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I HAD JUST FINISHED thanking a client for coming in and letting them know to make another appointment, when I heard a loud commotion coming from outside my office door.
“I need to see her now!” I heard a voice yelling, and then the door burst open. My client, Delilah Jones, stomped toward me.
I jumped out of my seat. “Delilah, what’s going on?”
She pointed in my face. “You’re fucking Sebastian behind my back,” she hissed, slamming her hand down on my desk.
“What are you talking about?”
“The guy I told you about, the one who left me. Sebastian Hunter.”
My eyes widened in shock. She’d come to me months ago, talking about a love that was rekindling that she thought would move toward marriage and kids. But Sebastian told me they hadn’t been in contact for over two years. I held my hands up to get her to calm down and walked around my desk. “Delilah, sit down, so we can talk.”
“No, I want to know what you're doing with my fiancé.” Delilah narrowed her eyes, clenching and unclenching her fists.
“Laila, do you want me to call the police?” Joyce asked.
“No, we’ll be fine. Right, Delilah?”
Delilah rolled her eyes. “Yes.” Joyce closed the door, and I waited for Delilah to speak. “I saw the newspaper about you and Sebastian. You need to stay away from him.”
“First off, I’m an adult, and second, Sebastian never spoke about you specifically.”
“We were engaged.”
“From what he told me; it was just sex.”
“That’s a lie!” She gnawed on her lip.
“Delilah, whatever you had with Sebastian, you need to take it up with him.”
“So, you admit to fooling around with a man who’s taken?” she inquired.
“I’m no longer seeing Sebastian, but even if I were, you were never mentioned by name.”
“This isn’t over,” Delilah said, then stalked out of my office and slammed the door.
I ran a hand through my hair in shock at what just happened. I made a note to tell Sebastian later to see what exactly was going on with those two.
*****
LATER THAT NIGHT, CRISTIN called me to hang out with some friends at dinner. I still hadn’t spoken with my father about everything that went on, and I hoped they were still keeping the press away from him. I walked in the door and spotted Cristin and Katherine, another close friend from Bayview. She was the secretary of another doctor in the building.
“I thought you’d never show up,” Cristin said.
I hugged Katherine, then Cristin and pulled out my chair to sit. I picked up the menu and looked around the restaurant. “Thanks for getting a table in the back.”
“I did notice a few people glancing at you when you walked over.” Cristin motioned toward the older couple sitting near the bar.
“Have you spoken to him?” Katherine took a sip of water as the waitress headed toward our table.
“No, and I have to tell you about my patient,” I said.
“Hello, I’m Taylor,” the waitress introduced herself. “I’ll be your waitress today.”
“Hi, can we get another bottle of white wine?” Cristin said.
“Sure. Would you like to order now?” Taylor asked.
“We can start with appetizers—or do you want to just order a meal?” Cristin asked us.
“Are we still going to the club later?” Katherine queried.
I already knew Cristin was planning to pull me out of my funk.
“I think we should just order our food now,” Cristin decided.
“What are you having?” Taylor held up an iPad and started to take our order.
“I’d like the spaghetti,” Cristin said and passed her menu over.
“A salad for me, please.” I wasn’t really hungry. Delilah had caused me to lose my appetite earlier. If what she said was true, then Sebastian had been seeing me and her at the same time.
“Bring me a salad, as well. Thank you.” Katherine lifted her menu.
Taylor thanked us, then walked away. I grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down.
“You look too cute to seem so stressed out.” Cristin gestured up and down my body with her hand. “What happened?”
“I had the weirdest thing happen at work today.” I scratched the top of my forehead and blew out a breath.
“What happened? Tell us.” Katherine placed her elbows on the table and leaned in close.
“I think I met Sebastian’s ex-girlfriend today.”
“What do you mean?” Cristin picked her cell phone out of her purse and turned it on silent.
“I can’t give out patient information, but let's just say I met a woman who claims to be his girlfriend—or ex-girlfriend.”
