Chapter Three
Somewhere in the distance, in the darkness, Taylor Swift sang something about haters.
Grace groaned. Sheets. Pillow. Bright green numbers on her alarm clock telling her it was 6:05 a.m. More singing. Off in the distance. A male voice.
Her heart smashed into her throat.
Oh God. Seb.
Sitting bolt upright, she stared at her open bedroom door. Sebastian Hart was singing a Taylor Swift song in her kitchen at six a.m.
Mouth dry, she closed her eyes, pulled in a steadying breath, held it for five, and released it. Nope. That wasn’t going to do it. Her heart was still thudding away like a jackhammer.
Opening her eyes, she focused on the open door and the singing wafting down the hallway.
Sebastian Hart. Singing. About haters. In her kitchen.
She had to face the fact he was in her house now. The question was, had he been in it all night?
She remembered being bone-tired exhausted. She remembered being emotionally drained.
She also remembered being far too aware of the warmth that radiated from his body as he perched on the end of the bed beside her. A part of her wrung-out brain had pointed out to her he was the first man to join her on her bed since Gary. Another part had pointed out he was the first man to join her on this bed ever, given she’d replaced the bed and mattress she and Gary had shared six months after the funeral.
She remembered all too well being overwhelmed with the sudden, inexplicable and very disturbing urge to drop her head to his shoulder and just soak up—via osmosis—some of his warmth and confidence and calm.
And God help her, she remembered him offering to help her.
After that?
Nothing. Until Taylor Swift started singing.
So she’d fallen asleep. But what had Sebastian done when she had?
Twisting on the bed, she looked at the side she never slept on.
Her stomach clenched. Crap. There it was, the telltale signs of another body in the bed—crumpled indented sheets and a creased pillow.
Someone had shared her bed with her.
Not someone. Sebastian.
“Oh God.” She dropped her face into her hands.
She’d fallen asleep when he’d been offering to help her…with what?
You’d told him something about Cody needing a male role model. And then, when he offered to help, you’d slumped back on the bed, laughing, even as you closed your eyes…
And that was it. That was all she could remember. Sleep had clearly ambushed her right in the middle of Sebastian offering to…what?
“No idea.” Lifting her head, she pulled another slow breath and looked at the door. A few feet away, Sebastian continued to sing. He’d moved on from Taylor Swift and was now lamenting—along with Twenty-One Pilots—how all his friends were heathens.
She rolled her eyes, lips twitching. As a singer, he made an amazing director.
A new voice joined in, with equal enthusiasm.
Oh God. Cody.
Grace scrambled from the bed and bolted from her room. How could she forget Cody had a school excursion today and needed to be at school early? And she was lounging around in bed listening to her old next-door neighbor sing, and thinking about how warm Sebastian had been and how much she’d wanted to…
She stumbled to a halt in the living room. How the hell did she process what she was looking at?
Sebastian grinned at her from beside the dining table, a plate stacked high with toast in his hands. “Morning.”
He wore the same clothes as he had yesterday, jeans low on his hips, his T-shirt untucked but otherwise still emphasizing just how incredibly well-built he was. His feet were bare. His hair stood up in a crazy just-got-out-of-bed way. The stubble on his jaw yesterday had turned into one of her deepest sexual fantasies—facial hair that wasn’t quite a beard, but no longer a five-o’clock shadow. Gary had been fastidious about shaving. He’d wake, shower, and shave before he even said good morning. Grace had always put it down to being a firefighter, but even when on holidays, the stubble would be off before she got a chance to enjoy its feel against her fingers, her cheek, her inner thighs.
Oh God, Grace. What are you—
“Good morning, Mum.” Cody—sitting at the table, dressed in his school uniform—reached for a slice of toast. “Seb made breakfast. Want some?”
As if invited by the word “breakfast,” the distinct aroma of freshly buttered toast and freshly brewed coffee assaulted her.
Her mouth filled with saliva. Her stomach growled.
Sebastian frowned before plonking himself into the chair next to Cody. “When was the last time you ate, Grace?”
Grace. Not Tinsel Teeth.
Ignoring his question, she crossed into the kitchen and turned on the kettle. It boiled within a second.
“I just boiled that.” Sebastian’s voice wafted to her from the dining table. “I thought you’d like a cuppa when you woke.”
She would like a tea. Was it petty not to like one half prepared by Sebastian?
“Why are you in your work clothes, Mum?”
