Feeling the Buzz (3 page)

“Could I have it please?” She smiled
pleasantly.

“Right now?”

“Yes please.”

Giles shrugged and opened his door to paw
through the junk covering the passenger seat. “Ah, here it is.” He handed it
over, letting his hand linger on hers during the transfer.

“Thank you.” Jen repressed a shudder at his
touch.

“So how about dinner tonight? And maybe
afterward we could experiment with the toys Gaby is always giving you.” He
smiled and placed his hands on her shoulders.

She shook them off. “I don’t think so,
Giles. You’re a no-good, two-timing rat, and I wouldn’t date you again if you
were the last man in New Zealand.”

Shock flickered across Giles’ face, swiftly
followed by anger. “I was only using you for sex,” he snarled.

“Is that right?”

A dangerous growl sounded behind her.

“And you’re not even good at that,” Giles
added.

Jen’s fist lashed out before the thought
even registered. She struck his nose with a loud, satisfying crunch.

“Ow!” Blood poured down Giles’ face and
splattered over his cotton shirt. He cradled his nose and moaned pitifully.

“You should go,” Jen said.

“I’ll press charges. I have a witness.”

“I didn’t see a thing,” Sebastian said. “I
was tying my bootlace.”

Giles cursed and stumbled around to the
driver’s door of his vehicle, still holding his nose. A few minutes later he
drove off, steering with one hand and holding a wad of tissues to stem his
bleeding nose.

“How come you told me not to hit him?”

“Because if anyone was going to hit him I
wanted it to be me.” Jen didn’t move until Giles’ car disappeared around the
corner. Then she folded up, a whimper of pain escaping her compressed lips. “I
think I’ve broken my hand.”

Chapter Three

“You can’t do any more weeding. You might
as well have an early dinner with me,” Sebastian said, glancing over at her as
he drove from the doctor’s office and turned onto the main street of Sloan.
He’d always liked her feistiness. Hell, he couldn’t believe she’d hit Giles.
His mouth twitched at the memory but he wasn’t dumb enough to let her see his
amusement.

“You don’t have to nursemaid me. You heard
the doctor say that nothing’s broken.”

“He also told you to rest your hand.”

“But I’ve got so many things to do before I
start school. I didn’t expect to waste my afternoon waiting to see the doctor.”

“Tomorrow,” Sebastian said firmly. “We’ll
pick up your prescription for pain relief, and I’ll cook you dinner at Wayne’s
place.”

“Just because you held me during an orgasm
it doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do. You’re not the boss of me.
I quit, remember?”

Sebastian pulled up outside the pharmacy.
“You didn’t quit. You handed in your notice. Where’s your prescription? It will
be quicker if I run in and collect it.”

“You never used to be such a tyrant.”

“Because you used to behave with a modicum
of sense,” Sebastian retorted. “Prescription. Now.”

“Bully.” She slapped it onto his palm.

When he returned with the pills she was
hunched up, her eyes closed. Her hair was straight again today, but a few
errant brown curls were attempting to spring forth at her temples. Her cheeks
were pale, a marked change from earlier. He started up his vehicle and headed
for home. Wayne’s house. He didn’t have a home now.

When they arrived Jen was asleep. Wayne
hadn’t returned from his visit yet because his vehicle wasn’t in the driveway,
but it didn’t matter. Wayne wanted Jen. He wouldn’t mind if Sebastian persuaded
her to stay the night. Of course he might be a little pissed if Jen spent the
night in Sebastian’s bed, but he’d be damned if he intended to spend the night
sleeping on the couch. It was about six inches too short for his six foot three
inch frame for a start, and the leather was slippery and uncomfortable during
the summer heat.

“Jen, we’re here.”

When she didn’t answer, he climbed out and
trotted around to the passenger side. After unfastening the seatbelt, he bent
to lift her out.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking you inside. You’ve been overdoing
things,” he added, his tone skimming along the edges of accusation.

“I can walk. I’m not an invalid.”

A snort escaped him. “I don’t think I’ve
ever met such a contrary woman. You weren’t like this in the office. You’re
worse than my ex.”

“I’m nothing like your ex.”

All true. Jen didn’t have a deceitful bone
in her body. “But you are obstinate.”

“There’s nothing wrong with independence.”

“There’s nothing wrong with accepting help
from a friend either.”

A crinkle creased her forehead. “Are we
friends?”

“Yes.” And soon they’d be more if Wayne had
his way. Wayne thought she’d be right for both of them. The truth was that
although he’d protested, he’d agree with almost anything Wayne suggested if it
meant he could spend time with his best friend. Sad but true. “Yes, we’re
friends.”

