Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Willow
“Thank you for a wonderful evening,” Sebastian says as he steps out of my car.
He peers through the window and offers me a warm, seductive smile, his brown eyes glittering in the night.
“Would you like to come up to my room for a nightcap?” he asks, licking his lips.
I know exactly what he’s asking, and while I loved the evening stargazing, I am not ready to sleep with him.
Emphasis on the not really sleeping part.
“Thanks, but I should get home,” I say softly, offering him a warm smile, my heart racing.
Of course, I want to go back to the room with him.
He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life.
I want to touch him, to feel him, to be touched and felt by him.
But I barely know him, and I’m still unsure how to feel about how sweet and romantic he has been thus far.
He’s absolutely perfect. He’s handsome, he’s hot, he’s warm, he’s caring, and he seems to genuinely want to get to know me.
He acts like he’s attracted to me and like he wants to take care of me.
But I just don’t understand why he wants me.
I’m not the most beautiful woman in the world, and we haven’t gotten to know each other that well yet.
“I should get home,” I say again. “I know that Katherine and Brielle are waiting for me.” I want to dissect every inch of the evening with them and get their feedback.
Maybe this is just love at first sight. Maybe when you know, you just know.
Maybe my luck has really changed, and this wonderful, gorgeous man is here to save me from my pitiful life.
“I’m glad you had a great evening, though.
Whispering Haven is such a beautiful town.
I’ve never really gone stargazing before, and I appreciate you for showing me the stars. ”
“You’re welcome,” he says, stepping back and closing the door. “I had a really great time with you tonight.”
“And me with you,” I say, grinning. “Oh, did you know what you wanted for breakfast tomorrow?”
“I was hoping that we’d have breakfast together,” he says, laughing and running his fingers through his hair. I laugh back, because that’s definitely not going to happen, but I like that he put the truth out there. I love how honest he is.
“What about Dutch pancakes?” he says. “With apples.”
“Sounds yummy.” I have no idea what Dutch pancakes are.
“And maybe some roasted pecans on top?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Dutch pancakes with apples and roasted pecans, of course.”
“And maybe some fresh-brewed coffee. With African coffee beans, if you have them?”
“Yeah, I’m not 100 percent sure, but I’ll double-check.
” I smile at him, my heart racing. This is getting very specific.
“Anything else?” I’m praying to God that he says no, because I know we don’t have African coffee beans.
We have Nespresso and instant. We also have flour and eggs, but we certainly don’t have any pecans.
I’ll have to go to the grocery store after I look up a recipe because I have no idea what Dutch pancakes even are.
“That’s all, thank you. By the way, who’s working the front desk tonight? If Katherine and Brielle are at home waiting on you…” He raises a single eyebrow, and I can tell by the look on his face that he’s confused. “I thought it was just the three of you that worked here.”
“Oh, yeah, I mean, we are the main workers. There’s one girl, Mandy, who picks up overnight shifts.
” I smile at him. “She works in the village and helps out at the front desk, but she won’t do anything other than stand behind the desk.
I’m pretty sure she plays games on her phone and watches Netflix on her laptop while she works.
” I groan slightly. “But it is what it is.”
“You haven’t thought about hiring more people?”
“Well…” I shrug. “It’s a money thing. Maybe when we pick up.
” I don’t want to tell him that I have no power over who’s hired or not.
I’m the manager, so I should have power, but Charlotte doesn’t give me any say.
I’m not going to tell him that Mandy was Charlotte’s best friend in high school, but they grew apart.
I also am not going to tell him that Charlotte feels like she did a good deed by hiring Mandy, even though Mandy is pretty useless and often messes up reservations when she uses the system.
However, I don’t want to give Sebastian my pitiful story.
I am fed up with telling my pitiful story to people. I want my life to be different,
I am fed up with being the orphan kid who lived with her mean aunt and cousin, who works at their hotel with her best friends, and has no life.
I am fed up with being the woman who has to work two jobs just to save a small amount of money so that, hopefully, one day, I can move on with my life and open my own hotel.
I’m not going to tell him that I owe American Express $5000 and have $3500 in student loans from my one semester at community college.
I am over being broke and pitiful. I don’t want to be that person anymore.
I want to be fun and fabulous. Especially to this man.
I want him to think that I am living a good life.
