Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 2: Maid to CraveAll I HaveThe Last First DateLight My Fire

by Rebecca M. Avery

  He also enjoyed traveling from club to club throughout the state and even to nearby states for the weekend. He tried not to visit the same clubs more than twice. By visiting different places he made more money because he was new rather than a regular dancer. He also made it a point not to perform too close to where he lived.

  Gay clubs brought in even more money than women’s nightclubs but Seth didn’t frequent those very often because it seemed like a scam to pretend to be something he was not…especially for money. So far he’d only done that twice and it had been right after he’d received the first of many medical bills from Caleb’s accident.

  His brother Caleb was twenty-five and had just finished his bachelor’s degree when he’d been hit by a drunk driver. Caleb had been heading to the Dayton area for a visit with Seth and had been planning to stay at the apartment with him and Ian, since Ronnie’s old room was now available. The driver had been killed instantly and though Caleb had been spared, he had a long road of recovery ahead of him.

  Their mother had immediately flown in from Phoenix and had given Caleb round the clock care, but now that Caleb was through the worst part, she’d been forced to return home to her job. Though Tori didn’t know it, Seth understood about being a single parent.… He’d been raised by one. Caleb had assured their mother that he would be fine at the nursing home where he was finishing out the rest of his recovery. He didn’t want her to risk losing her job.

  That had been nearly a month ago and now it looked like Caleb would be released soon. He had many months of physical therapy ahead of him if he wanted to regain his full mobility. With a metal rod in one leg and pins in his other knee, just getting around would be a task. When the first of the medical bills had arrived, Seth had taken one look at his worried mother and equally stressed brother and decided cleaning out his savings was the only way to keep from adding to their strain.

  Neither his mother nor his brother had any idea of the amount of medical bills Seth had paid so far. It was all the money he had saved toward a down payment on a house and every dime he made stripping. That was after the hospital had learned that Caleb was the victim of a drunk driver and taken a good portion off of his bill. While Caleb was recovering, Seth would split his time between working for Tori and dancing so he could pay off the remaining medical bills.

  Knowing that Rusty was correct when he said that this job working for Tori was a blessing, Seth decided he would suck it up and appreciate the opportunity. Perhaps in time, she would learn to like him and forget his brief moment of stupidity. In the meantime, he would do what he could while he was at her house and on the clock.

  Her house was a pretty good size, especially for only her and Zach. They had obviously just moved in not long ago as there were quite a few boxes still in the garage, each one marked according to the room where the contents belonged. When Zach had mentioned that most of his toys were still in boxes, Seth had taken to sorting the boxes by rooms and then started in on toys and books…and of course getting Zach’s bed put together correctly.

  By the end of the night, Seth was tired and a little worried about his mental clarity since rather than finding the hottest chick in the joint to bang he cut out the back and turned his car toward Dayton.

  Some four hours later he found himself back at the apartment, and as he lay in his own bed, alone, his mind drifted to Tori Stewart again. She might not have appreciated him being shirtless while he cut grass, but she would appreciate him if she could see him dance.

  Who was he kidding? Tori Stewart didn’t frequent male strip clubs any more than his own mother did. That was probably a good thing since based on her reaction to him earlier, if she caught him wearing less than a pair of shorts, she would probably fire him. Why did he even care at all that she basically ignored him rather than flirting with him and trying to get him to ask her out? And when she couldn’t ignore him, she seemed to be put out by his mere presence.

  He fell asleep thinking of long, mousy-brown curls and haunting brown eyes…and tiny hands.

  The following morning he showered after his morning workout and then headed to the rehab center to spend time with Caleb. Entering his brother’s room, he noticed Caleb looked more like himself than he had in weeks.

  “You just missed it. A cute little intern helped me make it to the bathroom and get a shower.” Caleb smiled. “Blonde. Big tits”

  Caleb got his fair share of action. He and Caleb looked a good bit alike. The only difference was that Seth had a bigger and better build thanks to the Army and his daily exercise routine of cardio in the morning and weight lifting in the evening. Originally Caleb had wanted to come out and stay with Seth because he had high hopes of learning a few tricks of the stripping trade from his older brother. The dancing wasn’t going to happen now but at least Caleb still had it in him to flirt. The accident might have messed up his legs but the rest of him was still working just fine…including his dick apparently.

  “Dude, you didn’t get any last night did you?” Caleb laughed. “Lack of options or wrong venue?”

  Seth pulled a chair over, propped his feet at the end of Caleb’s bed and leaned back to watch the infomercials showing on television. “Neither. My head just wasn’t in the game,” he replied.

  “You better get back in the ring. Doc says I might get to go home at the end of the week. A little sympathy action would be a great welcome home gift.” Caleb laughed again. “This is the closest thing to celibate I’ve been since high school. Don’t quit on me now, Bro.”

  After a few minutes of silence Seth finally asked the question that had been swirling around in his mind since yesterday. “Have you ever been completely dissed by a woman who can’t really afford to be choosy?” he asked.

  Caleb smiled. “Yep. Junior year, incoming freshman. Cute, but studious. Blew me off, even called me a loser.”

