“I’ll see you Thursday.” She blew him a kiss.
“O’Malley,” Sean said into the phone, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
“Sean, it’s Cole. I got your message.”
“Damn, that was quick,” Sean adjusted the phone on his shoulder so he could type some notes into his calendar at the same time. “Thanks again. The equipment you donated to the gym does a lot of good for those kids.”
“No problem. I was looking to see if you’re free next Wednesday for that tour?”
Sean checked his calendar. “How does 4:30 sound?”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”
After they hung up, Sean realized his name was all over the clinic’s grant proposal and he had left Cole his office number instead of his cell phone number. He never told Liz he worked here. He didn’t want Gladys or Dr. Jenkins unknowingly revealing his true academic status. Sean would just have to hope Cole wouldn’t mention it to Liz. This was getting complicated. Tangled webs and all that. It was getting harder to keep his lies straight.
*** ***
“So is your friend nice?” Jonathan asked. “Have Sarah, and Peter, and Honey met him?”
Liz hooked her arm around him in the back of the taxi. “Cole and Sarah have met him. They think he’s pretty cool.”
“Don’t say cool.”
“Why?”
“Because cool is for kids. You should say grown-up words.” Jonathan rolled his eyes at her.
“Okay, smart boy, what’s a grown up word for coooooool?” Liz drew out the word and was rewarded with an exasperated sigh.
“Laudable.”
“Laudable?” Liz laughed. “All right. Yes, they think he’s laudable. Where did you hear that from?”
“It was one of my daily words on the calendar you gave me.”
Liz shook her head; he was too smart for her. She hoped Jonathan liked Sean. They got out at the gym and went inside. A class of kids about Jonathan’s age was just coming in the door. Jonathan stepped away, as though he didn’t want to be associated with her, and walked in after them. He darted a glance over his shoulder to make sure she followed, though.
The kids knew where to go and headed back to the locker room area. Liz saw a couple of fighters in the ring going at it and McManus yelling pointers. She caught up to Jonathan and, since he was already in his exercise clothes, she walked him to the area that Sean had shown her.
He was there, stretching out on the mat. But he got up to his feet in one lithe movement when he saw them come in.
“Glad you could make it.” He kissed her on the cheek and held out his hand to Jonathan. “I’m Sean O’Malley. You must be Jonathan. Your mom told me all about you.”
“What did she say?” Jonathan narrowed his eyes at her.
“She said you liked Transformers and Legos.”
Jonathan looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “That’s kids’ stuff. I like it, though.”
“Me too,” Sean whispered back. “I won’t tell if you won’t. Fist bump?”
Jonathan bumped fists with him.
“So do you want to watch for a bit or get right into the class? We’re going to go over some very basic stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Liz asked.
“No sparring,” he assured her.
“Aw,” Jonathan moaned.
“You have to learn how to hit and how to be hit before you can get into the ring. Safety, first.”
“You sound like my mom,” he groaned.
“Good.” Sean winked at Liz. “I see you’re dressed for some exercise, too. We can work on some moves when I pair up the kids.”
A smile tickled her lips. There were a lot of moves she’d like to try on him.
He returned the smile as if he knew what she was thinking.
Their intimate moment was broken by the fifteen or so kids coming in. They all wore the same red shirt and red gym shorts. Sean lined them up in three rows and had them do arm and leg stretches. After a few jumping jacks, he handed out the jump ropes.
Liz was content to watch. She didn’t think she’d be half as graceful as he was. He started them off slow and then faster. The only sounds in the gym were the whizzing of the ropes and the pounding feet on the mat.
“Good,” he said. “Let’s suit up and do some drills.” Sean handed out helmets and gloves. “Get a partner to help you with your gloves.”
He walked over to where Liz was sitting down.
“Hey, beautiful.”