I want him to see me as a happy, positive person. Because that is who I am.
“I should go,” I say softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll bring breakfast to your room.”
“Sounds great. Thank you. You have a good evening, Willow.”
“You, too, Sebastian.” I watch as he walks into the B&B, and then I immediately call my friends. The phone rings twice before Katherine answers.
“Hey, how did it go?”
“It was amazing. I’m on the way home. Wait, is Brielle there? Because I don’t want to have to repeat this conversation.”
“Sure. Let me put it on speakerphone. You’re on speaker now, babe.”
“Hey, Katherine. Brielle, can you hear me?”
“We can hear you,” they chorus.
“Guys, I don’t know what is going on. I just had one of the most romantic dates of my life, and I am literally floating right now. Sebastian Laurence is perfect. I don’t know where this is going. Maybe nowhere, but I will never forget tonight or him. My heart is soaring.”
“Tell us exactly what happened. By the way, I spoke to him on the phone, and he sounded hot.” Katherine giggles. “I hope I see him in person tomorrow.”
“He does have a nice voice.” I giggle. “I just don’t understand what’s going on, though. I don’t understand what he wants from me. I mean, why would he be interested in me?”
“Because you’re beautiful and wonderful.”
“I just don’t get it. Life isn’t Maid in Manhattan. Rich billionaires, men with power, they don’t want women like me, who work in hotels and scrub toilets.”
“He has to know that you’re not rich, though,” Brielle says. “It’s obvious that you’re working-class.”
“Yeah, I guess so. He surely knows I’m not rich.
Maybe he doesn’t understand just how poor I am.
I just don’t get it. He’s gorgeous. When you guys see him, you’ll know what I mean.
He’s tall, dark, and handsome—and when he looks at me, I just can’t help but smile.
Girls, my heart flutters. I mean, literally flutters.
I’ve never had my heart flutter before in my life. ”
“Oh my God. Thank God you said your heart flutters.” Katherine starts giggling.
“What? What are you talking about?” I ask.
“She’s drunk,” Brielle says. “We’ve been drinking wine. Don’t mind her.”
“No, I want to know what you thought I was going to say, Katherine.”
“I thought you were going to say your pussy lips flutter when you think about him.”
“What?” I screech. “You did not just say that!”
“I’m just saying—haven’t you ever seen a guy and just immediately got wet?”
I giggle. “I can’t say that’s ever happened to me, but I will tell you girls that I almost fell on some rocks because I wasn’t paying attention, and Sebastian caught me and pulled me into his arms. And he gave me this very quick kiss on the lips.
Don’t get excited,” I say quickly, “because it wasn’t like a real kiss, but in that moment, y’all, my heart stopped.
It literally stopped. And I’m not going to lie, if he had reached up and unbuckled my pants and slid them down, I would’ve been coming home saying that I had sex tonight. ”
“You would’ve slept with him?” Brielle screeches. “You don’t even know him!”
“I know I don’t know him, but he is that hot, and he’s just so personable and charming.
He just knows how to say all the right things.
He was showing me different constellations, and we started talking about him being a Scorpio and me being a Virgo-slash-Libra, and he’s like the perfect man.
I think he’s just—I don’t know. I don’t even know what to say. I sound stupid.”
“You never sound stupid,” Brielle says. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Happy about what? How am I falling for this man that I barely even know?”
“Because you’re attracted to him,” Katherine says.
“Yeah, I’m attracted to him, but when I first met him at the club, he wasn’t very nice. And now he’s much nicer, and he’s flirting with me.”
“He probably regrets being such a jackass. Even rich men have feelings,” Katherine says.
“Maybe he’s ashamed of himself. Maybe in the light of day, he saw how hot you were and thought, Fuck, I nearly screwed it up with this beautiful woman, and now he’s overcompensating because he wants you to see that he’s a nice guy. ”
“Can billionaires be nice guys, though?”
“I don’t know.” Brielle laughs. “I’ve never met a billionaire before. But I agree with Katherine—maybe he regrets what happened. Just have fun. You only live once.”
“I know.” I take a deep breath. “It almost feels too good to be true. I just feel like there’s something really special between us, and it scares me. I’ve never felt this way about a man. I’ve never met a man who, when he looks at me, makes me feel seen. Do you know what I mean?”