Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Darcy
M y brain was misfiring in every possible way when the group arrived at our villa, putting an end to what I wanted to kick my own ass for allowing. I had no explanation except that I had a weak moment, which nearly led to unimaginable things going down between Sebastian and me moments ago.
Thank God everyone decided to show up with an impromptu engagement celebration, and considering where things between Sebastian and I were about to go, I wasn’t about to question their unexpected arrival.
Avery released me from her tightened embrace and snatched my hand. “Tell us how it happened. Everything, we want to hear it all,” she said with a contagious and very excited laugh.
Avery, Nat, and Ashley surprised us by hiring caterers for the party. Since the house was bustling with staff—food being prepared, a mariachi band playing, and the men all stationed by the pool where a bar was quickly erected to keep the entertainment going strong all night—we gals decided to walk down to the beach.
I glanced back, watching all the hustle and bustle in the villa, relieved for the distraction and still reeling from what’d happened with Sebastian. I was so fucking turned on by him, aching to be in his arms and have him fuck me like a virile man who hadn’t been laid in two years would. After hearing him admit how long his dry spell had been going on while being too afraid to admit that I had beat him by a year, I was putty in his hands for him to do whatever he wanted with my body. Especially after enjoying his enormous cock pressed up against my?—
“Jesus, you look like you’re about to have a stroke,” Natalia said, sitting next to me in a lounge chair as Avery and Ashley pulled chairs around to form a semi-circle so we could easily talk. Nat was laughing, but her eyes were probing for answers about what was happening between me and Sebastian. “Did we interrupt you two lovebirds?”
“No, no,” I said, wanting to shake these sensations out of my head so I could think.
“You two are so perfect,” Ashley said. “I know I’m new to the Sebastian and Darcy party, but I never imagined that man wanting to date anyone on the West Coast, much less marry them such a short time after meeting them.”
I looked at Jake’s wife and smiled, forcing myself to come to and be able to interact with the girls. “I know,” was all I could say.
“Are you okay?” Avery asked. “You don’t look well.”
“I’m just overwhelmed,” I answered, finally speaking truthfully. “That’s all. I wasn’t expecting any of this,” I waved my hand over at the villa.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Natalia answered. “I just thought since the two of you were out all day today, you’d be too exhausted to go out to eat tonight.”
“So, you thought you’d bring the party here and finish me off?” I laughed.
“Precisely,” she answered with a knowing grin. “At the rate you both are falling in love, getting engaged, and hiding in this villa all day, the next thing we know, we’ll be throwing a baby shower on top of a wedding celebration.”
I eyed her, and she smiled in return. Was it wrong that I was annoyed with Nat for bringing everyone here and killing the only chance at sex with Sebastian that I’d probably ever get? I should have hugged her in gratitude like I did when they first arrived, but Sebastian’s lingering fragrance, coupled with the desire to feel his muscles hard at work while he was inside me, was the only thing I wanted right now.
“So, tell us how it happened,” Avery said. “I can’t believe you guys are engaged.”
“Well, there is no wedding planned as of the moment,” I said, focusing hard on staying on task in conversation.
“I bet Margot Aster is pissed about it. Her prized stallion of a son is engaged to cute little you, and she had no say in it,” Ashley said with a soft laugh.
“That’s the thing,” I answered the sweet brunette. “His parents weren’t supposed to find out about the engagement, especially over social media?—”
“Wait, the Asters don’t know about this?” Avery asked, eyes as wide as Ashley’s.
Natalia showed a hint of amusement, watching me as I tried to keep my lie together, but something told me my foggy brain and way of trying to stay supremely focused on the topic was amusing her even more.
“No. They only found out about Sebastian and me because of the Billionaire Auction event,” I said with a roll of my eyes, remembering the lie that Sebastian and I were truly living.
I immediately sobered up from my hormone high at the thought of what we were actually doing here. If I was so messed up after a tiny close call with the guy, I couldn’t imagine how bad it would have been if we hadn’t been interrupted and had gone full speed ahead earlier.
“I can only imagine the hell they are going to try and put you through,” Natalia said, arching an eyebrow at me. “Hearing about how they almost cost John and Mickie their relationship because she wasn’t good enough for them makes you wonder if it’s worth it.”
“I know,” I said, shaking my head, “but?—”
“Hold up,” Avery interrupted. “We’re not going to go down this road tonight. That’s not why we all crashed your pad with this spontaneous engagement party. We’re leaving Sebastian’s family out of this.” She stood, “Now, everybody up, and let’s get back to the party. This is getting depressing, and I think we need some alcohol to get our minds off introspective bullshit. Sebastian is a very strong-willed man. That family needs him, but I’m going to say what I believe to be true,” she looked at me as we all stood with her. “He won’t let them ruin his relationship. They need him more than he needs them.”
“Right. Exactly,” I smiled, hating that I was lying about this and wishing I could tell her the truth like I’d told Nat.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter because we planned to make our breakup as believable as our fake relationship. So, I wasn’t going to think about the deception tonight. Instead, I would enjoy this pool party with a bunch of cool people and a ton of delicious food.
Three hours into the madness of eating, drinking, and watching the sunset, we all gathered around the pool. Everyone was sitting as couples, including me and Sebastian, to keep our little lie strong, and I leaned into him after he casually draped his arm around me.
