She looked around his house, her eyes instantly drawn to the wall of windows that gave her what seemed to be an endless view of the San Francisco Bay. “Wow.”
Sebastian smiled. “That was my first reaction as well. This place is a monster, I refuse to buy as much furniture as it needs and I rattle around it like a lonely ghost. But for this? It’s worth it. The view inspires me.”
“I’m glad you said that,” she chuckled. “Here I was thinking you only bought it because you could.”
“Because it was expensive?” She nodded and his lips quirked. “Yes, you would be thinking of my mother and father. A few of my cousins. Not me. My home in Arizona could fit easily in this living room, I promise you.”
“What made you decide to move here?”
He placed his hand on her back and guided her down the wide, open hallway to the kitchen. “An ex-girlfriend, believe it or not. She grew up in San Rafael, talked about the wonders of San Francisco and the beauty of Marin County so often and in such graphic detail that I fell in love with the place around the same time she realized she wasn’t as fond of me.” He shrugged casually. “I came for a visit, rode past the parks and th
e water, and I knew this was the place.”
Delilah knew exactly what he was talking about. There was something about this corner of California that was unforgettable. More magical than Hollywood, it called to her, making her long for its sweeping fog, rolling hills and the feeling of community and connection. A part of her would always be here.
Her heart.
“You were lucky that welder my father sold to decided to retire.”
Sebastian poured her a glass of fresh orange juice from a carafe on the large island and handed it to her with a wink. “Luck had nothing to do with it. I wooed him. Dazzled him with my vision. Paid him a vulgar amount of money that I believe he used to purchase a small island where he can weld to his heart’s content.”
“Ah.” She glanced around the kitchen and shook her head. Monster was right. She could get lost in this room and never find her way out again. “That works too.”
“If all else fails,” he agreed. “But I refuse to talk business deals and money at the moment. I am in the company of a goddess in a dress the color of sunflowers, with hair like the dawn and a fascinatingly sad expression on her face. I want to talk about her. After I feed her, of course.”
Fascinatingly sad. She must not have done a good enough job donning her camouflage if he wasn’t distracted by her buttery pinup halter dress and scintillating conversation. She sipped her juice. “Lack of sleep depresses me.”
“Obfuscation depresses me.”
Her lips twitched. “Big word.”
“I know,” he answered dryly. “My obnoxiously rich parents paid a lot of money for that.”
She laughed, her shoulders relaxing. He really was pretty damn charming.
“There it is,” he sighed. “The smile that felled Samson.”
He set a plate of gorgeous, raspberry-covered crepes in front of her and she snorted. “You can stop now. I get it, you’re polite and charming and you want to buy Dean’s Garage. I don’t need more flattery.”
He stopped mid-turn and knelt beside her chair instead, surprising her. “You think you know how attractive you are, Delilah, but I can see you don’t grasp it entirely. If you only had a beautiful body built for pleasure I would understand. If you were only clever and mechanically minded and honest, I would concede your point. But you are all these things and more. A man doesn’t have to know you long to understand that you are the entire package. To know how rare that is.”
Sebastian watched her lick her lips and set her glass down as if the movements fascinated him.
She wasn’t sure what to say after that. “Thank you.”
He set his large hand on her thigh and nodded. “Now take a bite and tell me it is the best crepe you have ever tasted. I’m not moving from this spot until you do.”
She glanced down at his hand, her cheeks flushing as she lifted her fork. If last night hadn’t happened, she might have thrown herself at Sebastian Kosta. He was exactly the kind of man she’d started to lean toward once she moved to West Hollywood. Educated. Witty.
Only he also had that built-like-Atlas body going for him. He looked like he could carry the heavier load. She felt small beside him.
And his hand was making her thigh tingle.
You still tingle and ache from the things Asa did to you. How do you know it’s him?
She took a bite to distract herself and closed her eyes. “Oh my God,” she muttered, savoring the burst of flavors that exploded on her tongue before swallowing. “You weren’t lying. This is the best crepe I’ve ever had.”
“I know.” His proud smile as he got to his feet, leaving a light, lingering caress on her thigh with his fingers before he went to his chair. “It was no easy task acquiring the recipe, I assure you.”