Page 463 of Billionaire Temptations

“Can I give you a little bit of advice?” He smiled.

“Sure. Why not?” I spoke in a sarcastic tone as I leaned back in my chair.

“Sometimes, we men get scared and make stupid decisions. Hell, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve done some really stupid things where Ellery was concerned. So stupid that it threatened our relationship more times than I care to recall.”

“Really? But you two are so perfect.”

“Thank you. We are perfect, aren’t we?” He grinned. “But we weren’t always perfect. We had our troubles along the way and made our share of huge mistakes. What I’m trying to say, Chloe, is that making mistakes is how relationships grow, and it’s what makes them stronger. If I had given up on Ellery or she had given up on me, we never would have made it to where we are today. Sometimes, we have to step outside the box and take a look at the bigger picture. Once you do that, you’ll probably see that more good can come from it than standing inside that little box. Does that make sense?”

Narrowing my eyes at him, I spoke, “Yeah. I think it does. So you’re basically saying that it’s okay for him to hurt me continuously, and I should just take it.” I smiled.

“God, no. That’s not what I’m saying at all. You love Sebastian, and he loves you. I see it in his expression every time you two are together. People tend to do stupid things because they love the other person so much that it frightens them. But it’s those things that strengthen the bond between two people unless one of them cheats. Now that’s a different story. You always see the good in people when everyone else only sees the bad. That’s the first thing I noticed about you when you first came to work for me. In fact, I do believe you and Ellery were related in a past life.”

“How did you get so wise?” I asked.

“By making tons of stupid mistakes in my relationship. Just ask Ellery.” He sighed. “Actually, don’t ask her because it would just make me look like a complete ass.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks, Connor. I appreciate your advice.”

He got up from his seat. “You’re welcome. Oh. I stopped by to drop off a couple of Ellery’s paintings. I left them down with Gregory.”

“Great. I’ll get them up before I leave.”

“Enjoy the rest of your evening, Chloe.” He winked.

“You too, Connor.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Sebastian

It had been almost two weeks since I last saw Chloe. I still smiled when I thought about her standing in the hallway of my building in her pajamas. I respected her wishes and didn’t try to contact her. I was still giving her time, and we’d cross paths again when the time was right.

I had just finished a business lunch and was walking down the street back to the office when my phone beeped with a text message from Damien. Quickly responding and looking down, I bumped shoulders with someone.

“I’m—Chloe?” I spoke in shock.

“Sebastian.”

“Hello, Sebastian.” Ophelia smiled.

“Hello there, Ophelia. It’s nice to see you again. By the way, congratulations.”

“Why, thank you.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off Chloe. “Do you have the day off?” I asked her.

“I took a half day. We went crib shopping.”

“Sounds fun. Well, I need to get back to the office. It was good seeing you, Chloe.”

“Yeah. Good seeing you too, Sebastian.”

Ophelia placed her hand on my arm before I walked away.

“You should come to my yoga class on Sunday. It starts at nine o’clock. I think you’d enjoy it. There are other men in the class, so you don’t have to feel embarrassed about being there. Many corporate men do yoga. Did you know that?”

“No. Actually, I didn’t.”

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