Page 113 of Hate To Be Mine

“Go,” Annika hissed, giving me a push.

“I can’t.”

Elizabeth walked toward me with a huge grin. “Your man is waiting.”

I looked down at what I was wearing. Thankfully, I had put on one of the dresses Annika gave me. God, would it become transparent under the lights?

I hoped not.

I walked out to join him, feeling absolutely ridiculous and embarrassed.

“Bernadette Simmons, everyone!” Sebastian called out. “This is the woman that pulled all of this off.”

I wanted to melt under the bright lights.

“This campaign has been the biggest project I’ve ever led,” Sebastian went on. “And I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. My brothers weren’t sure either.” He flashed a grin toward Adrian, Briggs, and Dash in the front row. “But we did it. And we did it because of the incredible team behind these designs.”

He turned to gesture at Elizabeth, at Annika, and the models all gorgeous with shoulders back and perfect smiles.

“But there’s one person who made sure this all happened safely. Who kept us from doing stupid things—and trust me, I had a lot of stupid ideas.” Laughter rippled through the crowd. “She worked tirelessly behind the scenes to protect everyone here. Bernadette Simmons is the reason this campaign succeeded. She’s the reason everyone will make it home in one piece.”

I was blushing so hard I probably matched my hair. “Sebastian,” I hissed. “That’s enough.”

“I’m not done.” He took my hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed the back of my knuckles. Oh God. He was making me wet in front of a hundred people. “Bernadette, you’re the smartest, most capable, most infuriatingly rule-following woman I’ve ever met.”

I frowned. “Um, thank you.”

“And I love you.”

The world stopped. The crowd gasped, a collective intake of breath rushing in like the sound of a broken wave. I stared at him, the beautiful, ridiculous man who was declaring his love for me in front of hundreds of people, cameras, press, his entire family.

It was insane. Had he been drinking?

“I love you,” he said again, quieter this time, just for me. “I know it’s crazy. I know it’s fast. But I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“You’re definitely crazy,” I whispered.

“Crazy for you.”

The line was so cheesy I had to laugh. The crowd was going absolutely wild now, cheering and clapping.

“You ridiculous, dramatic, perfect man. I love you too.”

He kissed me then, right there on the runway, under the lights, in front of everyone. I kissed him back, my hands pulling at his expensive suit jacket, not caring about the cameras or the crowd or anything except the feeling of his mouth on mine and his arms around me.

When we finally broke apart, I was dizzy and breathless and happier than I’d ever been in my entire life.

My phone, connected to the Bluetooth headset still on my ear, chimed. I gave Sebastian a quick kiss, waved to the crowd, and practically ran off stage.

I pulled my phone from the pocket of my dress and saw my father’s name on the screen. For a moment, the old fear tried to claw its way back in. The dutiful daughter who always did what she was told.

But I wasn’t her anymore. I deleted the message without reading it. Then I blocked his number entirely.

“Everything okay?” Sebastian asked, joining me in the corner.

“I’m officially unemployed,” I said. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I was fired and smiling.

His eyes widened. “Wait, what? Did your dad fire you?”