Helen asked Tony all sorts of questions—from where he’d grown up to what his parents did for a living, to what he’d planned for his long-term future. Did the poor guy know he was being tested for worthiness to date her friend? Probably. Though Helen was a damn sight more subtle about it than Liz, who’d seemed disappointed that Seb’s life back home wasn’t a continuous Olympic event, histrain-eat-sleep-repeatroutine far from the glamorous life she assumed he led.
Though Liz didn’t appear to be into sports, which was cool. She talked enthusiastically about her work at the hotel—which of course led her to ask about that fateful day.
“So, Sebastian, what did you think of Helen the very first time you saw her?” Liz’s eyes were wide and playful, and beside him, Seb could almost see Helen’s ears prick to attention. She stopped talking to Tony, and suddenly there were three people waiting to hear Seb’s answer instead of one.
“Well, now, good question. Let’s see. My first impression of Helen? I … I thought she was beautiful …” Seb sucked in his bottom lip. “And then she spoke.”
Liz and Tony burst out laughing. Helen rolled her eyes.
“What?” Seb asked, innocently. “The British accent was the cherry on the cake. It’s hot.”
Helen shook her head, smiling like he was talking out of his ass.Shame. He’d been telling the truth.
“Now, you tell me, Liz,” Seb said, “what did you think of Tony the first time you met him?”
“Oh, I didn’t like him at all.” Liz turned her nose up. “I found him annoying. In my face. Always hovering around me, waiting for me to make a mistake so he could tell me all about it.”
“Actually,” Tony said, not the least bit surprised or bothered by Liz’s bluntness. “I thought you were very sweet, but every time I came near you, you had this chip the size of Wales on your shoulder. I spent most of my time wondering what I’d done to piss you off.”
“You thought I was sweet?” Liz said.
“And nervous and upset about something. I assumed it was me.”
Liz’s brow crinkled. “But you know now that it wasn’t.”
Tony nodded solemnly, anger rippling his jaw like he wanted to kick someone’s butt—Dickhead Raz’s, presumably—for having made Liz so wary and unhappy.
“Not all men are bastards, Liz,” Tony said.
“No, I suppose not.” Liz gazed into his eyes.
Seb glanced over at Helen, who was keenly watching the exchange.
“You need to give us a chance to prove it,” Tony continued, then whispered something in Liz’s ear, something that made her smile and giggle. He nibbled her neck.
“Should we leave these two alone?” Seb side-whispered to Helen. “Or are you planning to drop-kick the guy as soon as you get him outside?”
“No, he can live. I like him.” Helen looked away from the canoodling couple. “And I don’t think they’ll miss us if we leave.”
Half an hour later, after handshakes and hugs goodbye, Seb and Helen walked the short distance back to Seb’s car at the Get Living Center.
“I hope that wasn’t toofloweryfor you back there,” Helen said. “If I’d known Tony liked Liz so much, me and you wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in now. At the time, I thought she’d lose her job.”
“You took one for the team, eh?”
“I suppose I did.”
Like kissing him at the press call in front of all those reporters, coming out with all that flowery crap in front of Brenda, and consenting to that clip going viral, all in the name of helping him and the campaign.
Helen was loyal and supportive, and as Seb drove through the dark country roads—more familiar to him now—he realized loyalty had been the quality he’d doubted most in Helen when she’d run out on him at the hotel that first day.
When they arrived at the cottage, Helen unlocked the kitchen door and changed out of her shoes.
“I need to lock up the chickens.” She pulled on thick boots which paired with the clingy black dress should look ridiculous. But didn’t.
“I’ll come with you.” Seb wasn’t ready to close the door on such a warm, still night. He followed Helen down the moon-shadowed path through her yard, his gaze on her ass. There was something illicit about being with her in the dark, under the stars, like this. Just the two of them.
He waited for her outside the hen enclosure as creatures cackled and screamed in the surrounding fields. “What’s that?” he asked.
