Helen looked to her wine. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m very ordinary.”
Grice dug his hands in his pockets. “Clarke doesn’t seem to think so. He can’t take his eyes off you.”
Yeah, right. She almost laughed. But that would’ve given the game away. Instead, Helen’s gaze followed the sound of laughter drifting in from the terrace. Still posing for photographs, Nadine Charming had both hands wrapped around one of Sebastian’s biceps, her eyebrows raised in the most suggestive manner.
Charming, indeed.
Grice rocked on his heels. “I wouldn’t mind getting a seat on The Wags train.”
Helen tilted her head, studying the two TV stars. Nadine’s manicured hand still on Sebastian’s arm. “In real life, they’re even more …”
“Nauseating? Vacuous? Irritating?”
She snickered. “I was going to say stunning.” Fake tan and overbleached teeth or not, they were very attractive women, polished and styled to perfection. Helen wouldn’t blame Sebastian if he were tempted by what Nadine Charming was so clearly offering.
But Grice was unmoved. “They’re high-society bints, but they’re also a means to an end.”
A means to an end.It all seemed rather shallow, but who was Helen to judge? She was now Sebastian’s means to an end and he was hers. Automatically, she raised her glass to her lips.
Then caught Sebastian glaring at her from across the terrace.
Oh, fuck.She choked, spilling wine all over herself. She quickly set down her glass to grab a napkin—and the glass slipped off the edge of the table and smashed onto the floor. The room fell silent.
Oh, god.
“Sorry, everyone. My fault.”
But that wasn’t her voice, it was Grice, and before she could thank him, Sebastian was towering over them, his eyes a spit-and-sizzle mixture of fire and ice.
“Gary,” Sebastian’s lips barely moved, “would you mind getting someone to clear up this mess, please?”
“I’ll go,” Helen cut in.
“No …honey. There are people who want to meet you.”
Grice sped off. Helen itched to dart after him but Sebastian stepped in front of her.
“I told you not to drink,” he growled, “and I told you to keep away from reporters, especially Grice.”
“I was only holding the glass, being sociable.”
“Screw up again and I’ll bring clause two down on you so hard you’ll find probation a picnic in comparison. Understand?”
“I was not drinking.”
But Sebastian wasn’t interested in anything she had to say. He was too busy focusing on The Wags out on the terrace, flashing his silicone smile.
Which vanished the second he turned back to her.
“Okay, Hobbs.” His Adam’s apple bobbed hard as he swallowed. “Here’s where you get to behave.”
Nadine Charming and Ashley Brooks were exactly the type of women Seb dated back home—and exactly the type that would get rumors circulating by midnight if he wasn’t careful, especially as Nadine had already gotten a little too friendly during the photo shoot just now.
Time to bring out the steady girlfriend.
“It’s showtime,pumpkin.” Hooking his hand under Helen’s arm, he led her to the terrace. “I need to introduce you to Nadine and Ashley.”
“What? You wantmeto meet The Wags? But I have nothing in common with them.”
