Page 11 of The Bargain

Well, if I was going to die of embarrassment, I might as well do it with a full stomach. I picked up my fork and stabbed some of the eggs that appeared so enticing. Of course, Sebastian was right, and they were the best eggs I’d ever eaten. I worked my way around the tray, struggling to eat at a slow pace when I wanted to inhale everything in front of me.

Sebastian was kind enough to wait a couple of minutes, staring out the window, watching the birds fly across the sky and the trees sway in the breeze, prior to speaking again. “If you need time off to deal with personal or family matters, we can move things and make it happen. It’s not a problem.”

With food in my painfully empty stomach at last, I could feel common sense leaking into my brain. I shook my head and dared to lift my eyes up to Sebastian’s face. Naturally, the man looked as handsome as ever in the morning light. The only difference from our usual everyday meetings was that his collared shirt was missing a tie. The top two buttons were undone, revealing an enticing expanse of throat. Why did this man always have to be so sexy? I was just a poor, weak human who couldn’t withstand the awesome power of his beautiful smile and broad shoulders.

“No, sir. Time off is unnecessary. I settled things yesterday. There won’t be any more disruptions.”

But my words only pulled his mouth into a frown. He let out a soft sigh and pushed to his feet. “Okay. Promise me that if you have another bad day like yesterday or if you need a break, you will tell me.”

“I will, sir. I promise.” His concern made sense. If I were making myself sick with work and my crappy personal life, Icouldn’t keep up with my daily tasks and he’d have to replace me. Sebastian Courtland was an incredibly busy man, and he needed someone who could keep up with him.

He still didn’t seem happy, but he nodded and walked across the room. I thought he was leaving me alone to finish my breakfast, but he moved to the far bureau and picked up what appeared to be a random knickknack from a bowl.

“Did I ever tell you that I met Declan Foster in high school?” Sebastian asked rather out of the blue.

“No, sir.”

“Mn,” he grunted and strolled to the table. “Yeah, he was a hard nut to crack. Very reserved. Didn’t show many emotions. Didn’t like to talk. Took me forever to get him to open up.”

His description of the company’s CFO sounded spot on for the man I knew today. Declan Foster was polite and courteous, but he always spoke in an even tone, never showing any emotion. He also never said more than absolutely necessary. Small talk was not something he ever engaged in. But if anyone could get him to open up, I believed Sebastian could do it.

“Anyway, we’ve been close for years. He chose to go to the same colleges as me because he didn’t want the trouble of needing to break in a new friend.”

My lips twitched, and I shoved a piece of sausage into my mouth to keep from smiling. I was more inclined to believe the reverse of that.

“After he joined the company and I became the CEO, he stopped treating me as his friend, even as he was sitting in my house, drinking my scotch. He kept treating me as his boss. I hated it. The whole thing put us both on edge. One night, I stood up, and I went searching around the lounge until I found this metal ruler that had been left out for some random reason or another, and I held it up to him. I said, ‘We’re friends, and you need to remember that. If you need help with that, I’m givingyou this.’ I shook the ruler in his face, and announced, ‘This is our friend stick. When I’m holding this stick, you have to treat me like your friend and not like your boss.’ ”

Sebastian dropped into his abandoned chair and held up what turned out to be a shiny gray marble egg. After a lengthy pause, Sebastian continued in a softer, gentler voice. “Byron, I would like to be your friend. You’re a smart, funny, interesting guy. And if you need it, I can make this our friend egg to help you remember you can talk to me as a friend, rather than as your boss.”

Seconds ticked by, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from that marble egg. My heart was pounding. Blood roared like a torrent past my ears. Was this real? How could Sebastian want to be my friend? This was insane. I was dreaming. No, I was dead. I’d died of alcohol poisoning, and now I’d gone to this weird heaven where things didn’t quite make sense but were better than my reality.

“Can we be friends?” Sebastian asked.

“Sir—”

Sebastian held up one finger from the egg. “My friends don’t call me sir. Sebastian, Cor, or even Courtland are pretty common. You called me Bastian last night, so that might be my new favorite.”

I dropped my fork with a noisy clatter and sat there roasting in the fire spreading from the tips of my ears to my chest.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled. After sucking in a deep breath, I forcefully lowered my walls a bit and blurted out, “I’ve already made such an ass of myself. I don’t even have friends who’ve seen me that drunk. However, the boss I greatly respect and admire has not only had to suffer through me kissing him, but I also managed to puke on him. Right now, all I want to do is curl up in bed and pretend I don’t have to deal with life for a littlewhile. Maybe pretend you don’t think I’m a complete idiot and a loser.”

“Byron, you are not an idiot or a loser. People have bad days and make bad decisions. Let yourself be human. Besides, do you think me and my friends haven’t gotten rip-roaring drunk and done stupid things?” Sebastian snorted, still grinning at me. “So much stupid, you’d think we were brain dead.”

The smile started slowly, pushing against the restraint I always locked on my mouth when I was with Sebastian. I didn’t let myself smile because I’d told myself showing too much emotion was unprofessional. He needed me reserved, competent, and efficient at all times. Smiling meant I was getting too relaxed.

But he was asking me to be his friend, so smiling would be allowed. Also, I might have liked the idea of having the freedom to be a bit more relaxed around him.

“Okay,” I agreed, shoving the word out with more force than necessary.

Sebastian’s grin spread wide across his face and glowed in his eyes. “Okay, what?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. He wanted me to use his first name.

“No. I can’t do that. Not yet.” If we were going to be friends, I was going to draw some boundaries up early.

Sebastian’s smile never wavered. “Fair enough.”

“But keep the egg on the table. It’ll probably help.”

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