support. Sebastian took a deep breath to rein in his rioting emotions and swallowed, “Is he all right?”
Nancy nodded, “He took a nasty swipe to the chest, but to hear him tell it he’s injured himself worse shaving then what that cat delivered.” She snorted out a laugh and then looked around. “Do you have a car here? I can give you a ride.”
Sebastian agreed to the ride needing to get to Bug the soonest, but immediately regretted it when Nancy began badgering him about all of his responsibilities to his parents’ wishes, the ancestral property, and all of the paperwork he needed to see to. He sighed; he was tired, agitated, and he just wanted to see Bug.
When they arrived at the hospital, he thanked Nancy for the ride and accepted her business card with the promise that he would call her and they would set up an appointment once he got settled.
Inside, he was directed to the surgical unit and he spotted Bug in the hallway almost immediately. Just seeing Susan lifted a weight from his shoulders he hadn’t realized was there. Her clothes were the same she’d had on yesterday just with more wrinkles and her hair was rather messy in the back, giving the impression that she had slept here and hadn’t been home. She was talking to a man who looked like he was in his late twenties possibly early thirties. He had hair the color of wheat and perfectly styled to frame his tanned face. His clothes were crisp and neatly pressed and the belt at his waist matched the loafers on his feet. Sebastian disliked him on sight, but when he smiled down at Bug and his hand reached out and touched her arm Sebastian saw red. He was going to rip that pretty boy’s arm off and beat him with it for touching his woman.
Chapter Fifteen
Susan smelled him before she saw him. She would recognize that intoxicating scent anywhere, but she couldn’t believe her nose. Had Sebastian really followed her back home? She hated how all of her senses came alive, she was so mad at him for breaking her heart, but her body hadn’t seemed to have gotten the message. Suddenly he was at her side; bumping his chest into Doctor Talbot’s shoulder and pushing him back a good foot as Sebastian glared at him and rumbled, “Don’t touch her.”
Doctor Talbot looked up in shock for a moment before composing himself and straightening the nonexistent wrinkles from his sleeve. “May I help you?” He asked, his voice oozing condescension.
Susan’s jaw had dropped in shock at Sebastian’s purely jealous display but she snapped it closed. He seemed a bit feral with his new haircut mussed from running his fingers through it and the growth of whiskers covering his jaw. He looked intense, dangerous and so incredibly sexy he took her breath away. She could see the rage in Sebastian’s eyes and decided she better intervene before he pummeled the smaller man. She had no idea why he was acting like a caveman again, but she needed to stop him. “Sebastian, this is my father’s doctor, Doctor Talbot. He was just giving me an update.”
His dark eyes pinned her with a glare. “He was flirting. He touched you.” He snarled.
Susan put a hand on Sebastian’s arm, her fingertips gripping tensed muscle in an attempt to both soothe him and stay him. She looked around to see the attention he was garnering and lowered her voice. “Yes, he touched my arm but there wasn’t anything flirtatious about it, Sebastian. Please? Why don’t we go see my father and then we can talk.”
Sebastian grunted, nodded, and shot the doctor one last glare of warning before he followed her into her father’s room. She was dying to ask him why he was here, but she wasn’t going to risk an argument that may wake her father.
She glanced at Sebastian to try to gauge his mood and was glad to see that he seemed much calmer. Her temper on the other hand was severely frayed. Her flight had landed just short of three in the morning and she’d come straight to the hospital. She’d barely slept except in short little dozes sitting up in the chair next to her father and had been woken up every time the nursing staff had come in to check on their patient. Her back hurt, her stomach was in knots of anxiety, she was tired, and quite frankly, dealing with Sebastian Black was extremely low on her to do list. After all, she’d spent the last several hours forcing her brain not to think about him or how sorry he was and now he was here making her face him. Not happening right now, she couldn’t handle it.
“How is he?” Sebastian asked his attention on her father’s features as he lay in the hospital bed.
Susan wrapped her arms around her middle and squeezed. “The cat got him pretty bad with his claws from shoulder to hip. Some of them were really deep. He had to have lots of stitches and a blood transfusion. The pain meds he’s on keeps him pretty drowsy, but he seemed in good spirits for the few minutes I got to talk to him before he fell asleep again.”
Sebastian turned to her, his hands pulling her arms gently away from her midriff. “Bug, I wanted to tell you-“
“No,” she interrupted sternly before he apologized again or listed off his excuses why they couldn’t be together. She glared at him. “We are not going to do this here.”
“But, I,” He began again, his look beseeching.
She ignored it and yanked her arms back from his grip. “If what you are about to say has anything to do with us or what happened yesterday then you can just stop right there.” She hissed. “This is not the time or the place and if you can’t deal with that then you need to leave – right now.”
