Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“Hey, you never know,” Sebastian mused, eyes drifting over to the yacht. He drew in a deep breath before glancing back at her. “You ready to do this?”
With a heavy sigh, Taliana took his elbow and allowed him to lead her down the dock and onto
Big Bertha . Though it was only a little after seven, the yacht was already packed with people, but given its sheer size, Taliana was confident it would have no trouble accommodating plenty more. Most of the faces in the crowd were at least a few years older than her, but there were a handful of high schoolers milling around as well. Cry Baby hadn’t been joking when he said this was going to be fancy.
Next to Taliana, Sebastian was craning his neck to get a better look at who was on the boat. When a smile lit up his face a moment later, she knew he’d spotted someone familiar.
“Bakhtiar!”
Taliana almost stumbled when Sebastian exclaimed his ex-girlfriend’s last name. After making sure she wasn’t going to face plant onto the deck, she glanced up and caught sight of a guy a few feet away turning around to face them.
If she’d thought Sebastian was handsome the first time she saw him, then this guy was a knockout. With golden skin, eyes the color of seafoam, and black curls that brushed his forehead, he was hands down one of the most attractive people Taliana had ever seen. His mostly unbuttoned white linen shirt and navy slacks only accentuated his fantastic body, and the platinum watch on his left wrist hinted he was well off. Then again, Taliana was willing to bet just about everyone on this damn yacht had plenty of money.
“Here’s a face I didn’t expect to see,” the guy greeted as he made his way to them.
“I could say the same. What the hell are you doing here?” Sebastian inquired with a grin, obviously pleased by this particular Bakhtiar’s presence. “Aren’t you supposed to be back at Oxford?”
The green-eyed stunner shrugged. “I’m heading there soon,” he replied in a voice so smooth Taliana almost swooned. “But Amir needed me in town for some business.” Suddenly his attention shifted to Taliana, and a smile played around his mouth. “Who’s your date, Phillips?”
Sebastian slipped an arm around Taliana’s waist, tugging her against him. “Khalid, this is Taliana Avilla, my girlfriend. Talia, this is Khalid Bakhtiar, Blair’s older brother.”
Sweet Jesus, no wonder he was hot-he was related to Blair after all. Taliana was willing to bet their whole damn family was beautiful.
“I didn’t know she had a brother,” Taliana said before she could stop herself, but this guy could have had her babbling in no time. “Did you go to Trinity?” She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have missed a guy like him.
Khalid shook his head. “I didn’t. And I’m her cousin technically. Her father’s my uncle, but he adopted me when I was young.”
“Ah,” Taliana breathed out, feeling Sebastian’s narrowed gaze on her. It was probably time to stop fawning over someone who wasn’t her fake boyfriend. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.” A brilliant grin lit up his face, and Taliana swallowed hard, almost forgetting Sebastian still had his arm around her waist. She would have pushed him away if, one, Khalid wasn’t related to the girl they were trying to fool, and two, if she hadn’t been so entranced by him. “I’ll have to let my sister know I saw you two here.”
“She’s not here then?” Taliana asked, trying not to sound too relieved about it.
He shook his head. “She’s spending the weekend in Bethesda with our grandmother.”
“Great.” Sebastian didn’t bother to hide his relief. “In the three days she’s been back, she’s already declared war on us.”
Khalid grimaced. “She’s a sweet girl when she wants to be, but she hasn’t had it easy lately.” He swept a black curl out of his eyes as he glanced quickly at Taliana. “I’m sure she isn’t exactly happy to see you with someone new, Seb.”
While Taliana could have figured that out on her own, hearing it from Khalid made it so much more real. “You could say that again,” she grumbled.
Khalid chuckled and looked to Sebastian. “Cute. She’s got a sense of humor.”
“I’m still adjusting to it,” he confessed, loosening his grip on her slightly.
“You two seem great together,” Khalid said earnestly, his smile fond. He raised his glass of champagne in a mock toast before catching sight of someone waving at him further out in the crowd. “I’ll catch up with you later, Seb. Once again, it was nice meeting you, Taliana.”
She managed a breathy, “You too,” before he slipped off into the crowd and disappeared, leaving her and Sebastian alone again.
“I can’t believe he actually buys that we’re together,” he murmured, dropping his arm from around Taliana like he’d been burned. “Khalid can usually see right through bullshit.”
“Maybe we’re just good at faking,” Taliana offered, glancing up at him.
“We better be if we want to pull this off.” Though the words were bitter, the smile he flashed at a couple passing by contradicted him. “I need a fucking drink.”
She couldn’t have agreed more.
A half hour, a couple drinks, and too much socializing with people Taliana wanted nothing to do with later, she was starting to get bored.
“You said this was going to be fun,” she whined to Sebastian, motioning for the bartender to refill her glass. She already had a slight buzz going, but it definitely wasn’t enough to get through this.
“Be patient,” he said, shifting on the barstool next to where she was standing. “We haven’t even left the dock yet.”
Taliana looked at him sharply. “Wait, you mean this thing is actually going to move?”
“Uh, yeah,” he said, eyeing her with disdain. “What’s the point of having a party on the yacht if it’s not going to go anywhere?”
Just then, there was a surge of motion under Taliana’s feet, which almost succeeded in throwing her off balance. She clutched Sebastian’s arm in an attempt to remain standing, but the blood drained from her face when she realized what going out on the water meant.
“Why do you look so freaked?” Sebastian asked, peeling her fingers off his arm. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of open water.”
She shook her head and braced herself on the bar instead. “No, I’m not afraid. I just get seasick.”
Sebastian did”t look too pleased to find out that bit of information. “You’re kidding me, right?”
The yacht picked up speed as it left the harbor and began moving down the Chesapeake. Taliana was willing to bet that within five minutes, she was going to be sick as a dog.
“Afraid not,” she sighed, hanging her head. “Last time I was on a boat- Well, it wasn’t pretty.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that? before we boarded?”
She shrugged, glancing out at the dark water. “I forgot.”
“How the hell do you forget something like that?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been out on a boat, all right?” she shot back, frowning as her stomach began churning.