Sean's Sweetheart (10 page)

Chapter Twenty-four

Sean stomped out of the karate studio. He shoved his forehead against the brick wall and closed his eyes. What the hell was he thinking? Kissing Talia like that. In front of her mom. Her sister. Everyone. He hauled his arm back and slammed his fist into the wall. Pain spiked through his hand and it throbbed like a mother. He deserved it. Rather he be in pain than Talia. He flexed his hand and winced when the throbbing renewed.

"Punching walls isn't the best idea now, is it?"

He looked up to see Talia's dad staring at him, looking amused. The old man wouldn't be amused if he knew why Sean was punching this wall. He drew his fist back and slammed it into the brick. Again. And again.

Until a soft voice cut through his rage. "Sean. Stop, please."

He turned to face her and his anger slid away. She stared up at him with those big green eyes that haunted his every waking moment and tormented him in his sleep. He looked down at her and slumped back against the wall. He covered his head with his hands. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Are you okay?"

He didn't uncover his face. He didn't speak. What the fuck could he say? Was he okay? Hell no, he wasn't okay. He was as far from okay as a man could get without bleeding. A trickle of blood ran down his wrist.

Scratch that.
He was as far from okay as a man without a bullet in his chest could get. This hurt worse than getting shot.

He opened his eyes and focused on her. He saw her mom and sister join her dad out of the corner of his eye. Why not have her whole damn family here? What's a few more to watch her break his stupid heart? Where was her brother? Might as well call him up so he didn't miss the show.

She reached out to him. His traitorous heart skipped a beat and fuck if he didn't lean into her touch. She stroked his cheek and he closed his eyes before he started bawling like a damn baby. God, he wanted this woman. More than he had ever wanted anyone.

She picked up his battered hand and manipulated it. Her touch was gentle, but he still sucked in a harsh breath as she moved it.

"Why'd you have to go punch a wall? I know the way they all cheered was a little embarrassing, but the world didn't end, you know."

"Why were people cheering?" her dad asked. Karly looked too delighted to tell him.

Talia ignored her family. She shushed her dad when the growling started and stepped up close to Sean, who gulped down a big lump in his throat when she put her little hands on his chest and smiled at him.

When he opened his mouth, he couldn't hold back and an outpouring of confessions flowed out before he shut them off. "You're killing me. I can't do this anymore. It's eating me up inside. I ran my bike out of gas because I was too distracted, thinking of you. I've poured perfectly good whiskey all over my bar because I caught a glimpse of red hair out on the dance floor. I can't sleep. If I do sleep, I wake up thinking about you. I can't do this anymore. I want you too badly to be your friend. It's all I can do to keep from going all caveman on you and hauling you back to my place and kissing you until you never want to leave."

Her little mouth gaped and he looked away. Fuck. He'd scared her. He shook his head and stomped away. He ruined everything he touched. He should have known better than to let himself dream about a girl like Talia.

Chapter Twenty-five

Talia's phone buzzed the moment she walked out of her morning class. She rarely received phone calls during school days, so it surprised her to see Caleb's name on the caller ID. Until today, he'd not tried to contact her since their breakup. Luck had been on Talia's side; she'd not even run into him on campus. Clearly, it had been too much to hope that she would never have to deal with him again.

She let the call roll to voice mail, but he called right back. Twice. Talia answered the third time. Her tone was reluctant, but he didn't seem to care.

"Talia, we need to talk. We should have dinner tonight."

"No thanks."

"Excuse me? I've given you a little time. Time to come to your senses. To come back to me. I'm not going to wait any longer. You will have dinner with me tonight."

"Actually, I won't."

"You fucking bitch. You—" She hung up the phone when Caleb began to yell. Why he thought she would ever go back to that, Talia would never know. Her phone pulled her from her introspection when it rang again.

Her finger moved toward the ignore button until she noticed it was her mother. She answered with a sigh.

"I need you to come home for dinner tonight."

"Mom, I can't. I've already got plans."

"Talia, I'm not asking. Your family needs you at home." Talia's frustration grew at her mother's insistence.

