A Deal with Benefits (10 page)

“You had nothing to worry about,
mi vida
. You’re a very sensual woman.” He noticed how his compliment horrified her. “I’m surprised you abstained for as long as you did. Why did you wait?”

“Lack of opportunity?” she hazarded a guess.

She was not telling him the truth. Not the whole truth. “That’s not it at all,” he said gently. “Men would subject themselves to Herculean tasks if it meant a chance for one night with you.”

“Every man but you,” she muttered. “You just had to snap your fingers and I was there.”

“Why did you wait?” he repeated. What he really wanted to ask was,
Why did you choose me?

“If you saw the house I was raised in you would understand.” She crossed her arms and looked at the ocean, unable to meet his eyes. “My mother was a mistress. A sexual plaything for my father. My father was a womanizer. He was worse than his friends. The things I saw...heard. I didn’t want to be a part of that.”

Sebastian felt a sharp arrow of guilt. Shame. He was beginning to think he had made a mistake when he’d claimed Ashley as his mistress. He thought she didn’t like the drop in status. Instead, he had made her the one thing she swore she would never be.

“And yet you slept with me.” It didn’t add up. Did she sleep with him so she could stop Raymond Casillas from calling in her debt? “According to you, I’m just like your father.”

“I thought you were,” she said quietly before she walked away. “I’m not so sure anymore.”

* * *

The next evening, Ashley was on a luxurious patio that overlooked a private beach as she watched the sunset with Sebastian’s mother. A group of children were playing in the sand. Music drifted from the open windows of the Cruz mansion and Ashley heard Sebastian’s sisters bicker while they prepared the dinner table.

“Why is this the first I’ve heard of you?” Patricia Cruz asked as she intently studied Ashley.

Ashley hid her smile. She had a feeling that Sebastian took from his mother’s side in temperament. “I don’t know what to tell you, Mrs. Cruz. Perhaps you should ask Sebastian.”

She gave a throaty chuckle. “He’s not very forthcoming.”

Neither was his mother. The older woman wasn’t a tiny and weathered woman who favored housedresses and heavy shawls. This woman was tall and regal. Her elegant gray shift dress highlighted her short silver hair and tanned skin.

Patricia Esteban Cruz was polite but wary. She had expected Sebastian’s family and home to be just as guarded. When Ashley had seen the iron gates open to the Cruz’s beachfront mansion, panic had curled around her chest. She had looked out the window and saw a forest of palm trees flanking the long driveway.

Ashley had tried not to gasp when she spotted the villa at the end of the winding lane. The home was unlike anything she had seen. She had expected the Cruz mansion to be a dramatic and modern house. A fortress. But this was gracious and traditional with its terra-cotta rooftops and soft white exterior. Ashley was used to high society but this was another level. It was a reminder of Sebastian’s power and influence.

“His sisters, however, are very warm and open,” Ashley said. They had easily welcomed her. Sebastian’s siblings were boisterous and inquisitive, but they had made Ashley feel as if she belonged.

And they had no reservations talking about Sebastian. At first it had been a trickle of information and it quickly became a flood of memories. The anecdotes and stories all described Sebastian as curious, volatile and too smart for his own good. He had been a lot of trouble, but everyone spoke about him with pride, love and exasperation.

“Yes, they didn’t have as hard of a time as Sebastian,” she said with a heavy sigh. “When my husband died, Sebastian became the head of the family. He was only a boy. Not even fifteen.”

There was a fine tremor in the woman’s fingers and Ashley noticed the gray pallor underneath the woman’s skin. It was clear Patricia was still fragile from her surgery. “Sebastian doesn’t talk about that time in his life. Or his father.”

“He lives with the constant reminder,” the older woman said. “He looks just like his father. My husband was very much a traditional man. Proud and artistic.”

“Your husband was an artist?” Ashley asked.

She nodded. “He was a painter. Watercolors. He wasn’t famous, but he was very respected in the art world. Some of his landscapes can be found here in my home.” Patricia’s eyes grew sad. “He stopped painting when we moved to the ghetto. He was working two jobs and feeding a growing family.”

