Cody ducked his head. “Oops. I thought I told you.”
Letting out a sigh, she closed her door and walked over to them.
Sebastian frowned down at her as she approached the bottom step. “Busy day?”
“A nightmare.” She climbed the steps and settled down onto the top one beside Cody. “But that’s enough about me. What’re you working on, bug?”
Cody pressed the notepad to his chest, expression a study of nonchalant calm. “Nothing. Just something for school.”
She smoothed her hand over his hair. “Want me to help?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Was this the project Justin had mentioned? The one he wanted to help Cody with?
“We’ve got it covered.” Sebastian waved his hand. “Why don’t you go in and unwind? Grab a cuppa.”
The dull ache in her feet and back agreed with his suggestion.
“Yeah, Mum.” Cody hugged his notepad closer to his chest. “Go inside.”
Lips twisting, she rolled her eyes. “Why do I get the distinct feeling I’m not wanted here?”
“Oh, Grace”—Sebastian’s gaze found hers over Cody’s head—“you have no idea how far from the truth that is.”
A ribbon of delicious heat unfurled through her, tight and dangerous.
Pushing herself to her feet, she pulled a steadying breath and headed for the door. “I’m going in. Cody, we’re having dinner with Shelli tonight.”
“Okay, Mum,” he threw over his shoulder.
Ten minutes later, work clothes banished to the laundry basket and a floaty sundress she hardly ever wore taking their place, she poured herself and Sebastian a cup of tea. Cody wandered into the kitchen and picked an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter.
She smiled at him. “Where’s Seb?”
Polishing his apple on his shirt in the same way Gary used to, he opened the fridge. “Gone. He said he had work to do and he would see us later. On Sunday.”
Gone. Just like that. No coming in and seeing her before he left. Just gone.
“Oh.” Her stomach clenched. So much for being wanted. Typical Sebastian. And here she was thinking he’d changed. “Okay.”
Cody withdrew a small bottle of OJ from the fridge and frowned at her. “Why do you sound angry?”
“I’m not.” She’d spent too many years of her life being angry because of Sebastian. She wasn’t going to do it again.
“Oh, Mr. Fitzsimmons came and said hello.”
“When?”
“When we were outside.” His frown returned. “I don’t think he likes Seb. He kept making angry faces at him.”
Head roaring, Grace stirred a teaspoon of sugar into her tea. “Did he? What did Sebastian do?”
Cody grinned. “Laughed. And he told me he would see us on Sunday. I hope he comes in his James Bond car.”
She sighed. “Did you want me to help you with your homework, bug?”
He shook his head, undid the lid of the juice, and walked from the kitchen. “No. It’s all good.”
Oh God, when the hell had he started sounding like Sebastian?
Her phone beeped with an incoming message from Shelli. I saw you on television!!!!! And whoa baby, the way Hart was looking at you. We need to talk. ASAP!
No, we don’t, she texted back. You’re imagining things. But we can have dinner tonight.
She hit send and then followed it up with another message. This is me inviting us to your place for dinner tonight, btw. We’ll be there at 6. Xox
Who’s us? You and Hart?
She scowled. Me and Cody, you idiot.
Carrying her tea into the living room, she dropped onto the sofa, closed her eyes, and crossed her ankles on the coffee table. Why did the fact Sebastian left without saying good-bye irk her so much? It wasn’t like she wanted to spend more time with him. She didn’t want to spend any time with him. The only reason he was coming around was because of his community service. She should be happy he’d left.
“Mum?”
Opening her eyes, she smiled up at Cody. The notepad was back in his arms, hugged close to his chest. “Yeah, bug?”
“Can we ask Seb to come to dinner at Shelli’s tonight?”
Her throat thickened. “What about Justin? Would you like to ask Justin to join us instead?”
What about what you want, though?
Cody contemplated her question for a few seconds and then shook his head. “Nope.”
Me, either. She was fooling herself if she thought otherwise.
“I want to ask Seb.” Cody hugged his notepad tighter. “Can we?”