Pulling in a slow breath—her third of the morning—she turned and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I slept in them. I fell asleep before I could get into my PJs last night.”
Cody frowned and then looked at Sebastian. “Did you sleep in your clothes, too?”
Sebastian flicked a quick glance at her. “Yep.”
“Did you sleep with Mum?”
“Okay, bug.” Grace shoved herself from the counter and waved her hands at Cody. “You’re going to miss the excursion bus if we don’t get moving. Hurry up. Go brush your hair. You can eat your toast in the car.”
“I can? Cool. Is Seb taking me?”
“Yep,” Sebastian said.
“No,” Grace corrected. “I’m taking you. Sebastian has to go.”
A new frown tugged at Cody’s forehead. “I thought he was taking me. Isn’t that why he had a sleepover?”
Oh God, she had to shut this down. Now. This was—
“I had a sleepover to make sure your mum ate breakfast this morning.”
She looked at him, a hot lump filling her throat. Damn him, this was not the Sebastian Hart she remembered or wanted in her life.
And you want any kind of Sebastian Hart in your life?
No. She didn’t. She had to get rid of him. He was too…disturbing.
“Okay.” Cody pushed his chair out and smiled, first at Sebastian and then at her. “She forgets to eat a lot. Always makes me eat, though. Especially my veggies.”
And with that, he shoved the slice of toast into his mouth and ran from the room.
Grace stared at the spot he’d disappeared, cheeks hot. In the background, the morning radio DJ started talking about the weather.
“When was the last time you ate, Grace?”
Letting out a sigh, she turned to Sebastian, now watching her from the table. “Since when do you care?”
He shrugged, the typical Sebastian Hart response to a question he had no interest in answering.
Rolling her eyes, she moved to the table and dropped into Cody’s now vacated seat. The delicious aroma of toast threaded through her breath and, before she could help herself, she plucked the top slice from the stack and bit it.
Sebastian regarded her, expression enigmatic. “Tell me about Justin.”
She spluttered and damn near choked on the toast.
He picked up Cody’s Optimus Prime glass half full of orange juice and offered it to her.
Glaring at him, she took it, swallowed a mouthful, and handed it back to him.
“So? Justin. Tell me about him.”
“Tell me about why I woke up to find clear evidence you slept in my bed last night?”
Another patented Sebastian Hart shrug. “You fell asleep mid conversation. I stretched out, waiting for you to wake up so we could continue it. You didn’t. I fell asleep. Simple. So, again, tell me about Justin.”
Her throat tightened. “Why do you want to talk about my neighbor?”
Surely she should continue berating him for sleeping in her bed with her? Should kick him in the shins and demand he apologize?
He studied her, his expression enigmatic. Not smug and condescending—she knew what to do with that kind of expression—but curious and…cautious. Unlike any she’d seen on his face before. “You said last night Cody needed a father figure. I asked you if you wanted it to be Justin.”
“Why would I want it to be Justin?” She didn’t. Even if Justin was friendly, predictable, not at all self-absorbed or arrogant.
Unlike Sebastian, who was the most self-absorbed, arrogant man she knew.
And yet, he made you tea. And kept some dinner for you last night. And ordered food with vegetables in it for Cody because he thought you’d like that. And Cody thinks he’s incredible and…
Goddamn it. Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any more frazzled, bloody Hart comes back into it and throws everything for a loop. Bastard.
“I’ll make you a deal. You help me make Judge Myers think I’m amazing, and I’ll help you get Justin.”
She blinked at his statement. In her chest, her heart thumped way too hard and fast for six fifteen in the morning. “What?”
“You want Cody to have a father figure in his life. If Justin’s the one you want, I’ll help you get him.” Sebastian raised Cody’s juice to his lips, his eyes on her. “The second he saw me in your kitchen, he was puffing up, ready to beat his chest and claim you. Won’t take much to push him over the edge so he declares his feelings. I’ll help make that happen.”
“You’ll…” Scrunching up her face, she rubbed at her eyes. “I don’t… Justin isn’t…”
“But in return,” he went on, ignoring her fluster, “I want you to help me out with Judge Myers.”
…
“I’m not going to lie for you, Seb.” She dropped her hand and fixed him with a level glare. Now there was a spark of the old Grace. Why did that make him feel better for some reason? “And FYI, I don’t want Justin.”
“Sure you do. He’s nice and bland and perfect.”
“You realize you just insulted me, right?”
