Maid to Crave (Man Maid #2) (16 page)

“It’s okay, but perhaps Caleb can now explain to Zach why he cannot share a bedroom with him like Cody Manson shares a room with
his
brother,” she said with a quiet laugh. God, he felt good against her…laughing and sharing this time together.

All the fear that had kept her up last night worrying was gone. He was still Seth…and still her friend above all else. He kissed the side of her head and then ruffled her hair before stepping around her and pouring himself some cereal.

She worked the majority of the morning and most of the afternoon migrating the last of the data over to the new server and into the tables of the new database. Proud of her ability to have logically mapped out the best approach to this project, she could only sigh with relief that the hard part was over. Now it would be a matter of fine-tuning and maintaining. After finishing, she headed upstairs to get ready to meet with Tim.

As much as she didn’t look forward to breaking up with Tim, she had to wonder if he would eventually be relieved. Tim deserved to feel about someone the way she felt about Seth. She wasn’t that person for Tim any more than he was that person for her. Even if things went no further with Seth, she needed to be honest about her feelings. She needed more than just a respectable man who could tolerate her son. She needed a partner.

After dropping off Zach at Kayla’s house so that Addie could watch him, Tori drove to the restaurant that she and Tim always went to when they went out together. He held a chair for her when she approached the table. The same heavy feeling of awkwardness she often felt with him settled into the pit of her stomach as she tried to get comfortable in her seat.

“I drove by your place earlier and saw your housekeeper unloading things from his car. You doing some additional decorating?” he asked with a smile.

This wasn’t how she’d imagined starting this conversation, but it needed to be said. Taking a deep breath, she replied, “No. Actually, he and his brother are going to rent the basement from me. It helps them out financially and he has agreed to help me with Zach during the summer while school is out.”

A look crossed Tim’s face that she couldn’t read before he visibly shuttered it and said, “Oh, are you sure that is a good idea? You barely know the guy.”

“Actually, he’s good friends with my girlfriend Kayla’s husband. So I’ve known him for a few months now. I met him at her mother’s funeral and he was in their wedding…as was I,” she said, after ordering a glass of wine.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve missed you these past few weeks. I’m sure you enjoy not having to come into the office, but at least when you were there we could go to lunch together. I’m not so sure I like having to schedule time to see you.”

This was going to be harder than she’d first thought, but it had to be done. Once the waiter came by with their wine and took their orders, she again squared her shoulders to push ahead with what she’d come here to say.

“I’m not so sure this is working well for me either. The part about us, not the part about working from home. In fact, I was able to finish the last portion of the migration today. I think it’s easier to concentrate within the privacy of my office at home than when people are running in and out asking me questions,” she said. “The ‘us’ part, though…I, uh, I just don’t think that is working out very well for me.”

He reached across the table, took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. Then, with his other hand, he pulled out a diamond ring and began sliding it on her finger. A sick feeling replaced the awkwardness in her stomach.
No
… Wasn’t he hearing what she said?

“Exactly. That is why I thought now was as good a time as any for us to make this official. You’re a good woman, Tori, and with your new position I think it is time the rest of the staff gets used to the fact that we are together. We will make a good team, both in the office and in our personal lives. Together, we are unstoppable. We make good money. We understand the demands of each other’s work. We have a lot in common,” he said with a smile. “So what do you think?”

Aside from the weekend she’d run into him at the mall, she’d barely seen him over the past three weeks. When they spoke on the phone, it was mostly about work.
Why now?
Why did he want to ask her this now that she’d finally figured out he wasn’t right for her?

“Tim, I don’t think so. I just don’t feel that way about you,” she said.

He startled her with a laugh. “I know I haven’t been as attentive to you lately but we’ve both been so busy. I will make it up to you, I promise.”

“I don’t think you understand,” she said. “I’m not in love with you. We get along well and, yes, we do understand each other’s work, but…don’t you want more than that? I want more than that. I’m sorry.”

A look of shock crossed his face before he turned away. When he looked back at her, his expression had changed to one of malice. Releasing her hand, he sat back in his seat and stared at her before taking a sip of his wine. He looked as though he was prepared to tell her off. If it made him feel better then she would take it. She had lied to him, lied to them both. So whatever he had to say, she would listen.

“They all said that you were sleeping with me to get this job, that you were unqualified for the position. But I stood up for you. They wanted to release you, offer you a part-time consulting situation for this project, but I assured them that you could do the work,” he said. “Now that the migration is completed, they will once again want to cut you from the staff. I thought by asking you to marry me, they would spare you for fear of losing us both. Instead I find that they were right all along. Not only did it take you longer to complete this project than it should have, you
were
simply sleeping with me to get this position.”

What?
She had heard the whispers about her sleeping her way to the top, but he had been only one vote out of ten. Had he really been the only reason why she had been given the promotion and raise? During her final interview for the position, it hadn’t felt like the other board members had been talked into offering her the job. It hadn’t felt as if they’d been…
convinced
of her ability.

The other board members had seemed excited to have her as part of the patient records technology team. Her old boss had indicated that he couldn’t match the money and benefits they offered, but that she deserved the promotion. He’d wished her well. Why would they have lured her away from the patient billing department just to have her handle the migration and then fire her? It made no sense. Were there politics involved that she didn’t know about?

“No, it wasn’t like that,” she replied. “I do care about you. You are a really sweet guy. I just don’t think my feelings are strong enough for me to marry you. Marriage is a huge step. I don’t think either one of us feel the way a person should feel before getting married, but I wasn’t using you for a promotion. And I don’t understand what you mean by the project taking longer. The migration was scheduled for five weeks and it’s done already…a week early. “

Tim had asked her out the first time just a few weeks before the new position had even been posted. Thinking back, he had seemed hesitant when she mentioned she was interested in the opening. Had he known even then that there was more to this assignment? If so, why hadn’t he told her what he knew and advised her to stay in her old job? Was he really the only hope she had of
keeping
her job?