The hope in his eyes tore at her chest, at her soul. “Sure, bug. Go get my phone and you can text him.”
A wave of sensation she didn’t want to explore rolled through her.
Cody punched the air, wriggled his butt, and ran into the kitchen. “Yes!”
Oh great. Your son has fallen for the bane of your existence. Hook, line, and sinker.
Just like she had.
Shit.
…
He legitimately hadn’t planned to see Grace and Cody so soon. He wanted to. But he’d told himself he had to step back. The situation was getting out of hand.
For starters, he was beginning to have ridiculous fantasies about a life he’d never contemplated before. A life involving after-school soccer practice and parent-teacher interviews, and helping with homework. A life involving a warm, soft body in his bed with him every night. A life that included sharing a pot of Earl Grey over breakfast with the last person on earth he’d ever thought would be in his fantasies.
So, yes, it was definitely time to step back and let generically good-looking Justin take the reins for bit and see where that led.
It wasn’t like the kiss he’d shared with Grace on her front porch had utterly and completely shaken him to his soul or anything. It wasn’t like he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Yeah, right.
So, no, he definitely hadn’t planned on having dinner with Grace, Cody, and Shelli. He’d planned on having dinner with Harry before his brother headed back to Silicon Valley for a while. And after dinner, he’d planned on burying himself in some preproduction work on his next project. Thomas St. Clair’s latest New York Times best seller was turning out to be a filmmaker’s dream.
But then Cody had sent him the invitation to dinner via Grace’s phone, and he’d texted back straightaway. He hadn’t even hesitated. So here he was, in Shelli’s apartment, and there was nowhere else he wanted to be.
Go figure.
Now he just needed to stop looking at Grace every two seconds.
It didn’t help that every time he glanced at her, he caught her looking at him. Or that every time he caught her, she’d look away, cheeks growing pink. What was she thinking to make such a delicious blush tint her cheeks? Was it even close to what he was thinking?
“A normal day to me, Hart.”
He blinked, yanking himself back to the dinner table. Shelli had just said something, but what? “Huh?”
Grace, Cody, and Shelli looked at him. Grace was flustered—he could see it in her eyes. Cody sat perched on the edge of his seat, mash potatoes half raised to his mouth. Shelli watched him with an expectant expression. He remembered that expression well. She used to wear it at school whenever she’d confront him about the way he talked to Grace, waiting for him to apologize.
He never did. Never came close.
“I said describe a normal day to me.” Shelli’s lips twisted as she flicked a glance back and forth between him and Grace. “The average day in the life of a famous film director.”
“Well.” He cleared his throat. “I get up at five in the morning and spend a good hour either swimming laps or jogging. If I’m at home here in Sydney, I’ll go for a surf at Bondi. I then eat breakfast—usually egg whites-and-baby-spinach omelets—drink copious amounts of coffee, although the last few mornings I’ve been partial to Earl Grey tea”—Grace looked down at her plate, her ch
eeks once again pink—“and then I get to work. Usually, that involves being on set yelling at people to do what I want them to do.” He grinned. “Very unlike me, I know.”
Grace grunted, but her lips curled into a smile, and that made everything okay for him.
“If I’m in preproduction, like I am now, I spend a lot of time alone, getting my head around what I see the film to be. If I’m in postproduction… Well, that’s a world that doesn’t even come close to the definition of average.”
“Wow.” Cody put down his fork, expression set in fierce determination. “I want to be a film director when I grow up.”
Shelli held out her hand to Grace. “See? What did I say?”
Grace rolled her eyes. “Yes, this was all part of your plan, wasn’t it?”
Plan? What plan? Maybe a chat with Shelli was in order.
“How about I take you to my offices this Sunday, then, buddy?” He scooped up a forkful of mashed potato. “You can help me storyboard my next film. What do you think?”
“Hell yeah.” Cody ducked, throwing Grace a worried smile. “I mean, yes, please. That would be awesome. Can I, Mum?”
