Dating a Metro Man (3 page)

“I’ll take a small glass of red wine if you have it. I’m still doing the physical therapy and have to limit my alcohol intake,” Casey said.

Seth nodded and pulled a bottle of wine out.

Casey watched him pour the wine and saw Seth’s hands tremble holding the bottle.

“Seth, why the hell are your hands shaking? What’s wrong?”

Seth set down the wine bottle with more force than he intended and liquid sloshed inside.

“It’s only been two days and I’m a wreck, that’s why. I can’t function like this.” Seth ran a hand through his hair, turned toward the patio door, and drank the beer straight down without stopping.

Casey grinned and laughed softly.

“What?” Seth asked. “What’s funny?”

“Just an old memory. For a moment, something about you reminded me of when you were seventeen. You had this major thing for a girl you’d been dating, who wouldn’t let you get past second base. I used to wonder if you were going to explode before you got to have sex with her. You tended to wear your sexual frustration on your sleeve. It was hard to watch, even though it was entertaining at times,” Casey said, laughing and spooning food into plates. When he looked up from the food, it was to see that Seth had gone pale.

“Are you saying you can tell that I’m—oh shit,” Seth searched for the right words, shocked that Casey so easily saw the problem. If he could, could everyone? “You can tell that I’m sexually frustrated?”

“No. If I didn’t know you as well as I do, I’d probably just think you were upset or mad as hell about something.” Casey shrugged.

“
Upset?
” Seth repeated, cringing as he remembered saying something to that effect to Jenna. “I am such a damn idiot.”

Two days of suffering and he already learned the lesson Regina had wanted him to learn.

He couldn’t stand the thought that Jenna had ever felt like he felt right now. What had he been thinking to hold him back from her as if they had been nothing more to each other just good friends? They were a hell of lot more than friends.

To keep from loathing himself, he needed to maintain the illusion that she hadn’t been this miserable. But every time he thought about how unrestrained and desperate Jenna had been every time she kissed him, Seth knew it was a lie. The thing about her he loved most was the very proof he had ignored because it hadn’t fit his freaking plan.

Casey smiled easily. “Since I do know you, and I also care about you, I’m going to just say that I think you need to get laid as soon as possible. Seriously. It can change your entire outlook on life. It could definitely relieve the tension that has you pacing and shaking. Normally, I’m not a fan of casual sex, but you obviously need the relief.”

“Trust me—sex with a random woman will not fix this, Casey. I miss Jenna. I only want her.” Seth knew he sounded like a child demanding a toy back that had been taken away.

Casey shrugged. “Better look for someone else, Seth. I believe that ship has sailed already. She’s seeing some guy Allen set her up with last week.”

“
What guy?
I thought she was dating Stedman,” Seth said, remembering the man’s tanned, muscled perfection with scowl.

“She and Allen broke up I guess. They seem to be just friends now. Been like that since Lauren’s party,” Casey finished serving the food and carried the plates to the table. “I know the new guy Jenna’s seeing is straight because I saw her kissing him in the garden. It wasn’t just a friendly kiss either, if you know what I mean.”

Casey thought it best to just put the truth blatantly out there. Seth was going to have to start accepting that his chance with Jenna was long gone. The girl had definitely moved on even if things hadn’t worked out with Stedman.

“I can’t believe she barely broke up with Stedman and is already kissing another guy,” Seth said angrily, hands fisting in his pockets. Neither Jenna nor Allen had bothered to tell Seth they had stopped dating. Stedman hadn’t worked out because Seth had been between them—even when he’d tried damn hard not to be. Now Jenna was looking for yet another alternate person.

“How long ago was she kissing the guy?”

“Last weekend,” Casey said, looking perplexed at Seth’s outrage because he’d never shown it before over her. “Jenna brought him by to meet us. You can’t understand much of what he says with his limited English, but he seems okay.”

“Oh, fucking great. She’s kissing a guy that she already brought home to meet her mother.” Seth felt his heartbeat thunder in his chest as the heat rose in his face. He swallowed hard trying to calm himself. “Sorry. I’m just—I wish I’d known she and Allen had broken up, that’s all.”

