Sebastian

by Megan McCoy

  But for tonight, she smiled at him, clinked glasses once again and took a drink. “There’s apparently dancing after the dinner,” he said, frowning as they started bringing out salads.

  “Two left feet?” she guessed.

  “No,” he shook his head. “Just a waste of time.”

  “You’ve not danced with me, then,” she said. “I took an entire semester of dance in college.”

  “I’m in good hands.” He smiled at her again, and she felt a thrill to her toes. What was with this strange and mysterious man who gave speeches effortlessly, but had a hard time with conversation, who opened doors for her, drove her to the hospital when her mom was hurt, took her dancing, or would in a few minutes, yet warned her about consequences and spanked her? She had never met anyone like him.

  Being held in his arms, swaying on the dance floor a while later, she sighed happily. When was the last time she’d been dancing? Her cousin Amy’s wedding almost a year ago? Probably. She missed dancing, and missed dancing with someone who knew how.

  “You’re good at this,” she told him.

  He half smiled and pulled her closer. “I have a good partner.”

  “Aww, you say the sweetest things.” She put her head on his chest, happy she had on comfortable shoes because she felt as if she could dance all night.

  Then someone tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up, startled. “Mind if I cut in, I need to borrow some of Mr. Jones’ time.”

  Yes, she minded a lot. A whole lot, and opened her mouth to say it, but then shut it. This was his night and people probably did want to talk to him. He needed to make contacts and she was being selfish to hog him.

  “After this dance,” he smiled at the woman, and twirled her around.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” she gasped. “I am a good share -er.”

  “I’m not,” he said. “The song is almost over and then I will go speak to her.”

  “And I’ll find a bathroom,” she said and then grimaced.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Maggie buried her head in his chest. “I just told you I had to go to the bathroom,” she moaned.

  “I’ll pretend to forget that, and focus on you powdering that cute nose,” he said, and hugged her close just as the song ended. “We will meet up again after I make the rounds and you do whatever vague thing you need to do.” Maggie didn’t want to leave his arms, but dang, she really needed to go to the bathroom.

  She headed toward the back of the room where she saw the signs earlier and noticed three women swooping in on him. Committee women, she assured herself, that was all. Chamber business, nothing more. Not that it mattered, of course. She had no hold on him, no reason to be jealous that other women thought he was attractive, also. He could dance with them all if he wanted. Spank them all, too. It wasn’t like he was good at it or anything, after all. She made it to the restroom and tried not to marvel at the marble counters and upscale fixtures. It was just like on the house shows on TV, her secret addiction, when everyone walked in and said, “It's tight! It's dated! Omg carpet! The color! Eeekk!” She didn’t shriek as much when she saw a mouse, much less when she saw a paint color on a wall she didn’t like. Honestly, she thought they paid them to act like idiots. Why else would they? Well, why would she go over some neighbor’s knee and get spanked? Why could her brain never shut off? She washed her hands and smiled at the lady next to her. “Mrs. Carpenter?” the woman asked.

  Maggie nodded. Half her parents called her “Mrs.” It really didn’t matter, just like paint color. “Your husband is handsome,” she said.

  Her husband? That was funny. “I’m sorry,” Maggie said. “You are?”

  “Oh, sorry, I’m Lily’s mom. She was in your class two years ago, and thanks to you, she’s made As in honors geometry this year.”

  “She did? Tell her I’m so proud of her! And she will just ace trig, I know it!” Maggie racked her brain trying to remember Lily from two years ago. Cute little redhead, maybe? Some kids just blended.

  “Do you mind if I dance with your husband?” Lily’s mom asked. “I miss dancing.”

  “He’s not my husband, just my neighbor and of course, you can,” she said. “Not that I should be giving him permission to do anything,” she laughed.