Grace studied them both. Sebastian wanted to fidget under the enigmatic weight of her gaze. What was she thinking?
“Please, Mum?”
“Does that work with his whole Big Brother thing, Shels?”
Shelli frowned. “The idea of the Big Brother program is for the adult male—in this case, Hart—to give the preteen or adolescent male—you, Cody—some incredible fun moments that only a father figure or male role model could.”
Sebastian sucked in a sharp breath. Father figure. Fuck, did Shelli use the term on purpose?
An invisible band wrapped around his chest, and he drew another breath.
“So, yes.” Shelli smiled at Cody, then him, and then Grace. “Cody hanging out and working with Hart on Sunday would count.”
Cody shoved his fork into the pile of mashed potato on his plate and raised it in a salute. “I get to be a director on Sunday.”
Chest still tight, Sebastian loaded up his fork and raised it as well. “To being a director.”
They shoveled mashed potato into their mouths in perfect sync.
A rush of happiness flowed through him, and he grinned. Ignoring the existential crisis he seemed to be in the midst of, he was having a great time.
“Hey.” Shelli stood from the table and collected the empty plates. “Do you two remember Mr. Field? The history teacher who used to always wear polka-dotted bow ties?”
“I do.” Sebastian chuckled. “He did not like me at all.”
Grace pressed her palms to her cheeks. “I can’t believe anyone could not like you, Seb. The audacity of the man.”
A low chuckle bubbled up through his chest at her sarcasm. “I know, right? Who wouldn’t like me?”
She lifted an eyebrow, lips twitching. “Who, indeed?”
“I like you, Seb.” Cody grinned, wriggling on his seat. “You’re awesome.”
He preened, throwing Grace a smile. “I am awesome. Want to tell your mum that for me, buddy?”
Cody swung to face Grace. “Mum. Seb is awesome.”
“Is he now?”
He nodded and grinned at Sebastian again. “Told her.”
Jesus, this kid is amazing. “Thank you. Think she believed you?”
Cody laughed. “No.”
“All right, all right.” Grace rolled her eyes. “You’re both hilarious. Shels, what were you going to say about Mr. Field?”
Smiling, Shelli strolled into the kitchen. “I saw him the other day. He was buying a coffee at the Macca’s near the Big Brother office.”
A warm smile spread over Grace’s face. “I liked him. His bow ties used to make history so much more colorful. Did you say hi?”
“I did.” Shelli placed the dirty dishes in the sink and then leaned against the counter. “He had no clue who I was. Even when I reminded him he was the teacher who…” She trailed away. “Umm…”
Grace frowned. “Reminded him he was the teacher who what?”
Shelli glanced at Sebastian.
The band around Sebastian’s chest turned to a crushing vice. He pulled a slow breath. Had Shelli known where she was going with this line of conversation? She was smart. But would she walk him into this? Surely she wouldn’t hang him out to dry like this on purpose.
After the way you treated Grace all those years ago? Maybe?
“He was the teacher who hauled me and Sebastian into the principal’s office.”
Grace frowned. “He what? When was that?”
Sebastian moved the remainder of his potatoes around on his plate.
“Now that I think about it, you and your folks were in Melbourne, hon.” Shelli rubbed her palms on the tops of her thighs. “Seeing the MS specialist. Hart and I… Well, we had a conversation in the schoolyard that didn’t go smoothly.”
That was an understatement. She’d smacked the hell out of him.
“What about?” Cody reached for the glass of water in front of him. Everything in his face screamed excitement. He was a ten-year-old boy hearing about someone being sent to the principal.
Sebastian straightened to his feet, plate in hand. “I made the mistake of suggesting to Shelli that your mum had cheated on her science exam.”
Shelli met his stare. Would she correct him?
That Grace wasn’t at school because she’d gone to get a face transplant. That’s what he’d really suggested. He’d known she was in Melbourne with her family, and he’d known why she was there. But Shelli had found him staring at her name in his brand-new Nokia. He and Harry had been the only kids in school to have a mobile phone, thanks to their mum buying them one each as soon as they were available.