He waved a hand, warming to his plan. “I’ll help you snag Justin, and you help me with the judge.”
She rubbed at her face again. “If you suck at being a big brother, I will tell her.”
“Me? Suck?” Clearly, she’d forgotten who he was. “I’m not going to suck. I will be incredible. Cody is going to be bowled over by how great I am. No, I’m not asking you to lie. Just…” He paused. How did he put this without irritating her? “Don’t be your normal cutting self when talking about me to Judge Myers.”
She arched an eyebrow. Oh wow, he’d missed that look. That acerbic, you’re-an-idiot-Hart look she’d given him often when they were kids. If someone had asked him about the things from his childhood he missed, Grace Ford’s blatant disdain for him wouldn’t be on the list. But there, in that one eyebrow lift, her familiar face somehow different, somehow…compelling… Yeah, he’d missed it.
Or is it Grace I’ve missed?
No. Definitely not.
“So, nice Grace?” Her lips twitched and she rolled her eyes. “The one who doesn’t tell you you’re an egomaniac with a god complex? That’s who you want talking to this judge?”
He waved his hand in a there-you-go motion.
“And in return, you’ll what? Make Justin so jealous of you he’ll throw himself at me?”
“Bingo. Now you’re getting it.”
There was a glint in her eyes he recognized. “And you won’t…what? Go to jail?”
Crap, he’d walked into that one.
With a roll of her eyes, she pushed herself from the chair, collected a piece of toast from the stack, and arched another eyebrow at him. “Still the same Sebastian Hart. And here I was thinking you’d changed. I have to get ready to take Cody to school or he will miss the excursion bus. You can see yourself out.”
Shoving the corner of the toast into her mouth, she stomped from the room.
Sebastian took a slice of toast for himself, settled back into his seat, and bit into it. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not until Cody was ready to go to school at least. Clearly, Grace needed his aid, and he was going to give it to her. More than once, he’d offered to help her with her English homework, or offered to put in a good word so she could get an after-school job at his mum’s hair salon. Once, he even suggested they train together for the MS fun-run she’d signed up for. She’d never taken him up on any of his offers. She had no choice this time, though. Whether she liked it or not, he wanted to help her. And he was Sebastian Hart. He always got what he wanted.
Although, he’d wanted to wake this morning to a 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Samantha and Dave, but so far that seemed to not—
“Ready?”
He jumped at Cody’s excited whisper.
The young boy stood in front of him, schoolbag on his back, eyes twinkling with excitement behind spotless—if somewhat crooked—glasses.
He pulled a mock frown. “For what?”
Cody adjusted the straps on his shoulders and smiled. “To take me to school? Quick. Before Mum gets out of the shower.”
“You sure?” A thick pulse of something unfamiliar filled Sebastian’s chest. He wanted to take Cody to school, he said he was going to take Cody to school, and Sebastian always got what he wanted. So what was with his hesitation now?
Cody’s smile stretched wider, and he shoved his glasses up his nose with a finger. “Yes. We’ll just leave Mum a note and go. Then she’ll have time for breakfast and won’t be cranky about being rushed.”
“You don’t think she’ll be cranky about you going?”
Oh, Grace would be beyond cranky if he took Cody while she was in the shower.
Cody shook his head and shrugged. “Probably. But can we anyway? Please?”
That thick pulse thumped hard in his chest again, worming down into his gut. What was it? Uncertainty?
Ha. Sebastian Hart didn’t do uncertainty. Sebastian Hart did what he bloody well wanted. And right now, at this very second, he wanted to drive Cody Wilder to his school.
Shoving himself from the seat, he grinned. “Grab me something to write a note with.”
“Yes!” Cody damn near leaped for the kitchen counter. A second later, he slapped a small notepad and a pen on the table in front of Sebastian.
Picking up the pen, Sebastian glanced at Cody wriggling beside him like an excited puppy, and then proceeded to write Grace a note.
Your son is mine. I will only release him back to you for one million dollars. If you can’t raise the one million, dinner tonight will be fine.
I’ll see you after Cody finishes school.
Seb.
Cody, reading over his shoulder, laughed. “Mum isn’t going to like that.”
“What? My dinner invitation?”
“You didn’t use please. Or thank you.”
