Scott
“We have a problem,” Brett said when I answered my phone.
It was the last thing I wanted to hear as I was getting ready to whisk Tessa off for a long weekend, but I knew Brett wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t urgent. It was the only reason I’d accepted the call in the first place.
“Hold on a sec,” I said, then placed my cell against my shoulder. “Sit anywhere you like. Tell the crew if you need anything. I’m going to step away to take this call.”
Tess’s eyes were still wide as she took in the luxury of the Sebastian private jet.
I adored that about her, adored that about being with her.
Adored the way she got giddy about the printer in the limo and the heated seats in the Maybach.
She looked at things I took for granted and made me realize how lucky I was to live the way I did.
I loved spoiling her too. Loved giving her a piece of the easy life. I planned to spoil her a lot over the next few days. Because she was worth it, but also because it eased my guilt for letting her think my arrangement with my parents was worked out.
It would be. Soon enough.
In the meantime, I intended to treat her like a queen.
“There’s a TV!” she exclaimed. “And a fireplace!”
Her enthusiasm temporarily lightened my concern about whatever Brett was about to tell me. “We won’t need it. If you’re cold, there are other ways to warm up. Like in the bedroom in the back.”
“There’s a bedroom? On a plane?” God, she was enchanting.
“Get settled in. I shouldn’t be long.” I brought my cell up to my ear as I made my way to the bedroom. “Better be important,” I snapped because I was an ass.
And because Brett was a good guy, he overlooked my tone. “Your father got wind about the documentary. He’s a little irate.”
Fuck.
“That’s probably putting it nicely,” I said, tension stringing through my muscles.
“There were a lot more curse words when he said it, yes.”
I had a litany of my own curse words I was going through silently, many of which I’d learned from the old man. “How the fuck did he even find out?”
“A camera crew in a medical office creates buzz, Scott. And you know how people like to tell things to your father, thinking it will get them in his good graces.”
I hoped Brett wasn’t one of those people.
Immediately I felt bad for even considering it. My cousin and I weren’t all that close, but I trusted him. If for no other reason than the fact that I knew he cared about Tess.
He was also right about people always sharing gossip with my dad, and the only reason I’d been able to get Teyana in with that specialist was because he belonged to the family country club. I should have expected word to get out. I just hadn’t expected it to move so quickly.
I took a deep breath. “Tell him there must have been a breakdown in communication with the crew, and you’ll look into it immediately. Then assure him that we have put everything on hold and that there will be no more progress made until he says so.”
“Got it. Am I lying?”
“Isn’t it best if you don’t know?”
It was Brett’s turn to take a deep breath. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, Cuz. I hope so too.”
I didn’t go immediately back to Tess after I hung up. Instead, I stood in the plane’s bedroom and quickly thought through all my options for the hundredth time, hoping I’d see something I’d missed before.
Thank God I’d taken Cole’s advice and told my parents I’d needed time to decide after Dad issued his ultimatum.
Dad had been none too happy about it, but since I wouldn’t budge, he had no other choice but to agree.
Then first thing the next morning, he’d informed everyone in the company to put a cease on all negotiations with the DRF until further notice.
It was exactly what I would have done in his position. He had to keep his leverage after all.
Of course, there was nothing for me to decide. No way was I marrying Kendra. But I also was hell-bent on not killing the DRF sponsorship. It would break Tessa’s heart. Would she even want me if I made her give that up just to be with me?
Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to find out. I just needed some time to figure out a way around Dad’s condition.
The documentary was the one lead I had so far.
It had been in the works already, and when the details fell into place Tuesday morning, it felt like fate.
If I started sewing up things with the DRF now on the sly, maybe SIC would be in too deep for us to pull out.
At least not without creating a PR nightmare, and heaven knew how much my father wanted to avoid that.
If I played it right, I could use that to my advantage.
It was a long shot, though, and I knew it. No one ever pulled one over on Henry Sebastian. Chances were that the DRF would be screwed in the end, and Tessa would hate me for it, and she’d never speak to me again.
More likely, she’d be more mad that I kept everything from her than that my father was an asshole. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew honesty was the foundation of a good relationship.
I needed to tell her the truth, and I would.