  An hour later, she was sorry she said that. Sebastian was constantly on the dance floor with a different woman every dance. Apparently, tall, handsome, good dancers were hard to come by here at the local Chamber meeting. Bored, Maggie decided to poke around a little. She’d go check out the hotel. They’d remodeled a few years ago, and she hadn’t seen the upgrades. Yeah, Sebastian was still schmoozing, so she slipped out the side door and headed to the lobby. After looking around there a bit, she decided to check out the new pool area. Why not? She went down a deserted hall when a man came out of a room, he looked at her and did a double take. “Ms. Carpenter?” Sighing, she nodded. Another parent?

  “Fancy seeing you here,” he said, and leaned into her, whiskey breath suddenly all over her face. Could she get contact drunk?

  “Who are you?” she gasped out, suddenly feeling very nervous and concerned. She eyed the hallway, hoping to see someone else around.

  “Your newest best friend,” he leaned over her, and she stared into his glazed eyes, as he pushed her against the wall, and leaned into her. “Wanna come in and have a drink with me? I’m all alone.”

  Maggie felt a surge of panic. What was going on? She froze, unable to move or think, then shoved as hard as she could but he didn’t move, he grabbed her hair and smacked her head against the concrete wall, she tried to catch her breath while she heard a buzzing in her ears. He groped her breast with the hand that wasn’t holding her, and she felt like vomiting. She took a deep breath ready to scream as his mouth came down on hers. Kissing? No. Just No. Shoving with her arms, she kneed him as hard as she could and as soon as she could catch her breath, she screamed as loudly as she could, hoping for any attention.

  Weirdly enough, Sebastian was right there while four doors opened down the hall. “Call security,” he growled to one of the open doors, and had the man’s arm twisted behind him and up against the wall before Maggie even realized what was going on. Her knees gave way, back against the wall, and she slumped down on the floor, head swimming and ears buzzing.

  “Maggie!” A sharp voice in her ear. “Maggie, look at me!” Sebastian. She knew his voice. Why was her head fuzzy? Where was the man? She pushed away, she needed to run.

  “Maggie!” Sebastian. She was okay? Maybe.

  “We need to check her out,” another male voice.

  “No!” she tried to yell, but nothing came out.

  “Maggie, these are the EMT’s. They want to help you.” Sebastian again. “Open your eyes. Look at me. Maggie, do it now!”

  She responded to his voice and opened her eyes, and saw his, wild with concern. There was a blood pressure cuff on her arm and a bunch of people standing around staring at her and for some reason she didn’t care.

  “What happened?”

  “You got attacked,” Sebastian told her.

  “Okay,” she said and the next time she woke up, she was in the ER.

  “No. I’m taking her home with me as soon as she’s ready to go.” She heard Sebastian say. “I can take care of her.”

  “No. She’s my sister and I’ll take care of her.” Ben’s voice. Jerk. How could he take care of her? Why did she need taken care of? He was a doctor, he’d tell her.

  “Ben?” Why didn’t her voice work better? Weird.

  “Maggie!” Her brother rushed over, she saw Sebastian right behind him. A good thing.

  “What’s going on?” she asked Ben. She felt exhausted, as if she’d run a marathon.

  “You have a concussion,” Ben said, flicking a pen light in her eyes that she waved away.

  “It's against the law to treat family,” she complained.

  “Told you she was stubborn,” Ben said. To whom? Oh, Sebastian.


  “I can handle stubborn,” Sebastian said.

  Could he? “You don’t spank very hard,” she told him with her eyes closed. Then she heard Ben snort.

  “I guess you need to spank harder if you want to handle stubborn miss, here.”

  Had she really said that out loud?

  “Touchy subject,” Sebastian said.

  “I’m her brother, and I know that if anyone needs a good butt blistering now and then it's this one.” He finally quit shining that thing in her eyes because she refused to open them. Served him right. When she opened them again, she was alone in a dark room.

  “Maggie?” Okay, she wasn’t alone.

  “Hi,” she said. “I need to go home and let Simon out.”

  “Cambry went to get him, and took him home with her and Ryan,” Sebastian said. “I didn’t want him pooping on my porch.”

