Page 68 of Worth Every Moment
She drags me through the ballroom, pulling me out a side door and into the corridor. Heaving frustrated breaths, she places her hands on her hips as she stares me down. “What are you doing? The decorations? The photos? You’ve ruined everything. And now… Sebastian Hawkston? I told you he was not right for this brand. I told you he was—”
“I don’t care.”
Mum puffs. “What?”
“I do not give a fuck what you say anymore.”
Her mouth opens and closes, breasts shuddering beneath the cowl neck of her velvet dress. “Tonight is not the night to have a quarter-life crisis, Erica.”
“I’m not having a crisis,” I reply, sounding far calmer than I feel.
“Teenage rebellion, then. It might be a decade late, but your behaviour is starting to feel like that. Walking out of the consultation rooms and screaming at me in the middle of Harley Street. Prancing about in your underwear to launch this fragrance. And now this? Showing up in a dress that looks likemidnight sex and letting Seb Hawkston feast on your neck in public, like the two of you walked out of an erotic vampire movie. This is the launch of your cosmetics line. It’s supposed to be flowers and purity out there. The theme is innocence.” She yells the last word, spittle blasting all over my face. I blink and rear back, but Mum continues undeterred. “It’s not Sebastian fucking Hawkston sucking on your throat.”
I set my shoulders. “If he wants to suck on my throat, then I will let him. If he wants—”
“He definitely wants,” Seb drawls, his voice all deep and sexy.
Together, Mum and I turn to find him leaning in the doorway, a gentle upward tilt to his lips.
“Good evening, Mrs Lefroy.” He strides towards her, holding out his hand. “We’ve never formally met, but I’m your daughter’s boyfriend. Seb Hawk—”
“I know who you are.” She casts a disgusted look at Seb’s hand. “You’re the one who takes every woman he fancies to his hotel. A revolving door you’ve got in those Hawkston Hotels, is it?”
I cover my mouth with my hand, horrified at Mum’s words. Whether it’s true or not, to say it to his face strikes me as unforgivably rude. But I’ve said things to him that are almost exactly the same, and the truth hits me with a devastating clarity: I’ve been walking around parroting my mother’s opinions without even realising. I’ve been as much of a bitch to Seb as Mum is being now. My chest crumples as regret fills me, and I wish I could undo all of it.
There isn’t a flicker on Seb’s face to reveal how he feels about what she’s just said, whereas Mum is panting, as though her words have exhausted her.
She turns to me. “Don’t do this. A man like him will destroy you. I guarantee it. And you’ll bring everything down with you. The company, the brand. The whole thing.” She points at me, her finger jabbing the air in my direction. “Don’t be a fool. Hecan’t commit. He’s a shallow, vain man who just wants to tick the famous Erica Lefroy off his bucket list of women. We’ve worked too long and hard on this to allow—”
“Stop.” Seb steps between me and Mum, sliding an arm around my shoulders as he holds up a palm in her direction. “You will not speak to Erica like that. And you will not speak to me that way either. You don’t know me, and you don’t know how I feel about your daughter, so rather than allow you to make assumptions, I’m going to tell you. Erica is so much more to me than a famous name, and to be quite honest, the fact you’d even suggest it has me questioningyourfeelings about her. She’s the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met, and every moment she spends with me, I’m grateful to be in her presence. I would do anything for her. I’ve never met anyone more driven and focused, and I admire the tenacity with which she goes after her goals. She’s a force of nature, and I’m honoured to play even the smallest part in her life. I know how lucky I am, and I treasure every second that she’s by my side. I always have.”
“Well… that was…” Mum flinches and pulls herself up tall. “What a load of nonsense. Quite unbelievable. All of it.”
Seb clenches his jaw and his arm tightens around me. “I was going to say it was a shame we’d never properly met before,” he says to Mum. “But now I suspect that not knowing you has been a blessing I didn’t know I had. I’m going to walk away. And I’m taking Erica with me.” He bows his head a little. “Have a good evening, Mrs Lefroy.”
My heart is crashing against my sternum as I allow him to turn me in the other direction, and as we walk away the power of her stare sinks deep into my flesh, like she’s branding me with her ill will.
As he ushers me back towards the ballroom, Seb rests his hand on my lower back, and then it sinks lower, his fingers teasingthe edge of the silk. My breath catches in my throat as his hand slides beneath my dress.
Oh, holy fuck.Seb’s hand is resting on my arse, and I have no underwear on. This is a step too far—a few inches lower and he could have his fingers inside me. Panic races through me at the possibility, but Mum is watching and I don’t want to let her know that this isn’t absolutely fine by me.
“Hmm,” he muses, squeezing my bare arse and glancing back over his shoulder. “You were right about one thing,” he says, raising his voice to speak to Mum. “I am going to destroy your daughter. Many, many times. And you know what else?”
Mum puffs, unable to form a response.
A wicked grin cascades over Seb’s mouth. “She’s going to scream my name while I do it.”
24
SEB
As soon as we re-enter the main party, I slide my hand out of Erica’s dress. But fuck me, if her arse wasn’t the softest, smoothest thing I’ve ever felt. My dick is definitely raising its head. This woman can get me hard like no one else.
I need to do something, or I’ll have an obvious boner in my black tie trousers. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
“I don’t drink.”
“Yes, you do.” I say, and she raises a brow. “Sparkling water at drinks parties, tap water at home. Never with ice. Tea. Coffee, but only decaf. Never a mocktail, because they’re too full of sugar. And you have been known to succumb to the odd elderflower cordial when it’s particularly hot.” She achieves the feat of smiling and frowning simultaneously, and I add, “But no alcohol, because the perfect Erica Lefroy never does anything naughty.” She elbows me and a chortle pops out of me like a bubble. “Let’s get you that sparkling water.”
