Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Chloe
“You probably emasculated him,” Sienna said as she bit into her turkey avocado wrap.
“No. Sebastian would never feel like that.”
“Really? He’s a hot and sexy gazillionaire. Do you actually think some of the women he’s been with have ever paid his hotel bill? It’s what he does, Chloe. He’s rich, powerful, and, from what I can tell, a control freak. You, my loving-spirited friend, who tries to make everyone happy by doing the right thing, emasculated him.”
“Ugh.” I took a sip of my water.
After lunch, Sienna left the gallery and returned to work. I couldn’t help but wonder if what she said was true. Oh well, I had too much work to do to get ready for Caden’s exhibition to worry about Sebastian feeling emasculated.
As I was standing in front of the wall with a swatch of paint samples in my hand, I heard Connor and Ellery walk up the stairs. Turning around, Ellery gave me a hug.
“I heard you were in Vegas with Sebastian. How did it go?”
“It went great. We had a good time and a lot of fun.”
She stared at me with a smirk on her face. A smirk that told me she wanted all the juicy details.
“Have you decided on a color?” Connor asked.
“Almost. It’s between these two.” I held the swatches up against the wall.
“Both are great choices.” He smiled. “Have you contacted the painter?”
“Yes, and he said just to let him know when I pick a color and he’ll be right over. He said it should only take a day to get it done.”
“Good. So, things went well with Sebastian?” Connor asked in a weird way.
“Yes.” I narrowed my eye at him. “Did you think they wouldn’t?”
“Oh. No. Not at all. I was just asking.”
“What Connor means is that Sebastian has quite a reputation for being a ladies’ man and?—”
I put my hand up.
“I know all about his reputation. It’s sweet that the two of you worry about me, but you don’t have to. I can take care of myself where Sebastian Bennett is concerned.”
Ellery scrunched up her nose. “I know you can,” she said, gripping my shoulders.
“I do have a question for you, Connor.”
“What is it?”
“Pretend you and Ellery weren’t married, and you just started seeing each other, and you took her on a trip with you. Would you have a problem if she paid the hotel bill?”
“I would never let her. So, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Let’s say she threw some cash in an envelope and sneaked it down to the front desk without you knowing.”
His eyebrow arched. “Well, if that were the case, I would have a problem with it. I invited her to go with me, so I am responsible for paying the bill. Why? Did you pay the hotel bill?” He smirked.
“Sebastian gave me some money before he left for his meeting in case I wanted to go down to the casino. I tried to refuse it, but he was very adamant that I took it. So I played a little blackjack and won a lot of money. After arguing when I tried to give him all the money since I won it with what he gave me, he took back the amount he gave and told me to keep the rest and buy something nice with it.”
“How sweet.” Ellery smiled.
Connor looked over at her with a frown. “I do that all the time.”
She patted his arm.
“I didn’t feel right keeping it, and Sebastian wouldn’t take it back, so I paid the hotel bill. After all, it was the casino’s money, so I was just giving it back to them. The hotel called Sebastian and told him about it, and he was a bit angry.”
Connor scratched his head. “You gave the money back to the hotel?”
“Technically, since it was their money I won.”
“Aw, that was so nice of you to do that, sweetie.” Ellery smiled.
“It wasn’t my money to keep anyway, but Sebastian can’t understand that.”
“I don’t blame him. I can’t understand it either,” Connor spoke.
“Of course you don’t, Connor. You’re money hungry.” Ellery frowned. “You did a great thing, Chloe, and if Sebastian is angry over it, too bad.”
“My friend Sienna said that he probably feels emasculated.”
“I’m sure he does,” Connor spoke.
“Well, he did lose a crap load of money the night before. I warned him not to gamble since we were in the beginning of a Venus retrograde.”
“Huh?” Connor cocked his head.
Ellery stood there and shook her head at him. “Come on, Connor, you have a meeting to get to and I have some shopping to do with Peyton. We’ll talk later and see you tonight at dinner. Per Se at seven-thirty.”
“Looking forward to it.” I smiled.
I was meeting Connor and Ellery for dinner. It wasn’t just any ordinary dinner. It was a celebratory dinner for the success of opening night at the gallery. Both had felt bad that they didn’t get a chance to do it sooner, but as far as I was concerned, they didn’t need to do it at all. After they left, I examined the swatches one last time and finally picked a color.
Sebastian
After our little discussion about the hotel bill, I hadn’t contacted Chloe all week. I was still pissed off that she would do that and not even tell me. As I was sitting at my desk, my phone rang. It was Serena.
“Hello, Serena.”
“Your voice is music to my ears, Sebastian. I haven’t heard from you in a while. How about dinner tonight?”
Leaning back in my chair, I placed my hand on my forehead.
“Sure. Why not? Where do you want to meet?”
“How about Per Se at seven o’clock?”
“Very good. I’ll see you at seven.”
Serena was a woman whom I saw on occasion. She was the daughter of J.P. Morgan of JP Morgan Chase. She was classy, elegant, and sophisticated. She was exactly what I needed right now.
“I just have to change my clothes,” I spoke to Eli as we entered the penthouse.
“Are we picking Miss Kane up?” he asked.
I stopped and looked at him. “I’m not seeing Chloe tonight. I’m having dinner with Serena.”
“I see.” He frowned.
After changing and dabbing on some more Armani cologne, Eli and I headed to the limo.
“Have you spoken to Chloe since your little irate phone call to her?”
“No. Why would I?”
“You did take her on a trip, Sebastian.”
“So what? Like I said before, it didn’t mean anything. You know me, Eli. I don’t attach myself to anyone.”
“I know, but I thought this time?—”
“You thought wrong. So please, keep your opinions to yourself.”
“I’ve known you for many years, Sebastian, and this woman has affected you like no other woman has in your lifetime.”
“No, she hasn’t, so don’t go assuming things you know nothing about.”
He rolled his eyes and drove me to Per Se.