Last night he was here because he had to be. Tonight, he’s here because he wants to be.
“I need a shower,” he whispers.
“Okay.” I try to step back but he pulls me closer and kisses me again. “Let me rephrase that. We need a shower.”
I lie in the darkness and listen to Sebastian’s regulated breathing. He’s fast asleep, and like the creeper I am, I’m lying on my side, watching him. His dark hair and skin are a contrast to the white bedlinen. His big, red lips are slightly parted. His black, thick lashes fan across his face.
Breathe him in.
He was right: there is nothing more intoxicating than the scent of the person you want.
Just like last night, we fed on each other for hours until our bodies couldn’t take or give anymore.
Every time with him just gets better. Every time, I find something new. A deeper connection.
It scares me.
Because, right now, I’m taken back to the twenty-five-year-old who was besotted with the man she’s currently staying in a hotel with. The man she hardly knows.
The man she has every reason to despise.
I’m unsure if this is a good thing, but what I do know is that I couldn’t stop it even if I tried.
“I’ll have a double latte and a cappuccino, please,” I tell the server behind the cash register. “And two turkey, Swiss cheese, and cranberry sauce toasted sandwiches, please.”
“Sure thing.” She smiles and puts my order into the computer.
It’s 3:00 p. m. on Friday afternoon. Bart and I haven’t had lunch yet. We are across town. He’s dealing with a client who is in tears back at her apartment. Her husband, who is a currently touring as a drummer in an iconic rock band, has just been arrested in Denmark on pornography charges. Bart is trying to figure out a plan of action and posting bail. How serious the charges are is unclear at this stage.
It’s a fucking mess. Who knew celebrities were such nightmares.
This job is exhausting. I’ve been away all week, and now this. I had to duck out and get us something to eat before we both fainted.
I pay my bill and take a seat as I wait for my order.
I’m not sure what’s going on this weekend, or what’s going on with Sebastian.
After he kissed me goodbye yesterday morning, I haven’t seen or heard from him. And I’m not asking or calling him. The ball is now in his court. If he wants this, he has to pursue it.
I’ve made it quite clear where I stand. Maybe a little too well.
At the tender age of thirty-one, I’m done with playing games.
Sebastian Garcia lights me up more than any other man ever has… even my ex-husband, and that’s saying something because at the time, I thought he was the bee’s knees. I’ve been going over Sebastian’s excuse over what happened all those years ago, and looking back at it from his side, I get it.
He had to stand by Brandon. He did the right thing. Even though I got stomped on in the process, what kind of father would he have been if he put a woman before his son? Someone he had known for all of two weeks.
The fact that he put his son-not even his son, but another man’s child that he took on-before himself says a lot about his character. There’s a lot to like about Sebastian Garcia.
His work ethic, his stance on policies, his intelligence.
His body.
His words come back to me:
There’s nothing more intoxicating than the scent of the woman you want.
The woman he wants. Wouldn’t that be something? I smile to myself, feeling bashful over how intense our lovemaking was. To say it was incredible would be an understatement.
“Your order is up,” the waitress calls to me.
“Thanks.” I stand and glance across the restaurant, stopping dead in my tracks.
I sit down immediately so that I’m not seen.
Helena is sitting at a table in the back of the restaurant with Gerhard.
Two of Sebastian’s biggest threats… together.
Fuck.
What are they doing?
I lift my phone and pretend to take a selfie. Instead, I snap a picture of the two of them together.
I find Sebastian and Bart’s names in my phone and send the picture to them, with the caption:
We have a problem.
April
My phone immediately rings, and the name Sebastian lights up the screen.
“Hi,” I answer.
“Where are you?”
“In a café in Brixton.”
“How do you know who she is?”
“She came into my office once.” I stammer.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because of client confidentiality I couldn’t, but now that I work for you….”
“What the fuck is she doing with him?”
My eyes roam over to the two of them talking. “That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Keep an eye on them.”
“I can’t.” I drop my head. “They can’t see me.”
“Are you in the café now?”
“Yes.”
“Go out and watch from across the road or something. See if they leave together.”
“Okay.”
He hangs up, and I raise my eyebrows. “Goodbye, Sebastian,” I mouth to myself.
He’s obviously distracted, I guess I would be too if I had an evil ex-wife like her.
I collect my order and walk out and cross the street. Damn it, I just want to eat my toasted sandwich while it’s hot. I tuck the brown paper bags into my handbag and carry the two coffees by hand. I walk into a dress shop across the street. It has huge windows so I can watch through them.
Holy crap, have I missed them?
How long can I pretend to look in these shops for? There are only four opposite the café, and I have been in them all, while staring through the windows.
It’s been nearly an hour. Did they leave already? I’ve been watching like a hawk, and I haven’t seen anything. What if there was another exit?
Shit.
I can’t go back over there in case they are still there and they see me. I also can’t leave in case I miss them.
Fuck’s sake, what do I do?
I take out my phone and scroll through my numbers. I really don’t want to call Sebastian, so I call Bart instead.
“Hey, what’s happening?”
“They haven’t come out.” I look up just in time to see Helena at the till. “Never mind, I see them.” I hang up and stand behind the clothes rack.
Helena pays the bill. They walk out onto the street and talk for a moment, and then they shake hands and go their separate ways. I narrow my eyes in contempt. That bitch.
It’s a business transaction.
It’s Saturday morning, I’m walking out of the gym with a spring in my step. I’ve just done a boxing class and worked my ass off. Now, I’m about to drop by the grocery shop and pick up some supplies for the upcoming week.
We go away again on Monday and, quite frankly, I can’t wait.
I feel good. I have this buzz of excitement in my stomach, and I know that it has everything to do with a certain man.
I didn’t hear from him last night, and that’s okay. He would have been stressed out about Helena. Bart called him yesterday with my findings, and we’re having a meeting about it next week. With nothing further to go on, we really can’t do anything else. But it is interesting to know that Gerhard is sniffing around Sebastian’s ex-wife.
Why, we have no idea. But one thing is for certain: we will find out.
I dig my ringing phone out of my handbag and see the name Duke lighting up the screen. My heart drops. He called me last night, too.
I can’t answer it. I can’t be any franker with him than I already have been.
We can’t even be friends now because he will always want more, and history tells me that I won’t. I just wish he would find someone. I mean, God, he has groupies and beautiful women coming out of his ears. What the hell does he want me for?
I think that’s half of his attraction he has for me… the fact that I don’t want him.
I’ve somehow become a challenge, and I don’t want to be, because I’m not trying to play hard to get.
I really mean it.