10. Sebastian Courtland
10
SEBASTIAN COURTLAND
“You’re fucking him, aren’t you?”
Declan had to ask that just as I was taking a drink of whiskey. The amber liquid burned the back of my throat and sinus cavity as I choked. I put down the glass with a loud thunk and picked up my water as I wheezed and coughed. Tears clogged my eyes, and I was pretty sure I’d lost nose hair.
“What the hell?” I rasped at Declan as he sat opposite me in the restaurant, looking unperturbed by his blatant attempt to kill me.
“I’m just saying that you’re being more obvious than usual if I’ve caught on that things have changed between you,” Declan continued. Having been my friend since high school, you would have thought he could show at least a modicum of concern for my well-being, but that wasn’t his style. The icy blond giant frowned at me like a snowman missing his top hat.
After clearing my throat for a second time and taking a cleansing sip of water, I reclined in my chair. “Fucking? No.” My voice still sounded like a seventy-year-old pack-a-day smoker, but it was improving.
Declan’s frown deepened, and he continued to stare wordlessly at me.
“Fine. Fine. Semantics. We haven’t had sex yet, but I like to think that we will soon. We have started dating. It’s been about a week now, and we’ve been out on two so far. This Friday, he’s agreed to come to my house. I’m cooking dinner for date number three.”
Our second date had been on Saturday when I’d taken him to see a movie. I remembered very little of the movie now, but that was because I’d spent most of those two hours in the dark trying to sneak my hand into his lap or under his shirt.
My friend’s expression did not brighten. If anything, it grew cloudier. He shifted forward in his seat, resting his forearms on the table. “Did you warn him that you can’t cook? Or is your chef preparing the meal ahead of his arrival?”
I waved a hand at him. “No, no. She’s not involved in this. I want to make it for him. Even hoping to give Wilkins the night off…if he’ll let me. Just the two of us in the house. No interruptions, and no one to make him feel uncomfortable.”
Declan glanced around the restaurant as if to make sure that no one was listening before he continued. Not that anyone was paying us the slightest bit of attention. The Avenue was an old-school steak house in the heart of downtown that was a call back to London’s gentlemen’s social clubs with lots of old leather, dark wood, dull brass, and a hint of cigar smoke for ambience. Everything on the menu was slabs of meat and roasted vegetables served with a side of whiskey. While the place might take its decor from old men’s clubs, there were still plenty of women filling the tables, chatting over pints of Guinness and eating thick cuts of pork chops bigger than their fists.
“Maybe you should consider why he’s feeling uncomfortable. He could lose his job if someone discovers he’s screwing his boss. Or have you both forgotten about that company rule?”
Now it was my turn to frown, but I directed it at my forsaken whiskey rather than my friend. “We haven’t forgotten. It’s why we’re being careful.”
“I doubt you’re being careful enough. You’re going to find yourself at the end of a lawsuit.”
I sat up. “Byron wouldn’t sue me or the company. He’s not like that, and you know it.”
Declan paused, and several seconds ticked by before he nodded once. “You’re right. I don’t think he would sue you. He doesn’t seem the type. But if the news got out, his reputation would be ruined. Practically nothing would happen to you. How is that fair? Do you care so little for him that you don’t worry about his future and well-being?”
“God, Dec! I’m not that much of a rat bastard, am I? Of course, I’m worried about him. And if this came out, and he lost his job, I would be devastated for him. He’d probably also leave me, which is the last thing in the world I want. I have a plan. Where’s your faith?”
Our server swept over and snatched up our empty plates while inquiring whether we would like to see a dessert menu. Declan briskly ordered an espresso, and I asked for a coffee. The caffeine wouldn’t do much to make Declan livelier, and I probably didn’t need the caffeine after the scare my friend had given me. However, the meal didn’t seem complete without it.
When we were alone, I released a sigh. “I don’t want anything horrible to happen to Byron. He means a lot to me. Not just as an exceptional employee, but as a person—a person I want to get to know better.”
“You mean in bed.”
“I mean in all the parts of life. Yes, I want to screw his brains out, but I also want to hang out with him. I want to pamper the shit out of him.” I leaned forward, pinned him with a hard stare. “Haven’t you ever met someone you’ve wanted to spoil rotten? You want to hand the world to them on a silver platter. To give them anything their heart could desire. To make anything possible.”
“No.”
I flopped back in my chair with a huff. To tell the truth, neither had I. At least, I hadn’t until I’d met Byron. There had been someone when I started college that I dated who’d used me for my money, but that had been different. Thomas had constantly asked for things or taken for granted that I would just pay for everything. What was worse was that I hadn’t even seen it happening until it was too late. But even with all that, there’d been no grand urge to spoil him.
