Seducing Simon (16 page)

After she dressed, she surveyed her appearance one more time. She grinned. Yep, there was no mistaking her pregnancy now. “Now if you would only let me know you’re in there,” she said smoothing her hands over the bulge.

Before she left, she wrote a note saying she was working that night and left it out on the counter.

The day passed quickly. At five, she changed her clothes at the veterinary practice then headed over to dispatch. Sarah walked in just as she sat down to don her headphones. She motioned for Toni to take them off. “Call this your baptism by fire, but can you work tomorrow night? I know you’re scheduled for the weekend, but Cody’s out sick and Steven’s mother died so he’s going to be out of town for a week at least. I wondered if you could take over a half shift for the next ten days.”

“Sure,” Toni replied.

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Seducing Simon

“You feel up to it?”

“I’m pregnant, not dying of a terminal illness,” she retorted.

“Fair enough. Okay then, I’ll see you every day at five thirty. Except this weekend. I need you here at eight to work a full shift if you can.” Toni nodded and put her headphones back on.

At eleven, she drove home ready to fall into bed. It wasn’t strenuous work, but coupled with a long day at the veterinary clinic, it became interminable. What had she gotten herself into by agreeing to work the next ten days straight?

Simon and A.J. were up watching TV when she came in. They immediately got up when they heard her. “How was work?” A.J. asked as he ambled into the kitchen.

Simon slid onto a barstool and watched her across the table. His gaze made her uncomfortable so she concentrated on A.J. “It was fine. Not much going on tonight. A fire over on Stiller road. Turns out old Mrs.

Studdard left one of her cigars burning. Caught her drapes on fire.” A.J. laughed. “Glad I wasn’t working tonight.” She turned to put her glass in the sink when she felt a light fluttering in her stomach. She gasped and her hand flew to the bump.

From nowhere, Simon was beside her. “Are you all right?” He gripped her arms with his hands. “What’s wrong?” She smiled, a feeling of awe pouring over her. “Nothing. I mean it’s just the baby. It kicked.”

“Cool!” A.J. exclaimed.

“Where?” Simon asked softly putting a hand over her stomach.

“Here.” She slid his hand over the slight bumping on her left side.

A peculiar expression lit his face. “That’s amazing.”

“Let me feel,” A.J. said, pushing Simon aside.

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Maya Banks

He put his hand over her stomach and waited. A few seconds later the tiny bumping resumed. “Wow. That’s weird.” She laughed. “Weird? Well, I guess so. It feels even weirder.”

“It’s like that alien movie where the alien bursts out of the woman’s stomach. Freaky.”

“You watch way too much TV,” Simon muttered.

“I’m going to say goodnight now,” she announced. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Simon’s look of frustration told her he had been waiting up to talk to her. More the reason for her to get out of Dodge quick.

“I’m going to kill Lonnie,” Simon muttered as he and A.J. threw their gear into their lockers.

“Dare I ask why?” A.J. asked with a raised brow.

“He’s working Toni way too hard. Hell, she hasn’t had a night off since she started working there almost two weeks ago. She’s exhausted.

She’s working herself into the ground.”

“Yeah, last time I saw her, she wasn’t looking too great. That was a few days ago, so I can’t imagine she’s looking any better now.” Simon glanced over at him. “What do you mean? She looks great.

She’s just tired.”

A.J. laughed. “Calm down. I didn’t say she needed a paper bag over her head. And yeah, she looks very tired.” He glanced over at Simon, his look of amusement gone. “So tell me. What happened between the two of you?”

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Seducing Simon

The knot grew bigger in Simon’s stomach. A.J. had always been too perceptive for his own good. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A.J. snorted. “Please. I’m not an idiot. She’s avoiding us all like the plague, but you in particular.”

He rubbed his face in agitation. “Yeah well, she has reason.” A.J. leaned back against his locker. “What’d you do?”

“I kissed her.”

A.J.’s lips twitched suspiciously. “She’s avoiding you because you kissed her?”

“Not exactly. I was a jerk. I took advantage of her.”

