Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
I’d had to keep it from my parents, scraping together the airfare from years of piggy bank savings.
“I was one of the sponsors. You didn’t even notice me.”
“That’s hard to imagine,” I said, eyeing him.
With that face? I could barely believe I hadn’t carved it into memory.
But back then, my teenage brain was preoccupied with three things: school, design, and… Daniel.
Sebastian gave a lopsided shrug.
“That was the first time. We barely spoke. The second time was in Eindhoven. You were at uni. I’d been drugged at some shitty bar. Stumbled into you. You got me to a hospital. But when I came round, you were already gone.”
“That was you?”I remembered the incident vaguely.
It was a dodgy part of town, near the red-light district.
The man-tall, gorgeous, clearly intoxicated-had looked like one of those high-end male escorts.
No judgment from me, but I’d had zero interest in being dragged into whatever mess he was caught in.
My friends and I had left right after he was seen by the hospital staff, and I’d promptly shoved the whole thing out of my mind.
Sebastian kissed the back of my hand.
“Yeah. You disappeared from my life. Twice. We barely said ten words, but I remembered every one.”My mind rewound, fumbling for details I’d never paid attention to.
“After that, you know most of it. My business was mostly in Europe, but I dropped by Skyline now and then. I saw you with Daniel. You looked happy. I didn’t want to ruin it. So I stayed away. But I still wanted you. Even when I had no right. I wanted to be near you. Qwn you.” is voice hardened.
“If I’d known Daniel was treating you like that, I’d have stepped in sooner.”I pressed my face into his palm.
A slow ache bloomed in my chest.
“No. You stepped in at exactly the right time.”If we’d met while I was still engaged to Daniel, I wouldn’t have looked twice at Sebastian.
“So the night at the bar-you showing up-that wasn’t chance, was it?”
“Of course not.” There was definitely a smug note in his voice now.
“Stalker,” I muttered.
“Guilty as charged. But I don’t feel guilty.” Sebastian pinched my cheek.
“If I hadn’t turned up, would you really have picked some random guy to sleep with?”I considered it.
“Maybe.”He pinched harder.
“Ow!” I batted his hand away.
“Fine. Probably not. None of the other guys had your face. Besides, I already knew you, kind of. You were the kind stranger who drove halfway across town to return my keys. I trusted you.”That seemed to satisfy him.
He pulled me close, one arm wrapped tight around me, fingers threading through my hair.
We stayed like that for a while, long enough for his body heat to soak through the thin cotton of my shirt.
Long enough for me to make up my mind.
I broke the silence.
“The ring. Are you giving it to me or not?”He pulled back fast.
“You’re saying yes?”
“I thought that was obvious.”
“No more doubts?”
“No more doubts.” I only hoped I sounded more certain than I felt.
He opened his palm.
The ring lay flat in his hand, a faint dent circling his ski from where he’d clutched it too tightly.
He got out of bed and dropped to one knee.
Somehow, he managed to look both utterly ridiculous in his boxer briefs and absurdly handsome.
“Eleanor Vance, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I held out my hand,
His fingers trembled so much, he missed three times.
I bent down, wrapped my hand around his wrist, and slid the ring on myself.
“There. Sorted.”I turned my hand, watching the way the light slipped through the curtains and bounced off the diamond.
Sebastian stood.
I pulled him down and kissed him.
“It looks good.”What do normal couples do once they get engaged?
Kiss, cuddle, book a dinner somewhere fancy, then blast the news to everyone they know,
For Sebastian and me, it was just the two of us, rattling around that enormous house, no families to phone, too early even for lunch, with a whole holiday stretching ahead of us.
“That still doesn’t justify what you did,” I grumbled as Iolled out of bed, every muscle in my body aching from overuse.
Sebastian swung his long legs off the bed, then stood and swept me into his arms.
“Engaged couples are supposed to have sex.”
“Not as much as we just did.”
“We had to make up for lost time.”He carried me to the wardrobe.
If I’d had the energy, I’d have rolled my eyes.
He dressed me-because apparently I’d temporarily lost the use of my limbs-then whisked me off to the shower, his hands not exactly staying where they should.
“Seriously,” I moaned, somewhere between exhausted and exasperated.
“You need to get a grip. Maybe see a doctor, check if you’re a sex addict or something.”Sebastian kissed the nape of my neck, only pulling away to pump soap into his hand and start washing my back.
He was hyper-buzzing with an energy I’d never seen before.
Sebastian was always switched on; you had to be to run a multinational company.
But this was next-level, the sort of excitement you get from a kid on a sugar rush, doused in Fanta and promised a trip to Disneyland.
Eventually, he dressed me again, then kissed my cheek.
“I love you,” he murmured.
My lips parted.
My throat worked.
The words just… wouldn’t come.
I saw the hope flicker in his eyes, knew exactly what he wanted.
But nothing came out.
I kissed him instead.
He straightened, putting on his CEO face.
“Let’s go down for lunch.”To anyone watching, he didn’t look wounded.
But I felt guilty all the same, like I’d let him down somehow.
Which was probably why I didn’t argue when he wanted to set the wedding for sixth June-barely three months away.
Before all that, though, I was off to France.
Fabrizio’s invitation was too tempting to turn down.
Sebastian said he supported me, and technically, he did, at least out loud.
But he watched me like I was about to sprout wings, terrified I’d fly out of reach and he’d have no way to pull me back.
If it wasn’t for the endless to-do list the wedding threw at us, he’d have probably dragged me to the registry office before dinner.
Three days later, I left for France.
Sebastian was meant to come too, but work buried him alive.
He promised to join me as soon as he dug himself out, whenever that might be.
On the morning of my flight, he insisted on driving me to the airport.
We pulled up at the kerb and I reached for the door, but he caught my wrist.
“What’s the rush? You’ve got time.”He was stalling. Plain as day.
If Sebastian had his way, I’d have missed the flight, spent another two days lost between his sheets, and he’d have feigned surprise at my “accidentally” extended stay!
He leaned in and kissed me again.
Then again.
Stockpiling hellos and goodbyes for the next ten days.