Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I grumbled to myself as I found my keys that had somehow gotten underneath the couch, and made my way out. What was so special about Sebastian? I didn’t know what it was about him that made me want to spend time with him. He was gorgeous, but so were others. And he was really good in bed, but we weren’t even doing that anymore. Being good in bed was the excuse I’d given myself for why we continued it as long as we had. The sex was great and easy. He was kind, though, compassionate, and thought of others. He was authentic, which was a rarity. I respected the fact that he went for his dreams and didn’t let it change him. The Sebastian who’d first come into my bar was the same as the Sebastian I still knew, and why in the hell was I obsessing about him this way?
As I drove to his place, I forced those thoughts out of my head. I pressed the code to his gate, which I’d obviously done before, but it struck me then that I was so familiar with Sebastian, this was a thing we did. That a famous actor made me feel that comfortable around him. He made me want to be around him when that wasn’t easy for me to do, and fuck, I was obsessing again.
I parked and headed to the door of his oversize stucco, Mediterranean-style house. Sebastian opened it when I stepped onto the porch. “You’re late.”
“I am?” I looked at my phone. “By two minutes.”
“Sorry. I’m excited. We have a lot to fit into one day, and with traffic, you know how easy it is for plans to go off the rails.” He shoved his phone into the pocket of his shorts and made sure he had his keys, fidgeting while he locked up.
I grinned. I didn’t know why I was grinning, which made me try to force myself to frown.
“Mr. Frowny Face is back.” Sebastian winked.
“Welp, it was nice knowing you.” I turned to walk away, but he put an arm around me playfully. It made my stomach strangely light and fluttery.
“Don’t be mad. I won’t do it again. I promise. Plus, we have an awesome day ahead of us, some of which you’ve likely done, but I expect you to lie and tell me it’s a first.”
“Oh really?” I asked as he dropped his arm while we took the stairs. I missed the contact immediately, Sebastian’s warmth and the scent of his cologne mixed with something more natural and earthy that I couldn’t place.
“Yeah, I’m needy like that.” He stopped walking. “Holy fuck. Am I needy? Is that a thing I am?” His mouth was open, his lips making a confused little o, and I couldn’t help it, I laughed. “I’m in the middle of a crisis, and you’re laughing at me. Why are you laughing at me?”
Sebastian crossed his arms, his bottom lip poking out in an overdramatic pout. It was adorable, which was concerning. I wanted to bite it before sucking on it.
“You’re not needy.”
“What if I am? Maybe that’s why I’m thirty-two and only had one serious relationship which ended with my boyfriend fucking my only friend.”
“Okay, so you need your boyfriend not to stick his dick inside other people. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“He’s a bottom.”
“Not the point.”
“I suppose you’re right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Neil has been texting, trying to get me back, and it’s all up in my head. I guess I feel like a failure.”
“Because he cheated on you? That makes him a dickhead, not you a failure. This is a dumb conversation. Fuck Neil. Let’s have fun today.”
He looked at me, his eyes suddenly sparkling in this incredible way, as if light was refracting through a glass of whiskey, making a kaleidoscope of browns. The corners of his lips turned up in a smile that took over his whole face. I was pretty sure I shouldn’t want Sebastian or any other guy to look at me that way, but it made my heart speed up and…I didn’t hate it. “What?”
“What, what?” Sebastian countered.
“You’re looking at me funny. Never mind. Is your plan to spend the day in your driveway, because so far that’s all we’re doing.” I tried to sound more annoyed than I was, which was annoying in itself. Sebastian turned me upside down to the point where I couldn’t catch my footing.
“Thank you,” he surprised me by saying.
“For what?”
“Always being real with me. It’s refreshing.”
I cleared my throat, unsure how I felt about his compliment. It wasn’t like I’d spent my life getting a whole lot of them. So I basically acted like an idiot and shrugged. “Let’s go.”
“The funny thing is, I know that’s not what you wanted to say just now.”