Unhinged (15 page)

And that was the last
thing we all needed.

Payton

“Hey, kiddo!” my father
greeted when I walked into Fowler Body and Frame an hour later. Several heads
turned to look my way, a couple of waves followed.

“Good morning, Amy.” I
smiled at my father’s receptionist who was sitting at a small desk near the front
door.

“Mornin,' Payton,” Amy
replied, not looking up from her computer screen. “How’s the new job?”

“Great.” I didn’t
bother to stop and address her directly. Truth was, Amy didn’t like me all that
much. I knew her pleasantries were for my father’s sake. Not that there was any
love lost on my part. I didn’t particularly care for Amy either. I thought she
was a manipulative, vindictive bitch. And an attention whore.

“Hi, Daddy.” My smile
intensified as I approached my father.

“What’re you doing
here?” he asked, his surprise to see me written across his handsome, aging face.

My father was in his
late fifties, but working in the body shop industry had aged him. He looked
quite a bit older than that. He kept his dark hair clipped short, mainly
because he was balding, and he had plenty of laugh lines around his eyes and
mouth. But no matter what, he was still one of the most handsome men I’d ever
know.

So I might have fibbed
a little earlier when I told Sebastian that I had to go see my father. It had
been the first thing that I thought of, but I knew I needed to have a plan for
the day. The last thing I needed was for Sebastian to think I had been planning
to sit around my apartment and hope he would call. Yeah, so, coming to see
Harold Fowler wasn’t really a scheduled thing, but I figured since I had told
Sebastian that I had to stop in and see him, I probably should. That or my spur
of the moment comment would have been a lie.

When my father wrapped
his arms around me, I hugged him back. “Just wanted to stop by.”

Sitting around waiting
for a guy didn’t really work for me. I was supposed to pretend to be only
partially interested in Sebastian. Anything else would make me look desperate.

I was a little
desperate.

Especially when I
thought about the way he kissed me, the hard planes and angles of his body
beneath my hands. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and jump him.

I was thankful for the
little bit of common sense I had left.

I knew that until Sebastian
opened up and told me some things about himself, I wasn’t going to give in. So
his inability to share about himself was my only saving grace.

“Want something to
drink?” my dad offered after he released me, rubbing the top of my head like I
was five.

“Sure,” I replied,
trying to smooth my hair back into place.

I followed my father
into the small break room at the back of the building, passing two other
employees who merely offered a brief wave before burying their noses in their
computer screens once again.

I didn’t go to my
father’s body shop often. Fowler Body and Frame was one of those places that
made me feel out of place. The people were nice, but I knew what they saw when
they looked at me. After all, even though my father had wanted me to, I never
gave in to working there full time. It wasn’t for me.

I enjoyed the time I
spent with my parents, namely my father who had toted me around to hockey or
baseball games and car shows as a kid. There was no doubt about it, I was
definitely a daddy’s girl. But even though I loved spending time with him, I
didn’t want to work for him. Aside from the few times I had filled in when Amy
needed to take time off, or my stint as my father’s assistant during my senior
year of high school, I didn’t spend a lot of time there.

Sure, I knew about
cars. More so than I cared to, really. I could change my oil, fix a flat tire,
and even identify certain engines based on the set up under the hood. But other
than that, being at the body shop wasn’t high on my list of favorite things to
do.

“How’re you, kiddo?”
Harold, better known as Hal, asked after retrieving two cans of soda from the
small, secondhand refrigerator that stood in one corner of the break room next
to the sink and a long counter complete with a used microwave. On the other end
of the room was a flat screen television mounted on the wall and one of those
water jug machines.

“Good,” I answered,
pulling out one of the metal chairs and sliding down into it while I glanced
around the room. “Did you paint in here?” I asked, noticing something was
different.

My father surveyed the
room briefly before meeting my eyes again. “Yeah.” He pointed to a spot in the
ceiling. “We had a water leak, ended up having to paint the whole room after
they fixed it.”

“I like it,” I told
him, unable to think of anything else to say.

“Did you watch the
Stars beat the Predators the other night?” He grinned widely.

“I did. Good game.”

“It was. One of these
days we’ll have to go see the Stars play again.”

We hadn’t been to a
hockey game in at least two years. Mainly because of my father’s busy schedule.
“I’d like that.”

“So, how’s work? Did
you meet Mr. Trovato?”

I smiled, leaning back
in my chair and wrapping my fingers around the cold soda can. “It’s good.”

My father cocked an
eyebrow, obviously waiting for me to answer the other question.

“And, yes, I met him.”
I laughed. “I’m his assistant.”

