She burst out laughing, which annoyed me more. "You're so off, although the price tag is right."
"What?" Did he really spend that much money on me?
"Nothing. I'm just teasing you."
I relaxed. Looking back at the painting, I didn't see anything else I felt I could improve. It was the best of my ability. "I think it's done."
"I thought it was done before you started messing with it. It's beautiful, Morgan. I don't know what he'll love more, the fact that you painted it, the fact that it's beautiful, or the meaning behind it."
I smiled with contentment about how much she thought he would love it.
"Okay." Cerise walked to the bathroom door. "Anthony said to put it in the bathroom to dry since he's the only one with a key."
"Good thinking. I'll have to thank him for that."
"How's it going with you two? You don't seem as edgy around him anymore."
I picked up the painting and carefully walked it into the bathroom as Cerise followed with the easel. "It's good, actually. He's really tried to watch what he says around me—no flirting, you know. And he's toned down the overprotective thing for Sean. I think I've moved him into the friend category. I mean, Sean loves him. They're practically twin brothers in terms of behavior and protectiveness and interests. Stewie's his closest friend, but Anthony's definitely next in line. I think the more time I spend with him, the more I'll get to thinking of him like I do the rest of the guys."
"How's that?"
"Like the big brothers I've never had."
"I agree—our family just doubled in size."
I smiled. "It should make Annalisa happy to have more mouths to feed." I locked Anthony's door then mine and closed it.
"She's been beaming all week at the thought. Are you giving it to him in front of everyone or will you make him wait until you're alone?"
"Alone." I widened my eyes. "Definitely alone. Can you imagine Petey seeing that? He'd go ballistic on Sean."
"I don't think so. I think he'll see you two together and know you two are meant to be."
I shook my head, "Remember how he was with Brent?" She nodded, and the memory washed over me. "He nearly killed him several times."
"Yes, but let's remember the very very long list of differences between Sean and Brent."
"You have a point," I conceded.
The knock on the door drew our attention, and I glanced around the room just to be sure I hadn't left out any evidence. "Who is it?" Cerise shouted.
"Nathan."
She got up and unlocked the door, letting him in. He poked her in the stomach as he walked by and looked around. "All finished?" I nodded, and he sat in one of the chairs across from my desk. "Good. He's kicking Anthony's ass."
"What?" I got up.
"They're sparring and Anthony is trying to keep him entertained by losing so that Sean feels the need to go into lengthy instructions about his weaknesses."
"Oh, geez. Go tell him he can stop." Nathan laughed and walked slowly out of the room.
I turned back to Cerise. "Another point in the brother category for Anthony."
Cerise laughed, and we went downstairs.
Christmas Dinner
Christmas Eve morning, I woke up to find Sean sitting in front of the fireplace. He seemed lost in thought, and I wondered why. I got up, wrapped a blanket around myself and joined him in front of the fire.
"Morning, beautiful," he said as he pulled me in front of him, wrapping himself around me. "Merry Christmas Eve."
I snuggled into his arms. "Mmm. Merry Christmas Eve… everything okay?"
"Sure. Why wouldn't it be?" I could still hear the slight hesitation in his voice. He was worried about something.
"You seem worried or nervous."
He let out a sigh and buried his head in the crook of my neck. "My break is almost over. I have to go to New York next week for a few shows. My publicity duties are calling. As much as I'd like to tell them all to go to hell, I can't do that to everyone involved with the first movie, and it might damage everything with the sequel we just shot in Miami. I have to be responsible."
"Does being responsible mean you have to pretend to be Michelle's boyfriend?"
"Nope. I already told Stewie I'm done with that. I'll pretend to be her friend, but that's as far as it goes from now on. They'll be mad. They may even choose not to offer me anymore films, but it's a consequence I'm more than willing to deal with."
"I don't want to be responsible for damaging your career."
He hugged me tighter. "You're not, love. I care how you feel and don't want to hurt you, but this is about me too. I love you too much to pretend anything with Michelle. It kills me to do it. I want to puke when I think about it. It's not good for me."
