He hoped like hell she’d eventually realize she’d been waiting for him too.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

For the next handful of days, Charlie alternately worked on the chariot...and daydreamed about Sebastian’s kisses. Once or twice she did both at the same time, but that was a surefire way to cut right through a finger, so she forced herself to focus one hundred percent while she was in her studio. When she was back in her bungalow at night, however, all bets were off.

She’d been right about his incredibly busy schedule. More than once, she heard the helicopter taking off, and at one point she was pretty sure there was a film crew on the property up by the main house. But though they were both so busy, Sebastian always made sure to find her each day to give her a kiss. Just one perfect kiss each time. So perfect that he’d left her with her head spinning and her lips tingling. And every single time, as he drew back, he said one word.

“Soon.”

It had become both her favorite word...and her most hated.

After working on some of her creations for up to a year or two at a time, Charlie thought she had patience down to an art form. But her need for Sebastian was eating through it faster than a plasma cutter.

But for as much as she desired him, she found herself liking him even more. His thoughtfulness knew no bounds. When Wednesday morning came, he had his driver waiting right on time to take them both to Shady Lane for a visit with her mother. She’d hoped Sebastian would steal his kiss in the limo, but he seemed happy just to hold her hand, stroking his thumb over her palm in seductive circles that made her almost mindless with need. And if they hadn’t been on their way to see her mother—who would notice absolutely everything, the way she always had when Charlie was a teenager—Charlie might have given in to the reckless urges pumping through her veins and jumped him right then and there on the black leather seat, with the driver only feet away.

Once they were inside the building, Charlie handed the box of beautiful china to Sebastian. “You should give your gorgeous present to her.” He didn’t have a mother anymore, but he was a man with so much love to give. Charlie was happy to share hers, especially when she knew how much her mother enjoyed his company and attention.

Despite the dingy room, he was almost ceremonial in his presentation of the cups and plates. Sebastian, it seemed, could transcend anything. Two alcoholic parents. A childhood of poverty. Even the less than stellar surroundings of an elder-care center.

Her mother gasped with joy. A joy that, amazingly, seemed to replace the pain for a little while. “Oh, Sebastian.” She pressed his hand. “I’ve never seen anything so lovely.”

“I have,” he murmured so softly that only Charlie could hear. He looked straight into her eyes and her heart thumped even faster in her chest.

He suggested they drive Francine out to Lake Elizabeth and share their tea and bear claws as an outdoor picnic. The park was only a mile from Shady Lane, and her mother seemed to enjoy the ride in the limo as much as she soaked up the dappled sunlight streaming through the trees on the comfortable portable chairs he’d stashed in the trunk.

“I’d like to bring a doctor by to see you, Francine.” Sebastian had thoroughly discussed the Stanford hand surgeon with Charlie and she’d agreed to his intervention if it had any chance of helping her mother. “Would that be all right with you?”

“You’re such a dear, but it’s too late now. All the doctors have told me that.”

“If you don’t mind seeing one more, I know my friend would be very interested in coming to meet with you.” Sebastian poured tea from a Thermos he’d brought, having naturally thought of absolutely everything.

Her mother nibbled her bear claw. “It tastes even better on this beautiful china.” She added a sip of tea to her delight. “I’ve never heard of a doctor doing house calls, at least not in this century.”

“It’s a personal favor. Unfortunately, he’s out of the country right now, so he’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

Charlie shuddered to think that Sebastian had probably promised to fund a new wing at the hospital in return. She’d worked to get past her hang-up about his spending so much money on her and her mother...but it was difficult when he only grew more generous by the second.

Her mother squeezed Sebastian’s hand. “You’re going to spoil me,” she said in a singsong.

“You deserve to be spoiled.”

“I know what a busy man you must be.”

“I’m not too busy to see you.”

“We both know that isn’t true,” her mother said in a soft voice. “You’re very special to carve out time we all know you don’t have to visit an old woman you’ve just met. Very special, indeed.”

Charlie’s heart turned over at the glow on her mom’s face—and how moved she could see that Sebastian was by the bond he was forming with her mother. She knew how badly he’d wanted to help his parents, and it wasn’t hard to see that he’d channeled that need into helping others.

So despite her lingering guilt at accepting his help, she was doubly glad she’d consented. The look on both their faces was worth everything. If the doctor could find a way to help her mother experience even a tiny bit less pain, it would be all Charlie could ask for.

Sebastian was good for her mother.

And, she thought, as he snuck in his one perfect kiss while her mother’s head was turned toward the sun, she couldn’t deny that he was good for her too.

* * *

“Do you need to head straight back to the workshop?”

The limo had just dropped them off at his house, and even though she should have gone right back to work, how could she resist more time with Sebastian? And if she could actually work on the sculpture while spending time with him? Well, that would be absolute perfection.

“Actually, I was thinking about doing a little shopping this afternoon.” At his surprised look—he’d obviously noticed she wasn’t particularly into fashion—she laughed and clarified. “For parts to use on the chariot.” She’d formed the body and haunch of one horse, but she was working on the legs and head, and the chariot still needed its base. He’d already taken off a ton of time and it was a long shot, but she decided to say, “There’s both an estate sale and a construction sale this afternoon, if you’d like to come with me.”

“Isn’t an estate sale basically just a glorified garage sale?”

It was kind of adorable how his nose crinkled at the words garage sale. Clearly, he’d been living in the lap of luxury for a while. Either that, she found herself thinking on a more sober note, or garage sales had been the only “stores” his parents could afford to shop at when he was a kid.

“One person’s junk is another’s treasure. It can be a goldmine. I adore junk shopping.”

“You adore junk shopping?” He gave her his best innocent look as they headed for his garage. “Could have fooled me.”

She playfully swiped at his chest. He grabbed her fingers, and lifted them to his lips for a quick kiss that left her skin tingling and her heart racing as they stepped into his enormous, and well-stocked, garage. Not that she could make fun of him for his collection of classic cars, however, considering her personal collection of broken shovels and pipes.

She insisted on taking the truck, but he insisted on driving. It made her hot and bothered to watch him behind the wheel. A man with a truck was just plain sexy, but Sebastian dressed in black jeans and a black shirt behind the wheel of a half-ton pickup was downright meltingly hot.

The day had been absolutely perfect so far, so when they uncovered an array of crockery, including chipped and mismatched china, not five minutes after arriving at the estate sale, she honestly wasn’t surprised. Everything Sebastian touched seemed to turn to gold.