But I needed time for that too. Needed time to figure out how to show her the ugly side of Sebastian life; how the price for everything was steep, how my father managed to taint every single bit of goodness any of us encountered.
It was one of the reasons I’d stayed away from being intimate with anyone all my life.
It was too hard of a reality to share, and I was struggling with how to expose it.
My grandfather would know how. He’d help me. Grandpa taught me everything I knew about love. It sure hadn’t come from my parents.
Feeling slightly more optimistic than when I’d taken the call from Brett, I headed back to Tess. I found her on the sofa drinking a mimosa.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
We had a three-hour flight ahead of us. It was the perfect opportunity to lay out the truth. But did I really want to crush her at the beginning of our vacation?
“Just a work snafu. Brett’s got it handled.” I sat down next to her just as the plane began to taxi, and a too-thin, blonde flight attendant immediately appeared with a mimosa in hand for me.
“Is there anything else I can get you at the moment, Mr. Sebastian?” she asked.
I looked to Tess, who shook her head. “No, we’re good. Thank you.”
“Fine. If you need anything, I’ll be behind the curtain. You’ll want to flick the light because I’ll have my headphones on.”
In other words, she was giving us privacy.
“Oh, and I wanted to say congratulations on your engagement. I was sure you were going to be a bachelor forever.”
My stomach dropped. Seriously? How the fuck had word gotten out?
I supposed it was possible that someone from the Montgomerys’ party might have mentioned it in front of the flight attendant. There were limited companies that hired out for private flights, and so the elite shared a lot of the same crews.
Or it could be my father spreading the word, hoping to pressure me that way. If he were willing to take the PR risk with that, no way was my attempt to get in too deep with the DRF going to phase him.
“Say thank you, Scott,” Tess said, her teeth gritted.
“That’s not really common knowledge,” I said instead. Silently, I willed Tess to remember that what mattered was what was between me and her. Screw what anyone else thought.
“Ah...um…” The flight attendant stammered.
“Ignore him,” Tess said. “He means thank you.”
The blonde grinned at my girlfriend. “Are you the lucky lady?”
Tess’s smile was tight. “I’m not,” she said. Then she placed her hand possessively on my thigh and squeezed.
The attendant went red. “I’ll just go take my seat for takeoff.”
She hurried off, and I placed my hand on top of Tess’s, the one still resting on my leg. “You are very naughty.”
“Well, that’s what you’re going to get if you’re going to date me while engaged because I am not going to tolerate being anyone’s secret.”
“Fair enough.” And it was fair. I didn’t want her to be my secret either. She definitely didn’t deserve that.
Which was why I was getting out of the arrangement with Kendra as soon as we got back to town, whatever the cost.
The plane started picking up speed on the runway, and I threaded my fingers through Tess’s. “It won’t be much longer. I promise.”
“Those are the words every adulterer tells his mistress.”
“They aren’t just words, and you aren’t my mistress.”
“I know. I know.” She unhooked her fingers from mine to smooth her dress, as if it needed smoothing, and I wondered if she was trying to convince me or herself. I hated that she had to convince anyone at all.
I was still trying to think of what to say to make her believe me when she changed gears. “You know what really feels naughty?”
There were too many ways to answer that question.
She answered before I could share any of my better quips. “Taking off without wearing a seatbelt.”
“That started off so promising. Now I think I have blue balls.”
She giggled, then abruptly she climbed onto my lap and straddled me. “I guess I better get more creative then.”
“This is sounding better already.” I brought my arms around her so I could press her more snugly against my growing erection.
Just then, the plane lifted for takeoff. Her fingers dug into my shoulders, bracing herself so she wouldn’t slip off my lap. “I guess that’s why planes have seatbelts.”
“I’ll be your seatbelt.” I tightened my hold and shifted her hips so that she rubbed against my now-thick cock.
“Oh.” Her breath was fast. “How long is our flight?”
“Are you trying to get a hint about where we’re going again? I told you it’s a surprise.”
“Actually, I was trying to figure out how much time we had to do naughty things.”
“We have time for all the naughty things.” I bent my face to suck on her neck, soft and teasing, nothing that would leave too obvious a mark. I didn’t want her to feel awkward later when I introduced her at our destination.