The Broken One

by Cardello, Ruth

  She made a face. “Gross.”

  “Right? Can you believe he wanted to come over after that?”

  She tipped her head in concession of how unlikely it was that many men would have. “So he drove over and what?”

  I told her about how I’d showered and still been wet when he’d arrived.

  “I’m sure you were,” she joked.

  My shoulders shook as I laughed. “You’re so bad. Anyway, he told me I should change.”

  “How deliciously commanding of him.”

  I blushed, then met her gaze. “I did kind of like it. Is that wrong? I don’t like being told what to do, but I might want to try it for a night.”

  Erica hooted. “Who wouldn’t with a man like that? When I saw the way he was carrying you, I decided to drop ten pounds and test my husband’s back. He used to do shit like that, but then the kids came along and we’ve gotten . . . uncreative. I think we need a weekend away for a wall-banging good time like we used to.”

  “Like I said, I owe you. I can watch your kids here any weekend or at your place.”

  “Our house might be safer. That way, if the boys break something, I don’t have to feel guilty.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “No sex, but he undressed you and carried you around. Interesting.”

  “He didn’t dress or undress me. He stepped out of the bedroom while I changed.”

  “Shame, although I guess that makes the whole thing less creepy.”

  I took another sip of water as I thought about that. “A little voice in my head did question whether it was safe to let a man in the house like that, but when he was here it didn’t feel weird.”

  “I wouldn’t have asked him to leave either.”

  I tossed a pillow at her.

  She sprayed it with Lysol.

  “So how did you leave it? What did he say as he left?”

  “He said he’d call.”

  “Has he yet?”

  I looked at my phone. No messages. No missed calls. “No.”

  “Hey, don’t make that face. He probably didn’t want to wake you.”

  “Maybe.” I didn’t like how disappointed I was that I hadn’t heard from him. “This is a bad idea, Erica. Ava and I are happy. My business is solid. Life is good. Why would I want to mess with that?”

  She shook her head.

  I continued, “He was probably just being polite when he’d said he’d call. I mean, look at me. I looked worse last night. What’s more likely? That he came, saw me in this state, and decided he couldn’t live without me? A man who looks like that? Or would it be more realistic to think that since losing his wife he feels a certain compulsion to help women in need, but after playing nursemaid to me all night, he returned to his life with a sense of relief?”

  “Wow, you have him all figured out, don’t you? You’re right; he’s way too fucked up for you to date. Let me call some of my other friends to see if any of them are interested in him.”

  “Funny.”

  “Oh, you were being serious? I had no idea you were this insecure.”

  “I’m not insecure.”

  “You’re also not ugly, but FYI, even ugly people hook up. The world is full of couples no one can explain.”

  I processed that one for a moment.

  She sighed. “Sure, right now you look like shit, but normally you’re not bad.”

  “Thank you? I think?”

  “You should call him.”

  “No way.”

  “You’re right. You should just sit here, wait for him to come around, and sulk. Let the man make all the moves, just like he probably always does. That won’t bore him into finding someone else.”

  “I can’t call him.”

  “I know you have his number. You said he called you. So there is no can’t . . . unless you’re admitting you don’t have the balls to do it.”

  “Technically I don’t.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “What would I even say?” I asked.

  “Check with Teri to see if she’s free to watch Ava for a few hours this weekend, then pick a place and tell him to meet you there.”

  “You mean ask him.”

  “Do you want to have great sex or something not worth sharing with me? I’ve known you a long time and I’ve never seen you glow. You know what I mean?”

  “I can’t just sleep with him. I have Ava to think of.”

  “Ava won’t be there.”

  I hugged the blanket closer. “Aren’t you supposed to warn me he won’t respect me if I rush this? Tell me to take it slowly?”

  “When was the last time you had sex?” Horror filled her expression. “Don’t even say before Ava.”

  I made a pained face.

  “Hon, you need to call that man, fuck his brains out, then worry about a relationship later.”

  I shook my head, thought about what she’d said, then picked up my phone to send a text

  Teri, could you watch Ava Saturday night?

  Teri: Sure.

  I dropped my phone on my lap. “She said yes.” I looked down at my phone again. “Oh my God, she said yes.”

  After the enormity of it sank in, the wheels in my head started turning. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.

  I’m a modern woman.

  Strong.

  Bold.

  Success in any endeavor doesn’t come from doing it halfway.

  Time to be clear about what I want.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  * * *

  SEBASTIAN

  “This was exactly what I was looking for, Miss Steele,” I said after glancing over a report my assistant had handed me when I walked through her office. I was feeling good after a productive morning, a workout, and a quick lunch. “You did good work on this one.”

  “Thank you,” Miss Steele said in polite response.

  I smiled as those two words reminded me of another conversation. I’d held off calling Heather all morning because I’d wanted to let her rest, but I was about to walk into my office, close the door, and rectify that.

  Miss Steele tentatively smiled, then rushed back behind her desk, looking confused.

  “Hold my calls.” I tucked the folder she’d handed me under my arm.

