Andin used the bathroom, then set her purse on the counter next to the sink while she washed her hands. Of all the men on the planet, why did her body have to respond to him? She didn't fool herself that what she felt was love. She didn't love him any more than he loved her. What they had between them was nothing more than lust. The intense kind that burned hot and furious but ultimately would burn out quickly.
She dried her hands and stared at her own reflection in the mirror. She didn't need that kind of complication in her life. She knew what she wanted. She had a plan, and he was the one person who could ruin it all. Best to avoid him until the two and a half months were completed and she was finally free from him. It. was proven to be harder than she had initially thought. Especially when he stood in the hall across from the bathroom, leaning his back against the wall. The door to the bathroom swung shut behind her, and his intense gaze reached across the distance and pinned her feet to the floor.
"Are you looking for the men's restroom?" she asked, a little confused to find him there.
Sebastian shook his head. "I'm looking for you."
"Oh." Andin was stunned for a moment. She'd been formally talking to him for five years. This would be a new experience to talk casually with him. "Do you need something?"
His gaze lowered to her throat. "Yes."
A tight little ball of nerves tickled her stomach, and she forced herself to walk toward him. "What?" Andin asked suspiciously, her sharp eyes picking out his sudden change in mood.
"I finally find a way for you to pay me in return for helping you shoo that unwanted suitor away. Your ex-boyfriend, that is," he said slowly. "But... you don't have to agree, okay?"
"Okay," drawled Andin, her forehead scrunched. "I'm listening."
"There will be a party to celebrate my little sister's birthday and my mother will come to this party. As a matter of fact, she is on the plane boarding from London right now." He put his hand inside his pocket, his intense blue eyes still pinning on her. "She has been on my back about settling down for quite some time, and knowing my mother, she will no doubt have a list of eligible young women for me. I'm pretty positive she has invited them to Clara's party. So would you be willing to pretend to be my fiancé at the party?"
When she seemed unsure, he added, "If I were to present a fiancé, they'd have to back off. You know how I'm already married to my business. With the expansion and everything, I really do not have time for marriage and kids. My mother would not understand that but I know you would. So what do you think, Andin?"
"That's a big thing to ask," Andin finally replied, frowning.
"I know," he said with a nod. "It's not just with one ex. It would be my entire family. I do understand if you don't want to."
"I don't." Andin took a deep breath and then continued, "But I do owe you one. You've helped me with Leroy and then today with my mother. So, I guess I can put up with being your date for one night."
"So you'll do it?" he asked again. His eyes widened as he was waiting for her answer.
"Against my better judgment, yes," she replied.
"Thank you!" he exclaimed, nearly startling her.
"When is this birthday party?"
"On Saturday," he informed her. "I will pick you up at six. It will be at my house. Clara's birthday so she gets to pick where she wants the party to be held."
"You do not have to pick me up." Andin took in a deep, fortifying breath. "I can drive myself there."
"No, Andin, I insist."
"Fine. If you say so, Sir."
Sebastian took a step forward while Andin took a step back. He backed her against the bathroom door and put his hands on both sides of her head. "Remember, Andin, I am not your boss. At least not when we are supposed to be lovers. So lose the Sir. I am Sebastian for you."
"O-okay."
"Okay, what?" He tilted his head, the smell of his aftershave overwhelmed her.
"Okay, Tian."
"Is that a special nickname, I hear?" His lips curled into a mischievous smile. "Okay then, Ndin. I'll pick you up on Saturday. Six o'clock."
Then he stepped back and started walking away, leaving her completely overwhelmed and breathless.
* * * * * * *
Andin finally wore the red dress that Sebastian had delivered to her for the wedding. At first, she had been thinking about wearing it to Damon's wedding but again, she could not bring herself to do it since it was his day and she had not wished to be in the spotlight especially when her mother was around. However, it was different this time. She would be meeting Sebastian's folks at his house. Although there was a part of her that wondered whether she should be wearing something so damn expensive. She thought of it while fidgeting with the ring he had given me. The ring she had finally gotten to wear.
