Which was so at odds with his common-sense reasoning that he should walk away.
When Helen ended her call, she joined him at the table.
“How you feeling?” he asked.
“Terrific, thanks. You?”
He merely looked at her.
“Sorry.” She picked up her tea and stared down into it. “Thank you for helping me earlier.”
Her sad eyes sliced through him, and when he looked to the hills, his gut twisted as he imagined a big-ass road a few meters from his feet.
“Look, Helen, I have some money saved.” The words tumbled out. “It’s nowhere near enough to buy this place, but—”
“No. Thank you.” Her eyes filled with tears again. “This isn’t your problem, Sebastian. You’re not a real boyfriend, and the money you’ve paid me so far has been a great help already.”
Seb shifted uncomfortably as their heated words from the other night echoed between them. From the beginning, his accountant had been wiring Helen weekly sums per their contract, but until they’d argued, Seb and Helen rarely mentioned the money or thejobshe’d initially been hired to do.
But, yeah, Helen was right. Again. Lending money was arealboyfriend thing to do.
And he wasn’t one of those.
Later that evening, Seb was in the middle of cooking dinner when Tom stopped by on his way home from work. After a quick greeting, Tom headed straight to Helen’s room where she’d been alone for the past five hours, despite Seb’s attempts to coax her out with food or a walk or a drive someplace.
She was shutting him out like he’d shut her out.
This is what you wanted, wasn’t it? A professional, non-personal relationship.
Seb dumped diced zucchini into a pan heating on the stovetop.
I like my own space, my own company … that’s enough for me.
Only when their paths had crossed in the orchards this morning, Seb had given up denying how much he missed Helen. He knew it now as she spoke with her brother behind closed doors, and he knew it every night when he paced his room or lay awake thinking about her alone in her bed.
And he’d certainly known it during the past two Get Living events. Holding her hand during the public meet and greet and watching her smile at everyone but him had been torture, and when they’d danced after dinner, he’d hated how she never met his gaze, her body rigid in his arms.
Nothing was the same between them, so, yeah, he missed her, but considering how Seb had never missed a woman before—that helikedbeing by himself,likedbeing his own person, doing what he wanted, how and when—he didn’t know how to handle the fact that these past ten days had been … lonely.
“Something smells good,” Tom said from the doorway.
“There’s plenty if you’re staying.”
“Maybe next time. I’ll eat with Emma later. I just wanted to say thanks for being there for Helen today.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Tom. It was the very least I could do.”
“You’ve made yourself at home here.” Tom glanced at the tomato and zucchini pasta Seb had prepared, his forehead crinkling much like Helen’s did when something wasn’t making sense. “I don’t expect someone like you to stick around but my sister might think differently, and she doesn’t need any more crap to deal with right now.”
“Meaning?”
“I hope you don’t turn out to be a prick.” Tom nodded to the pasta. “Will you give some of that to Helen and make sure she eats something?”
Eh?Did Tom think this was just for him? Seb had cooked this whole damn meal with Helen in mind, picking her favorite vegetables, seasoning them just how she liked. He bit down his irritation. “Sure I will.”
“Thanks.” Tom checked his watch. “I’d better go and rescue Emma from the kids.”
After Tom left, Seb shook off the annoyance. Tom was just looking out for his sister, but still … his words rattled.
