Page 41 of The Flirty Forward

He sobers up quickly. “Aiden told me about the flowers.”

I cross my arms across my chest. “He wasn’t supposed to.”

“Yeah, well I threatened him.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t think that anything threatens Aiden.”

“I made him tell me. Did you get my message?” I don’t answer. “Like I said on the phone, I am so sorry, Stephanie. I should have never said anything at that press conference.”

“No, you shouldn’t have, Sebastian. Do you have any idea the mess I’m in because of it?”

He grimaces. “I know. I’m really sorry. If I could go back in time, I would have never said anything. I really am sorry.” He takes a small step forward but keeps a respectable distance between us. “What can I do to fix it? I can hire private security for you; I can call your boss and demand he let you come back. I can do another press conference and tell people to back off and leave you alone.”

My eyes widen. “No, don’t do that; that will only make it worse.”

His eyes look pained. “Tell me what I can do to fix this.”

I shake my head. “It’s fine; I will deal with it.”

He frowns. “That’s the whole point. I don’t want you to have to deal with it on your own.”

“I’m fine; I’m used to dealing with things on my own. Just don’t do anything, or you’ll make it worse. If enough time passes, people will move on. You’ll go to the next event with another woman, and people will forget all about me.

His frown deepens. “Stephanie—”

Whatever else he was going to say gets cut off when my father opens the door. “Your mother wants to know if you’re going to join us for breakfast,” he says, glancing between the two of us.

“Sebastian was just leav—”

“We’d love to,” Sebastian says over me, putting a hand on my back and ushering me forward. I turn to look over my shoulder at him and shake my head no, but he continues forward. I close my eyes when we step inside, and he closes the door behind us. I'm just getting ready to tell him what a terrible idea this is when he leans forward. “Relax.” His words fall right against my ear, and I stiffen. “Come on, Doll. Let’s get some breakfast.” He heads towards the kitchen like he lives here. I follow reluctantly, knowing this is going to crash and burn.

My mother turns away from her fancy espresso machine. “Should we order for both of you?” she asks.

Sebastian pauses for a moment. “Yes, please,” he says easily. He faces me a moment, surprise in his eyes. I don’t say anything, and he smiles and shrugs. She walks out of the kitchen and disappears. My father walks over to the machine and makes a coffee.

“Can I make you a coffee?” he asks Sebastian.

“I can do it,” Sebastian says, walking over to the machine. He stares at it a moment. “Okay, yeah, maybe you can.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” my father says, taking out a short espresso cup. “Mary’s a little particular about her machine.” It’s quiet, except for the sound of the machine. A minute later, my father hands Sebastian the micro cup. Sebastian takes it, and I want to laugh at the look on his face.

“Where’s the rest of it?” he asks, looking at the tiny cup. I bite back a smile.

My father looks up at him. “It’s a shot of espresso.”

Sebastian opens his mouth like he’s going to say something but thinks better of it. “Thanks.” He downs the drink in one swallow and hands my father the empty cup.

Chapter 15

Stephanie

My father takes the cup. “So you’re a hockey player.”

Sebastian nods. “I am.”

“How long have you been playing?”

“I was drafted five years ago,” Sebastian tells him.

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