Waking Sebastian Read Online Free Page A

midnight
swim. Then her muse could help her with tomorrow’s writing.
    * * * *
    When the rewrites were done and the first of her three final chapters outlined, Michelle went to the kitchen only to find it empty. She looked at the clock and shook her head. It was after eight and the sun was setting already.
    A note from Nicholas said that he and Marta had gone to town and would be back late. Dinner was in the refrigerator.
    Michelle wondered if the trip was scheduled or if it was an attempt by Marta to avoid Michelle’s questions. She really had freaked out when Michelle asked about the ‘guardianship’ of the house. It seemed such a strange word to use when discussing a house. She could think of any number of others: caretaker, custodian, curator. Well, she supposed she could think of anything that began with a C. She snorted out a laugh and opened the refrigerator, all thoughts of the wayward residents fleeing from her mind.
    Her taste buds watered at the sight of a plate of peeled shrimp surrounding a bowl of cocktail sauce. A bowl of salad filled with greens, oranges and almonds sat beside the seafood. A whole cheesecake topped by large strawberries sat on the lower shelf.
    Michelle made a picnic on the screened-in back porch. She helped herself to a cold beer and started in on the shrimp. There was just enough of a breeze to cool things off a little. Funny how she hadn’t noticed the heat this afternoon while she’d been writing. She’d been too focused on Charles and Hannah.
    Now she glanced out at the palm trees and bushes, wondering what secrets they held. This was a manor house that had survived the years. Children from previous owners would have played there. Had they buried items that could be found now, giving clues to life in
Florida
in the 1800s? It might prove interesting to go out and do a walk-through, see if she could find something. Of course, looking for buried treasure would be intensive, and she didn’t have time for that. She needed to work.
    Thoughts of Hannah and Charles flittered through her mind as she ate all the salad and a good portion of the shrimp before pushing herself away from the table. Her mouth called for the cheesecake but her stomach rebelled. Best to wait for later, she knew. It would make a good
midnight
snack while she was clacking away at the keyboard.
    The sound of the surf hitting the shore brought back memories of last night. She closed her eyes and saw Sebastian’s large skilled hands. She shivered as she remembered him stroking her to orgasm.
    A fantasy had never been that real. She’d always imagined her male hero as a muse while she was writing. This was the first time, however, that a new muse had pushed the current muse away. Never had one cause her to get herself off on a beach while she imagined looking into his clear blue eyes. For that matter, she’d never had a muse with blue eyes. Her heroes always had brown eyes. Just like Justin.
    She shook her head. Justin and his brown eyes. Look where they’d landed her. Alone and making shrews out of her heroines.
    Images of their last fight wafted through her mind. The one that stuck was the empty look in on his face when he told her she “wasn’t fun anymore.” Of course, days later she learned the phrase “not fun anymore” translated to “I’m fucking a skinny 22-year-old.”
    Michelle looked down at her heavy, 31-year-old body. When she and Justin had started dating, he’d assured her he didn’t mind the extra weight.
    “You’re voluptuous,” he’d said one night as he’d held her close. “It’s nice to have something to hold onto. I love your curvy butt and full boobs.”
    Nine months later the blonde had appeared and her curves had turned into fat. Her self-esteem had plummeted and taken root in her work. Her agent had started to complain that her writing was now flat and lacking in sensuality.
    “These may be sweet romances but you still need some excitement,” Sandra said one night. “The