"Is that what you've been worrying about?"
He huffed. "No. That's small compared to what I've been worrying about."
"Tell me. Let me help or at least listen."
"I wish I could. Talking through things with you helps me as much as it helps you. I want you to know that. But this has to do with your private Christmas present, and I'm just not sure—" He sighed so harshly that I could feel it against my back. "I don't want you to be angry with me."
"It's something I might be angry about?"
"I hope not. God, I hope not. But I always think I know how you'll react, and sometimes I'm completely wrong. I just have to hope I'm not wrong this time."
I picked up his hand and kissed his palm. "I'll hope you're not wrong, too. And if you are, I promise to try not to be mad for too long."
He kissed my neck again but more slowly and more sensually. Since it was still early, I gave into the invitation to stay in front of the fireplace with him for another hour or two.
When we finally emerged from our room, Mel was making breakfast. She looked down her nose at us and shook a spoon in our direction but didn't say anything. I ate quickly, grabbed Nathan and Anthony, and headed for the inn. I didn't want to leave the last-minute preparations to Jake and Cerise. I wanted to be there to help.
At the inn, I found there wasn't much to do. Jake and Cerise had already pulled all the tables together and set the table. I helped with some decorations on the long table, but other than that, we all just sat around giving Annalisa a hard time in the kitchen. She got so frazzled when you said the smallest thing, like "Do you smell that? Has the milk gone sour in that mix?" She'd taste whatever it was she was working on and swat at us with a spatula and laugh. It was fun.
In the early afternoon, we all went to change since we'd been in jeans while we got the place ready. Knowing we would be having Christmas Eve dinner at the inn, we had blocked out the night on our reservation system as being unavailable to guests. With free reign of the place, I felt a lot more comfortable bringing Sean to the inn. Upstairs, I changed into a little black dress with cap sleeves that hit my legs mid-thigh and some super-high heels. I wanted to look like Sean Wilder's girlfriend, at least to my family and friends. Cerise had on a deep green dress I'd never seen before with shoes I definitely knew she hadn't already had.
"Been shopping? Did we buy that for anyone in particular?" Teasing her was so enjoyable.
"Maybe." Then she turned around, and I noticed there was really no back to it. It was actually very pretty, not overtly sexy, but certainly suggestive.
I shook my head at her. "Are you trying to drive the poor man insane?"
"Maybe I'm just trying to make him kiss me."
"He hasn't kissed you yet? Seriously? No, you can't be serious. You two are all touchy feely with each other."
"Flirting—just flirting. We talk every night on the phone for like hours, but he's never kissed me."
I cleared my throat and tried for the confident and yet flippant tone she always gave advice with. "Sounds like you need to assert yourself."
"Oh, ha ha. You don't need to throw my words back at me. I just don't want to mess this up. I don't want him to push me away."
"You're the idiot now. In fa
ct, I'm gonna tell him to call you that when he gets here. Maybe I'll even explain to him why he should call you that."
"You do that, and I'll tell Sean about the time your mother caught you feeling up Rochester in the sixth grade."
My eyes widened. "You wouldn't! You swore."
"Try me." She laughed as we walked down the hallway toward the stairs.
We could not have timed it better if we'd tried. Just as we were coming down the stairs, the guys were in the entryway taking off their coats. My eyes connected with Sean's immediately. I blushed over the shortness of my skirt, but I was pretty confident in my legs—I knew they were long and fairly sexy. Several of the guys whistled, but I only had eyes for Sean. He was grinning as he stepped forward, stopping me on the last step to kiss me passionately. I had to wipe the lipstick from his lips, but he didn't seem to mind.
"You kill me every time I look at you. You are the sexiest woman on the planet." I could feel myself blushing as he pulled me into his arms, spun me around, and set my feet down on the floor. He took another several moments kissing my flaming cheeks and my neck.
"Alright there, take it easy." Anthony slapped Sean on the back. "There are children present."
"Talking about yourself, Anthony?" I shot back.