She could feel herself blushing. To cover her embarrassment, she said, “Those gloves are bigger than he is.” Liz kept her voice down so Jonathan wouldn’t notice her talking about him. “Are you sure the headgear is protective enough?”
“The gloves are regulation sixteen ounces. The headgear is professional grade. It’s like the one I use, only smaller. The only thing different about this gear is we skip the mouthguards with the beginner class because they’re not facing off against each other. Don’t worry, sweetheart. He’s going to be fine.”
He turned back to the class and clapped for their attention. “Line up on the vertical yellow lines. Yellow lines only please. Okay, we’re going to stand like boxers. Any lefties in class?” He looked around. A few kids raised their hands. “Do everything opposite of what I tell you. I’ll demonstrate both lefty and righty stances.”
Sean got into his stance. Liz felt a trill of awareness drift over her. He looked like a tiger about to pounce.
“Straddle the line. Righties step forward and put your left toe on the line. Put the heel of your back foot on the line. Feet diagonal. Shoulder width. Lefties, just the opposite. Like this.” He showed them. “Stay loose. Don’t be so stiff. Bend your knees a bit. Raise your back heel. You want your weight evenly distributed. This should start to feel natural. Gloves up. Elbows down. You’re protecting your face with your gloves and your ribs with your elbows. Got it?”
Sean reversed his pose. He went to every child and corrected stances and how they were holding their gloves. Jonathan was spot on. Pride warred with trepidation.
“Look over your gloves, drop your chin. Protect your head with your gloves. Righties, put your right hand in back by your chin. Left hand in front. Lefties copy me. Excellent. I see a bunch of you holding your breath. Breathe. Let’s try some footwork drills. Step and drag. Step and drag.”
Sean had them do that up and down the gym.
“Now let’s work on pivoting.”
He had them do a few more techniques and the class followed along diligently. He was a good teacher. Sean had a way with the children. They looked up to him. Although, he lost them a few times when he got too technical with some of the descriptions.
“Let’s practice punching.”
“Yes,” Jonathan said, along with a few other students.
“Spread out.” Sean waved his hands. “No contact. Watch me first.”
He demonstrated the different types of punches: jab, right cross, left hook, overhand right, left uppercut, right uppercut, body . . . He started to lose her when he went into combos.
“Now you guys. Jab. Keep going.”
Sean again walked around. They went over each punch several times. Sean corrected their stances, their footwork. He was patient and supportive. When he took time with Jonathan to correct him, Liz had to blink back tears. Sarah’s Cole showed her what Jonathan had been missing. The guy presence. Jonathan deserved someone like Sean in his life. Liz inhaled sharply when she realized the truth: so did she.
The lesson wound down shortly after a flurry of combinations that looked like a windmill to her. Sean had them put away the equipment and promised them if they did it neatly, he’d let them watch the sparring matches in the other side of the gym until their rides came.
Sean sat down next to her. “What did you think?”
“You were great. Jonathan is enthralled. Thank you.”
“He’s welcome any time.” Sean nudged her with his shoulder. “I missed you.”
/> “You could have called.” Liz hid a smile. Just because she was head over heels for him didn’t mean she was going to make it easy on him.
“I was dead on my feet. The phone works both ways.”
“I had to finish up on the raffle tickets and the posters for the Halloween dance next Friday. Jonathan’s school is doing a fundraiser,” she explained. “I was volunteered.”
“Are you going to go to the dance?”
“I promised Jonathan we’d do some trick or treating, but, yeah, we’re going to end up at the dance afterward.”
“Want company?”
“You’re going to have to dress in costume,” she warned.
“What are you guys going as?”
“I’m going to be Cinderella and he’s going as the Red Power Ranger.”
“I’ll be your prince,” Sean whispered in her ear.
“Get out.” She pushed him.
“How hard can a prince costume be?”
“Are you serious?” Maybe he really was Mr. Perfect after all. She put her hand on his leg and lightly tickled her fingers up his thigh. “I’d make it worth your while.”