“This I gotta hear.”

When he finished telling A.J. the whole story, A.J. dissolved into laughter.

“I’m glad you find it so funny,” he muttered.

“Simon, for such an intelligent, serious guy you can be such a moron sometimes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“First of all, you said she kissed you.”

“Well, she did. But I doubt she realized what she was doing. And I didn’t have to respond.”

A.J. shook his head. “Uh huh. Does Toni strike you as the helpless female who doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing?” He frowned. “Well, no.”

“Ding ding ding. We have a winner.”

“Shut the hell up,” he growled. “What are you getting at? Do you think she kissed me on purpose?”

“Well, unless she thought in her delirium that you were me, and she has a mega crush on me, then yeah, I’d say she meant to kiss you.”

“Then why is she avoiding me?”

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Maya Banks

“Hmmm, good question. What did you do after she kissed you?” Heat rushed his cheeks as he remembered with great detail exactly what he’d done. How good she’d felt. And how much he’d fantasized about doing it again. He cleared his throat. “I, uh, kissed her back.”

“Yeah, and then what.”

“I came to my senses and jerked away. Then I apologized.” He reared back when A.J. smacked him on the head. “What the hell was that for?”

“Idiot. And you wonder why she’s avoiding you.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I think that year with Starla addled your brains. You can’t have always been this stupid about women.”

“Would you quit with the insults and tell me what the hell you’re talking about?”

“You apologized. In other words, you told her, not only by your action of pulling away, but by your apology that you regretted it happening.

That translates to a woman as he doesn’t want me. Doesn’t find me attractive.”

“You’re telling me, she’s pissed because she thinks I don’t want her?”

“Uh huh. And they say you’re the bright one.” He sank down onto the bench. Did that mean she was attracted to him? “Are you saying Toni has a thing for me?”

“Look dude, the way I see it she put everything on the line and you totally shot her down. In her position, I don’t think I’d be lining up for casual conversation either.”

“Shit.”

“So tell me. How’d you feel about the kiss?”

“I’ve never experienced anything like it,” he said honestly.

“So what’s the problem?”

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Seducing Simon

“The problem is I don’t want to screw up the dynamics of a really great friendship. I have more to consider than just whether things go sour between me and Toni. What happens between us directly affects the four of us.”

“Matt and I are big boys. The question you have to ask yourself is whether you’ve screwed up things by not acting.”

“So you think I should pursue her?”

“I don’t think anything. What do you want? Are you attracted to her?”

“I’ve thought of little else than making love to her for the past month,” he admitted in a rush. He glanced up to gauge A.J.’s reaction to his outburst.

A.J. grinned. “Gotten under you skin eh?”

“You could say that.”

“Aside from wanting to get her in the sack, how do you feel about her?”

He looked at A.J. like he’d grown a third head. “If you’re asking if I just want a one night stand with her I might punch you in the teeth. I’d never treat her that way.”

“If I thought you only wanted a one-nighter with her I’d punch
you
in the teeth. Stop worrying so much about everyone else and think about what’s best for you and Toni. The way I see it you couldn’t ask for a better girl. And she needs someone right now. If she’s interested in you then you are one lucky guy. But if you don’t get off your ass and do something about it, you’re going to lose out on the best thing that’ll ever happen to you.”

He turned and sauntered out of the locker room, leaving Simon to ponder their conversation. Was A.J. right? Could Toni be attracted to him? Had he hurt her by pushing her away?

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Maya Banks

He got up and punched the locker with a loud bang. What was holding him back? The truth was he cared a lot for Toni. And not in a little sibling capacity. But it would kill him to lose her if things didn’t work out.

But it looked as if he’d lose her by doing nothing. He needed to talk to Matt. Tell him what had happened and that he was going to pursue a relationship with Toni. This had to be handled carefully or the lives of four people could change for the worse.

He walked into the lounge searching out Matt among the group of firemen. “Can I talk to you?” he asked when he found Matt in the kitchen.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Not here. Let’s go in the garage.”

Matt gave him a curious look but followed behind.