Seth wanted to go back to that day in Jenna’s bedroom, to have the chance again to sink inside her as he had wanted, as she had so obviously wanted. If Jenna had gotten pregnant with his child then, she for sure wouldn’t be kissing someone else now. The thought of Jenna pregnant and being completely his sent a surge of possessiveness through him.

His response answered the question he’d asked Regina about Jenna sleeping with someone else. He didn’t care about Allen or the other guy. Jenna was his, simply his. He was going to find a way to make her want to be.

Casey saw the anger in Seth’s face and the rigid stance of his body. Normally, Seth was the calmest man he knew. He’d never really seen the adult Seth so agitated or angry over anything. It worried him what he might do in such an agitated frame of mind.

“Seth. Snap out of it. You were never this concerned about what Jenna was doing when you were dating. There are a lot of women in world. You’re a good-looking guy. I’m sure you’ll find one soon. Come eat before the food gets cold.” Casey picked up his wine and moved to sit at the table.

Seth turned to Casey. “Damn, Casey, you know how it is. There are no other women for me. There’s just been Jenna from the first moment I met her. I kissed her the way I wanted to the night of your engagement party. I could have done more, but I stopped. I won’t make that mistake again. She still wants me and she’s mine. I don’t care how many guys she kisses in her mother’s garden. Hell, I don’t even care how many men she takes to her bed. I’m going to be the last one.”

Casey looked at Seth’s face and saw that he meant every word. This wasn’t a seventeen-year-old boy with a crush. This was man in love.

“What the hell happened to you this week?” Casey asked, his voice quiet and serious.

“I finally figured out what Jenna has been trying to tell me practically since the day we met. I finally understand. I’m just not allowed to do anything about it for a damn week.” Seth picked up his fork and took a bite of food. “Thanks for bringing dinner. I’ve eaten everything in the house and haven’t taken the time to go shopping.”

“It’s not like you to overeat, which just proves my point,” Casey said, digging into his food. “You know they say that overeating is just a substitute for other things.”

Seth glared at him so hard Casey stopped talking. He looked at Seth as if he was seeing him for the first time. Maybe he was—Seth certainly wasn’t acting like his normal self.

Seth dug into his food with restrained anger. “Don’t worry. My eating binge will not last longer than a week. I’m going to make sure to put my energies in the right places after next Tuesday. Now shut up and let me enjoy this. Food is the only thing I have left to enjoy right now.”

Casey laughed, not quite sure why that remark was so funny. He didn’t even know what Seth was talking about, so it must have just been the frustrated look on his face.

“How’s the security business?” Seth asked, desperate to change the subject.

Casey started talking about the work that Jim had brought to Ben and him. Seth relaxed enough to polish off his plate and head back for round two.

Jenna sat with her mother at Eddy’s having a drink and a sandwich while they waited on Regina and Lauren to show up. Despite her borderline depression over her lackluster romantic life, she was managing to eat with gusto instead of just picking at her food.

Her attitude had improved some over the last couple of weeks. Breaking up with Allen had been the right thing even though her ego had stung at the time. Letting him fix her up with a gym buddy had been good also, even though she was stalling about another date with the sweet, hunky guy. Cristo was a great kisser and wonderfully attentive. Hopefully in time she would come to appreciate it more.

“Eddy still makes the best turkey club in town,” Jenna said, taking another bite from her sandwich. She picked up a pickle and crunched.

“So how are you and Cristo doing?” Alexa asked, noting that Jenna stopped chewing and swallowed hard.

Jenna shrugged. “He’s fun. We’ve gone out a couple more times,” she said easily.

“He’s very sweet. I like him,” Alexa said. “But why did you and Allen break up? You never really said.”

“Allen and I weren’t going anywhere in our relationship. You know how that is, Mama,” Jenna said flatly, not really wanting to get into it or admit the breakup had been Allen’s idea.

Alexa nodded, not put off by Jenna’s stall tactics. That and she had grilled Allen until he’d finally confessed that he had broken things off with Jenna when he realized she still had a major attraction to Seth.

“Certainly,” Alexa said. “I guess I’m just a bit surprised you didn’t go back to dating Seth.”

Jenna choked on a swallow of beer and glared at her mother when she recovered. “Why would you think I’d go back to Seth? You know how I feel about him.”