He rumbled deep in his chest. “You said we could talk not even five minutes ago.”
“Yes, I did but not about that.” She said, her chin thrusting out mutinously. She was not going to back down on this.
He stepped into her personal space and rubbed her arms. “You have every right to be angry.”
Susan’s expression clearly showed her disbelief that he was still pushing this on her, but her father’s sleep roughened voice stopped her before her temper completely snapped. “Pumpkin?”
She rushed to her father’s side and took hold of his hand, careful of the IV. “I’m here, Dad. What do you need? Are you thirsty? Hungry? Are you in pain?”
Her father smiled, his blue eyes were surrounded by dark circles that only seemed more pronounced against his pale complexion. “I heard someone with you. Is it Sebastian?” Her father seemed a bit excited at the prospect.
She felt Sebastian step up beside her but kept her attention focused on her father. “I’m here, sir.” She heard him say. “I’d be happy to go hunting for you if you tell me who did this.”
Her father chuckled, his face blooming with happ
iness, and Susan couldn’t help but smile. “No need, my boy, no need. That particular threat has been taken care of. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve come home.”
Her father and Sebastian’s father had been long time friends but that friendship had become strained after what had happened with Mary Beth and Christian. Neither man had been comfortable with the parts their eldest children had played. Her father had always held out hope that Sebastian would return and fences could be mended. Unfortunately the Black’s weren’t here to see it, but Susan had no doubt that a phone call would have them on the first plane home if Sebastian chose to stay.
Susan glanced over at Sebastian finally, wondering how he would react to her father’s words and how he would respond. Would he tell her father that he hated being here and couldn’t wait to leave? He surprised her when he just smiled and said, “It’s good to be back.”
Her father’s morning nurse, a Latina woman in her thirties or thereabout with gorgeous skin, full mouth, and big dark eyes came in. She was wearing yellow scrubs and had her glossy back hair pulled back in a ponytail. “How is my favorite patient this morning?” She asked with a big smile.
Susan was amazed as her father’s face brightened considerably. He attempted to straighten his shoulders a bit and a low rumble came from his chest as his smile turned positively wolfish. It didn’t take a genius to figure out her father was smitten. “I can die happy now that I’ve seen your sweet face.” He sighed and Susan had to tuck her lips between her teeth to keep from laughing. Her mother had died when Susan was a teenager and to her knowledge her father had never been interested in anyone else. He was certainly interested in this nurse though. Well, good for him, she thought. He deserved to be happy. It was time he found something to keep his attention other than work.
The nurse gave a soft chuckle and blushed becomingly as she checked her patient’s temperature. “There will be no dying on my shift, Mr. Fuller, happy or otherwise.” She added with mock sternness. “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain this morning?”
“Two,” he said and then added with a wink, “I keep telling everyone it’s just a scratch.”
She chuckled and walked over to the other side of the bed. Susan moved back out of her way as she checked the hand where the IV was inserted. “Your breakfast will be here soon,” she said as she moved to change out the IV bag. “And I want you to eat every bite. The doctor is thinking you may be able to go home tomorrow.”
With one last smile and pat on her father’s shoulder, the nurse left the room and her father sighed again, a dreamy expression on his face. “I’m tempted to injure myself again so I can stay.”
Susan gasped and then chuckled. “Don’t you dare; you can always call her once you’re recovered and ask her out.”
He gave her a sly smile, “I think I might just do that.”
Her father’s attention moved to Sebastian who had stepped back up to the bedside again. He’d been so quiet while the nurse had been attending her father that Susan could have forgotten he was there if she wasn’t so attuned to his presence. “We have some paperwork to go over, my boy.” Her father said and Susan groaned.
“Please, please, please, no work while you’re recovering, Dad.” Susan said as she rolled her eyes.
“What else am I supposed to do?” Her father asked pointedly. “These walls are kind of boring you know.”
Susan huffed and pointed to the corner next to the wall of windows. “There’s a perfectly good TV right there. You can watch soap operas.” She said and then grinned and waggled her eyebrows. “Or you can watch those court shows.”
“Bah,” her father grumbled. “You know I can’t stand that trash.”
Susan sighed, “Fine, play Angry Birds on your phone then.”
Sebastian chuckled and interrupted. “I ran into Nancy Keaton this morning and she already harangued me about my responsibilities so you don’t need to worry.”
Her father nodded, “Good, good,” he said as he used the controls to raise the head of his bed higher. “The sooner we get those papers signed the sooner you can move into the ranch.” He shot a sly look between Susan and Sebastian and smiled. “Of course, you’re welcome to stay at my house for however long you need, there’s certainly plenty of room.”