“Something wrong?” he asked when the two were alone.

“No, not wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Give you a heads up so to speak.”

“Okay.”

He paused for a moment then looked Matt straight in the eye. “I’m interested in Toni.”

Matt’s eyes popped open wide. “Whoa. I had no idea.”

“Yeah, well I think she might be interested in me as well. I wanted you to know because I don’t want anything to mess up our friendship.” Matt frowned slightly. “What makes you think she’s interested in you?”

Leave it to Matt to want specifics. “We, uh, kissed awhile back. I screwed things up which is why Toni’s avoiding us. Me in particular.”

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Seducing Simon

“If you want my blessing, you’ve got it. I can’t imagine a better couple.

But I think you’ve got a difficult road ahead. I mean she
is
pregnant. Are you prepared for that kind of responsibility?”

“I don’t know all of that yet,” he admitted. “This isn’t something I ever expected would happen. We’ll have to take things a day at a time and see what happens. No matter what though, I’ll always be there to help her.”

“You’ll also have to figure out who the father is. I mean, you can’t exactly have a solid relationship until you find out if this guy’s going to be in the picture or not.”

Simon frowned. The idea of another man making love to Toni twisted his insides. He wouldn’t pressure her, but if they were going to become involved, the subject would have to come up. The main obstacle now, however, was convincing her to talk to him about their own relationship.

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Maya Banks

Two weeks. Two miserable, long weeks. She was tired, and she was lonely. She glanced over the schedule and rubbed her eyes wearily.

Thank God today was a relatively light patient load. She was even more thankful it was Friday, and she didn’t have to work the next day.

Her plan to avoid Simon had worked too well. She missed him. And she’d come to the realization she’d been a royal twit. So what if he wasn’t falling at her feet. He was the best friend she’d ever have besides A.J., and there was no way in hell she’d spend the rest of her pregnancy in solitude.

She determined the first time she saw him she’d beg his forgiveness and blame the whole episode on pregnancy hormones. Hell, if hormones were a defense for murder, they may as well be an excuse for throwing yourself at a hunky guy.

Glancing down at the desk, she resisted the urge to lay her head down on it. One more night at work then she could sleep as late as she wanted tomorrow.

Her head was nearly to the desk when the bell on the door sounded, and she jerked back up. She blinked in surprise to see Simon standing in front of her, a determined look on his face.

“Simon. Uh, what are you doing here?”

He strode over behind the desk. “We need to talk, and I’m tired of you avoiding me.”

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Seducing Simon

“But I…” Her words trailed off. No need in denying it since that was precisely what she’d been doing.

“Is there some place we can go? One of the exam rooms maybe?”

“Uh, sure, just a sec. I need to let Marnie know so she can watch the front.” She gestured for him to follow her down the hallway, then opened one of the surgical prep rooms. “I’ll be right back.” Her heart racing, she went in search of Marnie and asked her to mind the front for a few minutes. She returned to where Simon waited and nervously wiped her palms on her lab coat before going in. She shut the door behind her and looked cautiously at him.

Not giving her a chance to say anything, he closed the distance between them. With one swift motion, he pulled her into his arms and covered her lips with his. Her mouth fell open in a gasp of surprise. His tongue took advantage and darted forward, tracing the edges of her lips then delving between them teasing her tongue with his.

He buried one hand in her long hair and brought his other arm around her waist pulling her against his hard chest. Of all the things she thought he might have done, this wasn’t one of them.

When he released her, she stepped back, her lips still tingling from his assault on her senses.

“That’s in case you think I didn’t want you the last time we kissed,” he said, his eyes fiery with…desire? Did he want her as badly as she wanted him?

She opened her mouth to speak, but honestly couldn’t summon any words. What could she say after all?

He cupped her chin in his hand and gently kissed her once again.

“I’ve wanted to do that for the longest time.”

“Then why didn’t you?” she blurted. Her cheeks flamed at her outburst.

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Maya Banks

He smiled a slow sexy smile. “Good question. But I plan to make up for lost time.”

She gulped. “I don’t understand.”