  “Absolutely, Mr. Romano.”

  I was still smiling when I closed the door of my office and took out my phone. It rang in my hand.

  Christof. “Do you have a minute?” His tone was serious enough that I became instantly concerned.

  “Yes. Sure. Is something wrong?”

  “No, but I’m hoping you’re free on Saturday. Remember Gian saying he’d been accepted to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore?”

  “How could I forget when we all celebrated how the youngest of us is determined to be a doctor?” I joked.

  “He might be, but I think he’s worried if he moves away he won’t see us anymore.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Is it? We don’t know what it’s like to have a mother ditch and run. No matter how much he says it doesn’t affect him, you know it does. Worrying about what will happen with us is all that’s holding him back. I spoke to Mauricio, and he agrees—we should go down there with him this weekend. We’ll fly down together Friday night. It’s less than a two-hour flight, which will show him how easy it would be to come back for the weekends or for us to go there. He needs to find housing, and we can scope out a couple of places with him. Mom and Dad are on board. We’ll get a place for the weekend, check out the school grounds with Gian, then come back on Sunday night. We want to show him we support the move, and we’re not going anywhere.”

  “I’m in.”

  “You are? Great. Your opinion has always carried weight with Gian.”

  Although I hadn’t done much in the past few years to earn that honor, I knew it was true. Everything else Christof had said was also sadly true. Mom and Dad had always been tight lipped whenever it came to anything related to Gian’s biological par
ents. When asked, they’d assured us that not asking was the kindest thing we could do for Gian. No one knew what that meant, but Gian was one of us no matter how it had happened.

  Heather would understand that, since that was how she seemed to feel about Ava.

  I was not a perfect man, but one of my strengths was my family. They had always been what mattered most to me. “Send me the details. I know how important this is to Gian, and it sounds like a good way to show him we’re not going anywhere.”

  “Will do. Hey, how is your girlfriend feeling today?”

  “She’s not my girlfriend—not yet, but if you’re done, I’ll finally be able to call her and see what I can do about that.”

  “I look forward to meeting her.”

  “We’re a long way off from that, brother, but I’m hanging up now.”

  He was chuckling as I did.

  I walked over to the window of my office and took a moment before calling. I wasn’t used to a woman occupying so much space in my head, nor was I used to my family being involved in my dating life. If pressed, I doubted they could name anyone I’d been with since Therese.

  Heather and I were still circling around each other, not quite sure how to move forward, and my family not only knew her name but wanted to meet her. It was unsettling. It also supported the sense I had that this wasn’t something I wanted to rush.

  Part of me, everything below my belt, wanted to sweep her off somewhere soon and explore just exactly how intense the heat between us could get. My cock made a convincing argument that there would be plenty of time to get to know her better—afterward.

  I normally would have agreed, but this felt too important to treat like every other relationship I’d had recently. My girlfriend? I groaned. The term was juvenile. Dating, the kind that involved more than a few expensive dinners followed by sex, was something I was out of practice with.

  Did men still send flowers?

  I wanted to do this right.

  The buzz of my phone interrupted my thoughts. “Speak,” I barked, annoyed that I’d fielded another call before speaking to Heather.

  “Sebastian? Sorry. Is this a bad time?”

  Heather. “No. Not at all. I was about to call you.”

  “I’m glad, because I’ve been thinking about you all day.” Her voice was low and sexy.

  I was instantly on. “Have you? I’ll admit to the same affliction.”

  “Good,” she purred. “Because I’m going to rock your world this Saturday. Text me your address, and I’ll send a car for you. Don’t ask where I’m taking you. I want to surprise you—in oh so many ways.”

  I loosened my tie and fought to concentrate as all my blood left my brain. “This Saturday? I’m not going to be in town—”

  “Right. Of course you won’t be. I’m such an idiot.”

  “Heather—”

  “Forget I called. This was stupid.”

  The call ended while I was still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. I tried to call her back, but she didn’t pick up.

  Had my sweet, modest-pajama-wearing Heather just offered to steal me away for a wild weekend? Holy fuck, YES.

  Johns Hopkins. My family. Gian.

  “Mom? Dad? Do you mind if we postpone our trip to Baltimore? Yeah, I know it’s important, but Heather just offered to rock my world.”

  Dammit.

  I typed Pick up, Heather, then deleted it, because it sounded like a command.

  Please pick up, I wrote, then deleted that as well. Desperate—no one found that attractive.

  I absolutely want to fuck you, but this weekend doesn’t work for me. I wrote the words in mockery of my mental state and of the irony of the timing.

  “Mr. Romano?” Miss Steele asked from my door, and I jumped.

  Jumped and accidentally hit “Send.”

  Fuck me.

  No. No. No.

  “How do you delete a text?” I growled the rhetorical question.

  “I’m sorry?”

  I’d already figured out how, but hesitated. Heather had just hung up, which meant she had her phone on her, probably still in her hand. The only thing worse than sending that message was instantly deleting it.