“I’m not up on Cinderella,” he admitted. “My sister made me watch it a long time ago. Is he a tights-wearing prince?”
“We can watch it tonight,” Jonathan said. Liz jumped guiltily as if he’d caught her necking in the corner with her boyfriend. “It’s my mom’s favorite movie. She’s seen it a bazillion times. She always cries when Cinderelly sings ‘A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.’”
Sean hooked an arm around her shoulders and brought her in for a kiss on the temple. “Sounds like we’re getting the pizza to go. Let me get the kids settled in watching the matches so I can take a shower and then we can get out of here.”
“Can I watch the matches, too?” Jonathan asked.
“Sure,” Liz said, crinkling her nose. “After your shower.”
Chapter Thirteen
We never got around to talking about self-defense,” Sean said as she finished tucking Jonathan into bed.
“I’m too content to think about fighting.” Liz closed the door on her son’s room and joined Sean on the couch, straddling his legs. He immediately cupped her ass, bringing her closer.
Toying with the hair on the back of his neck, she waited for him to kiss her. It had been the best night she had in a long time. Jonathan had come out of the showers like a damp puppy, all wiggles and excitement. Sean explained who each of the fighters were in the ring and what their strong points and weak points were. On the way to the pizza place, Jonathan remembered he had homework. Liz put her foot down and said they’d have to get delivery. She had expected tears or a tantrum, but Jonathan agreed—as long as Sean helped him out with the math worksheets.
Sean was staring at her with an intensity that turned her on. Shifting, she opened her knees so his hardness rested between her thighs. Tingles warmed her body. He slipped his hands inside her yoga pants.
“Take off your shirt,” Sean asked, holding her tight against him when she would have pulled away. “You can leave your bra on.”
“Can I?” she said, tartly. “Jonathan isn’t asleep yet.”
“That’s why my cock isn’t inside you,” he whispered in her ear.
She held on to his shoulders and rocked against him. He squeezed her ass and tugged on her earlobe with a warning bite. Liz melted. She had no defenses against the erotic surge he caused in her. “This is getting serious for me.”
“For me too,” he said. “You’re incredible. Jonathan’s incredible. I want to be a part of your life.”
Joyous little sparks lit up inside her. If explaining ten frames to Jonathan and her so they both actually got it, from the theory to the practice, didn’t scare him off, she had been convinced that her sniffling into a tissue during Cinderella would have.
“I have to tell you a few things,” he said. “About my sister and some of the choices I’ve made since she died.”
Liz stroked his hair, reveling in the lush thickness of it. She wanted to feel it between her thighs. Kissing his forehead, she squirmed closer to him.
“I know this isn’t easy for you,” she said.
“My sister was a porn actress.”
Liz sat back so she could look at him. “A famous one? Would I know her?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. She worked in New York.” Sean sighed. “We grew up on the south shore of Long Island. All she ever wanted to be was a New York City Rockette. She was a majorette in the band. Mary Katherine practiced her high kicks every chance she got—with whoever was around. I’m sure there are some pictures of me and her, her arm slung around my shoulders practicing her kick line.”
The desire banked to a low simmer of intimacy that nearly took her breath away. She pulled her T-shirt over her head. Her sports bra held in her reconstructive breasts and Liz thought she still looked pretty normal from this angle. His quick intake of breath turned her shy gaze back to him.
“I don’t want to interrupt your story. But you’re baring your soul right now, I can tell. The least I can do is bare my chest. I’ve got scars,” she warned, tracing where they were over her bra.
He traced where she indicated with a feathery touch. She couldn’t feel it in the traditional manner, but the tender concern on his face quickened her breath.
“Thank you,” he said, hugging her close. His face buried in her cleavage, Liz fought panic. But it faded, once she realized he wasn’t going to try for more and was satisfied with just holding her. She cuddled him close and enjoyed his nearness. He kissed her chest and up to her neck, nuzzling her cheek and ear. “You are so beautiful.”