After her mother commanded her home, Talia checked the time. Deciding it was late enough to be safe, she dialed Sean's number.

She felt horrible when she called to tell Sean that she had to cancel, especially after the previous day.

"It's fine. Your family needs you, I guess. Your mom wouldn't have been so insistent if she didn't think it was important." He seemed down, but encouraged her to have a good time with her family and managed to calm her down.

They chatted for a few minutes while she walked across campus toward her next class. She couldn't get him to open up about what bothered him. Well, she knew it was likely that kiss and his blurted admission. But the dork should have realized that she'd kissed him back and that she was just as interested in taking their friendship up to full relationship status. Still, she was glad he at least took her call after yesterday.

When she got home later that afternoon, her mom followed her upstairs. "We are having guests over for dinner."

"Who?"

"Some friends. Wear something nice. No fraying jeans, I don't care if they are in style."

Talia picked out a cute and light-weight dress and sandals, dressy enough to please her mom, but not overly fancy. She sat upstairs reading for a few minutes until the doorbell rang and she headed downstairs to greet their guests.

Caleb stood behind his parents on the porch. Their respective parents had been good friends for years. The older couples having dinner together was
not
an odd occurrence. For Caleb to tag along was unusual, however. He hadn't even joined them that often when he was dating Talia. The satisfied little smirk on his face connected the dots for her. She tried unsuccessfully to suppress a shudder.

"Talia, I've missed you!" He pulled her into a hug, crushing her against his slim frame. Her skin crawled when he put his lips to her ear and nibbled before breathing out, "And you thought you could avoid me, didn't you? You'll be mine again."

Her heart raced at his whisper. She squirmed her way out of his grasp, but did her best to avoid drawing attention to them. Her dad didn't know how Caleb had treated her and she didn't want him to. Given how her dad had reacted about the bruises and seeing Sean's jacket, it would not be good for him to know that Caleb had hit her. Her dad seemed to have glossed over the part where she told him Caleb had left the bruises and she didn't want to call his attention back to that night. Seeing her father and her ex get into it was not something she wanted this evening.

Plastering on a smile, Talia faked her way through the dinner. Karly was the only one who realized her behavior was an act. The false courtesies and murmured comments must have been well-placed. Caleb made certain to stay close by her and chose a seat at her side. By the end of the night, she feared he thought she was interested in resuming their relationship. He even had the audacity to try to hold her hand at the table. She snatched her hand from his, but he didn't seem perturbed by it. He continued the same random chatter he'd spewed all evening.

What had she ever seen in him? With his manner of speaking, his scrawny frame, and shaggy hair, lately he reminded her less of a man and more of a psychotic Chihuahua. She no longer found him at all attractive. Beth had been right when she said Caleb was a boy and Sean was a man. And she was no longer interested in boys.

After dinner, they moved the party out onto the porch.

"Why don't you and Caleb take a little stroll?" her mom suggested. "It's such a nice evening. It would be a shame to waste it.

"I really should study. I've got an exam coming up."
Please, think of a way to get out of this!

"Talia, it won't hurt you to take a walk," her dad insisted when she tried to avoid going.

"Yeah, Talia, it's just a walk." The sadistic little smile on Caleb's face sent a shiver down her spine. "What could it hurt?"

She excused herself to change out of the dress and into something more appropriate for a walk. With fumbling, nervous fingers, Talia sent Sean a text explaining that her dad was forcing her into a walk with Caleb and she was scared. Before she could slip her phone into the pocket of her jeans, it buzzed and startled her so much she dropped it.

"On my way," the text message on the phone read.

Sean was coming; the mere thought calmed her. Sean's imminent arrival would cause a good deal of drama, but she felt relief knowing that even if she'd blown him off for the evening, he was still willing to come to her rescue when she needed him. Another feeling tugged at her heart as well, something beyond the usual raw lust. She told herself that she would examine that in further detail later.

Talia slipped into the bathroom and banged around for a moment, buying Sean time to get across town. When it was impossible to stall further without arousing suspicion, Talia trudged downstairs. The living room was still empty, so she followed the muffled chatter to the front porch. When she stepped out of the house, Caleb stood and held his arm out for her to take.

