Maid to Crave (Man Maid #2) (8 page)

“No, seriously, he is the
man
when it comes to home décor.” Caleb laughed. Then, eyeing Seth standing in the doorway, Caleb said, “Tori here could use a little help in the decorating department, Seth. She is quite impressed with your crafting and homemaking skills, so proudly showcased in Zach’s room, and she wondered if maybe you had some interior decorating tips for her.”

It took Seth several seconds to force hot, angry jealousy back down his throat. He didn’t get jealous; he just found someone else. Tori’s expression changed as she sat looking at him. Her smile eventually disappeared completely and something hot and tense presented itself in her eyes, which did little to eliminate Seth’s craving for her. Was that interest reflected in her eyes for him…
or for Caleb?

If the idea that Tori was interested in Caleb wasn’t bad enough, Caleb blabbing his big mouth about Seth’s unique decorating talents made him even angrier. He could easily picture how a room, or even a whole house, would look with different paint, different furniture or different decorations. He could even imagine the effect of taking down a wall here or there. The guys teased him about his design talent almost as much as they did about him being a dancer.

Their jokes normally didn’t annoy him, but for some reason Caleb mentioning it to Tori bothered the hell out of him. He might have said something to Caleb if not for the way Tori was now blessing him with her undivided attention.

“Why don’t you get your pictures and whatever other decorations you have and lay them out on the dining room table? I need to rinse off in your shower real quick, but then I will take a look at what you have,” he finally offered.

“That’s just it. I don’t really have…
anything
,” she finished so quietly he almost missed it. “I’m more logical than creative.”

Staring at her caused her to look away and blush furiously. She could stare him down and not even notice he was a man, but bringing up the concept that she had no creativity or decorating sense brought on a blush worthy of a virgin.
What the hell?

“Um, let me shower and we’ll hit up a couple of stores to try and get an idea of your tastes, your style.” He watched her cheeks go from slightly pink to nearly flame red.

She nodded her head in agreement. As he turned to walk down the hall toward the bathroom, she finally said, “My sister is coming at the end of next week for a visit and I want everything to be…perfect.”

Turning back, he smiled at her before heading to the bathroom. Upon closing the door behind him, it dawned on him. Women tended to feel the need to compete with other women. In Tori’s case, she needed to compete with her sister, at least as far as her ability to decorate her new home was concerned. She might not be interested in him sexually, but she wasn’t above asking for his help with those things she did want from him. Maybe if he helped her with decorating her new house she’d forgive him for his transgressions.

Finally he had a little something to offer her that she was actually interested in…
friendship
.

Chapter Five

“I can’t do this, Caleb. What’s the point? I don’t even
want
payback anymore,” Tori said as soon as she heard the shower turn on.

“You look hot in those clothes! Flaunt what the good Lord gave you.” Caleb laughed.

The clothes had definitely gotten Seth’s attention yesterday. Caleb had been right about that. But to continue to seek his attention would be like admitting that his face had haunted her sleep for a week now. The man dripped sexy like he’d been caught in a rain shower of it. What was the point? She didn’t want sexy, she wanted safe, reliable…She wanted someone like Tim, boring or not.

She kind of liked the way Seth had looked at her last night, though, as if he had some of the same fantasies about her that she had about him. Glancing again at Caleb, she could see his face was full of mischief and hope. He was enjoying her predicament for reasons she did not know and probably didn’t want to.

“Fine,” she said with a sigh.

She made it up the stairs to her room and decided to go with the outfit that had been the runner up for last night, according to Caleb. She dressed quickly. As much as she hated the fullness of her hair and how messy it looked, she had to concede that point to Caleb, as well. The fullness was better than the braid, especially with the outfit she now wore. She applied some eyeliner and a little mascara and then headed back downstairs. She walked into the living room and sat down next to Caleb just as Seth exited the bathroom.

“I wish you could come with us,” she said to Caleb.

