Fake flame, p.10
Fake Flame, page 10
“You have no idea,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to the passenger door of the truck.
“I can let myself in and out of vehicles, you know,” she said, but she was laughing a little, to let him know that she didn’t mind so much as she wasn’t used to this kind of chivalry.
“I know. But I like taking care of you.” He winked and the wicked expression in his eyes was so similar to the look he’d given her as he knelt and gave her the most powerful orgasm of her life, she felt a blush heating her face. She didn’t object again as he carefully closed the door and got in the driver’s side.
“What’s this?” she asked, pointing to a small box tied with a red ribbon on the center console.
“Little present for your mom. Chocolates.”
Her eyes went wide. “Holy cow. You’re the most full-service fake boyfriend anyone’s ever had. And also, that’s kind of genius because Mom will hopefully feel guilty about playing snobby head games and will be slightly less awful than usual.”
“I have to confess that was a little in my mind,” he admitted as he got on the highway. “But mostly it was because I wanted to make as good an impression as I can so that hopefully they’ll be easier on you.”
Eva sighed. “That ship, I’m afraid, has sailed.”
* * *
Sean had his own issues with his family, but he hated that Eva’s parents apparently didn’t support her. Who could have such a kickass daughter and fail to recognize her amazing qualities?
Dr. and Mrs. Campbell, he guessed.
They reached the restaurant, a sprawling building that was decorated to look like some sort of high-end hunting lodge, in good time. But when they entered the lobby, Eva’s hand in his, an older couple who had to be the Campbells were already waiting. Dr. Campbell must have been responsible for her blue eyes, and while Mrs. Campbell’s red hair was now definitely courtesy of her hairdresser, the resemblance was definitely present. Sean didn’t know a lot about clothes, but there was something indefinably expensive about them. Expensive and uncomfortable.
“Oh, there you are, Eva,” her mother drawled as if they were late. Sean surreptitiously checked his watch. They were ten minutes early.
Let the head games begin.
Mrs. Campbell looked Eva up and down. “Would it have killed you to make more of an effort in your appearance? That streak in your hair is so aging.”
Wow. Yeah. They were a lot.
Eva greeted her parents while ignoring her mother’s words. “Mom, Dad, this is Sean.”
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Campbell. Mrs. Campbell, this is for you.” He handed her the little package, registering the older woman’s surprise as she received it. “I hope you like chocolate.”
“My goodness. Thank you.” As anticipated, the gesture appeared to derail her a bit.
A hostess took that moment to intervene, gesturing with a handful of menus that they should follow her to their table. Sean took the opportunity of being behind Eva’s parents to let his hand rest on the small of her back, a tiny point of contact that told her he was there for her, supporting her.
Once they were seated and considering their meals, Dr. Campbell peered at Sean with barely concealed suspicion. “So Eva hasn’t told us much about you.”
“Probably not,” Sean said cheerfully. “We haven’t been seeing each other all that long.”
“What do you do?” the older man asked, suspicion unabated.
“I’m a firefighter for Montgomery County.”
“A fireman?” Mrs. Campbell said the word as if she thought that firefighter was some sort of made up, fictional occupation. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what do you have in common with our daughter?”
Was there a right way to take that? “Books,” he said simply.
“Sean’s a big fan of literature.” Eva said, smiling at the waiter who brought a basket of bread to the table. “We bonded initially over Jane Austen.”
Dr. Campbell blinked once behind his spectacles, owl-like. “A firefighter who reads Jane Austen.” For the first time in his life, Sean felt like an animal in a zoo. He’d encountered surprise, sure. He knew what sort of stereotype boxes he ticked and how he’d get classified as a big meathead by a lot of people. But usually when he told people about his love of reading, their reaction was interest.
Dr. Campbell looked more like he didn’t believe Sean.
Sean cleared his throat, reaching for his usual composure. Eva hadn’t been wrong about her dad. “And Dickens. And a lot of others. I was working my way through a lot of the English literary canon and was going to move on to non-English writers in translation, but Eva’s broadening my reading in different ways.”
Dr. Campbell flicked a glance at his daughter. “How is that? She’s got the idea that pop culture is worthy of academic study.”
“That’s right. It’s a lot of fun.”
“Fun? Possibly. But I fail to see the merit of it.”
“Dad, I get that you don’t like my field of scholarship, but we really don’t have to go over this again.” Sean had never heard her voice sound so flat or small before. He hated it.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the table at that, with everyone studying their menus and avoiding looking at each other. When the waiter came to take their orders, Mrs. Campbell seemed to shake out of her stupor. “How did you two meet? I don’t see you traveling in the same social circles.”
“My team had a callout to the university. A situation on the quad.” In his peripheral vision, Sean could see Eva’s face turning rosy. Did she think he’d throw her under the bus by telling her folks about the specifics of that day? “Once everything was under control, I had a chance to chat a little with Eva. We hit it off.”
“You hit it off,” Dr. Campbell said. “I’m sorry, I’m just being honest here. I just don’t see the compatibility.”
