Page 18 of Bid For Me
“Most things,” Sebastian replies, “I find it more efficient.”
He moves his finger down to today’s date and a highlighted block, which I instantaneously recognise as busy. Now. With me. At the diner.
He scrolls a little more.
“That’s my evening off,” Sebastian explained. “I do occasionally help my father out with work. But I’m free tonight, so perhaps we could start getting to know each other over dinner?”
There’s a sink of dread in my stomach at the thought of pretending to be in love. That we’re even considering this isproof of how desperate our situations are. Different, but the same. Two fold.
“Alright,” I agree reluctantly, “Let’s do dinner.”
Sebastian smiles, looking almost relieved. “Excellent. I’ll plan the details and text you with the location. Shall I send another car?”
“No. I can call my own.” Seb frowns. “What?”
“Actually…if we’re doing this properly, I guess I should pick you up for the date?”
“Why are you asking me?” I laugh.
“I don’t date much.”
“You’ve dated every girl I know, bar Candy,” I point out, trying to mask the annoyance in my tone.
“No,” he replies. “I’vefuckedevery girl you know, bar Candy…and you… and I’ve fucked a fair few you don’t know too. But I don’t date.”
Right, well that pretty much makes two of us on the not-dating side of things. Obviously not on the fucking anything that moves side of things.
How will the pair of us ever pull this off?
“Pick me up at eight,” I tell him.
Then I give a half-hearted smile, slide out of the booth, and walk away, leaving Sebastian to make the arrangements for the rest of our fake engagement.
Thankfully, the car waited for me, so I’m able to slip inside the cool, darkened space, and only once we pull off, do I put my head into my hands and groan.
What the hell have I got myself in to?
After everything with Seb today, I barely make it home before I’m on the phone to Candy, telling her I need her at my place,now. It’s hardly half an hour before she’s at my door, wine in hand, slipping off her shoes like she still lives here.
As soon as Candy’s on the sofa, she’s already pouring me a glass and pressing me for details. “Alright, Elle, spill. What’s going on? Your message sounded…intense.”
I sink down beside her, trying to find the right words, biting my lip, feeling the weight of it all as I stare at the glass she’s thrust into my hand. “Intense doesn’t cover it, Candy.” I pause, taking a deep breath, watching her eyes go wide. “It’s…a lot. Sebastian Sterling-Knight just proposed to me.”
She actually chokes on her wine, wiping her mouth as she stares at me like I’ve gone mad. “He…what? Elle, this isn’t the 1800s – since when did he think that’s how things work? It’s insane. Is he joking? He can’t just?—”
I let out a half-laugh, half-groan, sinking further into the sofa and sipping my wine. I hold up a hand to stop her, the words tumbling out before I can second-guess them. “Oh, it’s worse. It’s not even a real proposal. He wants a…‘fake engagement’ for two months. And, um, a wedding.”
Candy’s mouth drops open, and she stares at me in disbelief. “You’re telling me he went from dating to fake-engaged tomarried?”
“It’s not like it’s a real proposal. It’s a fake marriage proposal, to ‘help us both,’ he says. Apparently, his father threatened to cut him off if he doesn’t settle down, and he thinks I’m the perfect candidate.”
She stares at me, wide-eyed and horrified. “Let me get this straight. He wants you to marry him so Daddy won’t take away his trust fund?”
“Pretty much.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. “So this guy’s so afraid of losing his money that he’s basically blackmailing you into a fake engagement? Classic Seb.”
I take a deep breath, my voice low. “But it’s not just that…he’s using my virginity against me.”