This was why Sebastian scoffed at the way she made a living. She may repair and maintain Inez Key, but she never had to do hard labor. She didn’t know the strain of having a family depend on her.

“Which of your children inherited your husband’s artistic talent?” From what she could tell, all of the Cruz daughters were brilliant, successful and creative.

“Mmm, that would be Sebastian.”

“Really?” Sebastian thrived in the cutthroat business world. She hadn’t seen any indication that he had an artistic side.

“You should have seen the work he did at school,” Patricia said with a hint of pride. “His teachers encouraged him to find classes outside of school. If only we had the money. But Sebastian told he me didn’t have the inclination to pursue it.”

Ashley imagined Sebastian saying that with a dismissive wave of his hand. But she wondered if Sebastian didn’t choose the arts because he had to be sensible. He would have known it would have been a financial strain for the family and he acted disinterested to protect his mother’s feelings.

“Well, if there’s one thing I’ve noticed about Sebastian,” Ashley said brightly, “he can do anything he puts his mind to. If he had wanted to be an artist, he would have been.”

“And what is it that you do, Ashley?” Sebastian’s mother asked. “You’re twenty-three? I’m sure you have found your passion by now.”

Ashley knew it was another attempt to learn about her past. She wasn’t willing to share, and not just because of Sebastian’s request. It was unlikely that she would meet Patricia Esteban Cruz again, but she didn’t want to be judged by her parentage.

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” Ashley carefully replied. “What did you want to be when you were twenty-three?”

“Home.” Patricia had a faraway look in her eyes. “I wanted to be home, safe and sound with my babies while my husband was happily painting pictures of sunsets and nighthawks.”

Nighthawks? Ashley frowned. Those birds were indigenous to the keys. She hadn’t realized they were up here on the mainland.

Ashley turned sharply when she heard the piercing squeal of a child’s laughter. She saw Sebastian, sexy and casual in a T-shirt and jeans, at the edge of the beach. The water lapped at his bare feet as he held one of his nephews in his strong hands.

“More, Tio Sebastian! More!” the little boy shrieked as Sebastian tossed him high in the air before catching him. One of his nieces clung to Sebastian’s legs with her thumb firmly planted in her mouth. Ashley noticed the toddler had attached herself to her tio Sebastian the moment they had arrived.

“Ah, my grandchildren are precious to me, but they wear me out,” Patricia confessed as she watched the trio on the beach. “Sebastian is so patient with them. Gives each of his nieces and nephews extra attention. If only he was so patient with his sisters.”

“He’s very good with children.” She remembered how gentle he had been with Clea’s granddaughters on Inez Key. Ashley had been concerned Sebastian would be like most of her paying guests who didn’t want to hear or see children on the island. She recalled how he had found them playing on the beach one day and when he had approached them, Ashley’s first thought had been to protect them. Ashley thought the girls would have been scared or intimidated by Sebastian. But he had surprised her when he had crouched down in front of the curious children and got down to their level.

A smile tugged on Ashley’s mouth as she remembered that hot and humid morning. The scene had been so incongruous with Sebastian’s dark head next to Lizet and Matil, who wore silly hats to protect them from the sun. He had given the girls his full attention, speaking in a low voice as he praised their efforts in building a sand castle.

The children immediately adored him, with Lizet shyly offering her battered pink bucket while Matil danced excitedly around them. Ashley had quietly watched as Sebastian had played with the children. She had been amazed by the gentleness and patience he had displayed.

“He would make a good father,” Patricia declared.

Ashley wanted to reject that idea. Sebastian was a playboy. A good father would be sweet and tender. A family man. He wouldn’t be someone like her father who would destroy a family in his pursuit to have sex with many women.

But Sebastian wasn’t like Donald Jones, Ashley realized with a start. Sebastian cared about his family. Family was his haven, not his burden. He honored his commitments and was willing to put his family’s needs before his. And he would protect his loved ones instead of overpowering them.

Ashley knew she would be included if she was carrying his baby. She closed her eyes and imagined Sebastian holding her close as his fingers splayed against her swollen stomach. His touch would be gentle and possessive. He would not allow anything to happen to them as a family. As a couple.

