No Ordinary Billionaire (Sinclair #1)

Chapter 13

During the next week, Sarah was relieved that Dante had actually started to loosen the reins a bit on letting her be seen occasionally outside. Yesterday, he’d walked her to Brew Magic so they could get a latte. Of course, he had her shackled to his side with a powerful, muscular arm around her waist, and she knew he was well armed. Still, it was progress. And for the last several days, he’d let her take a few more laps up and down the driveway on her bike, teaching her how to make turns and improving her skills. And then, of course, there were the nights.

Sarah sighed happily as she thought about those incredible nights, with another one on its way. Neither of them could wait beyond five minutes before they were naked and in the shower together after work, each of them ravenous for the other. They usually woke up aroused and ready in the morning, too. Sarah thought her desire would settle down at least a little after she’d been with Dante. It didn’t. If anything, it made her need even more acute, more urgent.

Her cell phone rang just as she was exiting Dante’s truck after work that day, and she cringed as she dug into her purse and saw her mother’s number.

“Who is it?” Dante asked curiously.

“My mother,” she replied unhappily. It had been over a month since she’d heard from Elaine Baxter, and although some part of her wanted to talk to her mother because she was her only family, she knew how the conversation would go, how it always went.

Sarah answered it before she could decide to ignore the call. She knew that once her mother had decided she wanted to talk to her, she’d keep calling back.

“Hello,” she said apprehensively.

“Sarah?” her mother asked abruptly.

“Yes, Mom. It’s me.”

“I’ve found the ideal man for you,” Elaine said without preamble. “I met him in one of my Mensa meetings. He’s perfect. His IQ is similar, and he’s a brilliant neurosurgeon, so you’d have a lot in common. He’s older, and ready to settle down now. I need you to come back to Chicago.”

Nothing had changed a bit. “I can’t,” she replied, not mentioning that she had no plans to leave Amesport, a place where she’d never been happier in her life.

“Are you still not working in the hospital?”

“No, Mother, I’m not,” Sarah replied flatly as she followed Dante into the house.

“You’re going to have to conquer those fears. They aren’t rational,” her mother scolded. “You don’t belong in a small office, working in some town that’s hardly on the map. How are you going to keep advancing? You need to meet the man I found for you. Being older, he’ll be more stable. But I’m not sure he’ll understand your phobias.”

Sarah was pretty certain that he wouldn’t. If he was a friend of her mother’s and she liked this man, he didn’t deal in anything that couldn’t be proved with scientific evidence or mathematical formulas. “I’d prefer to pick my own husband, Mom,” she answered flatly.

Dante swung his head around at Sarah’s comment, frowning at the cell phone in her hand like it was an actual person.

Sarah continued. “And there was an incident here that indicates that the man who attacked me might be coming after me. I’m working with the police to try to apprehend him now.” Sarah desperately hoped her mother would show just an iota of concern.

“That’s all the more reason to get on a plane and come back here. Chicago has a much better police force to protect you,” her mother said with a sniff of disgust.

And John Thompson would have a big city to hide in. Just for once, Mom, ask me if I’m doing okay. Ask me what happened and if I’m safe. Ask me if I’m scared. Be a mom instead of a teacher.