“I never dreamed it could be that good,” I say honestly. He grins with triumph.
“There’s plenty more to come,” he grins, kissing the top of my head.
I honestly can’t wait. I would be quite happy to do nothing but make love with Sebastian for the rest of my life.
If he will have me. What happens when he finds out who I really am?
Maybe he doesn’t have to. Once I tell Adrian I’m not doing this story, he will most likely fire me on the spot. Soon I may well be a maid for real. Sebastian will never have to know…but then what? I don’t even know what he wants from me.
As though sensing my distress, he puts his hand under my chin and tips my face up to look at him.
“What is it, Rose?”
I want to tell him the truth. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, ever, but what if he hates me? I could hardly blame him.
“What is this?” I whisper instead. Sebastian kisses me lightly.
“What do you want it to be?”
“Everything,” I answer before thinking. I blush, wincing as I expect him to reject me, to tell me that this is nothing more than a fling, but instead he strokes my face with a tenderness that makes my heart ache.
“Then I’m glad we’re on the same page, because I have no intention of letting you go now that I have got you,” he says seriously. “I meant it when I said you’re mine.”
He kisses me again, and I feel a rush of love. Because I love him. And I know that I could never betray him.
Even if it means losing any chance of ever having a career in this city.
Chapter Fifteen
Sebastian
I wake up the next morning with the biggest grin on my face, roll over and reach for Rose only to realize she isn’t there. Then I hear the sound of the shower running and I lie back on the pillows contentedly.
Last night was amazing, everything that I’ve been fantasizing about all week and more. At last, she’s mine and I have no intention of letting her go.
Next to me my phone buzzes and, still half asleep, I reached for it and clicked on the screen before I see that it’s not my phone it’s Rose’s. A message from someone named Adrian flashes on the screen.
Call me. I need to know what you’ve got on New York’s favorite Billionaire Bachelor…or not. I’m relying on you, Rose.
I feel myself go cold all over. What the fuck? Who is she? Because if that message is anything to go by she’s no cleaner.
Then I remember her telling me her real ambition, and I realize exactly what she is. A journalist.
I find my own phone and do a quick Google search which confirms the fear now churning in my stomach. This has all been a set up. The Witness, the sort of tabloid news that I detest, is run by an editor named Adrian…and employs a young reporter named Rose. I don’t have to look any further to know it’s her. Shaking with a mixture of anger, disappointment and sheer shock, I get up and pull on my underwear just as Rose comes out of the shower, her succulent body wrapped in a small towel. I avert my eyes quickly.
“Get dressed,” I snap.
“Are we going for breakfast?”
“No,” I reply shortly. “We’re going home.”
I look at her then, and the hurt and confusion on her beautiful face is like a stab to my heart, but I have to harden it. She’s a fake.
“Is something wrong?”
I toss her phone across the bed to her.
“You should ask your editor that. I didn’t mean to read your message, but I’m glad I did.”
Her eyes go wide as she grabs her phone and checks it. I see the way she winces as she sees the message and when she looks at me her eyes are full of guilt. Any tiny hope I had that this is some kind of mistake withers inside me.
Rose sits down on the bed and puts her head in her hands.
“I was going to tell you,” she says quietly.
“When?” I snap, telling myself not to fall for her tears. “Before or after you broke your story on me?” I’m about to say she has nothing on me then I remember that I told her all about my background and my sister, and my stomach sinks even more. It’s not the kind of scandal that a rag magazine like the Witness would usually go for, but I know it will still be a hot story, if only because I’ve always managed to remain so elusive as far as the press is concerned.
She raises her head and her eyes are full of tears, pleading with me.
“Sebastian, please, you have to believe me.”