He nodded as though he
was contemplating my answer. “Have you met a lot of people?”

“Not really, no. I’m
kinda isolated at the moment. I did have to go to Mr. Trovato’s house last week
though.”

My father’s eyes
narrowed on me.

Oops. That probably
didn’t sound right, especially when I blurted it out.

“He left his cell phone
at home and his wife couldn’t bring it to him.”

“That’s a strange thing
for a receptionist to be doing,” he said simply.

“I’m not a receptionist,
Dad. I’m an administrative assistant.”

“Same thing.”

I smiled. No, they
weren’t the same. At least not in a company the size of Trovato, Inc., but I
wasn’t going to argue with my dad.

“How’re you?” I asked,
not really wanting to talk about me.

“Good. Busy.”

“Yeah?” I was a little
surprised by his hurried response. There hadn’t been any cars in the parking
lot when I arrived. Since it was Saturday, I kind of expected them to be
busier.

I also knew that things
had slowed down quite a bit for my father in recent months. My mother had
mentioned it one day, and I’d heard something in her tone that I hadn’t heard
before. Concern.

“Is there anything I
can do to help?” I offered, sipping my soda.

My dad chuckled. “We’re
good. You should be enjoying your day off, kiddo.”

I knew I should. But
that meant sitting around my apartment thinking about Sebastian and that was
something I wasn’t comfortable with. It was bad enough that I’d woken up that
morning and the first thing that had crossed my mind had been him. I didn’t
want to be that girl. I was twenty-three, not seventeen. I had things to do and
places to go.

Liar.

Okay, so I had nothing
to do on a Saturday. Shopping was out of the question because I was trying to
save money. Hanging out with Chloe wasn’t an option because, shortly after I
mentioned needing to go see my father, I found out she had planned to spend the
day with Toby. I still intended to bombard her with questions where they were
concerned, but I couldn’t do that until she was home. Alone.

“How’s Aaron? And
Chloe?” my father asked, his gaze darting out the door.

I twisted to see
someone standing there, clearly waiting to talk to my dad.

“I’ll be there in a
minute,” he told the guy before turning his attention back to me.

“They’re good,” I told
him. “Aaron’s spending most of his time with his new boyfriend. And Chloe’s
busy with work.”

“Boyfriend, huh? I
assume he’s a good guy?”

My parents loved Aaron,
always had. Considering we’d spent so much time together, he was practically a
member of the family. In fact, my parents had helped Aaron when he had concerns
over talking to his own parents about being gay.

“He’s nice,” I told my
father honestly. “I kinda think they’re spending too much time together, but
I’m not a relationship expert, so what do I know.”

“Have they been
together long?”

“A few months.”

My father nodded and,
as I was looking at him, a question flitted through my head and before I knew
it, I was speaking it aloud. “Do you know if Mr. Trovato has any kids?”

My dad’s brows turned
down and I could see that I’d taken him off guard with the question.

Explaining my reasons
for wanting to know the answer to something like that would have probably been
a good thing, but I kept my mouth closed. Well, actually, I pretended to take a
drink of my soda until he finally answered.

“He’s got a daughter, I
know,” my father explained hesitantly. “There’d been a rumor a while back that
he had a son as well, but that had died quickly. I think he’s got a nephew that
lives with him.”

My soda nearly came out
of my nose. A son? Was Sebastian Conrad’s son? It made sense. They did kind of
look alike. But…

Nooo.
No way was Sebastian Conrad’s son. He couldn’t be.

I thought back to the
pictures in Conrad’s office. There were several of Aaliyah growing up, including
several of her in recent years. He had pictures of his wife, Lauren, on the
bookshelves that lined the far wall. But other than that, he didn’t have any
other pictures. Certainly none of Sebastian.

Why would Conrad keep
that a secret?

He wouldn’t, that’s all
there was to it.

“Nephew, huh?” I asked
when my coughing fit settled.

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason.” I shrugged,
placing my can on the table. “Look, I know you’re busy and I’ve got… something
to do.”

My father stood when I
did, concern etched on the hard lines of his face.

“Tell Mom I said hi,” I
told him as I hugged him quickly and then turned toward the door.

“Payton.”

Ahh, crap.

I stopped walking and
turned to face my father.

“Is something going
on?” he asked quietly, his voice low.

“Nope. Not a thing. I
just have to run. Talk to you later, Dad.”

I couldn’t wait around
for him to dig deeper. I wouldn’t be able to keep my thoughts to myself.

And until I heard the
words from Sebastian’s mouth, I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

Although, I was pretty sure
I already had.

