Page 38 of Overnight Inheritance

Mae rose and took his hand, threading her fingers through his. “I do see you.” She placed a palm firmly on his chest. “And I see your heart. I just sometimes get tangled in my own head. The programming my mother instilled to keep me safe hurts even as it helps. And being in this world—my father’s world—was bound to trigger it more than normal.”

He closed the distance separating them. “Not sure if you noticed that I slipped into that speech that I love you.”

A corner of her mouth hitched up. “I did happen to notice that.”

“You don’t need to say it back,” he clarified, in case she thought he was pressuring her. “I just needed you to know.”

She drew in a trembling breath. “You were right that this is going too fast for me—I’m not in the same place as you. I’m not sure Icanbe in that place. If I can ever be as open and vulnerable as you just were.”

“I’m willing to take the chance.” Mae was worth the chance.

He rested his forehead against hers and slid a hand behind her neck, a shiver running up his spine at just being able to touch her again. She lifted herself up on her tiptoes and leaned into him, kissing him, drawing out the desire that was always near the surface when he was around her. Breathing her name, he kissed her back.

When they came up for oxygen, he said, “Come to the Hamptons with me. Alfie and I will be heading up tomorrow.”

She grinned, her dimples flashing. “You mean today?”

He glanced at his wristwatch. “I guess I do. Amanda and Barry are bringing Alfie back during the day, and then we’ll head up after I finish work. Come with us.” In the weeks they’d been dating, they’d spent most of the first weekend in the hotel bed after her family’s disastrous dinner, and the next weekend, she’d said she had something on. But they could spend this weekend together, with no Rutherfords, no nanny, no work. Just them. “Spend the weekend with us. Alfie can sometimes be a handful when he’s awake, but he has an early bedtime.”

She chewed her bottom lip and then nodded. “Okay. I’d like that.”

He kissed her again and the world seemed a whole lot brighter.

They made it up to Sebastian’s house in the Hamptons just at sunset the next day, and Mae was hit with a strong sense of déjà vu. The first time she’d been in this driveway, she’d just walked over from Sarah’s house next door to confront Sebastian and get some answers, and the second time had been when she’d accepted a ride back to Manhattan with a man she barely knew. This third time, she was arriving as an invited guest to stay the weekend with the man she wanted to spend every waking and nonwaking moment with.

Alfie had fallen asleep in the car, so Sebastian transferred him straight into his crib in the nursery while Mae carried in her bag and some of the food bags she’d brought.

Within an hour, they were out back, sitting by the pool in wooden deck chairs, a glass of white wine each, and the baby monitor on the small table between them. The pool lights cast a glow around her, the balminess of the summer night nothing compared to the warmth flooding through her.

“So this is what this side of the hedge looks like,” she said.

Sebastian indicated a spot farther down the paved pathway with his glass. “That’s where I was standing. And I think it’s almost as dark now as it was that night.”

“It was a moonless night,” she said, looking up at the small sliver of moon in the sky, It seemed like forever ago. “I couldn’t see a thing on my side of the hedge, let alone you over here.”

He nodded sagely. “Good for all the hiding you were trying to accomplish.”

“And I was very successful at it, except from the chatty neighbor with the voice like melted chocolate.”

He glanced over, eyes comically wide. “Mae Dunstan, was that another compliment? I need to bring you to the Hamptons more often—it agrees with you.”

She chuckled, happier than she could remember being in a long time. “It’s certainly more relaxed here,” she said as she stretched her legs out and flexed a foot. “That aspect of it reminds me of home.”

“Are you thinking of going back to Noosa?” he asked, tapping his nails against the side of his glass.

“Not sure I can. Sarah’s lawyers are working on it, but I was in Australia under a false identity, so I’d have to apply for a visa again.” She’d originally just taken leave from her teaching job, but with the citizenship and visa situation, she’d had to resign so they could fill her position. “Heath seems to be putting down roots here—he’s even selling his beach bar in Noosa—so New York seems as good a place as any to set up a life.”

“From my own selfish perspective, I’m glad to hear it.” He reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “What about what you’ll do here—have you thought more about that? Perhaps run a certain company with a man who has a voice like melted chocolate?”

“If you’re going to let the compliments go to your head, I’ll be more careful handing them out.” She grinned, knowing full well that never complimenting Sebastian again would be impossible. “I still don’t see myself working at Bellavista Holdings. But I’ve been thinking more about what you said that first night—working out what I want to do with this financial privilege I inherited.”

“And what is that?” he asked, rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand.

“I still want to do good in the world.” She was embarrassed to voice those words aloud—it sounded like an impossibly naive thing to say—but she knew Sebastian would take her seriously.

“I have no doubts at all that you’ll do it,” he said, his tone so strong and sure that it brought tears to her eyes.

She blinked a few times to clear her eyes, then decided to divert the focus to him. “What about you? Do you ever think about the world you’re leaving for Alfie and want to do something good? What doyouwant? You know, if you’d been born to another family that didn’t own half a property development company, what would you want to do?”

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