“I’ll please her later.” Okay, that didn’t sound right. And it made the very male parts of his body tighten in ways those parts had never tightened before when thinking about Grace. What the hell? And what was with the dinner request? Why in the name of all things holy did he want to spend any more time with Grace than was absolutely necessary? And dinner tonight? He’d already arranged to catch up with Harrison tonight. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
Gripping his backpack’s straps, Cody grinned, and then turned and bolted from the room. Sebastian followed.
And with every thudding step, he couldn’t help but wonder just how Grace liked to be pleased. Would she like it slow, sensual, or wild and uninhibited? How would she say thank you? In a breathy pant, or in a low, satisfied moan?
But more to the point, why the hell did the thought of being the one to please her, to give her the reason to pant or moan thank you, make his body tighten and his breath quicken?
What the hell was going on with him?
…
She was going to kill him. And Shelli. And have some very stern words with Cody.
But first, Sebastian. A slow death. Painful. Somehow involving grasshoppers. If she remembered correctly, he had a grasshopper phobia. Was there a term for that? After she finished with him and disposed of his irritatingly hot, lifeless body, she would Google it.
Google it, and then go have a cup of tea. And then begin on Shelli.
Tapping her foot, she checked her watch for the umpteenth time. Shelli hadn’t answered any of her calls that morning. All Shelli had done since Grace called and left a rather agitated message after finding Cody and Sebastian gone was send Grace a text that was nothing but a mobile phone number.
She’d called the number, scrunching up her face when Sebastian’s deep, smooth voice tickled her ear.
“G’day. You’ve got Sebastian Hart, filmmaker extraordinaire. Leave a message at the beep.”
“We need to talk,” she’d snarled into the phone. “Get back here now.”
Filmmaker extraordinaire? Ha. More like pain-in-the-arse extraordinaire. For a few foolish, misguided moments since he’d stormed back into her life, she’d actually thought he’d changed. Somewhat. But no. He was still the self-absorbed tosser he’d been. The only thing that had changed was the brand of jeans he wore and the brand of watch on his wrist. Oh, and he’d somehow grown into that almost painfully good-looking teenage face. Now, his thirty-two-year-old face was the very definition of gorgeous masculinity, all hawkish nose and square jaw and stubble and defined lips and laughter lines and—
“Oh my God.” She dropped onto the sofa, a cold chill creeping over her scalp. “What the hell are you doing thinking about Seb like that?”
She did not find egomaniacal, narcissistic arrogant bastards sexy, no matter how much money they had. Or how good-look—
“There you go again. Stop it.”
She jumped from the sofa and stomped into the kitchen. Tea. That’s what she needed. A cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit. Then she’d get out of the clothes she had on and dress for work. Her afternoon shift started in four hours. Better to be in her work uniform than the skirt and shirt she was wearing.
Then why did you put on your favorite skirt and shirt after your shower, hmm?
Another chill crept over her scalp. Oh God, she’d dressed to impress Sebastian. She’d put on her best clothes, the outfit Shelli called her sexy MILF attire, for Sebastian bloody Hart.
What was wrong with her?
She flicked on her kettle. “Tea.”
Yeah, like tea was going to fix it.
A few minutes later, with a hot cup of peppermint tea in her hand, she made her way to the front door. She’d sit on the top step and sip her tea in the autumn morning sun. Maybe that way she’d be less incline to murder Sebastian when she saw him again.
A soft chuckle fell from her. Who would have thought all these years later, she’d be thinking that again?
“I’d kill for a double-choc fudge cupcake now,” she muttered, opening the door.
A small woman with a steel-gray bob, yellow-framed glasses, wearing a bright-orange sundress and a wide smile stood on her doorstep, hand raised as if she was just about to knock on the door. “Oh, hello. Ms. Wilder?”
“Yes?”
“I’m Judge Yvonne Myers. Mr. Hart may have mentioned me.”
“He did.” Although he’d failed to mention how striking she was. “Can I help you?”
Yvonne’s smile stretched wider. “I know it’s early, but I’m hoping I can come in and have a chat? About Sebastian, your son, and the Big Brother program?”
Grace frowned. Yvonne smiled. Although the expression didn’t reach her eyes. Her eyes were intense, almost piercing.
Stepping to the side, Grace offered the judge her own smile. “Come in. Can I get you a cup of tea? Coffee?”
Yvonne beamed and stepped across the threshold. “Thank you. A tea would be lovely. I’m very easy. No milk, no sugar. Very weak.”
Oh, there is nothing weak about you, Judge Myers. Nor easy. Sebastian is in for a rude shock if his fate is in your hands.
