CHAPTER SIXTEEN
LEXI
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“Hi, honey I’m home,” Sebastian calls out from the elevators as they ping open.
“I should go,” I whisper nervously.
“No, you said you’d stay.” Emily grabs my wrist.
Crap.
I should never have gone along with this crazy plan. I don’t know why I still think any of her ideas will get us out of tricky situations. So far they’ve all been a full, one hundred percent, fail.
Then again, what choice do I have?
Mason wanted to know what happened at Harrow & Armstrong, but I’m legally not allowed to talk about it. Plus, his message was received loud and clear. He didn’t believe me and just wanted one last fuck.
I hate how turned on I was.
I hate him.
No, you don’t.
The wild look in his eyes as he thrust inside was terrifying and exhilarating.
What is wrong with me?
The confusing part is why he was upset I was quitting when he clearly believes Mr. Harrow.
I was shaking when I left his office.
Emily demanded over and over that I tell her what happened. I’m pretty sure Troy knew.
“Let’s go. Let’s just get out of here,” I said, running past my desk when I flew out of Mason’s office.
The doors to the elevator opened, and I shuffled them both in—or tried to, but Troy shot me his military style glance.
“Fine. Just get in,” I muttered, going ahead of him.
Consider your contract canceled.
My heart sank, and I blinked back tears as the cab descended. I’d lost the job and him. Then I reminded myself I never had him.
But the way he filled me, the way those possessive eyes claimed me—it wasn’t normal.
He wasn’t a man just pleasuring himself.
Our kisses held so many unsaid words, they were painful.
“Ah, there you are. I see you have your personal assistant with you,” Sebastian says, and we both freeze.
Emily and I share a look, then turn back to Seb.
He doesn’t look amused.
Shit, damn, fuck.
“You spoke to Mason,” Emily says.
“I had lunch with him.” He crosses his arms and leans against the wall. “You want to tell me something?”
“Listen, this was a dumb idea—” I hold up my hands.
“I assume it was your dumb idea, my beautiful bride?” Sebastian pushes away from the wall and walks—stalks—toward her.
Emily has mastered the ability to flutter her eyelashes, but I’m not sure it’s going to work—
He kisses her hard.
Okay, it might work.
“Start talking, sexy,” he rasps.
“I can leave...”
“Stay,” they both reply.
“Fine.”
“So,” Emily says, moving a few inches away. “What happened was...” Already it sounds like she’s lying, and I cringe. Sebastian glances at me, and I shrug. “Mason was going to fire her.”
“We don’t know that.” I add, “But probably.”
“And I thought, well, I need some help,” Emily continues.
“With?” Sebastian asks, and I can’t help but notice a tiny, wee, little bit of humor in his voice.
Emily waves her arm out at...nothing. “Stuff. I’m very busy. Getting married, being your partner. Starting my studies. Making your baby.”
Ouch. Sting.
She went there.
“How is your best friend going to assist with you growing our child? Or your studies? Or helping the most expensive wedding planner in New York City?” Sebastian asks.
If there were an escape hatch in this apartment, I’d be running for it right now.
“Things, Sebastian. You don’t understand all the details.” She huffs, then looks at me for help.
I have nothing.
“All right, ladies, let’s talk this through, piece by piece.” Sebastian says as if we are his employees.
I guess I might be now, so I stay right where I am while Emily climbs on Sebastian’s knee. So, not his employee.
“Listen, I’m sorry I got Emily involved,” I admit. “Clearly, I will find some other employment, and you don’t need to pay me.”
“If you need a job...”
“No,” I wave him off.
Idiot. You should have said yes.
But my pride is involved, and I hate that this is happening. Up until Johnathan the lying asshole, I had a great career and excellent references.
Sebastian hangs his arm along the sofa while I perch on the edge of an armchair. “I realize you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, but sometimes if you want to get out of it, you need to take a risk.”
I nod, not fully understanding.
“We are your friends, Lexi.”
“Thanks.” I smile.
Like Mason, Sebastian holds the power in a room and is very intimidating and handsome.
I’m going to miss playing with our playful and flirtatious relationship. Working together. The way I got butterflies every time I stepped into the office each morning.
Gone is the chance of ever kissing him again.
Of exploring our chemistry further and...
Forget him.
“Do you need my help? Legally?”
That ship has sailed. I can’t tell Sebastian the entire background. Emily has given me her word, and I trust she’s kept it. Especially given the risk.
“No, I’ll work it out.”
“If that changes, you come to me. The health and wellbeing of my soon-to-be wife, and that our child, is my priority. I don’t want either of them,” Sebastian glances at Emily, “involved in any grand plans.”
“They are grand, aren’t they?” Emily preens.
Sebastian fights his grin, and for a split second, envy crashes through me. Seeing them so in love, Sebastian protecting and supporting her in a way most women would only dream of is something I never knew I wanted.
I never did before Mason.
God, why have I fallen for the one man I can never have?
I’ve never really thought much about getting married. I mean, I thought I would. One day. Some day. But being loved like Sebastian loves Emily? I thought it was a fairytale.
I think that’s what hurt the most when Mason told me to drop any preconceived perceptions that he might be my prince.
As if I didn’t deserve it but other women do.
Now, he wouldn’t give me the time of day.
He’s fired me and fucked me for the last time—aggressively, like he was working out his frustration, and it was some kind of goodbye ritual.
Sebastian and I agree on one thing: I don’t want Em or their baby stressed over this.
“Ditto,” I say, wiping my hands over my thighs. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Yes, you should have. I’m your best friend. I’m fine. The baby is fine.” Emily shoots her fiancé an annoyed look, but he simply runs a hand down her arm slowly.
“Em, he’s right. I will find a job. Thank you for the support, but I’ve got it from here.”
I don’t.
I don’t have it at all.
“Do I have your reassurance that you and Mason can put all of this behind you and it won’t impact our wedding? Or our friendships?”
I nod.
“Absolutely.” I wave out a hand. “The job wasn’t working out anyway. And, as you all seem to know, we shagged. Banged. Slept together—”
“I know what shagged means.” Sebastian smirks.
Of course he does.
“Good. Right. So, it’s all over. Nothing more to see here. I’ll just get a server job or something behind a bar. Then head back to England after the wedding.”
Emily’s face drops as Sebastian runs a hand up and down her back, soothing her.
“Good,” Sebastian stands, placing Emily back on the sofa. “And you’re meeting the guys at their suit fitting?”
Yes!
I’m absolutely going to do that. With a smile. As if nothing has happened. To prove I can rise above this even though my life is burning around me.
“I’ll be there with bells on. Might even wear bells, just to be festive.
Not like Christmas, but more like...” More like a stripper is the only word that comes to mind, and that’s not appropriate.
I ramble when I lie. If people knew that, they’d know I was telling the truth about the rest. “A town hall. Bell. You get it. Okay, well, I should leave.”
They both stare.
Yup.
I’m fiiiine.
I’m going to make sure, by the time I see Mason Kingsley next, I am completely over him.
Completely and utterly.
Mason who?