* * *
Ugh. Eva’d always known that this would be the way this evening would go. But there was a tiny crumb of hope that maybe her parents wouldn’t be, well, them. And how was it that her father could simultaneously think so little of her area of study and also think it was so far above Sean?
“Dad, Sean and I have a ton of compatibility so far. And also, it’s very early. So maybe can you keep those kinds of observations to yourself?”
“Your father is just being honest,” her mother said. “You’re a college professor.” As if she didn’t know her own profession. She turned her gaze to Sean. “Do you even have an undergraduate degree, young man?”
Oh, she did not just young man Sean, a guy who could probably bench-press her mother without breaking a sweat.
Cheerful and unflappable, Sean shook his head. “Nope. associate’s degree. But I make good money, my job has a positive impact on people’s lives and I enjoy it.”
Christ. Her mother didn’t even have her undergraduate degree. She’d dropped out to support her dad when he was in medical school. But there would be no point in bringing that up. Her mother’s internalized sexism wouldn’t find the two situations at all comparable.
“A positive impact?” her father chimed in. “Seems like mostly what you do is mitigate damage.”
“Why isn’t that a positive thing?” Eva said, beginning to feel desperate and anxious. Her folks were doing the absolute rock bottom of what they were capable of tonight. “You think people’s houses should just burn down and we should dust our hands and say, ‘Oh, well’?”
Her father looked at her like she was being absurd. “Of course not. I just question the impact portion of his statement. Medicine has an impact, for instance.”
“Dad, you’re being ridiculous. Medicine also mitigates damage.” Also, he’s a good person, which you absolutely are not. He’s had more of a positive impact on my life in only a few weeks than you have in over forty years.
“I saved many lives in my career, young lady, and don’t you forget it.”
“Sure. In your nice, safe cardiac cath lab, all clean and tidy and hardly exerting yourself. Sean also saves lives, but he risks his own to do it.” In the aghast silence that followed from her parents, she said, “Sorry. I’m just being honest. You scrubbing up before a procedure isn’t exactly the same as running into a burning building.” Eva’s jaw clamped shut. She’d never in her life spoken to her parents this way.
Their food arrived then, and Eva picked at her dish, appetite utterly gone. The table was silent and tense. Her mother’s mouth was a flat line; her father stared stonily at his plate as he consumed his meal. Sean mostly seemed unfazed by the tension, except for the way he looked sideways at her, checking in on her. At one point he excused himself from the table and headed off in the direction of the restrooms.
But when he returned, he didn’t sit again. “Well, I can’t say this has been fun, but I’ve taken care of the bill and the tip. Eva, are you ready to go?”
It was like he’d read her mind. She had wanted to be gone for at least the last half hour. Her mother looked sharply up as she rose to her feet. “That’s it?” she demanded.
“Say thank you for the meal, Mom. I’ve had enough.” The relief that flooded through her made her muscles feel like water.
“You’ve had enough? Darren would never have behaved like this.”
Eva let out a joyless laugh. “No, he would never have paid for everyone’s meal. And Sean wouldn’t cheat on me the way Darren did. So I have that going for me.”
“I don’t know what we did to deserve this behavior,” her father said in his most withering I’ve never been more disappointed tone.
“I don’t know what you deserve but you don’t deserve Eva,” Sean said, taking her hand in his. “She’s too good for both of you. Have a nice evening.”
* * *
“I can’t believe they were that awful,” Eva groaned as he handed her into his truck. “I am so, so sorry.”
“You’re not responsible for them. They’re adults who’ve decided to behave that way. And you did warn me.” Dr. Campbell had actually made him angry. Not with his dismissal of Sean, his work, or even his suitability as Eva’s partner. No, what made him mad was the belittling way he treated his daughter, someone he should love and be proud of.
“They’ve never been that bad before, though.”
“Well.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Then you had no reason to think they were going to go quite that hard. Don’t beat yourself up.” He shut the door carefully as she buckled her seat belt, then moved to his side and climbed in. “What now?”
“Home, please.” She groaned and tipped her head back, shutting her eyes as he left the parking lot and headed toward her house. “I can’t even imagine what our next phone call is going to look like.”
“Try not to think about it,” he said. “Probably not an easy thing to do, but there’s no point in dreading something out of your control.”
“Thank you for, well... For being you, I guess,” she said so softly he almost didn’t catch it.
He shrugged. “I’m sorry if I overstepped, but I really couldn’t stand seeing them treat you like that.”
“They treated you worse.”
“Nah. Their opinion about me means nothing. But they’re your folks, and their behavior hurts you. That I didn’t like. They could have taken potshots at me all day and I wouldn’t have cared.” But seeing Eva so rattled, apparently trying to make herself small in front of those two self-important jerks who didn’t have the good sense to know that producing her was the best thing they’d ever done? Rage, an unfamiliar emotion, swirled through him.
“You’re sweet.”
I’m sweet on you he could have said. But it didn’t seem the right time to make any sort of emotional declaration, what with Eva being so wrung out and vulnerable. He turned onto her street and pulled up in front of her little house, cutting the engine. “I had a nice time.”