“Thank you, sir, but I have a room at The Lodge for right now.” Sebastian said.
Her father waved his hand in dismissal. “It’s purely a waste of money to be paying daily rates when I’ve got a perfectly good guest room just waiting to be occupied.”
Sebastian opened his mouth to make a reply but was interrupted by a man in scrubs bearing her father’s breakfast tray. Susan couldn’t help but wonder if Sebastian was going to take her father up on his offer. On the one hand, she was still mad at him and having him living under the roof she shared with her father would be torturous. She wouldn’t be able to escape him. While on the other hand, Sebastian was still the love of her life and he would be under her roof where she would have access to him whenever she craved his presence. Susan wanted to scream in frustration. Why couldn’t her heart and brain come to an agreement about this man? Why was she suddenly a glutton for punishment? If he had stayed in Vermont she would have been fine since he would have been too far away for her to do anything but eventually get over him – not that distance had actually aided her in the last ten years – but with him here, how would she ever manage? If she couldn’t have him then it was best not to see him at all.
Her father was digging into his fruit cup when he said, “You know, Sebastian, your brother is here – in a secure room for his safety of course – if you’d like to visit him.”
Susan shot a worried look at Sebastian. A muscle ticked in his clenched jaw and his lips were compressed in a tight hyphen of displeasure. It took him a moment, but he finally took a deep breath and unclamped his teeth enough to say, “Perhaps another time, sir.”
Her father nodded somberly before he waved a hand toward the door. “You two may as well go get something to eat. No sense of you standing about watching me while your bellies are rumbling.”
Susan was about to say that she wasn’t hungry when Sebastian nodded and before she could protest he grabbed her hand and pulled her gently to his side. “That’s a good idea, sir. We’ll be back soon.” He said and started steering her out of the room.
He didn’t say another word as he marched her to the exit and Susan’s anxiety increased. She knew her stay of execution had just ended and Sebastian would want to tell her all the reasons why he didn’t want her. Once they were outside, he pushed her onto a bench and stood towering over her for a moment before he crouched down in front of her and gripped the bench on either side of her knees. His look was so full of sorrow her chest constricted with pain as she braced for impact. “I am so sorry, Bug. Please, I know I messed up, but can you find it in your heart to forgive me? I swear it will never happen again.”
Susan tipped her head back and blew out a breath as she closed her eyes. He was determined to rip open her wound and see it bleed apparently. So be it.
Chapter Sixteen
It was obvious to Susan that Sebastian was being eaten up by guilt and needed to clear his conscience. She was just surprised he would come all this way to do it when a phone call would have sufficed. Granted, she hadn’t actually left him her number, but he could have gotten it easy enough had he called her dad’s firm. But maybe he needed the face to face interaction to ensure she understood. He was, at heart, an honorable man and if they were ever going to move on, she needed to pull up her big girl panties and tell him what he needed to hear so they could both go back to living their separate lives.
She fisted her hands and dug her nails into her palms. Being noble sucked but she could do this. She forced her lips into a semblance of a cool smile and faced the man before her. “Look, Sebastian, you need to stop apologizing. I get it, you weren’t that interested in me and you just got swept up in the moment. I mean, who wouldn’t after I
practically attacked you, right?” She laughed to lighten the mood but it came out rather brittle. “You’ve already said it won’t happen again. So if you’re only here because you think you need to soothe my wounded vanity or whatever then you can just go back to Vermont knowing that I’m fine, mission accomplished and all that.”
The look on his face was one of shock and disbelief. She wanted to get up and make a fabulous exit with her head held high, perhaps a toss of her hair just for effect, but Sebastian’s position in front of her had her boxed in and her control was slipping fast. The only way she was getting out before he was ready to release her was to push him over. She was trying really hard not to panic as her eyes darted nervously around for an exit strategy. Her palms were starting to sting from her nails and she could feel the prickle of impending tears behind her eyes. Why wouldn’t he move away? If she didn’t get out of there soon she was going to make a complete fool of herself when her cool façade dissolved into a puddle of tears.
She finally forced herself to make eye contact and was surprised to see he looked angry. “You think I’m not interested in you?” He growled.
Susan took a deep breath and hated how the tears filled her eyes. Apparently she was doomed to embarrass herself after all. She shook her head. “What was I supposed to think, Sebastian? We had just had sex and the first words out of your mouth were an apology! I had just had a life changing experience – I gave you my virginity – and you called it foolish and promised never to do it again!” Her voice broke and a ragged sob escaped. The tears had started to fall and Susan covered her face with her hands, humiliated by her show of weakness.
Until You: A Malsum Pass Novel Page 11