“I’m not sure men and women can be friends
without sex messing everything up.”

“Are you saying we’re gonna have sex?”

“I— No! You’re twisting my words. You need
to feed me. I have low blood sugar,” she said. “Cripes, normally I’m better at
self-censoring.”

“How much did you censor while working for
us?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Not telling.”

“I’ll worm it out of you later or set Wayne
on you. He’ll charm the truth from you.”

“I’m immune,” she said with a trace of
smugness. “You can’t pull that crap on me.”

“We’ll see.” Sebastian helped her out of
his truck, taking a moment to grab her pain pills before he guided her inside.

“Do you want to watch me make dinner or do
you want to lie down?”

“For the last time, I’m not an invalid.
I’ll sit at the breakfast counter. What are you making for dinner?”

Sebastian opened the fridge to peer inside.
“Penne pasta with salmon, mushrooms and asparagus in a cream sauce. Maybe a
salad on the side or some garlic bread.”

“You can make that?”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Sebastian
pulled several items out of the fridge and set them on the counter. “It doesn’t
take much to cook a meal.”

“I could have gone home, you know. You
didn’t have to kidnap me.”

“Maybe I was lonely and wanted some
company.”

“Humph!”

“I’m not like Wayne,” Sebastian said.
“After the divorce—never mind. Do you want a drink of something? Orange juice
or water.”

“Give me alcohol. I’ll take a beer,” Jen
said.

Sebastian returned to the fridge and
grabbed two bottles of beer. He opened them both and handed one to Jen.
Bemused, he watched her drink. His ex wouldn’t have been seen dead holding a
beer, let alone drinking one. He took a swallow of his before setting it aside
and starting to chop an onion. “What else is on your to-do list? Maybe I could
help.”

“You don’t have to help me. I’ve been
looking after myself for a long time now.”

Sebastian paused with the knife action.
“Did you ever think that I might be at a loose end and would like to fill my
time helping a friend?”

“What about your women and the revolving
door on your bedroom?”

Sebastian crushed a clove of garlic with
the flat of his knife, disposed of the paperlike covering and started to chop
it into small dice. If only she knew. “That’s Wayne’s bedroom, not mine.”

“Don’t tell fibs. I’ve seen you with lots
of different women.”

“That doesn’t mean I sleep with them all.”
Silent questions floated in the air, and he could feel her gaze drilling into
his back as he turned away.

“Your ex-wife hurt you,” she said finally.

“There were faults on both sides.”

“What sort of faults?”

She was being nosy, but he knew nothing he
said would emerge on the Sloan gossip web. “We shouldn’t have married in the
first place. You know my parents died when I was three years old?”

“Yeah, I know you and Wayne met in foster
care when you were five.”

“I thought I could make a home with
Veronica. A life. But it turned out we wanted different things.”

“A home takes work. It’s not just a house.
It’s the people and the love they have for each other that makes a home.” Her
voice held warmth and empathy. It twisted through him, taking root in an unused
portion of his heart. Why hadn’t he met someone like Jen when he’d needed it
most?

“Wise words.” He kept his attention on the
mushrooms he was slicing. “I wish I’d realized that back then.”

“What are you going to do now?”

Sebastian knew she wasn’t talking about
cooking the piece of salmon he’d unwrapped. He paused, trying not to flinch at
the thought of the long road of nothingness that stretched before him.

“I don’t know.” The truth emerged before he
could think up some bullshit answer. He couldn’t stay with Wayne forever. For
his sanity’s sake, he’d leave. Wayne said he didn’t mind Sebastian crashing at
his place, but he had to move on, and soon, before he did something stupid to
sever their long-time friendship. “We’ve got a lot of work lined up. We’ll be
busy until at least the end of the year.”

“Hmm,” Jen said. “Which way is the toilet?”

“Through that door, second on the right.”

She nodded and he watched her walk from the
kitchen, sensing he’d disappointed her with his answer. The truth was he didn’t
have a clue. Work filled his days and some of his weekends, and since his
divorce, he’d played hard during his downtime, dating lots of women. Sleeping
with a few of them. It had gotten old fast.

Sebastian put on a pot of water to boil for
the pasta and started to fry the onion and mushrooms.

“Which room is yours?”

Sebastian looked up. “Someone’s been
snooping.”

“Yeah.” She smirked as she slid onto the
stool again. “I had to check out the famous revolving doors.”

“Guess.”

“Well, Wayne is the messy one, but both
rooms are tidy.” She scanned his face, her gaze like a physical touch. His
breath caught at the unfamiliar sensations coursing through him. Happiness.
Confusion because the feeling was so foreign.