We needed to sit in this annoyingly cutesy way because we were newly engaged, after all. Our actions needed to prove that the spark of young love was blazingly evident, and I think we were pulling it off. The more actions were at play, the less we needed to verbally proclaim our love, and honestly, I was enjoying the way he absently used his thumb to rub along my neck while his hand rested on my shoulder.
I guess pretending wasn’t all bad.
“All right, I’m raising my glass,” Jim said. “I don’t know what to say about this crazy turn of events in your life except that I’m thrilled to see you’ve broken free of your parents’ unacceptable demands. You’ve become your own man and are making decisions for your happiness, not theirs.”
I immediately looked at Sebastian, wondering if that statement disturbed him.
Sebastian’s smile only widened, and he looked intently into my eyes. There was nothing fake about his gaze, and I was held hostage by how he stared so lovingly at me.
“What can I say?” he said, looking at Jim. “Being in love can save your life.”
What the…
“Tell us how it happened. I want to know everything,” Ashley said, rubbing Jake’s leg excitedly. “Everything from falling for each other to how you got engaged so quickly.”
“Yes,” Avery joined in, leaning into Jim. “Everything.”
I sat up once the vibes coming off Sebastian went from fake love to Cupid must’ve shot him in the ass when I wasn’t looking .
“Everything,” I said, looking at Sebastian for help. “Right.”
“Aw, the way you two look at each other,” Avery laughed. “Never in a million years would I have seen this coming.” She looked at Sebastian, “Seriously. On the few occasions we’ve mingled, I never saw this softer, more handsome side of you.”
“No shit,” Jake interrupted. “I want to know what this legendarily grumpy bastard did to attract you to him. Everyone here is very aware you are not into wealthy men of status, so what was it?”
“Um,” I looked at Sebastian to plead for help. He was so attractive at the moment with his soft expression of genuine happiness, making it difficult to formulate an adequate response. “It’s probably because I thought he was the biggest asshole on the planet, but then everything backfired on me, and suddenly, I’m in love.”
That wasn’t a lie.
“Isn’t it funny how it worked out?” Sebastian asked, looking at me with an adorable yet mischievous expression, “One day, I’m remodeling your parents’ home, and the next thing I know, I’m remodeling my life to appreciate the beauty of the woman I fell in love with.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Jake said. “I’m calling you both out on this line of bullshit right now.”
I looked at Sebastian, knowing we were both blowing it. We were about to fuck everything up.
“It’s not bullshit,” Sebastian said. “You all should know by now that I don’t like to talk about my personal life. I am quite private.”
“Well, you’re in love with our girl,” Natalia said. “So, we want to know how it happened because, I swear to God, if you hurt her, we’ll hurt you worse than your parents will once you face them again.”
Natalia was serious as hell, and I knew why. She could tell this was getting a little too romantic between us and knew I was on a dangerous course if she didn’t intervene.
“Very well, then,” Sebastian said, looking at me. “I’ve never met anyone like you, and I’ve never been as happy as I am in your presence. Even when you’re irritated with me and bring out your combative nature, or when you constantly go against everything I do or say, and even your outlandish idea of trying to throw my ass up on an auction block to conceal the fact that we fell in love.”
“You know something?” I interjected, slowing down the love confession train. “I never told you this, but it hurt my feelings when you wanted to announce our relationship instead of doing my fun idea.”
Sebastian looked at me like I’d grown two heads, but it was time to switch things up. I think he might have had one too many grasshoppers today because something was off and evolving within him. It made me uncomfortable because if he were developing feelings for me, he would never follow through with them. I knew it, and he knew it. I couldn’t get caught in this trap.
It was time for me to become unattractive to him. Operation Save My Own Ass was now underway. I needed to turn this man off fast, and the only way I knew to do that was by acting like a needy, emotional, and clingy mess.
“Your feelings were hurt because I didn’t want to do it your way?” he asked.
“Yes, and I was afraid to tell you that,” I said, knowing that being suddenly codependent should push him back into the corner where he belonged.
“If there’s one thing I know about you, gorgeous,” he said with a knowing grin, “you are not afraid of anything, much less speaking your mind to me.” He looked back at everyone studying us, rightfully confused by what was happening, “It’s what I fell in love with about her, always putting my ass in its place.”
“And you tolerated that?” Jake questioned with a laugh.
“Tolerated? No. I blindly fell in love with her because of it.”
He pulled me close to his sturdy side, kissed my forehead, and proceeded to cloud my brain even more than my buzz was doing at the moment. I knew all this was coming, but I didn’t like any of my responses—or Sebastian’s responses—to it. This was a shit show of explanations, and I was this close to telling everyone it was fake, it was a joke. That would piss off Sebastian and protect me from the way I was starting to want him, which was the same way I knew he wanted me.
I didn’t know what to do. I wanted the man, but I knew better. I was increasingly aware that what we did or said tonight wouldn’t affect anyone here, whether or not they believed our lie.
The real problem was what would happen when they left, and Sebastian and I were alone again. I didn’t trust myself or my judgment right now because I was battling the fact that I wanted this man, and I couldn’t figure out why.