Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“I fucked up, Alina,” he says, dropping his head.
Even now, I want to go to him. I want to make him feel better.
Instead, I cross my arms and keep my feet planted in place.
He tells me about being offered a contract in San Antonio with the Hyenas, and how the owner was worried about his reputation. Too much drinking, and fighting, and girls. I never look at those articles. I’m happy wearing my rose-colored glasses thank you very much.
“My agent blurted out that I was engaged and somebody probably leaked it to the press,” he says with a shake of his head. “I guess she thought it would help my image.”
“Are you engaged?”
My whole body is on edge as I wait for the answer that might crush my heart.
“No,” he says and I take a breath of relief. “The owner asked what my fiancée’s name was and I… said yours.”
He looks me in the eyes as he says it and my knees buckle a little.
“Why me?”
“I don’t know.”
I’m about to let it go, but then I don’t. I’m no longer the shy meek girl he once knew. I’m a strong confident woman now, despite what my trembling legs seem to be saying about it.
“Come on, Sebastian,” I say in a firm voice as I stare him down. “My face is all over the news. You owe me the truth at least. Why did you say my name?”
He takes a deep breath and tilts his head as he looks at me. “I always thought you were marriage material. You’re the only girl I’ve ever met who I could see as my wife.”
My mouth drops open as I stare at him in shock. Me? Marriage material?
What? When did this happen?
“But you hardly even knew I was alive back then,” I say, stunned to my core. “You ignored me. I thought you hated me.”
“Hated you?” he says in a fierce tone. He closes the distance between us in a snap. I’m suddenly looking up at his beautiful face as his warm cologne fills my lungs. “I never hated you, Alina. I… was scared of you.”
“Scared of me?”
“Scared that you would be the one and I would screw it up.”
We stare at each other for a long moment. I’ve always dreamed of hearing those words slipping from his lips. In my fantasies, I’d say the perfect thing or step on my toes and kiss him, but right now, all I can do is stare back in shock.
“I wanted to tell you, Alina,” he says as he reaches out and touches my arm. Goosebumps slide along my skin. “But I—”
The door of the conference room opens behind us and The Comedian barges in. I’m so shaken and on edge that I bark at him. “What do you want?”
Mr. Seinfeld jerks his head back in surprise, but then quickly recovers with a smile as he turns to Sebastian. “Alina, you didn’t tell me that you were engaged to the great Sebastian Kemp.”
Even The Comedian looks starstruck by Sebastian.
“That was all a misunderstanding,” Sebastian says, flashing me an apologetic look. “I’ll clear it up right away with the news outlets. We’re not engaged.”
“That’s right!” I say in a bubbly voice. “We’re already married!”
Sebastian looks at me in shock.
I step beside him, slide my hand up his muscular back, step on my toes, and kiss his cheek. “Isn’t that right, baby?”
He grins at me and my crush comes roaring back full strength. It’s like it never left.
“That’s right,” he says as he smiles down at me. “This little lady has made me the happiest man in the world when she said I do.”
I grin as I stand on my toes and kiss his cheek again.
Because it’s part of the show.
And because I have to get as many kisses in as I can before this all blows up in our faces.
Chapter Four
Sebastian
“Can you believe he did that to poor Alina?” Marie says, looking at me in disgust. “Mom?”
We’re all sitting around the kitchen table having coffee at my mom’s house—the house I grew up in. I keep a weary eye on my angry sister, half-expecting her to throw her scalding cup in my face.
My mom is trying not to smile as she stares down at her mug. “I knew those two would get together. Remember, I said that years ago?”
“They’re not together, Mom!” Marie practically shrieks. “He made it all up!”
I kind of zone out as they argue. My mind goes straight back to that conference room with Alina standing in front of me.
Even now I can still feel the deep sense of awe that permeated my body when I saw her. My limbs went numb. My heart thundered like the hooves of a thousand galloping horses. I forgot where I was. What I was doing. The only thing I could focus on was her.