TooHottoTouch (7 page)

The older Conroy leaned his elbows on the counter without taking
a seat. He had an envelope in his hands. “Ah, thanks, but I’m not here to eat.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m Sean’s father, actually. I
was hoping to see him.”

Zoë eyed the envelope before responding. God, she hoped
there was no bad news inside it. “Oh hi,” she said with more false cheer. “I’m
Zoë Contos, the owner. I guess I should have recognized you. Sean takes after
you quite a bit.”

The man ducked his head shyly in perfect imitation of his
son before he raised his gaze to her again. He looked pensive and wary. “Oh
sure. Sean’s talked about you.” He cleared his throat nervously. “His mother
and I really appreciate your giving him this job. It was kind of you.”

Zoë waved her hand, dismissing the compliment. “I needed a
dishwasher and Sean’s done a great job. I hate to lose him, actually.”

“Yeah, well, he has plans, you know.” Holding the envelope
up, he added, “He’s starting class soon to become a mechanic. This came in the
mail and I thought maybe he should see it right away. I’m working a site not
too far from here.” His voice trailed off and he dropped his gaze again.

Okay, that was odd. What could possibly be so important that
it came in the mail? In these days of the internet, surely Sean had done his
application and other correspondence online. Did his father really think he
needed to rush paperwork over to the diner? Probably not. The more likely
scenario was his father had grabbed an excuse to come over and check her out.
And that’s what he was doing. It wasn’t too blatant, but he stared at her out
from under his eyelashes.
Fine, have a good look at the older woman bagging
your son
.
Which was a mean thing to think, but she couldn’t help it.
Part of her irritation was at herself because she was older and really not the
right woman for a guy still trying to get his shit together. If Nick had been
dating an older woman, Zoë would have found a way to check her out too.

Conroy had a right to be worried about his son, in
particular given the events of the last year. Sean had said his father wasn’t
much for showing emotion. That didn’t mean he didn’t love his son and worry
about him. He probably still saw the fragile young man who had threatened to
kill himself and not the strong, confident man she saw more and more every day.
The least she could do was give him some reassurance. She pasted a smile on her
face and said, “Sean’s a really great guy. I know he’s excited to go back to
school.”

“Yeah, he is. It’s good to see him planning his future
again. He’s had a hard year, as I’m sure you know.” When she simply nodded, he
continued. It was clear he wanted to convey some message. “But the thing is, he
has his whole life ahead of him. His mother and I can imagine for the first
time in a long time that he’s on the right path. He’ll get trained, get a real
job, maybe settle down. You know, get married, have a family.”

Ah yes, she knew. Hadn’t she been thinking and worrying
about the same things the last several days? She wasn’t sure if Sean had told
his parents that he was dating his boss. The look in his father’s eye confirmed
that the older man at least suspected she was the woman his son spent so much
time with. And she was decidedly not the right woman for his boy in his mind.
She couldn’t fault his feelings. He was right when all was said and done. Part
of her had always known it.

She had allowed herself to get caught up in the thrill of a
guy she couldn’t keep her hands off of and who couldn’t keep his hands off of
her. Grace and Mark’s relationship had made it easy to justify what she was
doing. It was different for them though. Grace was younger than she and
planning to give motherhood a try. Mark understood the risks that it might not
work biologically and was okay with adopting. None of that, however, applied to
her and Sean. She didn’t want more children by any means. Been there, done
that. She had her eye on grandchildren, although not too soon.

With a smile she knew didn’t look very genuine, she waved
him toward the back. “I understand how you feel. It’s the same with me and my
children. You want them to be happy, to get all the things in life they want.
Please feel free to go in the back and give Sean the letter. I’m sure he’ll be
glad to see you.”

He nodded his thanks, relief clear in his eyes. He had
delivered his message and she had received it. She watched him saunter into the
back and tried very hard not to show how badly her heart hurt. She had to let
Sean go and the sooner the better. Waiting would only make it worse.