“I don’t feel it.”
He kissed her cheek. “You will. I promise. I need to tell you about Mary Katherine, though. I’ve waited too long to do this.”
“You said she died of a drug overdose,” Liz said, stroking his cheek.
“It was a big shock. I identified the body. I didn’t want to inflict that on my parents. We all thought it was a big mistake. But there she was. I wish things had been different and that she would have confided in me.”
“Did you know she was doing the adult films?”
Sean circled his hands over her back. She rested her cheek against his. It seemed to soothe him. “No. None of us did. We figured she was waitressing or doing office work while she interviewed. She started out as a stripper, but then got into the films. My parents still don’t know. They think someone slipped her the drugs and she accidentally took them.”
“What do you think?”
“I think it wasn’t the first time she used the hand-blown glass pipe that was in her personal effects. You want to know the fuck of it, Liz?”
Liz raised her head and nodded. “Tell me.”
“It was the prettiest damn thing I’ve ever seen. It had facets and colors like a prism. It was just the type of thing she would hang in her window, except of course it had drugs in it.” He let out a large sigh.
“Do you think she turned to drugs out of depression or guilt or something related to porn?”
“You’re very insightful. NYU is lucky to have you as a student.” He kissed her lips, and a spark arced though them both.
“Next semester anyways,” she blushed. “I’ve got it all worked out. Sarah is going to pick up Jonathan on Mondays so I can be available—even if they don’t need me. That way I can work on my homework and not have to worry about rushing back. Want to be my study partner?” She batted her eyes at him.
“We’d never get any work done.” He kissed her again.
“We would.” She darted her tongue against his. “After.”
The kissing was unavoidable. She attacked him with greedy kisses, easing up only when she pulled his sweater over his head.
“Should we take this into the bedroom?” he said.
“Not just yet,” Liz rubbed his shoulders. “You’re holding something back, I can feel it.”
“Take off your bra.�
�
Liz was surprised that she was tempted. She wanted him to see her. Wanted him to still want her after seeing the lifeless lumps. “They’re not pretty,” she said in a small voice. “They don’t look like breasts. In addition to the scars, I don’t have nipples. There aren’t any nerve endings so I can’t feel a kiss or your tongue. They’re useless really.”
“I think they’re sexy,” he said.
“That’s because they’re covered,” she joked and shuddered when he held them in his hands.
“You feel that,” Sean said.
“Not like . . .” Words failed her. It wasn’t a sexual feeling, yet him touching her like she was normal—the idea that if she had her D-cups back, he’d be paying attention to them like this—shook her. Liz saw him rub his thumb over where her nipples should have been, and it made her wet. He squeezed her breasts and hummed his appreciation.
“Nice,” he said.
For the first time since the surgery, she felt sexy and normal. She didn’t want the feeling to end. He slipped the straps of her bra down her shoulders. The first of her scars were showing.
“Sean,” Liz whispered. If he recoiled or turned away, she would die.
His tongue traced the scar. She started to shiver.
“God,” she gritted out, pulling on his hair to bring him closer. Grinding on his hard cock, she knew she was soaking her pants and his. “Please.” Her head dipped back when he traced the other scar. “You can’t.”
He kissed the top of each breast and leaned back against the couch.
“Too much. Not tonight.” Liz broke away. “You’re not mad?”
Sean shook his head. “I want you too much. I can wait.”
Rotating her hips, Liz licked her lips. “I want this,” she ground down on his hard bulge. “In my mouth, my pussy, and my ass.”
“You’re going to make me come in my pants,” he chided. “And I still haven’t told you what I need to.”
“I keep interrupting you.”
“I don’t mind. I’d put off this conversation if I could.” His hands were in the back of her pants, spreading her cheeks.
“Baby steps,” she told him and bit his neck.
“What?” he grunted, thrusting up into her.
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