ing black smudges of mascara that he wanted to reach out and brush away.
“I can’t do that. I just can’t.”
“You don’t think they’d give it to you?”
“No, they would. Each and every one of them would in a heartbeat,” Harper explained. “That’s why I can’t ask. I’m not going to abuse their friendship like that. Besides, they’d want to know what it was for. They’d worry that I was in some kind of trouble.”
“Aren’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, but not trouble I want any of them to know about. This whole thing is so embarrassing. Really, even if I wasn’t at risk of losing my inheritance, I wouldn’t want anyone to know about the financial trouble I’m in. I’m an accountant. It just looks so awful.”
Sebastian gently stroked her back, considering his options in this situation. Initially he hadn’t been in favor of paying the blackmail, but this wasn’t going to go away. This person was going to get the money or ruin Harper’s life in the process. “What about the bank?” he asked.
She looked up at him, confusion creasing her brow. “What do you mean?”
“What about seeing if the local bank would lend you the money? When we go into town today, we can stop at a bank and see what options you have.”
“Not many,” she said. “Without collateral, getting that much money would be nearly impossible. If by some chance they did agree to loan me the money, it would be at an outrageous interest rate.”
“Not necessarily,” Sebastian said thoughtfully. “What if I cosigned?”
Harper sat back against the arm of the love seat and looked at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read. “Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
“That’s really sweet of you to offer, Sebastian, but I can’t ask you to do that. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Why? I have no intention of paying a dime of the money back. It’s all on you. And if you don’t pay it when your inheritance comes through, I’ll see to it that there are unpleasant consequences for you, if it makes you feel better about it.”
She blinked a few times as though she were trying to process his offer. “You’d really do that for me?”
“Of course,” he said. “You’re my girlfriend. Don’t you think the blackmailer would think it suspicious if you couldn’t come up with the money somehow and yet your boyfriend is a millionaire?”
Sebastian wasn’t sure what the reaction would be, but he certainly wasn’t expecting her to throw herself into his arms. Before he knew what was happening, Harper’s lips were pressed to his once again. Just like at Neiman Marcus, she was enthusiastically thanking him with her mouth. Unlike at Neiman Marcus, this time there wasn’t a crowd of onlookers to keep the kiss PG-rated.
If he was honest with himself, he’d been wanting this kiss since that one had ended. Not one of the quick pecks she gave him when they were out in public, but a real kiss. One where he could taste the cool mint-toothpaste flavor on her tongue and let his hands roam until they discovered that under today’s long-sleeved T-shirt she was wearing a lace bra.
The kiss intensified as his palms cupped her through her shirt. Harper moaned softly against his mouth and moved closer to him on the love seat. It would be so easy to pull her into his lap, whip the shirt off her head and bury his face between the creamy breasts he’d only glimpsed the night before. But he wouldn’t. Not now.
As much as he didn’t want to, Sebastian forced himself to pull away. This wasn’t the time or place for this to happen. If he and Harper ever transitioned from a fake relationship to a real one, he didn’t want it to be because she was emotionally compromised or felt indebted to him.
He rested his forehead against hers as he took a cleansing breath and chuckled to himself.
“What’s the laugh for?” she asked.
“I was just thinking that I would’ve offered to cosign yesterday if I’d known I’d get that kiss in return.”
Harper grimaced and shook her head with mock dismay. “Let’s get back downstairs. We don’t want to miss the bus to Sligo.”
Six
“Wipe that anxious look off your face.”
Harper clutched her purse to her chest and frowned at Sebastian. “I can’t help it,” she argued. “I don’t like walking around with this much cash.”
“You’re not walking through downtown Manhattan. You’re riding a bus with friends through the Irish countryside. We’ll be back at the castle in a few minutes. No one on the bus is going to mug you, I’m pretty sure.”
She could only sigh and shake her head, diverting her attention out the window to the passing scenery. Ireland was a beautiful country with rolling, emerald hillsides, misty valleys and wild, gray seas. She wished she was able to enjoy it. Harper had always wanted to go to Ireland but never managed to make the trip before. But now that she was here, all she could think about was the twenty-five thousand euros in her Birkin purse and the bastard she was about to give it to.