“Mrs. Partington does some cleaning for
Wayne once a week. She normally comes on Friday but this week she came
yesterday, which is why Wayne’s room is still relatively tidy.”

Jen nodded. “I didn’t know you liked to
read.”

“Good guess.” A large bookcase filled one
wall of his bedroom, and it was crammed full of books.

“How do you like the ereader?”

His brows rose. “You did snoop.”

“Answer my question. I was thinking of
getting one.”

“I tend to buy more ebooks these days.
There’s a big selection available and I don’t need to worry about storage.”

“What do you read?”

“Just about anything. Go and get my ereader
and try it out.”

“Thanks!” Jen beamed and jumped off the
stool. She returned moments later and perched at the breakfast bar, muttering a
little when she forgot and tried to use her right hand. “Oh my god. You’re
reading an erotic romance.”

“It was free.” And it was actually quite
good.

“A threesome. Kinky.”

“Do you think three people can have a
relationship?” The question popped out before he could curtail the thought.

Her head jerked up, her eyes rounding as
she stared at him. “It works in stories.”

“Yes.”
Wow, that was a real smooth
introduction. Exactly why I should leave this stuff to Wayne.
Shock
followed swiftly. What? Was he actually considering Wayne’s crazy idea?

“Gaby, Liam and Fletch seem happy.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Heat suffused her cheeks, and she couldn’t
meet his intense gaze any longer. She focused on the ereader’s screen. “I’m too
busy for romance.”

“Coward.”

She looked at him then, searching his
expression, trying to work out what he wanted from her. Was he suggesting a
threesome? Or was it a random question because of the story he was reading at
present? “I think it takes three very special people to have that sort of
relationship. There’s a lot of trust involved, and I think it would be easy for
jealousy to creep into the equation. Gaby says open communication is the key.”

“Could you?” Damn, one strike already.
According to his ex, he sucked at expressing his feelings.

“Is this about last night?” She waited
impatiently while Sebastian added the penne to the boiling water. “About Wayne
wanting me to come here with both of you?” She’d felt so safe when she’d stood
between them, pleasure gripping her body. It had been nice to lean on someone
else for a change. Her blush intensified but she forced herself to scrutinize
him, to watch every flicker of expression.

“It’s difficult enough trying to keep one
person happy, let alone two.”

“But you’d have two people to share your
troubles.”

He forced a grin. “Two people to kiss and
caress you.”

Jen frowned at him, fiddled with the label
of her beer bottle. “Would you really do it? Have sex with two people at once?”

Sebastian took the vegetables off the heat
and added a salmon fillet to the pan. It sizzled as the skin met the hot
surface. “Permanently?” He turned to her with a shrug. “It would depend on the
circumstances and the people involved. I’d have to trust them.”

“So you’d go into the situation after
thinking it through. It wouldn’t be impulsive for you.”

“I like sex as much as the next guy. I’ve
had sex since my divorce but the connection is only fleeting. I want more.”
Pain flickered in him as he said the words and her heart twisted. Here was a
guy who wanted marriage and probably fatherhood, yet his wife had screwed him.
Most women would kill for a man who wanted to settle down and grow roots. It
was a pity they were at different stages in their lives, because men like
Sebastian were rare.

Jen picked up her beer and swallowed the
last of the liquid in the bottle. “Would you choose two women or would you want
a man and a woman?”

“I’ve had one threesome and that was with
Wayne and a woman.”

“Who?” Nosy interest slipped the question
out before she could button her lips.

“The who isn’t important.”

He didn’t intend to tell her. Tick on the
approval rating. “Did you talk the encounter to death before you did anything?”

He flipped the salmon, his snort sounding
over the renewed sizzle of the pan. “No we did not. We all drank too much and
things developed from there.”

“Are you still friends with the woman?”

“We don’t see her much these days. In the
light of the day, she wasn’t very comfortable with the three-way. She accused
us of getting her drunk on purpose.”

“Did you?”

“What’s with all the questions?”

“I like to know what makes people tick.
This isn’t work, so I can be as interested as I want. So did you ply her with
alcohol?”

“Do you think that’s something either Wayne
or I would do? Do you?” His voice rose toward the end of his sentence, and he
waved his spatula in time with his abrupt words.

“There’s no need to get defensive.”

“Anyone I sleep with knows the score ahead
of time.” His level look drove the point home. “And I don’t need to get them
drunk. What sort of books do you like to read?”

Jen accepted the change of subject even
though she wanted to ask more nosy questions. “I like mysteries and thrillers.
Romance is okay, but I like to have a mystery angle combined with the romance.
I doubt I’ll have much time to read for pleasure once school starts.”

“Are you nervous?”