Page 71 of Inconvenient Marriage
“So we don’t,” is Sebastien’s easy answer.
I wish itwasthat easy. “He wields his influence in the Order like a weapon.”
I need Sebastien to understand that. Because of his high rank… because he’s purposely made it so that he doesn’t care…he has the privilege to flip off the Order and not let it affect him. But for someone like? I’d have to leave Harmony Heights, start over, escape if the Order turned on me—and that’s assuming that I could. That they would let me.
And that’s when he lifts his hand cupping my jaw, turning my face so that I’m not looking at the floor of the car, but him instead. “So? Know what? The Order rules my life. It rules yours. Why do we let it? I say we stop.”
I blink over at him. I would’ve thought that the Order didn’t touch him at all… but maybe I was wrong. Remembering his dream of being a mechanic, of owning his own garage… yeah. I waswaywrong.
“Okay,” I say breathlessly.
It’s not his usual easy grin. Nope. When his lips quirk upward, it’s an honest smile that makes his face even more beautiful.
“Let’s leave,” he says slowly, rubbing his thumb along the edge of my jaw. “Just get out of town for a few days.”
What? “Leave?”
“Yeah. You finished Alexandre’s event. And I guarantee your phone is going to explode with other Order families begging for your services after this.” He lowers his hand, wrapping his palm around the side of my throat as he leans in. “You deserve a break. And I want some time alone with my wife now that this job is done.”
The word ‘wife’ sends a shiver up my spine.
“What do you think, love? We can go home, pack a few bags, leave tonight… just you and me?”
What do I think?
I lay my hand over his and nod. “Let’s go.”
It’s sohard to believe it, but less than two hours later, Sebastien is pulling up in front of a large cabin, with an attached garage, that’s hidden in the spring-green mountains. During the day, sunlight would pour over the valley like spilled gold. At ten o’clock at night, it’s dark yet still beautiful, the moon shining down on it instead.
The path is rocky. Just like the waterfall, tucked away on these same mountains, the Reynolds family cabin is hidden from passersby. You have to maneuver your vehicle through closely grown trees, down a barely-there path, and if you don’t know exactly where you’re going, you could either get lost or end up way too close to the mountain’s edge.
Sebastien, of course, knows the way intimately. On our drive up, he explains that, while this is technically his family’s mountain home, he’s taken it over himself. This is where he goes when he needs to get out of Harmony Heights.
This is where he goes when he needs to get away.
I find out why almost right after we park outside.
He told me to dress comfortably before we left the house. Because I have this need to wear his clothes as my pajamas lately, I traded the dress I wore to the party for one of his long-sleeved dress shirts and some leggings. He’s dressed the same, but the way he moves lightly on his feet as he hurries to open my side of the car, he already seems to be in a much better mood.
Grabbing the two duffel bags that we packed for our few days’s stay, he jerks his head at the second building, attached to the cabin. It’s smaller than the main structure, and I get the idea that it’s similar to the attached garage on Sebastien’s house, until he says with a touch of pride, “That’s my workshop.”
I give him a questioning look.
He shrugs. “I could never have a garage of my own in Harmony Heights so I turned this spare garage into one. This is where I build my bikes. When the pressures are too much… I ride up here, throw myself into the work, and only come back down to Harmony Heights when I’ve got my head on straight.”
I think about it for a moment. “So… sometimes, when it’s like you’ve fallen off the face of the plant, this is where you are?”
Not banging other women, but working on his bike?
I don’t add that part. I don’thaveto.
His grin takes on a wicked edge. “Did you miss me, love?”
I fight hard to force back my flush. “I know this is only a marriage of convenience. I don’t have any right to be jealous or to wonder where you are when you’re not there.”
He shakes his head. “One of these days, Annaliese, you’ll figure it out. Until then, I’ll make this clear: next time I need to disappear? You’ll be right there with me. I’ve never brought anyone up to this cabin to see my workshop before… but you? I hope you like the mountain air. We’ll be spending a lot of time up here.”
Leaving me with that, Sebastien carries our bags inside, and for a moment, it feels unreal. Like that afternoon by the waterfall, it’s just us. No Order. No judging eyes. No threats or danger or Used shooting me nasty looks because they want my husband…
