Oh my God.

Sebastian had tripped the other day! I’d forgotten all about that. It was right after he’d opened the door and went to go get my iPad. But that had to be a coincidence. I’d only ever noticed him ogling my body once before that. Though that night, I had been all dressed up for my date. But then again, the Maxwell house had an area rug in the living room. I bet the end was rolled up from Marmaduke’s running around like a madman, and Sebastian hadn’t noticed. Yeah . . . that had to be it.

I took out my phone to scroll through emails and occupy my six-stop train ride with something other than thoughts of Sebastian Maxwell. It worked for the first two stops, but then the train came to an abrupt halt. A few minutes later, we were still not moving when a muffled voice came overhead.

“Ladies and gentlemen. We have another train on the track up ahead that seems to have run into some mechanical problems. We’re going to stick it out here for the time being. I’ll update you as soon as I know more.”

The occupants of the train let out a collective sigh and mumbled bitching echoed all around. After ten more minutes, the conductor’s voice came overhead again.

“Alright, so it looks like they’re going to need some time to work on that disabled train up ahead. We’re going to have to back it up to the 23rd Street Station and let you out to jump on another line. But there’s a train behind us, and they need to be relocated first. Service employees will be on hand for those of you not familiar with our lovely subway system. Hope you enjoyed this fun start to your weekend.”

Everyone groaned. It took almost another half hour of waiting, but eventually we started to back up slowly. By the time we made it to the 23rd Street Station, it was twenty after seven already. As soon as I got up to street level, I dialed the Maxwell house. Birdie answered.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Birdie. It’s Sadie. Is your dad home?”

“No. He’s at work. Are you still coming?”

I smiled hearing the concern in her voice. “Yes, of course. I’m just running late because my train got stuck. Could I maybe talk to Magdalene to see if it’s okay if I come later than planned?”

“Sure!”

Magdalene got on the line. “Hi, Sadie.”

“Hi, Magdalene. I’m running a little late. Would it be alright if I came at maybe eight thirty? Is that too late for Birdie?”

“Umm. Well, she actually has a sleepover tonight. Her friend down the block is having a slumber party for her birthday. Six girls are going. It starts at eight, but I was just going to run her down when you guys were done. But I guess she could go at nine thirty. She just went into the bathroom. Want me to ask her if that’s okay with her?”

I sighed. “No. I don’t want her to miss even more of her party. I can jump back on the train and head uptown now. I’ll probably still be, like, ten minutes late.”

“Okay. No problem.”

“Thanks, Magdalene.”

I speed walked the two blocks to cross over to the uptown line that stopped closest to their house and then slipped inside a waiting train just as the doors were beginning to slide closed. The car was packed and standing room only. So I jockeyed for a spot next to a pole so I could hold on as the train jerked to start moving.

Unlike my earlier commute, the express train uptown proved uneventful, and I arrived at the Maxwell house only seven minutes late. I knocked and waited, expecting Magdalene to let me in.

Only it wasn’t Magdalene staring at me once the door swung open.

CHAPTER 15

SEBASTIAN

Jesus Christ.

I swallowed. What the hell was she wearing?

“Uhh. Hi. I didn’t expect you to be home. Birdie said you were at work.”

My uncontrollable attraction to Sadie pissed me off, and I took my frustration out on her. “Is that why you’re late? When the cat’s away, the mouse will play?”

“No. I called Magdalene and told her that my train got stuck. I was planning on going home to shower after my yoga class. But since the train delayed me an hour, I rushed straight here so I wouldn’t make Birdie even later for the birthday party she has tonight.”

She has a belly-button ring. So sparkly . . .

Fuck. I forced my eyes up to meet Sadie’s and found her staring at me expectantly. Had she just said something? Trying to rewind the last ten seconds in my head, I thought she might’ve . . . something about a train?

Whatever.

I stepped aside. “Come in. Magdalene just brought Marmaduke back from a long walk, so he’s sprawled out on the living room floor.”

We walked into the house, and Marmaduke looked up. He spotted Sadie, and his tongue started to wag out of his mouth.

Yeah, I know the feeling, buddy.

Birdie ran out from her room and hugged Sadie, who bent as they embraced, giving me a front-row view of her ass. Christ. She looked as good going as she did coming. My eyes were still glued to that ass when she turned around to speak to me, and I almost got caught.

“Were you able to get the training clicker I mentioned last week?” she asked.

My daughter ran to the coffee table and got the contraption from hell and started to click it.

Click-click. Click-click. Click-click.

That sound had been grating on my nerves for the better part of a week since I’d brought it home from the pet store. I looked at Sadie, still feeling irritated, though I was bullshitting myself if I thought my current mood had anything to do with that training clicker.

“Maybe next time you can pick something a little less annoying to use to train.”

Sadie’s hands flew to her hips. Her very shapely hips. “Is there something wrong?”

I raked a hand through my hair and grumbled. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

Luckily, my office had alcohol. Today had been a long day to begin with. My manager had given me two weeks’ notice, which meant I was going to have to find a replacement and spend a lot more time at the restaurant until I got a new one trained. Then a small grease fire had broken out in the kitchen, rendering one of our deep fryers unusable, and finally our vegetable shipment had been switched with another restaurant that apparently planned to make corn a side dish with every meal. I’d come home early, figuring that I wouldn’t get many chances to do that again in two weeks. Plus, I hadn’t been sleeping well the last few days for some reason. So I opened a bottle of wine from where I kept the liquor locked up in a credenza and poured myself a very full glass of cabernet as I sat down in my chair.

God, she is fucking sexy.

I slurped a mouthful of the purple liquid down.

I had the craziest urge to clasp my teeth around that diamond in her navel and give it a good strong tug.

I swallowed another mouthful.

And that ass. Maybe she could teach Duke to jump again. I bet it would be some view of her down on all fours in the getup she had on today.

Another mouthful.

What had she called it again? “Flunk shit.” “Flukerbutt.” “Flunkerbsht.” That was it. “Jump” was “flunkerbsht.” I started to laugh. The sound was almost maniacal.

Flunkerbsht.

I want to flunkerbsht the pretend dog trainer.

I shook my head and took another swig.

For the last week, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. The night she picked up her iPad, she’d been so vulnerable and open when I’d asked about her father. Her big blue eyes had been filled with emotion and sincerity. It had been a long time since I met a woman who put her heart out there for the world to see. Not to mention, there were a lot of other parts of her worth seeing. The little workout outfit she wore today nailed that point home, that was for sure.