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I’m lost in my own thoughts, seriously contemplating whether walking away was the best thing I could have done. I spent all day packing my bags for this trip and yet it feels like I’ve compromised myself somehow. That day with Sebastian by the river will haunt me.
But I couldn’t allow myself to come second best to a business deal. I just...couldn’t. Maybe it sounds stupid to be so upset over such a small thing, but those red flags were the ones I should have seen with Mike. Do I have feelings for Sebastian? Yes. Am I terrified that I’ve walked away from something special? Absolutely yes.
But do I regret my actions? No, I don’t think I do. Because I have to stand up for what I want out of life, for how I want to be treated. For what kind of person I am. And that means valuing myself first before expecting it from others.
I scoop up my bag and scarf and other bits and take a moment to reassemble myself. I’m a ghost as I follow the directions through customs and immigration, through duty free and farther into the terminal, my mind elsewhere the whole time.
Eventually I buy myself a tea and something sweet and settle in at the departure gate to watch the minutes tick by. Even the thriller novel I packed to pass the time doesn’t hold my interest and eventually I stare into space, feeling like a shell.
I miss him already.
It’s pathetic, I know, but it’s the truth. What I shared with Sebastian was brief but meaningful, and I can’t downplay what it meant to me simply because we haven’t known each other that long. I did things with him that I wouldneverhave had the confidence to do before. Wild things. Dirty things. Pushing-my-personal-boundaries things.
I’m staring into space when my eye catches a man who looks familiar. Achingly familiar. Tall and broad-shouldered and long-legged, with dark brown hair and a sharp jaw and...oh, he has a beard.
It’s not him.
My heart plummets, even though I have no expectation of ever seeing Sebastian again.
I look back down at my book, the words swimming in front of me. It’s going to be a long trip to Paris if this is how I’m feeling. So I need to buck up and get my head on straight. Wallowing time is officially over.
“Is it going to sound horribly cliché if I ask you if this seat is taken?”
I jolt, almost sloshing the now-cold tea I’ve barely touched. My head wrenches up and he’s there. “You have a beard.”
“Misery makes hair grow faster,” he quips. It suits him because it’s neat and close to his face, a corporate beard. Not a my-life-is-off-the-rails beard...because Sebastian would never let his life go off the rails.
“What are you doing here? You can’t get past security without a boarding pass...” I shake my head. “Where are you going?”
“Paris.” He drops down next to me.
Am I hallucinating? Did that sweet girl at the tea place slip something into my drink? Have I fallen asleep and now I’m dreaming while other airport patrons are watching me drool on myself?
I blink. “Excuse me, what?”
“Paris, France.” His lips quirk up into an adorable and yet somehow still sexy smile. “I’ve got an extra ticket, if you want it.”
“But I already have a ticket.” I scrub my free hand over my face. Okay, so maybe I haven’t been sleeping all that well in the last few weeks. Too many dreams...or were they memories?
“I bet your ticket doesn’t say business class.” He pulls a leather holder from the inside pocket of his blazer and flips it open. There’s a ticket with my name on it. “The only downside is the flight’s not for a few more hours. But I could buy you a drink in the meantime.”
My head is swirling and the thoughts bump into one another, colliding and twisting and changing direction. I can’t get a good grasp on them. “I don’t understand.”
“So...let me backtrack.” He rubs a hand over his jaw, fingers smoothing down the beard as though he’s not quite used to the feel of it yet. “Dad offered me the CEO gig.”
“Congratulations.” I’m not sure I feel happy for him—because I know this job will be a shackle around his wrist. But it’s what he wanted, so I’m glad for that.
“I didn’t take it.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Why the hell not?”
“It came with a condition that I couldn’t abide by,” he replied. My stomach takes a sudden turn as I flip through all the things he could be talking about. “My dad found out about us...”
The air leaves my lungs in a single breath. “They know.”
“Heknows, but I don’t think he told Mike. He said if I wanted the CEO job, it was mine, but I had to sign an agreement stating I would never be in contact with you again.” His face is deadly serious—those dark eyes staring right into my soul.
“Why didn’t you sign? We’d already agreed to walk away. I wasn’t expecting anything from you.”