  She almost told him he wouldn’t but decided she didn’t care. “I still want to go home,” she said. Her head didn’t really hurt but she saw an IV in her arm and assumed she was getting meds and saw she was in a hospital gown. How had that happened? She didn’t want to know. They would give her pills when she went home. They loved to hand out pills and the way her head hurt she wanted some.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “What do you remember?” Sebastian prompted, as a nurse came in. He must have called her.

  “I was watching you dance, you’re a good dancer. Then I got bored, because you aren’t that good. I went to check out the pool, I hadn’t seen it since the reno.” She paused. Okay then what? “Then someone came out of a room and they knew me. I thought it was a kids’ dad, but then, then…” Her memory struggled, Sebastian came closer and stroked her hand and lightly over her hair. She liked that. “Then he threw me against the wall. Why did he do that?”

  “We don’t know yet, but we’ll find out.” He kept stroking her hair and the next time she opened her eyes, Cambry was there.

  “Hey, little sister,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

  “I need to go to the bathroom,” she said almost desperately.

  “I can help with that,” she said, cranking the bed up. “Tell me if you feel dizzy.”

  “I will,” she promised, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

  A few minutes later she was sitting up in bed, and waiting for the promised coffee and food. Who should bring it in but Sebastian. “Why aren’t you at work?” she said.

  “Even the boss gets a few days off now and then,” he said, putting her food down on the table.

  “I want to go home,” she said. “Where are my clothes?”

  “Eat,” he said and pointed to a neatly folded pile of clothes on a chair.

  “If I eat, can I go home?” She sipped her coffee and shut her eyes in delight. Yes. Coffee. Nectar. Delight.

  “With me,” he said. “But after the police come in and talk to you.”

  Maggie pouted. “I don’t want to talk to them, I want to go home.”

  “Maggie, you can go home with me after you talk to the police and get a medical okay.”

  Furrowing her brow, she said, “What does that mean?”

  “It means you can go home with a supervisor. Your mom is recovering, your dad is watching her, your brother and sister-in-law work. I will watch you until you can be home alone. “

  Maggie sipped her coffee again and tried to stay calm. So, she was going to hot neighbor’s house for a day or two. Did she mind? Not really. Did she need to make a token protest? Of course.

  “I don’t need a babysitter.” She scowled at him. “I don’t have to have one. I’m a big girl, you know.”

  “And I’m your big brother, you know.” Ben walked in the room. “And I’m not going to have you worrying Mom.”

  “That’s not fair.” She glared at Ben. “Besides, one, you aren’t my doctor, two, you aren’t my boss and three, I’m fine.”

  “Four, you are coming home with me,” Sebastian said, matter of factly.

  She glared at both the bossy men staring at her, and took another long slow sip of her coffee. “Fine,” she capitulated. If it would get her out of here and within walking distance of her house, why was she complaining? She wasn’t. She was going home, or next door to home anyway, and then—going home. After she spent a little time with the hot neighbor, of course.

  “Fine?” Ben asked.

  “I just want to get out of here. You might like it here, but I don’t. Release me!” she begged.

  “Eat, then I’ll have the nurse come in and take the IV out, after you talk to the police,” her brother said, and she scowled at him again.

  “You can’t take it out, now? Didn’t they teach you that in medical school?”

  “I could, I prefer not to,” he said, giving her half a wave and left the room.

  She looked at Sebastian. “People come and go so quickly here. I’m ready to go, too. I need a shower and to put some clothes on. How long have I been here?”

  “Less than twenty-four hours,” he said, and she felt shocked. She thought it would have been days or at least two.

  “Wow,” she said. “Well, I still want a shower and to change clothes. It would be much easier to do it at my house.”

  “I’ll think about it,” he said. “Now, eat and I’ll go tell the police you can talk.”