“But you told me Sebastian never had a relationship until you,” Cristin replied
I lifted my arms in a shrug. “I thought so, too, but after today, who knows?”
“Wait, tell us what she said exactly,” Katherine insisted.
“She said I stole her fiancé.”
“Since when has Sebastian been engaged?” Cristin commented.
I pushed my hands out in a wave. “That’s what I said. He’s never lied to me before, so I need to talk with him first.”
“You don’t believe her, do you?” Katherine said.
Taylor arrived back at our table with our food. She called out each meal and placed them in front of us, and a second waitress refilled our drinks.
“Thank you,” Cristin said to Taylor after she finished.
“I don’t know what to believe at this point,” I continued.
“Don’t retreat from love, Laila. I know you never expected this to happen,” Katherine said.
“It’s in Sebastian’s court now. If he lied to me, then we’ll have bigger problems,” I stated.
We continued to talk and eat for the rest of the afternoon.
*****
LATER THAT EVENING, I was home in bed. I was avoiding Sebastian's calls because I needed to think and focus on work. Plus, his ex-girlfriend popping up out of the blue really had me rethinking what we’d been doing for the past year. I tossed and turned in bed, dreaming of the time I went out to a fashion gala to support the arts. Everyone in politics showed up, and I was there with another date.
*****
“ ARE YOU HAVING A GOOD time?” Decklon asked. He was a stock broker and flew into town just to attend this event. We went way back from my days of escorting, and we’d grown a real friendship over time. I never slept with him, but if I ever wanted to settle down, he would have been the ideal man to do it with. He was tall, with broad shoulders, an athletic build, a square jaw, and a trimmed beard.
“I am. And thank you for inviting me,” I responded, smiling and pulling away from his hold when the music stopped playing.
The banquet hall was full of musicians, celebrities, and the press, along with senators and other congressman whom I knew very well. Carlton winked at me, and I nodded, aware of his presence. We’d ended badly, and I wouldn’t speak to him in public.
“You’re welcome. I haven’t seen you in a few months, so I thought this would be the best time to call you up,” Decklon said, trailing his finger down my bare arm. I wore a long red turtleneck dress that curved to my figure.
“Decklon Mitchell, I didn’t know you’d be here.” The last voice I expected to hear was right behind me.
I could feel his dark gaze upon me. I turned around with my back to Decklon as he wrapped a hand around my waist. I lifted my eyes to peer over and caught a quick glare in Sebastian’s eyes.
“Mr. President, I didn't think you’d know me, sir,” Decklon responded, extending his free hand for a shake.
“I know more than you think,” Sebastian said, gazing into my eyes. I looked off into the crowd, licking my dry lips after the cold stare he’d given me. “Miss Daniels, I’d like to speak to you for a moment if Decklon doesn’t mind,” Sebastian said.
“Um...” I stammered.
“That’s fine; I’ll go grab another drink for us.” Decklon pressed a kiss on my cheek and walked away.
I tried to turn and walk away from Sebastian, but he gripped my elbow and pulled me close to whisper in my ear, “Go to the bathroom and wait for me.”
“Sebastian, we’re in a room full of people. If the president goes missing, I think they’ll notice,” I mumbled lowly while looking around the room.
“Go, and Claudette will walk with you to check your makeup,” Sebastian insisted.
I continued to smile as Claudette approached us. “Claudette, you look beautiful tonight,” I said.
“Thank you. I need to double my makeup; do you mind walking with me to the bathroom?” she replied. I grabbed my clutch and followed her down the hall to the bathroom. “Sorry about this,” Claudette muttered and looked behind us to see if anyone was following.
“He’s insane,” I said. I pushed the bathroom door open and checked the stalls.
“I’ll stay by the door on watch. You have at least five minutes before anyone comes looking,” Claudette mentioned.
Sebastian walked in with a hard glare on his face.
“Explain to me why I was summoned into the bathroom right now,” I demanded, folding my arms across my chest.