“I think I will take a nap, rest up for this afternoon’s physical therapy session,” Caleb replied.

Glancing to where Seth stood in the doorway, she nearly got lost in the look of longing in his eyes. Surely she was mistaking the look for something else. He had made it clear at the wedding reception that she was unattractive to him.
Why was he attracted to her now?
Was it really just the change in her appearance?

They spent the next couple of hours in one of the trendy new stores at a mall not far from where she lived. She was so nervous. She had no idea what kind of decorations would go with her furniture. Even the salesman sensed she was way out of her element. As the man approached her upon their initial entrance to the store, he frowned but introduced himself and handed her his business card all the same.

She could barely contain a laugh behind her hand when, in an obviously fake French accent, Seth turned to her and said, “This will just have to do, darling. We are in
Ohio
, not Paris. So you buy from the locals. It’s rustic, authentic. It will give the place…
character
. I am the designer here. You must trust me in this.”

The salesman gave Seth a disgruntled look, obviously offended that the quality merchandise of his store had been deemed
rustic
. Maintaining eye contact with the man, Seth grabbed her hand in his own and marched by the salesman, continuing to stare at him until they passed. When they were finally out of earshot, she released the giggle that was causing her eyes to water.

Seth began laughing too until she said, “Stop. He’ll hear you.”

They watched as the salesman headed off to another area of the store to lurk and wait for them to leave, ask a question…or actually buy something. Once the salesman was gone, she relaxed and tried to pay attention to the suggestions Seth gave her for different rooms. It wasn’t until she’d actually picked out several items for the living room, dining room, her bedroom and the spare bedroom that she noticed Seth was still holding her hand, dragging her from one section of the store to another. She was having a blast.

She had always thought of guys who were artsy as less than masculine, but that did not apply where Seth was concerned. He was innovative in a way that was completely foreign to her. Several times, he described her home in such a way that she wondered if she had actually looked at the place before purchasing it. The creativity he possessed only added to his sex appeal. So much so that it was sometimes hard for her to look at anything but him.

Tori hadn’t really known him very well before today, but by lunch she was shocked to find that rather than stuck up, conceited and stupid like she thought he would be, he was warm, very funny and harbored an ingenuity that even her sister would be jealous of. Garnering his fake accent, he approached the salesman as she stood staring at a couple of framed pictures.

Once the salesman realized how many items she was purchasing, his whole attitude changed. Soon enough she had paid for the purchases and a delivery time was set for Monday. As they left the store, Seth assured her that he would be at the house for the delivery so she could work and promised to help her find furniture for the guest bedroom on Sunday. Then he again took her hand and dragged her to a restaurant within the mall for some lunch.

Before she knew it, they were rushing to get back so Seth could get Caleb to his physical therapy appointment and she could get Zach from school. As she watched him back his car out of her driveway and take off down the street with Caleb, she realized he’d single-handedly made a task she usually hated into something fun. It had been like hanging out with a friend and she couldn’t wipe the silly grin off her face at his spontaneous antics. She would never have imagined that a guy could be a better shopping buddy than any woman she knew.

She headed to the school to pick up Zach, and when she entered the classroom, she was surprised to see him seated at a different table—one next to Cody Manson. He was smiling…enjoying school. She felt tears of relief prick her eyes. Zach had finally made a friend.

Seth had done what she’d been trying to coax, pray and force since moving into the new house. He’d helped Zach make friends and adjust to school. It took twice as long for him to get his things and be ready to leave, but it was worth the wait to see his smile as child after child said goodbye to him.

As Zach climbed into his seat in the back of the car and buckled himself in, he waved at a couple of other kids and said, “I don’t want it to be the weekend. I want tomorrow to be a school day, too.”

Upon returning home, she made a snack for Zach and settled him in with a coloring book, crayons and cartoons before she headed back into her office to get some work done. She’d spent most of the day shopping and she needed to get her hours in and finish a few things that Tim wanted by Monday. The next time she looked up, it was past dinnertime. She quickly saved her work, logged off and headed out to find Zach.