Payton

Two hours later I was
pacing the floor in my living room, staring at my cell phone on the coffee
table. I was disappointed that Sebastian hadn’t texted or called. Granted, he
thought I was busy with my father. It still bothered me that I hadn’t heard
from him at all.

Should I text him?
Should I leave him alone? Should I pretend he doesn’t exist?

Wow. The last question
drew me up short.

My thoughts deviated to
the conversation I’d had with my father earlier. Was it really possible that
Conrad Trovato was Sebastian’s father? If it were true, why didn’t Sebastian
just say so? And why didn’t Conrad have any pictures of Sebastian in his
office?

“What the hell? Who
could do that to their kid?” I spoke aloud although no one was home to hear me.

The guttural roar of an
engine jump-started my heart. I darted to the window, scanning the parking lot
below for the car and there it was.

Sebastian’s sleek black
Camaro was parked next to my Mustang, and I found I couldn’t move as I watched him
climb out. He was so damn hot. The way he moved, the way he carried himself.
All masculine grace and power. Watching him took my breath away.

Yeah, I was pretty sure
he was a god sent to this planet to make women forget their own names. He was…
beautiful.

Tall, with narrow hips
and a broad chest. His hair always looked like he’d been running his hands
through it. Today he was wearing a black leather jacket and I felt the saliva
pool in my mouth.

I hadn’t realized that
I’d been standing there staring at him until there was a knock on my front
door. I closed the distance in two steps and flung the door open, coming face
to
—
well, not face because he was so much taller than me
—
chest with
Sebastian.

“Hey,” he greeted in
that dark, sexy tone.

“Hey back. What’re you
doing here?” I asked stupidly. I hadn’t expected to see him, especially since
we hadn’t made any plans that morning. I had wanted to, just hadn’t expected
to.

His eyebrow darted up
slightly and he stared at me, his eyes narrowing. “We need to talk.”

Oh, crap. I didn’t like
the sound of that.

Sure, we needed to
talk, but did we need to
talk
?

The way he said it
sounded bad.

“Come in.” I stepped
out of the way and motioned for him to come inside. My stomach had plummeted to
my feet, and I felt a little lightheaded as I stared after him.

He was wearing jeans
—
no surprise
there
—
and a body-hugging black T-shirt beneath the leather jacket and a pair of black
work boots. He looked like a fallen angel with his golden brown hair, the top
just a little long, and his brilliant gold eyes. The five o’clock shadow
darkening his jaw made him appear rugged and even sexier than when he was clean
shaven.

“Can I get you
something to drink?” I asked, wanting to be the polite hostess. More
importantly, I didn’t want to stand there and stare at him. Only because the
idea of getting caught was a little embarrassing.

“I’m good,” Sebastian
said, not making eye contact with me.

That bothered me.

That had been one of
the first things I noticed about him. He always made eye contact. And not the
simple kind where he just spared you a look. No, Sebastian’s eyes practically
dug into your soul. He left me feeling exposed in every way. And now he wasn’t
looking at me at all.

“Want to sit down?” I asked,
motioning for the couch.

Sebastian nodded his
head, but he didn’t move.

Unsure what to do, I
moved closer to him, standing directly in front of him and looking up. He
didn’t meet my gaze.

“Is something wrong?”

His eyes slowly slid up
until they were locked with mine. I’d say something was wrong. Where I’d
previously seen mischief and excitement, at the moment I saw… fear?

No. That couldn’t be
it.

How could this strong,
brave man be afraid of anything?

“Sit down,” I
whispered, reaching for his hand and tugging him toward the couch.

Before he could answer,
my front door flew open and in walked Chloe.

“Hey, y’all. Don’t mind
me. I’m just here to shower and change. I’m gonna grab some clothes and go out
for…”

Chloe’s string of words
died on impact as she came to a stop in the middle of the living room.

“What’s wrong?” I was
confused by the way she was looking at Sebastian.

“You okay?” she asked
Sebastian directly, not answering my question. “You look pissed.”

Sebastian’s head
lifted, and he forced a smile. “Peachy. Just here to talk to Payton,” he
mumbled, his voice gruff.

Chloe merely nodded and
then spared me a glance before she started toward her bedroom. Before she got
there, she turned back to look at me. I thought she was trying to tell me
something, but I pretended not to notice. I wasn’t sure what just transpired in
my living room, but I didn’t want to talk to her. I wanted to talk to
Sebastian.

“Come on,” I told
Sebastian, taking his hand and leading him into my bedroom before closing the
door behind us. With Chloe in the apartment, there was no way we would have any
privacy sitting in the living room.

