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“We were just leaving,” the one dressed as a baseball player said. He nudged his buddy and they wandered away.
Chelsea had a blank look on her face, and she shoved one of the mini cupcakes into her mouth. “Thanks.”
“You okay?” Sebastian studied her, and she seemed . . . strange. Like she’d shut down all the fun she was having earlier.
“I’m good.” She chewed and gave him a close-lipped smile. “Appreciate the save.”
Again, he wondered at her black eye and the brief flicker of terror he’d seen on her face when the guys cornered her. “You sure?”
“Yep. Thanks for the food. You want some?” She offered the plate to him but couldn’t look him in the eye.
Now his protective instinct was in an all-out war with common sense. It was more than just a guy looking out for a girl. He liked Chelsea as a person, and she seemed to be struggling. And a weird sort of idea blossomed in his mind.
He dismissed it.
Looked at her again as she nibbled on a cookie.
The idea wouldn’t go away.
Sebastian kept considering it. Chelsea was perfect for him in a lot of ways—the biggest being that she wasn’t interested in a relationship. He needed a relationship to get Lisa off his back . . . but didn’t want one.
He studied Chelsea’s black eye and the way she nervously eyed the crowd. Gone was her ease, and she moved a little closer to him when he put his arm back around her waist.
She trusted him. He wondered if she’d be up for the nutty plan that kept running through his mind. Won’t know unless you ask , his mind whispered. So he leaned in again when the music started for a new song, and again, the scent of cherries touched his nose. Why did she have to smell so damn good? It was distracting. “You want to escape to a balcony or something?”
The look she gave him was utter relief. “That sounds awesome.” She handed her plate off to a server, licked her thumb, and smiled at him.
And he was going to have mental images of her licking her thumb all night, wasn’t he? Then he thought of the way she’d stiffened in utter fear and chided himself for being a jerk. It was clear she was afraid of some guy, and Sebastian wanted to fix it.
Sure, fixing it might be a little self-serving, but he figured they could kill two birds with one stone.
Keeping his arm firmly around Chelsea’s waist, he steered her toward the edge of the room. The balcony was full of people, and someone appeared to be having a fight out there. Bad place to talk about what he intended. So he kept steering her, heading down a hall. It was cordoned off with a velvet rope so no party guests would enter, but he suspected Hunter wouldn’t mind. He pulled it aside and gestured for Chelsea to enter the room.
She skated in, and he winced mentally at the sound of her roller skates on the hardwood flooring. Well, if they fucked it up, he supposed he could just pay for it. He didn’t care. Right now he just wanted privacy with her and a place where they could talk.
The room they’d entered was a sitting room of some kind, full of dainty chaises and old paintings on the walls. Big windows were covered with heavy drapes and a cabinet of old antiques covered a back wall. It looked like a very stiff, stuffy parlor that didn’t get much use. There was a glass case in the center of the room with an old, open book under it. Probably something expensive and rare. He didn’t care. Sebastian shut the door behind him. “Sit anywhere.”
“No balcony?” she asked, but thumped down on an overstuffed lounger with a curling low back.
“It was busy,” he said. “And I wanted to talk to you in private.”
She stiffened, the defensive look returning to her face. “That’s never a good sign.”
He shrugged, keeping his pose casual, and sat across the room from her. “It’s nothing bad. I just thought I’d ask if you wanted to get married.”
Chapter Seven
Chelsea could feel her eyebrows shoot up in disbelief. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you correctly. Did you say . . . married?”
Sebastian nodded and clasped his hands together, lacing his fingers. “Not in the way you think, though. I should probably explain.”
“Explaining’s good,” she said faintly. Oh, no. Here she’d thought Sebastian was safe, and he wanted to marry her? Marriage meant sex. Ugh. She really, really did not want sex right now. Maybe not ever again. Mostly, though, she was feeling a sense of loss at the moment. He was supposed to be her safety date, damn it. What was this marriage crap?
She was perilously close to crying at the moment. Crying . . . or hitting something. First, the party made her nervous. Bad memories. Second, no Pisa. Third, those guys had cornered her when she was feeling vulnerable and she still felt rattled and unhappy and on edge.