He studied her for a minute and then took her hand again. “I adore you. I do not want to see you lose your job, regardless of how you
think
you feel about me. Say yes, at least for now. Wear the ring. We’ll announce our engagement so they will at least reconsider letting you go,” he pleaded. “Then after the project completion meeting, they will have reallocated funds and positions. Once we are both comfortably situated and secure in an assignment, if you still don’t feel that you want to marry me, you can break it off with me then. I care enough about you to allow you to continue to use me to secure this job. I don’t want to see you unemployed. You have a son. Who knows…perhaps by then you will realize just how perfect we are for each other. I can’t protect you from them if you don’t let me.”

Could she do that? Pretend to be engaged to him just to secure this job? Every part of it felt wrong, but at the same time, if she was laid off she would be forced to ask her father for money. She had already spent the majority of her trust fund to pay off Caleb’s medical bills. Losing this job would leave her with no money and no way to pay her bills and provide for Zach. Having to ask her father for anything would break whatever spirit she had left.

She’d never felt as smug as she had when she had sent off the cashier’s checks to pay Caleb’s bills. She’d known full well that her father would see them and know the money hadn’t been used for school, a house or anything else for Zach. She had basically given her trust fund—
his money
—to charity. It was the closest thing to giving William Stewart the middle finger as she could get without actually being that vulgar toward the bastard. To have to go to him and
ask
for money now would be like admitting that he
could
buy her…or at least pay for forgiveness without ever having to ask for it.
That
she couldn’t allow.

Perhaps she was letting the feelings she had developed for Seth cloud her judgment. If there were more politics behind her job than she knew about, and Tim had fought for her position,
fought for her
, didn’t she owe it to him to try? Maybe they
were
perfect for each other. Passion and chemistry were nice—great actually—but they weren’t everything. They often didn’t last.

Looking at him, she finally said, “Okay, I will say yes for now. I can’t say that I will marry you in the end, but I owe it to you, to us both, to see if this could work.”

Chapter Ten

Monday morning after his workout at the gym, Seth deposited his tip money into his bank account and drove to Tori’s house. When he opened the door, he could hear her fingers typing away and he grinned as he went to her office with a cup of coffee and knocked on her door. He missed her even when he was only away from her for a day. He was looking forward to moving into the basement.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long to end up in her bed. Saturday hadn’t been weird between them at all, so he felt sure she would give him a second shot at making love to her. This time around he would control himself and enjoy every inch of her.

“Come in,” she said.

She continued typing as he approached her desk and set down the steaming cup of coffee. The look of concentration on her face made his smile even bigger. He wanted to bend down and kiss her exposed neck to see if he could distract her. She whispered to herself as she continued to type and he glanced at her little fingers as they flew across the keyboard. Then he noticed it…a ring.
An engagement ring!

Friday, in her room, had been nothing more than a fling before taking the plunge. In her case it wasn’t marriage, just the engagement, but the result was same. Like so many women he’d danced for, she’d used him as one last taste of freedom before getting serious…
about someone else.
He wanted to throw up, his heart hurt so badly.

He had always enjoyed those bachelorette women in the past because they never came back for seconds. A one-night stand before they disappeared. They knew what it was going in and so did he. Tori had said she was dating someone, but a part of him hadn’t believed her. Maybe because he couldn’t face the fact that she really didn’t feel as strongly about him as he felt about her or maybe because if it were him dating her, he would make
damn
sure
no other man, especially one like himself, turned her head.

He stood there fighting back his emotions over having been used. He was about to lose his cool when she looked up, a curious expression crossing her face until her gaze followed his to land on her ring. Unable and unwilling to listen to her explanation about why she hadn’t bothered to tell him that he was nothing more than one last…
whatever
before getting hitched, he turned and walked out of her office.

“Seth! Wait!” she said, rolling her chair back and following him into the living room.

The silence between them was creepy, like in a scary movie just before the monster jumped out. In this case, Seth was the victim and he wanted to scream out his pain at her, at himself, but instead, he stood there breathing heavily in an effort to maintain control. He was finding that an impossible task where she was concerned, whether it was controlling his sexual craving for her or handling his rollercoaster ride of emotions.
He had no control. She controlled him.

“You are engaged? When did that happen?” he asked between breaths.

“Saturday night,” she replied quietly.

He’d blown it with her on Friday even worse than he’d originally thought. His lack of control had not only cost him the chance to make love to her, but also the chance for anything more…
ever
. Perhaps it was best that they hadn’t actually had sex…but if they had, he didn’t think it would hurt any more than it already did. Being a glutton for punishment, he had to know.

“So what was Friday?” He closed his eyes not wanting to hear that it had been just one last opportunity.

“You said that you were my friend and that I could ask you for what I wanted or what I needed…but I shouldn’t have asked you for
that
,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry, Seth. Please say we can still be friends.”

So she
had
wanted him as more than just friends. Now, friends were all they might ever be to each other. Was that enough? Would it be enough to see her happily married to another man? What choice did he have other than to take the friendship she offered or have none of her? The friend in him would cherish her friendship, but the man in him would
not
take this lying down. Not now. Not knowing that she had
wanted
him…and maybe still did. For the first time in his life, he was going to fight for a woman. His game face was on and the game wasn’t over until she walked down the aisle.