“Thank you for sending the car to pick me up,” she said as he carried her suitcase into the condo she rented. Feeling awkward for the first time ever around him, she fiddled with her purse strap and wondered if she should offer him something to drink.
“You’re welcome.” He bent down and grazed his lips against hers.
Although the touch
of Sebastian’s kisses would forever cause her to melt like snow in the tropics, Missy’s stomach clenched in despair. The brief kiss was goodbye.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she said.
“I have a breakfast meeting. I’ll stop by your new office when I get in.”
He left her standing in the middle of her living room, nodding after him like a bobble-head doll. He’d changed from ardent lover to supportive ex-boss so fast she had whiplash. She was glad she’d decided against telling him about the baby.
Once her pregnancy became public knowledge, she’d let everyone believe Tim was the father. No reason to let what had happened between her and Sebastian in Vegas create lifelong consequences for him. So what if her instincts told her what she was doing was wrong? She’d ignored her gut feelings for fifteen years and let her head lead. She’d grown accustomed to weighing options. Logic dictated her actions.
Back when she’d been a teenager, she’d learned what happened if she let her heart run amuck.
Pity she hadn’t remembered those lessons in Vegas.
Sebastian let himself into his parents’ house. He was furious with his father for interfering in the running of the business again and angry with himself for not thinking of putting Missy into the communications director position himself.
“Sebastian,” his mother said, getting up from the computer in her office. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to Dad.”
She surveyed his expression. “What did he do now?”
“He offered Missy a job without telling me.”
“I’m sure he had good intentions.”
“You give him the benefit of the doubt too often.” Sebastian tempered his tone. After all, he wasn’t angry with his mother. “Where is he?”
Following his mother’s directions, Sebastian found his father in the library. “You offered Missy the communications director job?”
“Hello, Sebastian.” Brandon pulled off his reading glasses. “I did.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Because she belongs with us. And she can do the job. You should’ve promoted her years ago. If you had, maybe she wouldn’t have quit.”
Sebastian bit back a growl. As much as he hated to admit it, his father was right. Missy was overqualified to be his assistant. He’d been a selfish bastard to keep her as long as he had.
“You should have talked to me first.”
“I spoke with Max. She’d be working for him. He liked the idea.”
How could Sebastian argue? His father’s logic was flawless. It was his methods that set Sebastian to grinding his teeth. Nor would he stop Missy from taking a job she so obviously wanted more than she wanted to keep seeing him.
He wasn’t about to admit he’d realized he was glad she’d resigned. That he was glad she’d be sleeping in his bed instead of working for his company. Letting passion dominate reason went against everything he believed in. So, why did he want to hit something?
“Why didn’t anyone talk to me about it?”
“Missy wanted to be the one to break the news.”
“I wish you’d come to me before speaking to Missy. I would have liked the opportunity to offer her the position.”
“Sorry we left you out of the loop.” Brandon didn’t look one bit sorry that he’d bypassed Sebastian and asserted his authority once again. “After I found out she’d quit, the decision happened pretty fast. I spoke to her about it in Las Vegas, but because of what happened to her dad, she didn’t give us her answer until a couple days ago.”