"Ooooh, she called you a child," Mel laughed, and the guys joined in. Everyone except Nathan, whose eyes were most definitely glued to Cerise. He was smiling at her, and she seemed to be trying not to look at him. I felt like turning to her to tell her to just kiss him already, but I would never embarrass her like that.
I led them into the living room and invited them to get comfortable until the others arrived. I noticed Cerise and Nathan standing in the entryway and smiled. Maybe she was going to assert herself after all, or at the very least, turn around and show him the back of her dress. Sean followed me into the kitchen where I checked on meal preparations. Marnie, one of our sous chefs and a good friend, had everything under control, but I smiled when I didn't see Annalisa.
"What?" Sean asked.
"Annalisa went upstairs to change before we did. She hasn't come back down yet—" I looked around. "And I don't happen to see Stewie anywhere either. How odd." I laughed.
"Stewie's a very considerate guy. I'm sure he's just assisting her with her clothing." He winked at me as we walked back into the dining room. "I wish I could assist you with your clothing right now, too."
"There's nothing wrong with my clothing."
He pushed me gently against a wall and dropped his hand to my thigh. "You're right. It's the perfect length to—" His hand started pushing up the hem.
"Stop!" I swatted at him. "The kids could be here any minute. You need to be on your best behavior."
He let his hand drop, and his head fell to my shoulder. "Fine. But we are so not done with this conversation." The twinkle in his eyes made me tingle from head to toe.
Not long after we rejoined the guys in the living room, people started showing up. Rudy and Nathan took up posts outside the front door to help anyone come in through the pile of photographers outside. When Beans showed up, he joined Rudy and Nathan. He hadn't been to a Christmas Eve dinner with us in a few years, since his mom died, but I called and convinced him it was time to rejoin the family. Cicily told me she had to threaten him, but now that he was here, he seemed to be having a good time.
The group of people Mom and I had accumulated as chosen family filtered in. Mae and her husband Connor were tongue-tied when I introduced them to Sean—they were both really big movie buffs. Selma and Larry seemed very suspicious of Sean, but they were polite. Larry was our resident conspiracy theorist, so I'd expected some uneasiness there. He often talked about actors and politicians plotting against citizens to bring about a new communist regime. He was a little loony but completely harmless. Marnie's husband smiled profusely at Sean, but excused his self to the kitchen and didn't return. Manny and his girlfriend, Gloria, were star-struck by Sean, but Jake was immediately at ease with him. I was a little upset for Jake since Christana hadn't come with him, but I decided it was best to wait until he was alone to ask him about that.
Finally, when Petey, Fran, and the adoratwins arrived, we were able to lock the doors and enjoy ourselves. The girls took one look at me and launched into my arms. They were almost seven years old—I really had to talk to them about the launching thing. They were getting too big for me to hold myself up. Luckily, Sean stood behind me with his hand on the small of my back, offering me support as I struggled to stay upright in my heels.
They were off and running, telling me about their trip to the mountains and how they'd gotten new skis. I could hardly keep up with their energy, but I knew it was more about me smiling and listening than anything else. I asked questions when I could get a word in and laughed at their innocent words. They were the sweetest girls. When Petey cleared his throat, I looked up to see him staring at me with a raised eyebrow. Uh, oh.
I leaned down and whispered, "Girls, why don't you go taste test one of the cookies Annalisa made in the kitchen?" They looked at each other quickly and went tearing off in the direction of the kitchen. I stood up straight. "Petey, I'd really like you to meet my boyfriend, Sean."
Sean stepped to the side of me and extended his hand. Next to Petey, Sean looked huge. They were both close in height, but Sean's shoulders were broader and his muscles stood out in the charcoal dress shirt he had rolled up at the sleeves. But I loved Petey. He didn't show one ounce of intimidation. He shook Sean's hand, scrutinizing him with that same raised eyebrow the entire time.
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Bennett. I've heard a lot about you."
I snapped my head back at Sean. Who told him Petey's last name?