When she refused his arm, he growled in anger. "You know I didn't send you those notes, right? I didn't know anything about them until that cop showed up on my doorstep. I wouldn't send a note. I'd show up and teach you a lesson the right way."

Talia tried to ignore his words. He'd lied to her before. She didn't trust a word spewing forth from that forked tongue. But it
did
seem more like him to use a physical threat than a note. Even that simple statement sent a chill blasting down her spine. She wrapped her arms tight around herself and stepped around him.

Standing at the edge of the porch, she glanced down the street. She wasn't disappointed when Sean's Harley came roaring up toward her house. He jumped off the bike almost before it lost momentum. He strode up to her, his eyes concerned. "You all right?"

"I am now." Her eyes filled with tears. Sean would protect her. Caleb wouldn't be hurting her tonight. Her knees sagged in relief and Sean's arm came around her waist in support.

"Why wouldn't my daughter be alright in her own home? Didn't I tell you to stay away from her? Twice now, I believe. Explain why you are here," her father's gruff voice called from behind her.

"Why wouldn't she be okay? I don't know, maybe because you were forcing her to take a walk with this abusive little jerk. A pretty damned good reason why she wouldn't be alright. And I'm here because she's afraid to be alone with him, sir." Sean spat out "sir" like it was an obscenity.

Her dad barreled off the porch with Caleb and his dad right behind him. The three of them presented a united front as they faced Sean, their postures defensive. Sean didn't back down even an inch. So damn sexy. With one arm, he guided Talia behind him. She clutched at the soft fabric of his T-shirt and peered around him at her father.

"You think my daughter needs protection from me? Who do you think you are, coming to my house like this?" her dad shouted.

"I don't want Talia near him," Sean said with a nod toward Caleb. "I've already had to make him take his hands off of her once, at my club. I'm not giving him the opportunity to get his paws on her again," Sean ground out, his words and tone clipped in anger.

"You need to get the hell off my property. I don't know what you think you know, but you're wrong. Caleb's a good kid who would never hurt Talia. His family and ours have been close for years. Get lost. Talia, get up on the porch now."

"You are entitled to your opinion, sir, even if it is the wrong one." Sean looked over his shoulder at her. "You wanna leave? We can get out of here right now, sweetheart. You just say the word."

Talia released her hold on Sean's shirt and hurried over to get on the motorcycle, putting a helmet on without giving a verbal response.

Sean called out to her mother, "Helen, I'll make sure she gets home safely later."

Sean turned back to his bike and her father followed him. Panic rose up and Talia feared she'd done the wrong thing by calling Sean. God, she didn't want her dad and Sean fighting over her. Grabbing Sean by the arm, her dad spun the big man around to face him. Sean jerked away from him and continued on. Her dad was still shouting when they drove away.

The ride was a blur as Talia got lost in her own head. Her father's reaction worried her. She wasn't afraid he would physically hurt her, but he was going to flip his lid over her leaving with Sean. Why wouldn't he believe Caleb capable of hurting her? He kept taking Caleb's word over hers.

Talia didn't register their location until they came to a halt.

"You brought me back to your apartment?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "We can go somewhere else if you want. I really don't want to be around a lot of people right now. I'm still pretty riled up."

She could understand that. She wasn't much up for a crowd herself. So, she let him lead her inside.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Sean. I didn't mean for you and my dad to get into it again tonight," she ventured in a quiet voice after a few minutes of silence.

"I wasn't dragged, I volunteered. You didn't ask me to come. I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to do something and he hurt you," he responded in a tight voice. "I didn't want to get into it with your dad again. I'm sure he hates me."

"Probably! He didn't care much for you to start with. I'm not sure which was worse for him, knowing you were a bartender or your age."

He chuckled at that. "Then I suppose he doesn't know about my record?"

She laughed. "That would be a definite no! And if you combine the three and couple it with three confrontations and counting…"

"He would rather shoot me than let me near you?"

She nodded and Sean laughed. He grabbed the remote, turning on the TV, and they settled down to watch a movie.