  “So how long did it take to overcome her…objections?” Seth asked, even as he thought: Why was he asking his younger brother about this stuff?

  “Never did. I finally gave up when I started worrying she might charge me with stalking. Come to find out I wasn’t the only one who had a thing for her and we all got the hand instead,” Caleb said.

  That wasn’t exactly what Seth wanted to hear…but at least Tori hadn’t called him a loser. There was still time, though. It had only been one day. At the rate he was going she might very well move up to calling him names by the end of the week. What he wouldn’t give for the chance to start again. This time he would keep his comments to himself.

  After picking up some lunch and some books and magazines for Caleb at a store nearby, he promised to come back the following evening to visit again. Then he headed out so he could get in his weight lifting at the gym and pay bills.

  By Tuesday, he knew Tori was completely avoiding him. She kept herself locked away in her office and all he heard was the sound of her tiny fingers pounding the keyboard as he went through boxes. He finished sorting them and then completed the rest of Zach’s room, including putting away his clothes. Seth avoided the boxes labeled “Tori’s room” or “personal” and moved on to finishing up the kitchen. He finally had to knock on her office door and let her know he was leaving.

  Tori had given him the freedom to work whatever hours suited his schedule best. So as he lay awake later that night contemplating the fact that she was avoiding him, he decided he would go a little later in the afternoon the following day and stay until after Zach got home from school and see how that went. Perhaps she just took working from home very seriously and devoted the daytime hours while Zach was in school to her job. That made sense.

  After letting him into the house the following afternoon, she went straight back to her office. He finished unpacking items for the laundry room, living room and dining room. Just as he was about to carry some boxes up to Tori’s room, she exited her office with her keys and purse and headed toward the front door.

  “I’m going to pick up Zach from school, I’ll be right back,” she sai
d without even looking at him.

  After hearing her car pull out and head down the street, he grabbed a couple boxes out of the garage and headed upstairs. Upon opening the door to her bedroom, he could only stare. The starkness of the room was shocking. Her bed wasn’t even put together. The headboard sat along one wall while a dresser and a chest of drawers sat along the other walls. A large mirror sat propped in the corner, waiting to be attached to the dresser. After looking at each wall, he set the boxes down inside the doorway and headed back downstairs.

  He went from room to room throughout the house and realized that each room held exactly one picture, some of which hadn’t even been hung up yet. The only room in the whole house with enough things hanging on the walls or sitting on shelves was Zach’s.

  Seth headed out to the garage and moved more boxes around looking for ones marked “decorations” or “pictures” or something that would make the house more like a home. Nothing.

  Several trips later he had carried the remaining boxes up to Tori’s room. He heard the garage door opening just as he headed over to the headboard that sat along one wall. He found the hardware needed to bolt it to the bed’s frame in a sandwich baggie taped to the back side of the headboard. She was very nerdy, but organized. He headed back downstairs for some tools only to find Zach at the kitchen bar eating a snack and drinking a juice box.

  “How was school today, boy?” Seth asked.

  The little guy frowned and continued eating his snack without answering. Great. Now Seth was being blown off by the kid, as well. Sighing, Seth found the tools he needed in the garage and headed back inside to discover Zach using a wet wipe to clean his hands and mouth. Okay, so the kid was nerdy, too. At that age, Seth’s sleeves and jeans had been his napkins.

  Seth went back upstairs with the tools only to hear Zach a few minutes later traipsing along behind him and stopping in the doorway of his mother’s bedroom. Seth quickly figured out why Tori hadn’t tried to attach the headboard. It was heavy and had spikes on each end that fit into slots on the frame. The bolts from the bag would anchor it into place. He could pick up the headboard, but might need a little help guiding the spikes on each end.

  “Hey, little man, come on over here. I’m going to pick this up and hold it while you guide these things into the slots,” he said, pointing at the frame.

  “I can’t,” Zach said, heading over to where Seth stood.

  “Why not?” Seth asked, stepping up to face the wall so he could pick up the headboard.

  “I’m wimpy,” Zach replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

  The kid was little, but he also wasn’t very old. Seth knew next to nothing about children, but figured the boy probably was small for his age, maybe an inherited trait from his mother. Wimpy was a little harsh, though.

  “Says who?” he asked.

  “Cody Manson,” Zach replied.

  Pushing up the sleeve of his T-shirt, Seth flexed his biceps and then looked at Zach. “Make a muscle like this,” he said.

  The boy pushed up his sleeve and made a muscle as directed. Seth reached down and gently squeezed.

  “You got a good start there. Nothing puny about that. You keep lifting weights and your muscles will be as big as mine. For now, though, just help with the headboard.”

  “Do you lift weights?” Zach asked.

  “Yep, but for now the headboard will have to work. You ready?” he asked again.

  Zach grabbed one of the spikes on the end and Seth picked up the headboard from the center and said, “Okay, good, now hang on to it and let’s move it over, set it down and take a break.”

  “This weighs a lot!” Zach grunted.

  “Yes, it does. I’d like to see Cody Manson lift this thing as well as you do. Then we would see who is really puny,” Seth said.

  “Yeah, I can feel my muscles getting bigger,” Zach replied.

