propped up in her bed. “See you soon.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she replies with a coy grin.
I pull the door open and see Sebastian standing there. Although I know he’s been out on a date with Camille, allegedly sitting in a hot tub in not much at all, I hadn’t thought about what he would be wearing. He’s back in that James Bond tux from the very first time we met, looking every inch the man of any woman’s dreams.
“I have a rather good bottle of red awaiting us in the library, if you would care to join me?” he asks in his adorably formal way.
My limbs feel light as a smile spreads across my face. “I would care to, thank you.” I glance quickly back at Kennedy, who gives me the thumbs up before I close the door behind me.
We scoot down the stairs and long hallway on silent feet, reaching the sanctuary of the library, where Sebastian closes the door behind us and instantly pulls me into him for a kiss.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he breathes into my hair.
“Even though you were in a hot tub with Camille?”
“I beg your pardon? We had dinner and talked. There was no hot tub. They’re not very Regency, you know.”
Cindy, you sly devil, trying to trick me into saying things I’ll regret.
“That’s what I thought.” I kiss him hard on the lips. It’s such a firm, passionate kiss that it leaves me dizzy when we finally pull back.
“All you need to know is that the whole time I was with Camille, I wanted to be here with you doing this.”
“That makes two of us.” I take him by the hand and lead him over to the sofa where we sat last night.
He pours us a glass of wine each, and we clink glasses.
“Châteauneuf-du-Pape?” I ask.
“She’s learning.”
“I read the label.”
“Never give away your secrets, Brady.”
“Well, right now you’re my secret.”
His smile is flirty and oh-so cute. “I think I like being your secret.”
I gaze back at him with what I know is a totally goofy grin. Because why not? This thing between us has come out of nowhere and it feels amazing. He’s amazing. “I like being your secret, too,” I murmur.
He pulls me in for another kiss, and it’s so perfectly wonderful it makes my head spin. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and I nestle into him.
“I picked the bottle from our cellar before I went out this evening.”
“You have a cellar? What am I saying, you live in a house the size of a stadium. Of course you have a cellar.”
“I’ll take you there, if you like.”
“How big is it?”
“In square feet or in the number of bottles?”
“You know both?”
He gives a self-deprecating smile. “Actually, I don’t know either, but I thought it sounded good to say that.”
“You’re funny, did you know that? I never would have thought it.” I take his hand in mine and toy with his fingers.
“Why not?”
“Well, when I first met you—”
“When you fell onto your bottom,” he interrupts.
I snort with laughter. “Bottom? You’re hilarious.”
“Should I say arse?”
“You do you. ‘Bottom’ is fine. It’s cute, that’s all.”
“My goal is to be cute, of course, as is that of any thirty-one year-old man.”
“Huh, you’re four years older than me.”
“And so much wiser.”
I nudge him on the arm. “You tell yourself that.”
“What did you think of me when we first met?”
“I didn’t think we’d have anything in common whatsoever. You were stiff and formal and kind of mean.”
“Mean?”
“I had to talk you into letting me get the do-over, remember?”
“To be fair, I was told to greet each contestant as they presented themselves. I thought perhaps you were on the quirky side and wanted to make an entrance.”
“By falling out of a limo?”
His shoulders shake as he laughs quietly to himself. “It was rather funny.”
“It wouldn’t have done anything to help Timothy.”
“Tell me about your label.”
“We’re partners, Penny and me. She does all the creative stuff, and I do the business side of things.”
“Why is it called Timothy?”
“Both of our dads are called Timothy. My dad is ... was a good man. I want to make a success of Timothy to honor him.”
Sebastian gives me a squeeze. “Emma, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry. When did he pass away?”
I feel a stab of sorrow and cast my eyes down. “It will be four years in September. He had cancer. Mom had been trying to get him to go to the doctor for a year for