He had spent so much money on her, just on the dress alone. She found it a bit horrifying. Why would he waste so much money on a one-night event? Yet some small part of her actually found it rather flattering that he would have gone out of his way to find a dress that he thought she would like, along with the ring. And if she was honest with herself, she liked them both. Both the dress and ring were things that she would wear without question if she had bought them for herself. It baffled her how he seemed to know her that well. A week or two ago, she wouldn't have said he knew her at all! But yet somehow he had managed to pick out clothes and jewelry exactly to her taste.
Her mind was still mulling this over when, at six o'clock on the dot, a knock sounds on her door, informing her that Sebastian had arrived. She straightened her shoulders. This was it. She would do this for him simply to repay her debt to him, and then they both could go back to being just professional colleagues on Monday. After telling that to herself for the ninth time that day, she slid the ring onto her finger and swung the door open.
Here he was, wearing a perfectly pressed three-piece suit in dark gray with a white shirt and a blue tie, a carefully folded pocket square stark white against the darkness of his suit. It looked amazing on him.
"You are beautiful," he breathed before she could say anything. Then consternation crossed his face as if they were both reminded of who they were and what they were about to do. "In that dress. I must say that Ava does have excellent taste indeed. Thornton was right."
"Ava?" she muttered softly albeit knowing who Ava exactly was. No one could work for Sebastian Summers for nearly four years without knowing his brother's famous wife who also happened to work as a newscaster.
"Yes," he nodded briefly. "She helped me pick out the dress."
"Oh." Andin was not sure why but she felt a pang in her heart and then swallowed hard before saying, "Thank you."
* * *
Andin decided that it was quite easy to see where this party was heading. She snatched a glass of champagne off the table as Sebastian and she walked past it and gave a vapid smile in return for the scowl one of his uncles had given me when she was being introduced. Although Sebastian seemed oblivious, it was easy to recognize the disdainful expression of snooty contempt.
She knew full well that she was not the same as the rest of the people here, and they clearly realized it. She did not have money or own a company or even have expensive jewelry other than the ring Sebastian had given her while the rest of the women were wearing pearls, diamonds, and other precious gems. She was a hard-working woman who had to scrape some months just to pay the exorbitant rent on her apartment. She stood out like a sore thumb. And they knew it just as well as she did.
More than once or twice, she could feel their eyes on her, their gazes openly evaluating her before they turned away, finding her obviously lacking. For a moment, it made her wonder what Sebastian had told them about her, then she shook the thought away as it probably would not matter what they had heard. They seemed to be determined to dislike her regardless.
Before she realized it, she had downed three glasses of champagne, which likely hadn't endeared me to Sebastian's posh family. The more alcohol she consumed, however, the less she found herself caring about what they thought.
"What does it even matter, anyway? I'm not actually engaged to him," she said to herself. This was just a ruse she only agreed to it since he had helped her out with Leroy and then with her mother at Damon's wedding. On Monday, things would go back to normal, and they could put this entire ridiculous affair behind them. They could return to just being a boss and his secretary, and she could forget about the blatant scorn an entire group of people had decided to send her way.
Andin snagged another glass and turned around. To her surprise, she was alone. For a moment, panic enveloped her.
Where was Sebastian? Had he abandoned her here with these wolves?
Then she watched him walking ahead. He didn't notice that she had stopped, and had carried on. She surveyed his expression and noticed the confusion on his face as he looked about the room, as though he was trying to figure something out. And, for the first time, she wondered what he actually thought of her. His family had made it more than clear that they felt she was beneath them in some way, and that she was not good enough for their rich, successful son.
What did Sebastian see every time he looked at her? Did he just see a hard-working woman struggling to make ends meet, someone he wanted to seduce but was not associated with?
She dismissed that thought. If that was the case, there was no way he would have asked her to pretend to be his fiancé. He would not risk introducing her to his friends and family. At the very least, she knew he thought fondly of her, even if it was just as his employee. That thought, oddly, made her feel a little sad. She moved further backward, toward the door, downing the glass in her hand and grabbing another two as she passed the table. Right when she was about to turn around and leave, she stumbled upon Sebastian's distant cousin, Alexander.
* * * * * * *