Without thinking, I
climbed on the bed and sat cross-legged as I watched him.

“Sit,” I instructed as
I patted the comforter, feeling awkward that he was still standing.

He looked at me then at
the bed before shaking his head. “Not a good idea.”

Oh.

O-o-oh.

Okay.

“Then pull up a chair,”
I stated, clearing my throat. I hadn’t thought about what it would look like if
I flopped onto my bed and invited him to join me.

Sebastian shook his
head again and walked back and forth in the few scant feet that were allotted
him. He pulled off his leather jacket, hung it on the back of the chair, but
that was the only time he stopped moving. He resumed his pacing, his eyes glued
to the floor.

My apartment was small.
The bedrooms were big enough to hold a queen sized bed, dresser and a small
desk. Nothing more than that. And I had more than that in mine, so that left
even less space to maneuver around. Considering I only used the room to sleep,
it had never bothered me. With Sebastian standing there, my bedroom felt even
smaller.

“You want to talk?” I
felt like I was poking a stick at a scared animal. Any second now, I thought he
was going to turn and run.

“Yeah.” He still wasn’t
looking at me.

Okay, so this was
getting weird fast.

“Please sit. You make
me nervous when you pace the floor.”

Sebastian dropped onto
the edge of the bed and I couldn’t believe my eyes. A minute ago he hadn’t
wanted to sit there for whatever reason and now… well, there he was less than a
foot away.

“Is something wrong?” I
asked when he didn’t speak. The silence was unbearable. I was focused on the
way he was breathing. Shallow and choppy.

I knew the answer to
his question before he said it.

“Yeah,” he muttered.
“Something’s wrong.”

“Oh.”

Well? I wanted to shake
him, force him to spill it, but I thought better of it. Touching him probably
wasn’t a good thing right now. I could see the strain in the muscles of his
neck.

Sebastian shrugged out
of his jacket, setting it on the back of the chair near the bed.

That’s when I saw the
muscles of his arms, his bulging biceps decorated with black ink, the corded
lines of his forearms, a clean slate for whatever tattoo he might want in the
future.

“What is it?” I finally
asked when the silence stole the oxygen from the room.

Sebastian twisted until
he was looking directly at me. The heat in his eyes was potent, hot enough to
scorch the surface of the sun.

“I want you, Payton.”

Uh…

I wasn’t sure what to
say to that.

“And I shouldn’t.”

“Why?” Hmm… I was
starting to think I sounded a little needy. If that one word hadn’t come out
quite so breathless and anxious, I wouldn’t be worried, but I knew how it
sounded.

“You work for…”

I waited. This was the
moment of truth. He was going to tell me who he was. Truthfully, I knew we
couldn’t even attempt to go any further until he did, so I held my breath.

“Who?” I wanted him to
tell me, to open up and let me in.

Sebastian was instantly
on his feet, pacing the floor again. At this rate, the cheap carpet was going
to have a hole in it before he was finished.

Moving closer to the
edge of the bed, I reached for him when he made another pass by me. He stopped
instantly, staring down at where my hand touched his.

Then slowly
—
ever so slowly
—
his eyes moved
up my arm, my neck, my mouth until we were staring at one another.

“Payton, I can’t
explain it—”

I didn’t give him a
chance, I tugged on his arm and he moved closer until he was kneeling on the
bed in front of me. I continued to pull him, trying to bring him closer. For a
second, I thought he was going to resist but then he was hovering above me and
I was pulling him even closer. Close enough that our lips touched.

The room could have
exploded right then, and I wouldn’t have cared. The only thing that mattered
was the warmth of his body above me, the feel of his rough fingers as they
gripped my chin almost forcefully. Our tongues were battling and I was trying
to suck air in through my nose, but it was difficult. All of my senses were
aware of him. His unique, musky scent, the way the short hairs on his head
tickled my palm, the hard plane of his chest pressed against my breast.

It was safe to say that
I’d never wanted anyone the way I wanted him.

Never.

And it didn’t even
matter that I didn’t know much about him other than his name and that he was
related to my boss.

Sebastian pulled back,
the muscles in his arms flexing as he held himself above me. “Payton. Angel,”
Sebastian breathed against my lips before coming down over me and delving into
my mouth once again.

If you’ve ever had an
out of body experience, then you know what I was feeling in that moment. The
stars had aligned, the planets gearing up to collide, the earth had started a
backward orbit around the sun…

And I didn’t care
because I was meant to be right there. I was meant to be with this man. There
was a little voice in my head that assured me this was what was supposed to
happen.