Sebastian had been in the senior grounds pretending to work on an Extension English assignment due later that day, but no matter how often he’d tried to focus, he kept finding himself wondering how Grace was.
He’d turned on his phone and found her name in it. Maybe, if he called and left a message on their home answering machine, her parents would somehow be able to play it in Melbourne?
That’s how Shelli had found him.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake.” She’d thrown up her hands. “When are you going to admit you freaking like her? Just call already and leave her a message.”
He’d stared at her. The air had turned to a prickling, invisible blanket of fire ants and needles smothering him. “Like her?” He’d laughed, the sound as contemptuous as he could make it. “You’re an idiot, Holt. But if you want me to I’ll call her, I will. Do you know the phone number for the hospital where she’s getting the face transplant?”
She’d slapped him across the face. Hard. And then again. And again.
Mr. Field had broken up the fight and marched them both up to the principal’s office. Sebastian hadn’t retaliated or tried to stop Shelli, so only she’d ended up getting detention.
“Yeah.” Shelli turned back to the sink and rearranged dishes in it. “That’s what you did. Accused Grace of cheating on a science exam.”
“Did you cheat, Mum?” Shock and horror filled Cody’s voice.
Sebastian’s gut churned some more. God, what would the kid do if he heard the real story?
“No, I did not.” Grace glared at Sebastian. Hurt swam in her eyes. “Cheating is wrong. I never cheated on any test. And why would I need to cheat on a science exam?”
Jesus, this wasn’t going right. “I didn’t… I was being an idiot. Just trying to irritate Shelli.”
Grace frowned. The hurt in her eyes grew darker. “You were an idiot back then. How could I think you could be any different now?”
But I am. “I was an idiot teenager.”
“Who enjoyed nothing more than making my life hell.”
“Mum?”
Cody’s uncertainty hung on the air. Sebastian swallowed.
Grace scrunched up her face and exhaled. “Sorry, bug.” She gave his hand a ge
ntle squeeze. “Mum’s having a loopy moment. I’m just going to go to the loo, okay?”
Cody nodded, a frown playing with his dark eyebrows. “Okay. Don’t fall in.”
A wobbly laugh fell from her, and she dropped a kiss on the top of his head. “I’ll try not to.”
Without looking at Sebastian or Shelli, she left the room.
Cody looked over at Shelli. “I think Mum’s angry.”
From the kitchen, Shelli let out a soft sigh. “Maybe.”
Sebastian shook his head at her. “You think?”
She shoved her hands to her hips. “I didn’t mean that to happen, you know. I was just talking about Mr. Field. But then our whole detention situation finally got aired and I thought maybe, for the first time ever, you’d man up and tell her how you’ve felt about her for all these bloody years, you dickhead.”
Cody gasped.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stormed over to the kitchen and shoved his plate at her. Why was it so hard to breathe? Where had all the air gone? “You’ve had this deluded notion Grace and I have some epic, clichéd love story going on since we were kids. It’s a fabrication of your mind. Get over it. Grace and I don’t even like each other.”
Bullshit. Stop lying to yourself and—
“You don’t?”
Cody’s voice scraped at Sebastian. A chill clamored all over him. He scrunched up his eyes, his gut a sickening hole.
“Way to go,” Shelli whispered. “How the hell are you going to charm your way out of this one?”
Meeting Shelli’s glare, he swallowed.
She stared back at him. “Do yourself a favor, Sebastian. Look past your fame and success and money, and ask yourself what it is you truly want in your life. Truly want. Ask yourself why you agreed to spend dinner here at my place with the woman you supposedly despise, and the boy the courts have ordered you only have to see once a fortnight.”
“Do you hate my mum?” Cody asked from directly behind him.
Chest tight, Sebastian turned and crouched down until his eyes were level with Cody’s. “No. I don’t, buddy. Not at all. Your mum and I, we…”
“What?” Cody’s young face was etched with confusion.
The Irredeemable Billionaire (Muse series) Page 14