When I was with Byron, I wanted to spoil him. To give him things that would make him light up. Yet, he didn’t seem like a “things” person. He struck me as more of an “experiences” kind of person. Byron was the one who would want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset to see the golden glow settling over the magical city. He’d want to wander through all the winding streets of Florence, marveling at the ancient city and seeing every piece of Renaissance art. He’d want to cuddle every panda we could find in Chengdu. And I wanted to make each of those things happen for him.
“Well, I have. It’s just unfortunate that the guy I want to date and get to know works for me.”
“What’s your plan?”
“We’re going on ten dates. That’s ten chances for us to get to know each other and figure out if we want to be in a relationship. At the end of those ten dates, if we want to be together, I will move him to a new department so that he’s not directly under me?—”
“At work,” Declan cut in.
I smirked at my friend’s lame attempt at a joke. “Yes, at work.” At home, I’d keep Byron’s sexy ass under me all night long. “Right now, my first choice is to make him your assistant.” As I expected, that got Declan’s eyes to light up. He desperately needed a new assistant. He kept scaring off all his assistants. Something about him being gruff, cold, and scary, which made it an uncomfortable work environment.
“Why can’t I have him now?”
“No.”
“But he’ll be safer if we move him now.”
Something like panic twisted in my stomach, and I grabbed my whiskey despite the earlier debacle with it. “It’s too early.”
“Okay. Fine,” Declan said even though it didn’t sound like he’d accepted my plan. “You date and things don’t work out. Will you still be able to maintain a working relationship?”
“Of course.”
Declan seemed even less convinced. “You’ve been infatuated with him for three years. You’re going to actually be fine if he doesn’t want to date?”
“I know it’ll hurt, but I believe he will examine this fairly. Besides, I don’t think it’s going to happen. We’re extremely compatible. We know each other, and we’re comfortable together. This is about taking the next step in our relationship.”
His friend sighed. “I don’t want to see either of you hurt. Please, be careful. Try to tone down the flirting in the office.”
“Fine. Fine. I’ll be careful.” I hadn’t thought I was being flirty, but Declan was probably right. He wasn’t the type of person to notice these things, but if he had, it was likely that I was being more over the top than usual.
And I didn’t want Byron to be hurt by any of this.
“Have you heard from Simon recently?” Declan inquired, and I was grateful for the change of subject. I didn’t want to contemplate a world in which Byron didn’t want to date me, where we couldn’t make a relationship work.
“He’s apartment hunting still,” I replied. The server returned with our espresso and coffee, and I asked for the check. This lunch had stretched long enough, and it was time to get back to work. “I offered to let him stay at my house if he wanted. That would give him time to get to know the area and figure out where he wanted to live, but he said no. Wants to do this on his own.”
“I think you need to talk to Pierce,” Declan stated as he picked up the small cup with the dark liquid.
“Why?”
“He’s being an ass.”
I snorted as I lifted my cup to my lips. “Pierce is always an ass. It’s what he does best.”
“He’s worse than usual, and it started when Simon began contacting you about moving to Cincinnati. What does he have against Simon?”
Closing my eyes, I savored the heat and rich flavor of my coffee, using the moment to mellow old, painful memories. “It’s not about Simon. It’s about Sawyer.” I opened my eyes and offered Declan a half smile. “Out of all of us, Pierce was closest to Sawyer. I don’t know if it was more than friendship, and that’s not a land mine I’m stupid enough to step on out of curiosity. Pierce hasn’t recovered from Sawyer’s death. And I’m sure Sawyer’s brother moving here is threatening to dredge up all those old feelings.”
“What should we do?”
I shrugged. It had been thirteen years since Sawyer’s death. I could only guess that Pierce had been closer to Sawyer than we all understood, and that was why it was a continued sore spot for him. As far as I knew, they’d only been friends. They hadn’t dated. Hadn’t even grown up together. They’d met at college, like the rest of us. The one exception was Declan and me.
“I’ll try talking to him next time I see him.” But I hated that I didn’t have high hopes for that effort. In the time I’d known him, Pierce had always been the one most reluctant to open up about things that were troubling him, and anything to do with Sawyer had a giant red flag on it.
Pierce was a good guy at heart and definitely cared about his friends, but he was also about as cuddly as a porcupine fucking a cactus. The man was all snark and bite. No fluff. Sadly, Sawyer’s accident hadn’t made him that way. According to his parents, Pierce was born grumpy and had never grown out of it.
“You could always see if Rome will do it.”
I immediately shook my head. Rome had zero delicacy. No finesse. He was all sledgehammer. “Nope. Last time I tried that, Rome ended up with a black eye and took a baseball bat to Pierce’s new Porsche. They refused to speak for almost six months. It’s better if I try.”
While Pierce might be a grumpy asshole, I still believed that Simon moving to Cincinnati was a good thing. Sawyer would have wanted us looking out for his little brother, and this might also be a chance for Pierce to get past old wounds.