“Yeah, that’s Brian.”
“Hey, Brian! Mind if she takes five to help me out?”
The old guy shrugged. “She’s only got a half hour left.” He then turned his curious gaze to Helen. “You can leave now, missy, if you make up the time on Monday.”
Seb thanked him, wasting no time in hustling Fake-Cassie—Helen—across the yard. “Monday? You’re working here next week too?”
“I think so. It’s hard to say for sure because—” Her brow creased as they approached the building. “Are you sure about this?”
“Hell, no. But you’re all I’ve got.”So, please don’t turn out to be a fruitcake.
Ignoring the hammering in his chest, Seb switched on his smile and focused on getting through the next five minutes.
“Hey, everyone, I’d like to introduce you all to my girlfriend … Helen.” He locked eyes with a tight-lipped Brenda. He’d explain the change of name—somehow—later. Better stick to real names than risk Helen’s boss or another of her coworkers at the landscaping firm spilling the beans. “Helen is helping out at HQ.”
“Hi, everyone.” Helen raised her free hand, then pressed herself to his side like a shy child. “Nice to meet you all.”
Addressing the room, Brenda switched on her own bright smile, but Seb could tell his making out in the yard had pissed her off.
“There’s only a few hours before the dinner starts,” Brenda announced. “I know we’ll have the pleasure of seeing some of you later, but thank you, everyone, for coming today. Please follow Freddy, and he’ll show you out.”
The journalists filed out, including Grice who ambled out the door like he’d just lost his last chip at the roulette wheel.Too bad, buddy, still no story.
But Seb’s relief was short-lived.
Closing the door behind the last reporter, Brenda spun on her heels and speared him with a school-principal glare.
“Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on? And don’t take me for a fool, Sebastian.” She jabbed a finger at Helen. “If she’s working with Brian, she’s been in trouble with the police.”
The police!Seb’s heart hurled out of his chest.
“Helen Hobbs, is that you?” Brenda tapped her burgundy-polished fingernail against the clipboard on her desk. “I see you’re on the site entry list for today and all of next week.” Brenda turned back to Seb. “Is this what you wanted to tell me earlier? That your girlfriend is on probation?”
Probation!“Well, I—”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Brenda threw her hands up in the air and paced the room. “We could’ve prepared something, made her part of the press tour rather than a tagged-on spectacle at the end. Why didn’t you even tell us she’d be here today?”
Because I didn’t fucking know!
But how could he admit that now? He’d not only lied to Brenda and Mikey but to twenty-three reporters, too. He froze.
“Sebastian was protecting me!” Helen jumped in. “This is all my fault. I asked him to lie.”
Oh. Good. God.
Seb raised a hand to gag Helen, but she clutched it to her chest instead.
“Sebastian didn’t know anything about my arrest until after we got together.” Helen pressed his hand tighter to her boobs. “When I finally plucked up the courage to tell him, being thekind,sweetandunderstandingman he is, he said it didn’t matter. After all, I forgave him when he was caught with those showgirls, didn’t I?”
Seb’s heart beat in his ears. Any second now, it would stop pumping altogether.
Really, Sebastian, did you have to have heart failure on your first day at work?
Brenda looked between them. “Michael said you hadn’t been dating long, but I had no idea you were …”
“In love? Yes!” Helen gripped his fingers. “Sebastian said we can’t choose who we fall in love with, and he came to England insisting we give our relationship a chance to grow and blossom.” She gazed up at him, saccharine bullshit oozing from every pore.
“People can besojudgmental. I didn’t want his reputation, or the Get Living Campaign, to suffer over something I’d done, so I insisted he keep my conviction a secret—andmy name! But I guess you got your way on that one in the end, didn’t you, sweetie?”