As she neared the living room, she stopped to listen to Zach reading a book. That stupid song that Seth had let him listen to had been stuck in her head all week, but it was really helping Zach sound out the words. His reading was improving daily. Heading to the kitchen, she could smell something simmering on the stove. Lifting the lid to the pot, she found potato soup. It smelled wonderful and she went in search of Seth to thank him for making dinner and all his help with shopping earlier. Entering the living room, she noticed that only Caleb and Zach were in there.

She waited until Zach finished reading and then looked at Caleb. “Where is Seth?”

“He had to work—” He stopped. “Um, he had some work to do for…Rusty. He said he’ll be by in the morning. The landlord says they should have the elevator working tonight, but if you don’t mind, I thought it would just be easier to move tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure, that’s fine,” she replied. She was surprised at the disappointment she felt that Seth was gone for the evening.

“Seth is right. You have definitely been hitting the books. Excellent reading, little man. Excellent,” Caleb said to Zach. “Homework’s all done so I guess that makes you a free man for rest of the weekend.”

Zach smiled and asked, “Is the soup stuff ready that Seth made?”

When dinner was finished, Zach headed upstairs to his room and she found herself in the living room with Caleb. Against her better judgment, she wanted to know more about Seth. Did he have a girlfriend? Was he normally nice? Had he just been having an off day at the wedding? Was that why he’d said what he said about her? Why was he working two jobs? Was she not paying him enough? She hadn’t missed Caleb’s slip-up about Seth working this evening.

Unwilling to start the conversation that she wanted to have, they instead talked about movies, the weather and the accident that had so badly interrupted Caleb’s life. He and Seth looked alike, had many of the same personality traits and the same sense of humor. Somehow, though, they were very different. Caleb was more like what she imagined a brother would be, with his easygoing style and mischievousness. Seth was intense and created an interest in her that was far from familial.

“So what’s cooking up there in that brain of yours?” Caleb finally asked with a grin.

Deciding she just didn’t have the guts to ask the questions she really wanted to know, she simply said, “Nothing. Just thinking I should try and get Zach in bed and then get some more work done.”

“He’s not with a girlfriend if that’s what you’re thinking,” Caleb volunteered.

“Oh, that’s none of my business. He can do whatever he wants when he’s not working for me,” she quickly explained.

“You two are cracking me up,” Caleb said. “Neither one of you is willing to admit that you like the other and all my attempts to help you both have gone unnoticed—or at the very least aren’t being acted on. So I give. Either way, though, I’m telling you that there is no one serious in Seth’s life at the moment. He doesn’t really have time for that, and he really is working tonight,” Caleb finished with a sigh.

“Why do you think he said that about me at Kayla and Ronnie’s wedding?” she finally asked. Caleb had opened the door for the conversation so she decided to walk through.

“Seth is a good guy, really he is. I can’t sit here and pretend or deny that he didn’t say that about you. You obviously heard what you heard, but I can say that is not typically his style. In fact, to be honest, I’m surprised by it. Why he said it? That I cannot answer…only he can.”

“Why is he working two jobs?” she blurted out. “I’ve never had a housekeeper before so I don’t know what they normally make, but if I’m being cheap…”

“No. It’s got nothing to do with you. It’s because of me.” Caleb sighed. A guilty look full of pain and regret crossed his face.

“What…what did you do?” she finally choked out.

“The accident. I just graduated from college last summer and had been living with our mom in Arizona. I have this awesome degree, but couldn’t get a job in Phoenix and was struggling to make the payments on my student loans. So when Ronnie got married, Seth and Ian invited me to come to Dayton and see if I had better luck with employment here,” he said.

She knew what was coming next, but he seemed to need to say it out loud and she could understand that. His whole life had been changed in the blink of an eye and picking up the pieces from devastation like that couldn’t be easy. Rather than prompting him, though, she waited for him to continue with whatever was bothering him.