A cold finger traced up Grace’s spine at the thought as she led Yvonne into her living room. Despite the absolute hell he’d made her life growing up, did she want to see Sebastian in jail? He wasn’t an inherently evil or malicious bastard, just an arrogant, egomaniacal one. And she still didn’t know what he’d done to get community service. What would someone like Sebastian do?
“Take a seat.” She waved a hand toward her living room. “It was weak and no sugar, yes?”
Yvonne nodded, scanning the area around her with a level scrutiny. “Yes. I apologize again for disturbing you so early. I was hoping to meet Cody before he went to school.”
Flicking on the kettle—already half full of water, thanks in part to Sebastian’s earlier attempts to convince her he was wonderful—Grace leaned her butt against the kitchen counter and watched Yvonne settle onto the right side of the sofa. “Cody had a school excursion today. Sebastian dropped him at school this morning at six thirty.”
“Sebastian? Here?”
Oh crap. Crap.
Yvonne studied her.
“Sebastian and I know each other.” Why were her cheeks suddenly so warm? “We were next-door neighbors growing up.”
Yvonne lifted an eyebrow.
Grace’s stomach tightened. Was it a bad thing they knew each other before now? Would that make things worse for Sebastian?
“I mean, he was just as surprised as I was yesterday when he came around to introduce himself.”
More silent scrutiny. The eyebrow stayed still.
“And he was very surprised to find out I have a Cody, a son, I mean. I haven’t seen him in years, so it’s not like he and I cooked this up so his community service wouldn’t be so…” She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “Oh God, I should shut up.”
Soft, warm laughter lifted her head.
Yvonne smiled, eyes twinkling. “That was fun to watch.”
Grace let out a shaky sigh. “You are very intimidating to talk to, do you know that?”
Yvonne shrugged. “I’ve been told as much. And I know you and Hart were old neighbors. Michelle Holt, the Big Brother consultant I spoke with about Hart’s placement, did mention it.”
“What was the eyebrow all about then?”
Yvonne laughed. “I was surprised by your enthusiasm to defend him. He’s a rather frustrating individual.”
At the sound of water boiling, Grace turned back to the kettle. Yeah, she’d definitely leaped to Sebastian’s defense there.
“I’m also surprised,” Yvonne went on behind her, “by the fact Hart arrived here so early this morning to help out with your son. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who puts anyone above himself.”
“Oh, he was already—”
Grace snapped her mouth shut. Heat flooded her cheeks.
“Already?”
“Already working hard to prove himself on the straight and narrow.” Pouring the judge a cup of tea, she sent a silent curse Sebastian’s way. Bloody hell, she’d told him she wasn’t going to lie for him, and within a few minutes of being in the judge’s company, she was doing exactly that. Damn it.
Damn him.
“Ms. Wilder?”
“Yes?” Did the judge buy her innocent glance-over-the-shoulder act?
Yvonne smiled at her and straightened to her feet. “I’m sorry to be a nuisance, but may I use your bathroom?”
Mouth dry, Grace pointed at the hallway to the left of the living room. “Sure. Second door on your right. I haven’t been in there since last night, so who knows what kind of mess Cody has left. I apologize if it’s a bombsite.”
Yvonne shook her head. “You don’t have to. I have a six-year-old niece I babysit from time to time. I understand all about the aftermath of a child in a room with running water.”
God, what was the state of the bathroom like? Talk about not making a very good first impression with Judge Myers. Sebastian was going to owe her and owe her big after this. Maybe she would take him up on his offer of dinner tonight. Make him take her somewhere really expensive. Although with the amount of money he had, it would be better to make him take her and Cody somewhere like McDonald’s. What were the odds he’d set foot in a Macca’s since he hit it big?
An image of Sebastian in the local McDonald’s play gym filled her head, his tall, rangy frame folded up awkwardly in the tubular slide as gravity dragged him down it, his too-handsome-for-his-own-good face etched with exasperation as a bunch of squealing, burger-wielding kids climbed all about him…
Letting out a soft chuckle, she picked up the two cups of tea and crossed to the living room. She would love to see the Sebastian Hart in a situation like that. It would bring him down a peg or two.
Someone knocked on her front door.
She frowned, placed the tea on the coffee table, and headed for the door. “Guess I didn’t get the memo about today being early morning visitor day.”
It’s probably Sebastian, swooping back in with some lame and infuriating explanation for why he took Cody this morning.