“Do you think differently?” Patricia asked, jarring Ashley from her musings. “Do you think Sebastian would make a bad father?”

“He would be the father any child would hope for,” Ashley said slowly as she thought about how Sebastian embodied everything she hoped for in a man, a husband, and yet he was also everything she feared. “But I don’t think he has the inclination to become one.”

“That’s what I’m worried about. Sebastian had to look after his sisters at such a young age. He may not want to do it again. But that man should have a wife. Children of his own.”

“Carry on the Cruz name?” Ashley added as she absently rubbed her flat stomach. She wanted Sebastian’s child. More than one. She wanted to create a large family filled with sons and daughters that had the same dark hair, stubbornness and strength as their father. Most of all, she wanted to see those children bring out Sebastian’s fierce paternal side.

“Exactly.” Patricia smacked her armrest with her hand like a judge would bang a gavel. “He should marry.”

Don’t look at me
. Ashley gritted her teeth before the words tumbled off her tongue. Men didn’t marry their mistresses. She had it on good authority. Her mother had tried every trick for twenty years to make Donald her husband.

Donald and Linda may have shared a past and a child, but they never shared a family name. Donald had given his surname to Ashley, but she had never understood why. Why had she been considered good enough for the Jones name and not her mother?

But Sebastian was different, Ashley thought as she watched him set down his nephew and hoist his small niece into his arms. He would marry her if she was carrying his child. She longed for a traditional family but not like this. If she was pregnant with his baby, she would have some tough decisions to make. She had been tolerated in her father’s home, part of a package deal. Ashley wasn’t going to go through that again.

* * *

Later that night, Sebastian stepped out of the bathroom and into the guest bedroom. The steam from his shower curled around him as he slung a towel low around his waist. His heart beat against his ribs as he anticipated having Ashley all to himself.

He stopped in the middle of the room when he noticed Ashley wasn’t in the large bed waiting for him. She wasn’t in the sitting area or at the desk. Sebastian turned and saw Ashley standing at the long open window, the gauzy curtains billowing against her.

Desire slammed through him as he noticed how the silk slip skimmed against her gentle curves. The dark pink accentuated her sun-kissed skin and the short hem barely reached her thighs. He was tempted to pull the delicate shoulder straps until they broke and watch the silk tumble to the floor.

It took him a moment to notice that Ashley was waving at someone outside. “Who are you waving to?” he asked gruffly. As much as he enjoyed the sight, he was prepared to cloak her with something heavy. He should be the only one who saw her like this.

“Your sister Ana Sofia and her husband,” she responded without looking at him. “Apparently, they take a moonlight stroll along the beach every night.”

“I’m sure that’s real romantic when it’s pouring down rain.” He refused to hear the catch in her throat. “You and Ana Sofia were thick as thieves tonight.”

She turned away from the window and he saw her smile. “She wanted to tell me all of the mean things you did to her while you were growing up. I have to say, none of it surprised me.”

“I had to be strict with her,” he said as he approached her. “I’m her big brother and our father had died.”

She nodded. “I understand, but you’re lucky you had your sisters.”

“It didn’t feel so lucky,” he muttered.

“Well, I was an only child. I would have loved a sister or two.”

He noticed Ashley had watched how his family interacted with a mix of amusement and bewilderment. “They were in full force today. You didn’t find them overwhelming?”

“It took some time to get used to it,” she admitted. “Your sisters got a little vocal at the dinner table.”

“That?” He rested his hand against the wall and he leaned into her. “That was nothing.”

She gave him a look of disbelief. “You were arguing about a vase that broke almost twenty years ago.”

“I was blamed for that because I was supposed to be looking after my sisters.” He hadn’t been surprised that Ashley didn’t side with him during the argument. Did she still see him as the opposition? The enemy? “Ana Sofia was the one who actually broke it.”

“Twenty years ago,” she reminded him. “You can certainly hold a grudge.”

“You have no idea.” He gritted his teeth and took a step back. Sebastian wasn’t going to reveal just how much a grudge motivated him. Dominated his thoughts. “I’m sure this happened in your house, too. Who were you able to blame when you broke something? The family dog?”