Sean knew trouble was brewing the moment Zoë’s gaze met his
across her office. The diner was closed, most everyone gone. He had come to see
her the way he always did at the end of the day, hoping to spend time with her
even though they hadn’t made plans. The look in her eyes told him he was going
to be disappointed in a major way. He saw nervousness, sadness and a pinch of
his old favorite look—pity.

Fuck!

“Hi,” she said in a soft, motherly voice, and man wasn’t
that weird? “Come in and shut the door please.”

He did as she asked and leaned against the closed door, not
willing to get too close to her until he knew what was going on. “Is there a
problem?” he asked in a voice rough with worry. God, he hated to sound needy.

She took a noticeably deep breath before saying, “Not
exactly. I just think we need to talk.”

“Shit.” He couldn’t keep the curse from popping out of his
mouth. He looked away with a grimace. Talking in woman-speak was synonymous
with dumping, as in she was about to dump him.

“Please sit down, Sean.”

Her voice was so soft and soothing it made him want to
scream. He could tell she was trying to let him down easy, afraid he’d shatter
into a million pieces, no doubt. It wasn’t a crazy concern considering he’d
recently been a guest of a psychiatric hospital. The hell of it was he should
have known this was coming. She’d been acting a little tense and even distant
in the last week. He should have tackled her unease right from the start to
help squash whatever was bothering her. He figured it had something to do with
kids given that he noticed a change in her after the picnic. He had thought he
could address it the next Monday when they both had the day off. With a week
left of working at the diner, he figured he had time to cajole her out of her
funk. Damn, what had caused her to do this now? And then he knew.

Pushing back from the door, he walked to the chair in front
of her desk and clasped the back of it. “What did my father say to you?” he
demanded in a harsher voice than he intended.

Zoë leaned back, away from him, shaking her head, eyes wary.
“Nothing.”

He wanted to yell that her answer was a goddamn lie, but he
reined in his temper because Christ, he didn’t want to scare her. His sudden
anger was with his father, not her. He had known as soon as the old man had
approached him with the bullshit excuse of bringing something that could
clearly have waited until he got home that it was all a ploy to check out Zoë.
Shit, he should have been more careful about what he’d said regarding his
social life. His father might not be the smartest guy around, but it didn’t
take a genius to figure out his older woman was someone at work.

“He must have said something to make you dump me like this,”
he said with as calm a voice as he could manage given the riot of emotions
writhing within him.

Zoë shook her head. “I’m not dumping you exactly. I just
think it’s time we face reality.”

Sean rolled his eyes. “Which reality is that, Zoë, the one
where we have a great time together in and out of bed, or the one where you
think you’re too old for me and I’m too young and fucked up to know my own
mind?”

She frowned back at him. “That’s not being fair to either of
us when you put it that way.” She sighed and leaned on her desk with folded
arms. “Look, in a week, your job here is finished and a few weeks from then,
you’ll be in school. We’ve had a great time together, and although we could try
to keep this going, you and I both know we’ll see less and less of each other.
We’ll drift apart.” She shrugged. “I’d rather end on a high note than have
things peter out.”

He shook his head. “You’ve got it all figured out, haven’t
you?”

“The benefit of having lived longer than you have.”

“Bullshit. This is about kids, isn’t it? You’ve got it in
your head that I’ll want them one day and resent your not giving them to me.
You’re wrong about that. I’m fine not being a father.”

“You can’t know that for sure, not yet. You may not see it
now, but you will meet other people, other women. Women who are in the same
stage of their lives as you who want kids, and chances are you’ll change your mind.
You’re too young to settle down.”

“You settled down a lot younger.”

Zoë snorted. “Yeah, I did and look where I am. I’m a
middle-aged divorced woman fighting empty-nest syndrome.”

“Who’s kicking to the curb a guy who’s crazy about her.
Don’t do it, Zoë, please.” He hated how he was reduced to begging, yet the
thought of losing her brought him as close to a panic attack as he had come in
many months.

