Charlie grinned. "Very."
Her mother's eyebrows went up as if she'd just realized there was more to the story than a great commission. "Is he gorgeous?"
"He's very good-looking. But this is business." At least for right now.
She didn't want to get her mother all worked up that Charlie was finally going to have some romance in her life, only to disappoint her if nothing happened. Or if something did happen, and then Sebastian turned out to be like all the other guys she'd dated, eventually becoming frustrated with the fact that she wasn't a neat and tidy package of a woman. Odds, Charlie knew, were on that one. Finding someone who liked her just the way she was-junkyard and all-would be a tall order, indeed. Good thing she already liked her life. Apart from her worries about her mother's care.
"He's going to pay me a lot of money, Mom. Enough to get you into that place in Los Gatos. Remember we toured it last year? Magnolia Gardens."
"Charlie, that's so far out of our league."
"He's paying me a lot of money, and I don't know what I'd do with all of it if I didn't use it to put you somewhere that at least has a garden. And good food too."
"The food's fine here."
Her mother hated that Charlie had to put money toward her care. But they were family, and she'd do anything for her mom. "I want you to live where you can feel the heat of the sun on your skin and smell the blooming flowers."
"Charlie. Sweetheart. You should be saving for your own future."
"They have more staff. More doctors." Charlie lowered her voice. She didn't want to insult anyone here, but she needed her mother to understand how important this chance was. "There's physical therapy and hydro baths, all the things that can help ease your pain. I want that for you. It will make me-" She tapped her chest. "-feel better."
Her mother stared deeply into her china mug, as if there were leaves at the bottom that would predict the future. "Your father wasn't good at saving for retirement. And all his medical bills just ended up being so big." They'd had insurance, but so many things were only partially covered. "I'm so sorry it's all fallen on you, honey."
"I'm not sorry, Mom."
"But you could use the money to fix the house."
Five years ago, Charlie had sunk all her money into the property because it was perfect for her studio, such as it was, and it was close to the college where she taught. The land was valuable, the house, not so much. But if she'd realized her mother would need full-time assisted living, she would have made a different choice. "Your care is more important to me right now. Let me do this. Please."
"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."
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?"
"That's your art." He stowed her suitcase carefully in his helicopter. "It's a vocation, not maintenance." He said it with complete sincerity, despite the fun he'd made of all her barrels.
A vocation. Not junk. No guy she'd ever been attracted to had felt that way about what she did.
"Okay." He dusted off his hands. "We'll take the helicopter, and the guys can meet us."
The helicopter. It was hard to hold back a wow. Or to ignore just how badly she wanted to experience flying in a helicopter. But she needed to make sure she could come and go freely from his property while she was working on the chariot and horses. "That sounds like fun, but I need to drive my truck."
Sebastian eyed her dusty truck beside the garage. "You're free to use one of mine."
"You have a truck too?" Until now, she'd managed to be cool about his wealth-and everything he was offering her-but the question came out before she could stop it.
He simply grinned and said, "What can I say? I've liked playing with them since I was a kid. And honestly, I'd feel better having you drive something more reliable."