“Good morning, Grace.” Justin stood smiling on her doorstep. In his hands were two mugs. “I made coffee. Hazelnut mocha latte to be precise. Can I come in?”
She blinked. “Err…”
He didn’t wait. Smile stretching wider, he strode into her home.
Cologne? Was he wearing cologne? Since when did Justin wear cologne?
“The second he saw me in your kitchen,” Sebastian’s words from earlier whispered through her head. “He was puffing up, ready to beat his chest and claim you.”
She blinked again, remembering Seb’s proposal to make Justin so jealous he would throw himself at Grace. Was this seriously happening?
Closing her eyes, she rubbed at her face. No, she wasn’t cut out for this kind of insanity. She wasn’t.
“I see you’ve already eaten,” Justin’s voice wafted back to her from the kitchen. “I was going to suggest I take you out for breakfast.” He stopped looking at the plates of toast as she walked into the room and turned his gaze on her. “You look pretty.”
“Thank you.” Surreal. Too surreal. Cologne and compliments. She wasn’t prepared for this.
“Whose car did I see leaving your driveway early this morning? The black Range Rover?”
Heart thumping, she crossed to the coffee table and picked up one of the cups of tea. “Sebastian’s.”
Justin drew in a deep breath as he stood straighter. Taller. “I see.”
Oh God, his chest swelled. His chest actually swelled.
“What does I see mean?”
He shook his head, his attention flicking around the room. Searching for evidence of Sebastian being in the house?
Go get a pair of Gary’s old boxers and pretend to find them in the sofa. See what he does when he thinks Sebastian is leaving his underwear behind.
Heat flooded her cheeks, and she took a sip of tea. God, what was wrong with her? He was a friend, not someone to antagonize, even if she was confused about what was going on.
“Did Cody get off on his excursion okay?” Justin placed the two coffee mugs on the kitchen counter. Right next to the two clean mugs he’d delivered hot chocolate in last night.
“Yes.” She tried not to fidget. What would Judge Myers make of the situation? Come to think of it, what did Judge Myers think of her? The whole reason Sebastian was back in her life was because she couldn’t be everything her son needed. What would the judge do if she saw just how dismal she was at being a mother? Take Cody away?
She stamped her foot. “Oh for God’s sake, stop it.”
Justin frowned at her. “Stop what?”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she shook her head. “Sorry, Justin. I’m…having a crazy morning. Still trying to catch up from last night.”
A stiffness fell over Justin’s body, and his Adam’s apple jerked up and down. “What happened last night?”
“My double shift.” Why am I explaining all this?
“Hart should have let you sleep in, instead of waking you so early.”
“He didn’t wake me. He got up and got Cody…”
Justin’s Adam’s apple was going crazy. “He got up?”
Oh God, she’d done it again. The first time a man had stayed over since Gary had died and she was just blurting it out left, right, and center. Even though nothing had happened.
What is wrong with you?
“Got up from where?”
Typical. When you wanted the ground to open up and swallow you, the damn thing stayed solid and unmoving.
“Thank you for the coffee, Justin.” Regardless of what Sebastian thought, she had no desire to be anything to Justin apart from a friend and neighbor. He could be a male figure in Cody’s life, but as far as she was concerned they were—
“Honey,” a new male voice floated through the house. A familiar voice. “Sorry that took me so long.”
She turned. Just as Sebastian strode through the house, directly up to her.
“The traffic was crazy,” he went on, smoothing his hands up and down her arms, a small grin twitching his lips. “By the way, you left the front door unlocked. But it’s locked now, so we won’t get interrupted.”
She opened her mouth. Words would come out. They had to. That’s what words did. Right? Words like I’m not playing the make-my-neighbor-jealous game.
In the kitchen, Justin cleared his throat.
Sebastian turned his head—only his head—toward where Justin stood. “Oh, g’day Fitz…Fitzsummers…sorry, what was your name again?”
Glare locked on Sebastian, Justin also opened his mouth.
“Y’know what?” Sebastian waved a dismissive hand. “Doesn’t matter. There’s something I’ve got to do.”
“What’s that?” Goddamn it, why did Sebastian’s hands feel so warm on her arms? So…so…nice?
His gaze locked on hers, and then—before she could ask him what the hell he was doing—he smoothed his hands up her arms, cupped her face in his palms, and lowered his head to hers. “This.”
He drew closer to her and, with a quick, surreptitious wink, brushed a soft kiss over her lips.