Tears welled up in her eyes, the sight almost more than he
could bear. “This is hard for me too, Sean. I’m doing this for myself as much
as for you. I don’t want to lose you by inches as you pull away.” When he shook
his head in denial, she continued with a shaky voice. “Please just go, okay?
You mean the world to me, but I don’t want to go out with you anymore. I’m
sorry.”

He wanted to argue. He wanted to grab her up and hold her
tight and show her how much he loved her. Shit, yeah, he did. He loved her. He
wished to God he had said it to himself before now and to her, although she
wouldn’t have believed him. He knew that for a certainty, and he knew she
wasn’t in the mood to listen to anything more he had to say this night. He had
a week—more, really, because he could keep coming back even after the job
ended. He needed to play it cool, play it smart. He wasn’t ready to give up Zoë
Contos, but he understood the benefit of a strategic retreat. So he nodded.

“Fine, you want me gone, I’ll go. I still know how to follow
orders.” He turned and opened the door.

Before he had taken more than two steps, she called out,
“Wait.” He turned, hoping she had changed her mind, knowing she hadn’t. She
stood, hands clasped tightly in front of her. “Are you going to be okay?” She
was worried about him, afraid he might do something stupid.

For a half a second, he considered playing the mental health
card to see if he could guilt her into taking him back if only for the night.
He couldn’t do it to her though. If they stood any chance together, he had to
play it straight with her. “I’m all right, Zoë, I promise. Don’t worry about me.”
With that reassurance, he quietly left the room. His heart squeezed painfully
when he heard a muffled sob as he walked away.

* * * * *

“Dad!” Sean burst into his childhood home loaded for bear.
He’d kept his shit together with Zoë but he couldn’t any longer. He found both
his parents in the kitchen, having a late-night snack. Seeing his mother and
the worry on her face the moment he strode into the room tempered his anger a
bit. He didn’t want to frighten her no matter how mad he was at his father.

“What’s going on?” the older man asked, standing to face his
son.

“What did you say to Zoë?” Sean demanded. He stood with his
legs braced as if ready for a fistfight, which was dumb because he and his
father had never come to blows.

His father’s gaze shifted away from him. “I didn’t say
anything to her.”

The packet from the mechanic’s school was fisted in one
hand. Sean tossed it on the table. “You didn’t need to come all the way to the
diner to give me this. It’s just some forms. It could have waited ’til I got
home. You wanted to meet her and tell her what exactly?”

“I don’t understand,” his mother interjected. “Who is Zoë?”

“My boss,” Sean answered with a huff. “And up until an hour
ago, my girlfriend.”

“Oh dear,” his mother sighed. “James, did you go and spy on
the boy and his girlfriend?”

His father looked guilty for about two seconds before he set
a grim expression on his face. “I wasn’t spying, but the woman is practically
our age.”

“Oh dear,” his mother sighed once more.

“She’s not that old, no offense, Mom, and what the hell
difference does it make?” Sean yelled.

“You watch your tone in front of your mother. And it makes a
hell of a lot of difference. All I told her was how you’re going to school this
fall and how happy we are that your life is back on track. You’ve got just
about the whole of it in front of you still to live. I’m glad to see she
realized it and cut you loose. She must care enough for you to do what’s
right.”

Sean choked down his anger because his father had a point
about losing it in front of his mother. She didn’t handle trouble well and he
had given her a lifetime’s worth already by threatening to off himself. “Of
course she cares for me. And I— I love her.”

“Christ!” His father turned away, shaking his head. “The
first woman you get involved with after your…” he struggled to find a word and
finally settled on “problem. And you think it’s love.”

“I know it’s love,” Sean replied firmly.

“You can’t know that. It’s been only a few months and you’re
vulnerable.”

Sean barked out a laugh. His old man was giving him
emotional advice now? “What do you know about my vulnerability? When I got out
of the service, I remember your telling me to man up and figure out my life.
You ignored every effort I made to share with you how I felt, to explain the war
raging inside me. It took my putting a gun to my head before it finally got
through to you how badly I was hurting.”

