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"You always could wrap your father and me around your little finger." But her mother was smiling. "I would love to smell the flowers and sit out in the sun more often."
"I'll start making arrangements."
"Thank you, honey. You're too good to me. You always have been." Her mother patted her hand. "Now, tell me more about your Sebastian."
"He's not mine, Mom. He's just an art patron." But even as she said it, she knew Sebastian could never be just anything. Especially when he made her body heat and her heart race as though she were having palpitations.
And when she was already counting down the hours until she saw him again.
CHAPTER FIVE
It wasn't just a trailer. Sebastian had sent a freaking semi with four burly men who lifted her heavy equipment as if it were so many down pillows.
They'd arrived at ten on Friday morning. Fifteen minutes later, Sebastian flew in. Literally. In a helicopter, for God's sake. His pilot landed at the edge of her property, just beyond the junkyard of parts. Charlie couldn't imagine ever having that kind of money. All she needed was enough to take care of her mom and keep her own roof from falling in and she'd be perfectly happy.
Then again, as Sebastian crossed the junkyard to join her on the drive, it occurred to her that maybe there were a couple of other things that could also make her happy. Most of them having to do with getting naked with the beautiful man coming toward her.
"I missed you yesterday." It was one heck of a good morning. Almost as good as the way he put a hand on her arm, stroking her skin. "Everything going okay?"
Charlie tried to pretend there was nothing over-the-top about a helicopter sitting in her yard or a billionaire driving her wild with nothing but a simple touch. To use her mother's word, he was yummy in a pair of butt-hugging jeans and a short-sleeved black shirt that defined every hard muscle and emphasized just how broad he was in a way his suit hadn't.
The often buried feminine voice inside of her told her she should have worn something better than her overalls and steel-toed boots. But it was moving day and she hadn't been sure whether he would show up, or merely send his guys.
Boy, had he shown up.
"Totally fine." She was glad she sounded completely normal, not starstruck. Or like a teenage girl whose heart was back-flipping at how incredibly handsome he was in the sunlight. "We're making sure everything gets strapped down." She called out to Jerry who had a jet-black mustache, "Don't forget the ladder."
He waved an acknowledgment as he rolled a dolly holding her barrel of nuts and bolts up the ramp and into the cavernous semi.
"I didn't need you to rent a trailer this big, Sebastian."
"How many barrels of nuts and bolts are you bringing?"
"Just one."
"And barrels of screws?"
"Only one."
He cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "How about barrels of monkeys?" in such a deadpan tone that she almost missed the joke.
Who would have thought that a billionaire could be adorable? She could get so attached if she let herself, she thought, as she answered his question just as seriously. "Seven. One for each day of the week."
"Now that I'm watching them load everything in, I'm thinking I should have sent a bigger trailer." He leaned close, so close that she was hit with a sudden rush of heat. One that had absolutely nothing to do with the hot sun. His bare skin brushed her, the dusting of hair on his arm soft against hers. She wondered if he had hair on his chest. How thick it was. How soft. And what his skin would smell like if she burrowed her nose against him. "Before we're done, you'll have everything in the yard stowed inside the trailer."
r /> He smelled so good that she almost lost her train of thought, almost forgot she couldn't let him be right about absolutely everything, including the fact that she would probably need most of the semi for her equipment and supplies. "I'm only taking essentials."
She surveyed the property for anything else that might turn out to be essential, and of course she found plenty that was. Half an hour later, the trailer was packed with her equipment, her barrels, her parts, extra bottles of argon and other gases used in the welding process, boxes of protective gear, solder rolls, tubing, and miscellaneous tools. The last thing she needed was her suitcase.
When she walked out of her house with it, Sebastian rushed forward to take it from her. Though she could easily carry it, she appreciated his good manners. Someone had clearly raised him well.
"I've never met a woman who can pack for two months in a carry-on."
"As long as there's a washing machine in your guest cottage, I don't need to bring everything I own." She'd packed sundries like shampoo and toothpaste, work clothes, shorts, tops, her one good pair of jeans, a pair of sandals, her iPad, chargers. At the last minute, she'd thrown in a couple of sundresses.
"You are the queen of low maintenance."
"You do realize you're saying this to the woman who just filled up an entire semi with junk, right?"