Alexa shrugged. “No, I don’t know. You were smiling at him at Lauren’s product launch party and co-conspiring with him about her pregnancy test. The two of you were looking really friendly there for a while.”

Alexa smiled and wanted to laugh as her stubborn daughter shook her head furiously in denial. She was as stubborn as Paul and could hold a grudge longer than most people remembered the thing that had made them mad.

“Not going to happen,” Jenna said. “I am trying to be friends with him, but that’s just for the sake of the family connection. There’s no need for the two of us to be fighting at every wedding, funeral, or dinner for the rest of our lives. We’re practically related now that you and Casey are married.”

“
Related?
Hardly,” Alexa said dryly, truly laughing now. “Anyone with eyes can see that you two are still interested in each other in a major way. The chemistry is obvious, honey.”

“
Hardly
,” Jenna said, mocking her mother, who only smiled more widely at her sarcasm. “I’m careful to keep my interactions with him strictly PG, or PG-13 if you count the swearing.”

Alexa raised one eyebrow. “Really? That crotch grab at the house a couple weeks ago seemed more deserving of an R rating at least,” she said, wanting to laugh at the blush creeping up Jenna’s face.

“I did not grab. I was brushing food from his lap,” Jenna told her sharply.

“I suppose the prominent erection Seth got that we all politely ignored afterward wasn’t your fault,” Alexa suggested.

“Can’t you be like a normal mother and just let me be mad at the man who hurt me?” Jenna demanded.

Alexa laughed and put a hand over Jenna’s. “No. I can’t. You didn’t sleep with Allen, the hottest guy on the planet, when you had over two months worth of chances. Jenna, we both know why. I don’t know what kind of magic spell Seth Carter casts over you, but you are not going to break it by pretending you’re not sexually interested in him.”

Jenna shook her head. “I don’t
want
to be interested in him—sexually or any other way,” she said, sounding like a petulant child even to her own ears.

Alexa laughed. “Well, you are. Now go seduce the man so you can make a real decision about your feelings. For all you know, Seth Carter might be terrible in bed. Maybe he can’t pay attention long enough to get the job done. Maybe he’ll stop to take a phone call in the middle of things. You might find you hate him for making to do lists for work while he’s doing you. Who knows?”

Jenna finished the beer and laughed despite her irritation. Her mother was outrageous and awful, rarely like a normal mother at all. But she was also wonderful and caring, even though her comments were totally off about Seth. He was bad—but not that bad. The man kissed with precision, and the slightest erotic touch set her to trembling in his arms. She had no doubt that Seth could more than get her there if he could ever make it a priority.

“Seth would not be terrible in bed,” Jenna said firmly, laughing and smiling. There was no reason to be upset with her mother for telling her version of things. It would be easier to get over Seth Carter if she could believe for even a moment one of those awful things would be true.

“Oh, how do you know?” Alexa challenged, lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes. “You told me you never got that far with Seth. I’ll bet you that blue dress Sydney specially made for me that the man starts and stops so often during the act that you never get a Seth-Carter-induced orgasm out of him.”

“I’m not sleeping with Seth just to win a stupid bet with you,” Jenna told her mother, laughing at how unbelievable the conversation was. “Daring me to have sex with men is just wrong. You’re a horrible, horrible mother for suggesting such a thing.”

“Fine, I’m a horrible mother who cares about her daughter being happy,” Alexa said, resigned. “Since you’re not interested in Seth
that way
, I guess I won’t tell you what Casey said about Seth’s new agitated state after they had dinner last week. He told me Seth was acting like a frustrated teenager.”

“I’m so definitely not interested in Seth Carter’s frustration,” Jenna said snidely, lifting her empty bottle to Eddy at the bar and holding up a finger for another one. She was annoyed to notice her hands were shaking. She refused to acknowledge the flicker of hope that jumped in her gut.

Alexa shrugged and sipped her red wine as she waited. Jenna could fool a lot of people, but not her. The girl was dying for the man and wasn’t doing a damn thing about it, which was both unhealthy and unwise. While she waited for her daughter to come to her senses, Alexa passed the time counting to see how far she got before Jenna caved and asked more questions.