  A snicker from the doorway brought Seth’s attention to where Tori stood, leaning against the frame watching them. Her smile changed her whole face. It was worth the physical strain to see her smile. She still looked young and small…but pretty. Seth was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before.

  “What? You think Zach’s lying? This thing is heavy. You try picking it up!” Seth said with a smile and a wink.

  He leaned the headboard against the bedframe and caught himself smiling at Zach’s antics. The boy quickly dusted his hands and then ran his palm across his forehead as if wiping away sweat.

  “Yeah, Mommy, you pick it up. It’s heavy!” Zach said.

  “How about you get one end, I’ll get the other end and Seth can pick up the middle?” she suggested.

  Soon enough they had the headboard in place. While Zach and Tori held it, Seth secured it with the bolts. When that was finished they worked together to get the bed into position against the wall, place the mattress on the frame, then hang the mirror on the dresser. He also moved the chest of drawers where Tori wanted it.

  “Can we lift weights now?” Zach said when they finished.

  “What do you think we’ve been doing moving all this stuff around?” Seth asked in shock. Then seeing the look of disappointment on the kid’s face he said, “I think we’ve worked out enough for one day. How about we hit the gym another day?”

  “Can we go tomorrow?” Zach asked.

  “Maybe. Let’s see how the homework goes tonight,” Tori interceded. “It doesn’t do you much good to be strong enough to lift heavy things but not smart enough to read.”

  The way she looked at Seth when she said the last part made him wonder if she was directing her comment at him. He was smart. Maybe he wasn’t her level of smart, but he wasn’t an idiot either…just thoughtless occasionally. Would she never forgive him and let it go?

  “Maybe I can help with your homework since you helped me with the bed and dresser?” Seth suggested.

  Tori looked at him, obviously trying to determine if he was being serious or not. Meeting her gaze, he waited. Zach looked between him and Tori as though wondering if she would allow it.

  “Show Seth where your book bag is and start with reading,” Tori finally replied.

  Had he known the slow form of torture he was in for, he would have kept his mouth closed and allowed Tori to go on hating on him and getting her jabs in where she could. Zach’s reading was the equivalent of listening to individual drops of water filling a glass and being forced to wait for the water to reach the top. By page three Seth had a newfound respect for the woman in the kitchen—who was starting dinner as though Seth wasn’t being robbed of precious time he would never get back. He even prayed for divine intervention to save him from the rest of the book.

  By page five he couldn’t do it anymore…and by the look of frustration on Zach’s face, he couldn’t either. As the boy turned another page, Seth grabbed hold of the book and said, “Let’s see if we can speed up this whole sounding out the letters process, shall we?”

  Zach looked hopeful as Seth found a video on his cell phone and played it. It was a song about letter sounds. One of the guys in his unit had a little boy and they would visit online sometimes when the guy and Seth had been stationed overseas. The little boy had sung the song for his dad once. For some reason it had stuck and soon the entire platoon had been singing it…much to Rusty’s chagrin.

  Seth played the song through the first time and they watched the video, as well. When it was over, he played it again, singing along this time. By the third time, Zach was singing along, too. A few more times and the boy had the song down so Seth handed the book back to him and was impressed that the song did seem to help…at least a little. Of course, now Seth would be singing the stupid song for days, but if it moved reading homework along he was all for it.

  When the book was finished, Tori came into the dining room where he sat at the table with Zach and said, “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

  “Is this the only book he has to read tonight?” Seth asked. Yes, he could lift heavy things, but he was also smart enou
gh not to get roped into any more reading for tonight. Torture time was over!

  Giving him a knowing look, she said, “Yes, but after dinner is math homework. Zach’s very good at math.”

  “Math is easier than reading,” Zach supplied.

  The smirk she shot at Seth over Zach’s head brought out that side of Seth that could be a real prick. Smiling at her, he said, “Yeah, but then you’ll miss how much better Zach can read. Sing the song for your Mom.”

  Zach looked at his mom questioningly, but before she could say anything Seth cut in again, “Tell you what, Zach. You sing the song and read another book to your mom and I’ll take you with me to the gym tomorrow.”

  Now what would she do?

  The smile he sensed spreading across his face felt so good…like victory. She couldn’t get out of reading now and she knew it! The look she shot him told Seth he had finally bested her. He waited for a smart comment and was shocked when she said instead, “Sing the song and read another book for both of us and then we will help you with math. If you do all that with no complaints, you can go to the gym with Seth tomorrow.”

  She smiled sweetly at Seth as she began setting food on the table along with a small stack of plates and forks. He was dealing with a professional here. Much like his brother, rather than besting her, he’d simply walked right into her trap. The reading would continue—and then be followed up with math.

  Was this the teacher’s way of punishing parents for some unknown crime? Night after night of this? His hat was off to Tori for handling reading time with Zach all on her own.

  He met Tori’s gaze and the glint of mischief in her eyes combined with a genuine smile from her, made his breath catch. She was actually really pretty when she looked like that.

  “Okay, Mommy, but can it be a small book?” Zach asked.

  Some form of insanity must have passed through Seth’s mind because a part of him hoped it was an even longer book this time so he would have a reason to stay.