  Was there an emoji for shit like this? A smiley-faced eggplant? One that meant . . . just kidding, not actually that much of a dick.

  Fuck.

  Miss Steele made a shuffling sound that brought my attention back to her. “What? What was so important that you had to tell me when I said I didn’t want to be disturbed?” She shrank from my tone, which made me feel even worse. I ran my hand through my hair. “Sorry. What do you need, Miss Steele?”

  “I thought you might want to know there’s another package for you.”

  Fine. Whatever. “Bring it in.”

  She put it on the table inside my office and skittered out, closing the door behind her. I walked over to it. Same wrapping as the one Heather had sent. Too small to be more cookies. I tore open the note.

  Hoping you like surprises as much as I do.—Heather

  I tucked her note in the breast pocket of my jacket, then opened her gift. Dice for lovers? I read the packaging—Oh. One die had parts of the body on it. The other had sexy action words. Suck. Lick. Blow.

  I groaned.

  It was erotic in a sweet, earnest way.

  I should have said yes and convinced my family to go to Baltimore another weekend. Her call had taken me by surprise, though.

  I pocketed the dice as well, then took another look at the message I’d sent. She hadn’t responded.

  Shocking.

  I could text that I had been kidding, but decided that wouldn’t help.

  On the plus side, it was pretty clear that she was interested in me.

  If I explained to her what had happened, we might have a good laugh about it—something I couldn’t do if she didn’t want to speak to me.

  “What did you do to upset Miss Steele this time?” Mauricio asked as he sauntered into my office.

  “Does no one respect a closed door?” I snapped.

  “Ouch, you’re in a mood. Christof told me you were on board for this weekend. Is that what this is about? Do you think the Bhatt project will fall apart if you step away for a few days? It won’t, you know.”

  “I realize that, and I’m not in a mood.”

  “Whatever you say.” He looked around, then headed toward the table where remnants of Heather’s gift remained. Thankfully only the wrapping paper. “Another gift. I’m jealous.”

  I slid my phone into my jacket pocket. “What do you want? Please tell me it’s not just lecturing about my assistant.”

  “You could be nicer to her.”

  “She could be better at her job. We all have areas to work on.”

  “You’re a real asshole sometimes.”

  I expelled a breath and deflated a bit. “Tell me about it.”

  Mauricio’s eyebrows rose. “You’re not referring to Miss Steele. What happened that I don’t know about?”

  “Nothing I can share. I just messed up with someone, but I’ll fix it.”

  “A woman. The woman?”

  “Yes.”

  “You made a move on her while she was sick?”

  “No, and I don’t want to talk about this with you. Since when are you interested in my social life?”

  Mauricio picked up a piece of the wrapping paper, balled it, and tossed it at me. “Since you found someone you might actually like. You spent the night at her house. Was she as amazing as Mom thinks she is? I think we should wait to see what skeletons she has in her closet before any of us endorse her, but you know how Mom gets once she has an opinion on something.”

  I made a warning sound deep in my throat. “Heather is not a topic for family debate. I went to see her because she was sick. That’s all anyone needs to know until, and only if, there is anything else to share.”

  “But you do like her, right?”

  I sighed. “She seems like a very nice woman . . . who
might want someone who is less of a dick.”

  Mauricio came over, chucked me in the arm, and joked, “Don’t be so hard on yourself; you’re a catch.”

  “Thanks. Now can I get back to work?”

  “Sure you don’t want any advice? I have a keen understanding of the female mind.”

  “I’ll pass,” I answered with heavy sarcasm.

  He shot me his winning smile. “Come on, you know you want to tell me.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Did she see you out with someone else?”

  “No.”

  “Did you punch someone she’s dating?”

  “She’s not dating anyone.”

  He shrugged. “I know what this is. You’re used to not caring if a woman likes you or not. You’re spooked.”

  “I’m not fifteen.”

  “Women are not that hard to please. Send her a few little gifts. She’ll forgive whatever you did.”

  “Wow, with such deep insight into the female psyche, you must be considering writing a book on the subject.”

  “Fine. Make it more complicated than it has to be.” He sauntered back toward my office door.

  “Mauricio?” I hated that I didn’t have a better plan than the one he’d tossed out.

  “Yes?”

  “What’s a good first gift to send?”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  * * *

  HEATHER

  I absolutely want to fuck you, but this weekend doesn’t work for me.

  Over the phone I read the text to Erica, because there was no way I was going to let her talk me into behaving rashly again.

  “Hey, on the positive, it wasn’t a no.” Her tone was light, but I knew she felt bad.

  As we spoke, I walked my blanket back to my bedroom. Ava would be home in a couple of hours, and I intended to have everything back the way it had been. The house. Me. “I know you’re trying to help, but does he sound like someone you can imagine me with?”

  “No,” she admitted grudgingly. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve seen you meet and turn away so many guys. I wanted this to work out for you.”

  “I know. I’m not upset. I just feel like an idiot.”

  “He’s the idiot for saying no. You would have rocked his world.”

  I chuckled without much humor. “That’s pretty much what I told him.”