He broke off suddenly, horrified by what he had said. The
looks on his parents’ faces, the stricken looks, cut him to the bone. He slammed
his eyes shut. “Shit, I’m sorry.” Opening them up again, he went and put his
arms around his mother. “I’m sorry, Mom, I didn’t mean to say those things.
What I did wasn’t your fault.” He glanced up at his father. “It wasn’t either
of your faults. That was all on me.”

His mother returned his hug and kissed his cheek. “No,
you’re right. We saw what was happening and pretended it wasn’t. We’re sorry.”

“Very sorry,” his father added with a bit of a choke in his
voice. “But I’m not sorry I spoke with your boss. I don’t think it was right
for her to have an affair with you.”

Sean sighed and strove for patience. With his arms still on
his mother’s shoulders, he looked his father in the eye. “No matter what, I
will never believe that my time with Zoë was wrong. She gave me a boost when I
needed it and I do love her. I’m not going to give up on her. She only dumped
me because she has it in her head that I’m going to want to have kids and she’s
done with that.”

His mother turned to look up at him. “You don’t want to be a
father?”

He shrugged. “It’s not that important to me, Mom. Besides,
you have four grandchildren already. What’s the big deal?”

“This isn’t about me,” she replied with a huff. “It’s about
what you want. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am. I’m sure about Zoë. I’m going to get her back.”
He took a deep breath. May as well get it all out at once. “I’m moving out
too.” When his parents tried to object, he overrode them. “I’ve already put
down a deposit on a studio in Brighton. It’s convenient for classes and I need my
own space. I really appreciate your giving me a chance to get myself together,
but it’s time for me to be a grown-up again.”

His father nodded. “Fair enough. Your brother and I’ll help
you move your stuff. You just tell us when.”

Sean smiled. “End of next week. That’s when my job at the
diner is over. I haven’t told even Zoë yet, but I got a part-time job at a
pizza place in Boston that will give me enough money for living expenses while
I’m in classes.”

“Looks like you’ve really pulled out of the dark place you
went then,” his father observed. “We’re proud of you, son.” He held out his
hand.

Sean released his mother and pulled his father in for a
quick hug. “Thanks, Dad. I couldn’t have made it without you both.”

It was true and it gave him a sense of peace to know his
trouble had somehow brought him closer to his parents. Now all that was left
was to convince a stubborn Greek woman that she was the right woman for him.

* * * * *

Time had slowed down to a meager crawl as the day wound to
an end. Zoë glanced at the clock for at least the fifth time in a half hour,
willing the hands to pick up their pace. Thirty more minutes until closing
time, then one more day before Sean moved on with his life—and out of hers. The
last few days had been agony. Seeing him every day and not being with him hurt
more than she had expected. It took every ounce of strength she possessed to
keep from grabbing him and begging him to forget everything she had said about
breaking up.

He wasn’t making it easier on her either. He acted as if
nothing was wrong. He cheerily went about his work as if the world remained the
same. Every once in a while though, she caught him looking at her with a sly
grin on his face as if he knew something she didn’t. It made her nervous; it
made her wet with longing. The attraction was still there no matter what her
brain tried to tell her.

With another glance at the clock, she sighed and gathered
the day’s receipts. It was just her and Joanne out in front with a couple of
stragglers finishing up their meal in a booth at the far end of the diner. The
door opened and she looked up, annoyed at how some people loved to come in to
eat just as the cook prepared to shut down the grill. She froze as she watched
the guy enter. Something was off, she could tell right away. It was a warm
summer night with an already setting sun. So why was her customer wearing a
jacket and sunglasses? A quick shift of her gaze told her the two other
customers were still engrossed in their food. Joanne stepped up to greet the
man who was now looking around.

“Go out back,” she said to Joanne in a low voice more calm
than she felt. “I’ve got this.” Joanne gave her a funny look but did as she was
told. Zoë waited until the other woman was out of sight before she addressed
the newcomer. “Can I help you, sir?”