  She looked at him and said, “Bossy.” But took a spoonful of her soup. He sat back, patiently while she took a few bites, then left, and a police officer came in. “Hi, Diane,” she said resignedly. If she had to talk to someone, then Diane, the sister of one of her co-teachers, was better than most.

  An hour later, with her statement given, the IV out, her clothes on, and the paperwork signed, she was walking out the front door. Sebastian had pulled the car around and helped her inside.

  “Thank you for everything,” she said, looking way up into his eyes.

  “Actions have consequences,” he said, and shut the door. What did that mean, she wondered? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Was he talking about leaving her alone while he danced? She didn’t mind that, he was there to schmooze, after all. Plus, she didn’t want him hanging out with her because of misplaced guilt.

  “I’ll take you home,” he said. “And you can shower, change and pack a bag. They want someone watching you for a few days. I’m off today and tomorrow, I’ll work from home the next day, and by then you should be recovered.”

  “I have practice tomorrow,” she told him, already feeling frustrated and confined.

  “No, you don’t,” he said as if it were a fact.

  “We’ll see,” her head hurt, and she didn’t want to argue with him right now, but she was a grown woman and could decide what she wanted to do and which doctor advice she wanted to ignore.

  “No, we won’t,” he said, again in such a matter of fact tone she wanted to scream. He was just going to be a lot of fun, now, wasn’t he?

  She opened her mouth to say something when he said, “You hurt your head, not your butt, but I can change that.”

  Did he just threaten to spank her? Why did she feel excited and intrigued instead of pissed off? Well, she had just hit her head.

  His car directed them home, though by now he should know his way to and from the hospital fairly well. He pulled into her driveway and came around to help her out of the car. “Quick shower, pack up and then I’ll take you home and put you to bed.”

  “I don’t want to go to bed,” she complained.

  “Too bad,” he said, tersely.

  “Lovely,” she said, feeling as if her life were spiraling out of control. It was just a few days, she told herself. She could deal. At least it hadn’t happened during the school year, she consoled herself. “You going to let me shower alone?” she asked him almost sarcastically.

  “This time,” he said, and she sighed. That was too bad. She could have used someone tall and strong to wash her back. Not that she’d let him know that. What was the deal with her? She stood in the shower and thought.
He was hot, good looking and interesting. She was a normal, red-blooded woman and felt attracted to him. He also had the potential of fulfilling her fantasy. Well, maybe he did. Maybe she’d find out over the next couple of days. She winced as she shampooed her hair. That was one nasty bump back there.

  “You okay in there?” his deep voice boomed over the noise of the shower. Didn’t he realize she was naked an arm’s length away? What would he do if she didn’t answer or said no?

  “Sure am,” she called back, not feeling quite that bold. “Almost done.” She dried off and slipped into the sweatpants and oversized shirt she’d brought in with her. At least she’d be comfortable in her boredom.

  The weather was still hot and sultry, typical Southern Illinois weather, and it was the perfect weather for ball playing. She was only sidelined a few days, she reminded herself. She’d miss one or two practices and then she’d be fine and back to playing. She’d grab Ryan and do some extra practice when she was allowed.

  “Here I am, sir,” she saluted as she came out of the bathroom. “All clean, comfortable and ready to be bored out of my mind.” She noted his lips twitching as he tried not to smile. He should smile. He had a great smile and an even better laugh. Why would he not let himself indulge more often?

  “What else do you need?” he asked, looking around her bedroom.

  “My phone charger,” she said. “It's over there by the bed.” Okay she could have grabbed it, but she wanted to watch him bend over. Why not? A girl needed her jollies where she could get them. He did not disappoint. Perfect ass.

  She had her small bag packed in a few minutes and went to the kitchen to grab her lap top. “I might want to work on lesson plans,” she told his upraised, disapproving eyebrows.

  “We’ll see,” he said.

  They walked over to his house, with him carrying everything, even her purse, which made her smile. “I banged my head, not my hands,” she told him and received a frown in return but no comment. She really had to teach him to use his words.