"Funny, I don't know that much about you," Petey responded tersely.
"I'd honestly like to change that." Sean's voice was firm but incredibly sincere.
Slowly, Petey's eyebrow lowered. "Okay then, let's have a seat, and you can tell me why you're good enough for Morgan."
Sean shook his head. "I can't do that. The truth is, Mr. Bennett, I'm not. But I'll spend the rest of my life trying to be."
"Hmm. I like where you're going with this. Join me in the office." Sean nodded, and they walked off toward my office.
I turned to Fran. "What just happened here?"
She laughed at me and put her arms around me. "You know he has to be your protector."
"Fran, I have six protectors here, not including Cerise and Annalisa, and now Petey too." Before I even finished my statement, Anthony came to stand beside me. I turned to him. "What?"
"I'm your shadow until Sean comes back." I threw my hands up in the air, but Fran's laughter made me calm down and got me laughing too.
I introduced the guys around to everyone and sat on the couch, talking with Fran and the girls. It was at least a half hour before Sean and Petey came out of the office, laughing.
"I'll remember that," Sean said, as he patted Petey on the back and made his way over to me.
"Remember what?" I asked him.
"Sock puppets." He laughed.
"You told him about that?" I accused Petey, but Petey just laughed.
"Petey told me a few very interesting stories." He narrowed his eyes at me. Great. What else was I going to hear about later?
"And he told me some very interesting things as well." Petey sounded angry, really angry. "In fact, I'd like to speak to you in your office."
"Petey." Fran stood up and put her hand on Petey's crossed arms. "Can't this wait? It's a party."
"Oh, trust me, honey, you'll want a few words with her too."
"Petey?" Sean said seriously. "You know I agree that something needs to be said, but I think it should wait until later—maybe before we leave."
Petey stared intently at Sean for a moment then let his shoulders slump. "I guess you're right, Sean. But we will be discussing this." He didn't even look at me, just walked away with Fran.
"What did you tell him? Why does he hate me?" I could hear
the panic in my voice. The girls turned to me, asking what was wrong.
Fran came back and gave me a sympathetic smile. "Girls, give Morgan a minute with Sean." She put out her hands, and the girls reluctantly took them. "He'll be fine, Morgan. He's just upset." I stared wide-eyed at her, not having a clue what was going on.
Stewie, who'd been standing near the doorway, walked over to sit next to me on the couch. "What's wrong?" He put his hand on mine.
"I don't know." I shrugged. "No one will tell me."
Sean put his hand out and pulled me up.
"Let's go upstairs for a minute?"
I followed him. When we were away from everyone, he put his hand to my cheek. His fingers were so warm and strong against my skin. "I didn't know, sweetie. You're so close to him, I didn't even think that he didn't know."
"Know what?"
"About Brent abusing you."
Oh shit. I stepped away from him and walked down the hallway, shoving my hand through my hair. I'd kept it from Petey on purpose. I knew he would be mad at me for not telling him in the first place. But I also knew he would have done something stupid and gotten himself hurt up against Brent. I couldn't tell him. Now—oh God, now he must be so angry with me.
"Morgan. He'll understand. Just give him some time. He feels like he failed you. He feels like he should have known. He's more mad at himself than at you. But you should have told him."
"I couldn't, Sean. He would have gone out and killed Brent or tried to. He had the girls and Fran. I couldn't take the chance he'd go into protector mode and do something stupid."
He pulled me into his arms and held me tight. "I understand why you did it, but you should have told him all of this. He could have helped you through it. If you'd told him when Brent first hit you, it could have—"
I pushed away from him. "What's the point in talking about what could have happened? That's why he's mad, isn't it? He could have fixed everything. Well Brent could have never hit me. And you could have texted the right number. Why does it even matter now? I'm safe. I'm fine. I have a million protectors down there, and I don't need them. I can take care of myself, and I did. So why the hell does it matter?" I was close to tears as I paced down the hallway again.
Accidental Texting: Finding Love despite the Spotlight Page 38
