Page 57 of Grace
Sebastian walks over to her and gently rubs her shoulder. My throat tightens as she melts against him. She finds me staring, and a smug smile tilts on her lips before she kisses his neck.
I roll my eyes, but it hurts that Stacy has been making me feel so terrible because of Bash. I shouldn’t care, though. She can have him. I got the better man and I know it.
“Look at how crazy this is.” Melissa giggles. “You know Mr. Brooks has never done anything like this before, right?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, letting her steer me away.
She lowers her voice. “That’s your ex, right? With Stacy? What an ass… but he… am I crazy, or—”
“You’re not crazy,” is all I say, unwilling to have this conversation. “What were you saying about this never happening before?”
“He’sneverwelcomed everyone into his home like this. I have no idea what made him change his mind, but maybe it’s something… else,” she teases.
I look at her with confusion. “What else could it be? We got the partnership that Mr. Brooks has been aiming for. This is a huge reason to celebrate, Melissa.”
She squeezes my hand. “You’re so cute and naïve sometimes. I’ve seen how Mr. Brooks looks at you. I wish he looked at me like that way back when.”
I blink at her words, my smile fading, and I almost press her on that, but she pushes a glass of champagne in my hand and wanders off to go talk to another coworker. I take a long drink.
I have to deal with the fact that my ex is here with the woman who was my supervisor… and the woman he was cheating with. My boss and I can’t out that we’re interested in each other because of Bash and every single coworker being here. And then Melissa’s strange words.
I actually put on makeup and did my hair with Ashley’s help, and all I want to do is walk outside and be done with the stress.
Downing my drink, I turn and see Bash staring at me. His eyes drink me in as his jaw ticks. He walks over to me and hisses, “You couldn’t put this kind of effort into yourself when we were together?”
“I wasn’t inspired to,” I say softly.
He blinks at me in shock. “What the hell does that mean?”
I open my mouth to answer, but the sound of tinkling glasses draws my attention. Daniel starts making a speech about hard work and determination as Bash grabs my arm. “Grace!”
“It means that you’re a disappointing ass and Stacy is only with you because she can’t seduce your dad,” I say sharply before jerking my arm away. “Don’t touch me. You’redone with me, remember?”
He narrows his eyes. “Who are you?”
“Funny how people change when they realize their partner cheated on them, belittled them, and made them feel like they were the problem,” I say dismissively.
My voice quavers, but then I shake my head and clap along with everyone else. I head up the stairs after finishing my champagne. I should probably eat something so I don’t get drunk, but right now, I just want to get away from Sebastian.
Once I reach the top of the stairs, I look out over the railing and lean against a pillar. My gaze wanders over everyone as music fills the air.
A hand strokes over the back of my arm.
“You look even better in person, Grace,” Daniel purrs. I glance back at him, and he smirks. “Hello, darling. Did you miss me?”
I can’t stop the smile that spreads. “Of course I did.”
While facing forward, I reach back to take his hand. Daniel squeezes my fingers, and he steps closer. Heat rolls off his body, and I shiver. Daniel frees his hand from mine to gently brush his fingers over my hip and down my thigh.
“So much better in person,” he says in my ear.
“Someone might see us,” I whimper, not pushing his hand away even as it dips under my skirt to stroke across my skin. “Daniel…”
“It’s darker up here. We can see them, but they’d have to focus very, veryhardto see us,” he whispers as he sucks my earlobe.
“You’re hard,” I breathe.
“Of course I am, because you’re involved,” he teases. “Do you have any idea” —he pauses to kiss my throat— “how boring London is when all I want is to be wrapped around you?”