She snorted. “No, you didn’t. That was awful.”
He reached across the console and cupped her cheek in one hand. “The food wasn’t bad. And I liked the parts where it was just you and me.”
Her eyes searched his face as if she was trying to decipher some hidden message. She drew in a long breath, sighing. “How about some more of just you and me?”
Thirteen
The question hung in the quiet of the truck’s cab for what felt like forever. Then Sean ran his thumb across her lower lip and asked, “You really mean it?”
“Why wouldn’t I mean it?” she said. She knew she should keep him at a distance, knew she should protect herself and him. But the evening had left her raw and sad and desperate for more of how he made her feel.
“It was an emotional night for you. I wouldn’t want you doing anything you regretted.”
I’ll only regret losing you when this is over, she thought. But what she said was, “I won’t regret anything we do together, I don’t think. In fact, I think I’d regret not enjoying you while I still can.”
“Well, then. Let’s go inside.” His voice was husky and low, sending a shiver across her skin like he’d brushed her with a feather.
They got out of the truck and Eva let them into her house, met by a bemused and sleepy Timmy, who sniffed Sean, seemed to remember him and then took himself off to his bed in the living room. Eva swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to Sean, who pulled her to him in a strong and enveloping hug. It seemed entirely too platonic, that hug, but she couldn’t deny its comfort. His body was warm and solid, his back rising and falling under her palms with his breath.
“You okay?” he asked and she nodded, her cheek brushing against the soft cotton of his shirt, which smelled faintly and comfortingly of starch.
“More than okay,” she said, and then his hands were sliding into her hair, tipping her head back for a searing kiss that made her pulse kick. “Kissing you is cardio,” she murmured, feeling his smile against her mouth.
“Kissing you is heaven,” he replied, his lips slanting across hers again, his tongue demanding entrance to her mouth. She opened for him, pressing her whole body closer, sliding her hands up his chest and wrapping them around the back of his neck. Then his arms tightened around her, and her feet left the floor. She squeaked and wrapped her legs around his waist, getting a pleased grunt from him as her hips lined up with his and...oh. The solid length of him pressed up against her felt so good she almost wanted to weep. He broke the kiss and murmured in her ear, his breath making her shiver. “Bedroom?”
“Upstairs.” She pulled back a little, expecting him to put her down, but he just strode for the stairs. “Careful of your head,” she said, laughing, as he entered her bedroom tucked under the eaves of the gabled roof.
Flicking the wall switch on and still not putting her down, he swept his gaze around the modest bedroom with its pale cream walls, sage green linens and hardwood floors. “Nice.”
“Do you want to examine my decor or do you want to fool around?” she asked.
“Good point.” He stepped around the bed and laid her down on her back, kissing her deeply while he toed off his shoes.
“Multitasker,” she said, her voice veering toward a giggle. What was it about this man that just unstitched her every time?
“Motivated,” he replied, kneeling on the floor to pull her shoes off and throw them into a corner. “Inspired.” He unbuttoned her blouse, revealing the lacy demi-cup bra. “Mmm, enthralled,” he said as he undid her trousers and pulled them off to see the matching panties.
She rose to her elbows as he got to his feet and stripped off his shirt. “Am I with a man or a thesaurus?”
He leaned over as he shucked off the rest of his clothes, his thick cock springing free. Then he leaned forward and kissed her, murmuring against her lips, “You are with a man who is motivated, inspired and enthralled.”
She returned his kiss, sitting up so she could let the sleeves of her blouse slide off. “All right. That put me in my place.”
* * *
Sean chuckled. “Yes, I’ve put you in your place. In bed. You’ve never looked better.” The bra and panty set was going to absolutely put him in the ground. Somehow, they were the exact shade of her eyes. Seeing her topless for the first time, he was charmed by a smattering of freckles across her shoulders. God, he wanted to see every part of her, touch and taste every inch of skin. He tipped one bra strap off and traced the freckles with his tongue like he was playing connect the dots. She groaned and her head fell back, so he took advantage of her exposed neck and tracked up the side, placing openmouthed kisses from the juncture of her shoulder to the underside of her jaw and then just behind her ear, a spot that made her shiver.
“Oh, that’s nice,” she whispered.
“I’m going to have to do better than nice.” Sean pulled back and got his pants from the floor, digging out his wallet and extracting a condom. Holding it up between two fingers, he said, “Nice and fresh, just opened the box today.”
“You spoil me.” A wicked smile curled her lips and she pushed back toward the headboard as he army-crawled up and over her body, letting his dick brush over the front of her panties as he went. She gasped and he pushed her legs apart with his knees, settling on his elbows and taking up his assault on her neck again. She rocked her pelvis, rubbing against him shamelessly until he clamped one hand on her hip.
“Now, now. No fair making me wild too fast.” The bra strap he’d pushed down was still draped over her arm, and he used his nose to nudge the shallow cup under her nipple, reveling in her gasp as he sucked and did one slow, circular grind with his hips. “Harder or softer?” he said, pushing one hand behind her to unhook the clasp and take it off her entirely.
