In the end, he managed the transition from living with his best friends to living on his own without getting mixed up with his old scene. But it still took me a while to move back to my place. I told myself that living in a mansion and not having to make a shitty commute was the reason. I didn’t want to acknowledge that there might have been other benefits, like watching car races with my boss.
“I can’t. I have a date.” I say, smiling. Maybe Icansurprise Sebastian, after all.
“You have a date?” He freezes, sounding shocked. As if I’ve just said something fantastical. As if I claimed I couldn’t watch television with him because I was taking a trip to Never Never Land. But first, I wanted to make a pit stop in Narnia.
My stomach twists at the thought that he might find the idea of someone asking me out so preposterous. Which is why I go on the defensive. “Yes. I’m no Allegra, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
“No, I… That’s not what I—” he sputters, unusually flustered.
I wave my hand, impatient that I’ve revealed my vulnerable area. I focus on the practical. “So I’m not available on Saturday unless there is an extreme emergency. Like death.”
He tilts his head. “If I die, can I call you?”
I ignore him and reiterate, “Emergencyonly.” This job typically involves being on call twenty-four seven, but Inegotiated Saturday nights completely off a few years back. Except I rarely enforce the rule because of my lack of an actual life.
He leans back. “Who’s the lucky fellow?”
“No one you know.”
His brow lifts. “Emma, don’t tell me you joined a dating app.”
“No,” I scoff. “Not that there would be anything wrong with it if I did. I met him at the organic market down the street. Dr. John Winters. He’s a pediatrician,” I say with pride. While the man isn’t wildly attractive, he’s nice-looking in an average way. With a good job. I would normally be skeptical, but I did light social media stalking, and he looks legit.
Sebastian snorts and scribbles a note on the schedule I gave him at the beginning of our meeting.
“What are you writing?” I ask with suspicion.
“Just a reminder of something I need to do.” He looks up, his eyes innocent.
It makes me nervous because the man has never had an innocent moment in his life.
CHAPTER 4
Emma
“The mansion better be onfire,”I mutter to myself as I turn the familiar corner that leads up to a winding Malibu road.
As I drive, I occupy my time thinking of innovative ways to torture my boss.
Traditional methods of waterboarding? Too mundane.
Being dangled above a shark-infested sea might work, especially since he’s obsessed with swimming with them.
Or even better—he could be dangled over a pit of his super fans after they’ve been whipped into a peak frenzy by watching his entireRebels Academyseries for twenty hours.
But knowing Sebastian, he’d enjoy the fans’ attention. And probably even the sharks.
I pull into his driveway, march up the stairs, then punch in the code that opens the mansion’s doors.
My heels click on the black-and-white checkered tiles and echo through the dark, quiet hall. I stalk past the round entry table with its massive floral display that I have a standing order for.
Even now, seven years later, I still feel awe walking into the mansion’s formal entrance with its oversized chandelier leading to a dramatic staircase that screams Old Hollywood. I can almost imagine Sebastian’s grandparents gliding down it—her in a gown, him in a tux.
I narrow my eyes and wonder if I could entice my boss to the top of the spiral stairs.
And push.
“Sebastian!” I cry, looking for my quarry.