“Why are you here with him?” Sebastian reached out to pull me against his chest and kiss the side of my chin. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the other side of my face, where Decklon had kissed me.
“You're so jealous.” I chuckled and tried to push him back.
“No, I’m a man who doesn’t like being ignored when I ask you to be my date.”
“I told you, Decklon and I are just friends.”
“Friends?”
“Yes, friends.”
“From the look in his eyes he wants more than friendship... and you belong to me.” Sebastian lifted my chin and peered into my eyes.
I licked my lips, waiting for him to press a kiss to them, but he placed it on my forehead instead. “I was going to call you after this was over.”
“We’ve been doing this dance for a while, Laila. I want more.”
A knock on the door startled us, and Claudette peeked inside. “Sir, time to go,” Claudette said.
I stepped out of Sebastian’s arms, cleared my throat, and walked out of the bathroom. I could feel his eyes on me as we went back into the hall. Decklon presented me with a glass of wine, and I smiled at him. Sebastian smirked as he walked onstage to give a speech.
*****
I JERKED OUT OF SLEEP at the ringing of my phone. I grabbed it off the nightstand and saw a text message from Sebastian.
Sebastian: Are you still ignoring me?
Me: Sorry, I had a bad day.
Sebastian: Can I call you?
Me:Sure.
The phone rang a few seconds later. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said.
“I had a bad dream.”
“What was it about?”
“You and your jealousy.” I chuckled.
He laughed at me. “We all have a little jealousy in us somewhere.”
“You might be right.”
“What was the dream about?”
“The art gala, and you being pissed that I was there with Decklon.”
“Your wannabe-boyfriend.”
I laughed at his comment. “Decklon’s a sweetheart.”
“...who wanted to be more.”
“What about you and your ex—or should I say, ‘fiancé’?”
“What?!”
I bit my nails nervously, trying to figure out the best way to approach the subject. “Delilah Jones.”
“She was a woman who I briefly had a casual thing with two years ago.”
“So, you weren’t engaged? And you aren’t engaged now?” I asked.
“Laila, where is this coming from?” he asked.
“My client is Delilah Jones, and she stormed into my office, demanding to know why I was dating her fiancé.”
“For one thing, I haven’t seen her in almost two years, and for another, all my time is spent with you.”
“But were you two close? Like, ready to commit and in love?” I investigated, pulling the covers tight under my chin.
“No, I was still running a campaign, while I was trying to transition from being a lawyer.”
“She has a very different idea of what you two were.”
“That doesn’t matter to me. It matters to you, though, so get it out of your head.”
“Okay.”
“I’m serious, Laila. It’s in the past, and we didn’t have anything beyond sex.”
“Like us?”
He groaned at my comment. “What we have is nothing like what I had with Delilah,” he argued.
I felt deep in my heart that it was true, but my head was telling me differently. “I trust you.”
“Do you? Because I can come over there and show you how much you mean to me,” he said.
I giggled. “No, that’s okay.”
“Fine, but I want to see you soon.”
“I have work, and then I’m hanging out with my parents tomorrow night. I’ll call you when I get a chance,” I said.
He grunted like a big baby who wasn’t getting his way, and I laughed. “Don’t keep me waiting too long, or Tony will bring you to me,” Sebastian demanded.
I rolled my eyes. Whenever he got in this mood, I just let him talk, because nothing I said would have convinced him to keep his distance from me. “Of course, Mr. President.”
He moaned at my words. “I’m picturing you wearing panties, and a large t-shirt right now. Am I right?” he asked.
I lifted the covers and laughed. I was wearing exactly that. “How did you know?” I asked.
“I know my woman,” Sebastian answered.
I scoffed. “Anyway, go to sleep. You have to continue saving the world.”
He chortled. “Goodbye, beautiful.” He hung up.
I placed the phone back on the charger and pulled the covers tight in my arms. I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep while thinking of our last sexual encounter.