Contractual Obligations

I woke to the sound of a car horn.

My room faced the front of the house, and I groaned as the noise pulled me out of my sleep.

Then I heard the pounding of the front door.

I sighed, wondering if this was a delivery that needed a signature, or if this was a very pushy salesman.

When I opened the door, however, I saw my parents.

“My, my,” my mother said, “I hope you don’t let your husband see you like that.”

I froze. They hadn’t warned me they were coming. I never thought my mother would ever want to be seen in a city like Nashville.

She was perfectly dressed. Alongside her thick makeup, her hair was perfect and looked too good next to my father, who was openly glaring at me.

“What took you so long to answer the door?” he spat out.

“I . . . I was asleep.”

“Sleep is no excuse to look like that.” My mother shook her head. “Go change before your husband sees you in this state.”

I opened my mouth to tell them Sebastian wouldn’t care, that he didn’t mind me looking like a mess.

“Lily,” my father barked, “your mother told you to do something.”

My entire body tightened. I wanted to fight back. I wanted to tell them no, I didn’t need to change just because they showed up unannounced. I was fine the way I was.

But my feet turned and I walked up the stairs.

“I guess we’ll come on in then!” my mother called, and the door slammed behind them.

I winced at the noise and shut the door to my own room, my brain struggling to comprehend that my parents were here, in our home, and telling me how I should look.

I wish I’d had time to prepare for this, so maybe I could do something more than stare at them.

I was in the process of ripping off my old, ugly pajamas when my door opened and Sebastian walked in.

I could only stare. My shirt was halfway off my body, exposing my stomach and breasts. I was so not prepared to flash my husband today.

“What?” I asked him.

He shut the door behind him.

“Your parents are here,” he hissed.

“Yes, I’m aware. I’m in the middle of making myself presentable.”

“Did you know they were coming?”

“No,” I said. “Do you think I’d answer the door looking like this if I knew?”

“You look fine.”

“Yeah, only according to you.” I pulled off the shirt over my head. “My mother immediately told me to go change before you got up.”

“I . . .” He paused as his eyes trailed down to my breasts. “Do you want me to leave while you change?”

“Why?” I asked. “You’ve seen all this before.”

“Well, I—” He forced his eyes to meet mine. “Yeah, you’re right.” After a moment, he asked, “Why are they here?”

“To check in,” I said, “but that’s only a guess. I didn’t get a chance to ask them before they sent me up here like a petulant child.”

Sebastian sighed, but his eyes were on me as I threw on my nicer pair of jeans. I walked to the dresser, where I kept my makeup, and began putting it on.

It only took my five minutes, but I could see Sebastian’s eyes on me in the mirror. When I was done, I turned to him.

“Do I look okay?”

“You look . . . like you always did.”

“Well, it’s what’s expected of me.” I set my makeup back on the dresser and applied the setting spray. “Ready to go face the music?”

“Are you okay?”

I paused. “Why are you asking?”

“Because I can tell you’re nervous. You’ve barely breathed since I came in.”

At his words, I realized I was in fact breathing short and shallow breaths. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down my racing heart.

“Considering what I looked like when I answered the door,” I said, “this isn’t going to go well for me. I just want to get this over with.”

“This was my day off. I wanted to do anything but entertain them for a weekend.”

“Hopefully they won’t stay the whole weekend.” I prayed they wouldn’t, at least.

I glanced back in the mirror, making sure once again that I looked up to my mother’s standards. “Let’s go downstairs.”

“Sebastian!” my mother said warmly as the two of us exited my room. “It’s so good to see you. I appreciate your greeting in proper fashion.” Her eyes slid to me. “Not everyone can manage it.”

“Hello to you, too, Mrs. Roberts,” Sebastian said, his voice distant and callous. He sounded like a shell of himself.

“Ah, Lily. You look so beautiful my dear,” she said to me, as if she hadn’t just been lecturing my appearance ten minutes ago. “And this is your new house! It’s so . . . quaint.”

“It’s old,” I said. “Historical.”

“I can tell,” she said, her voice snide. “Was this all that was available?”

“No, but she loved it,” Sebastian, glancing at me. “I saw her expression when we walked in and I knew it was the one.”

“How kind of you,” my mother said. “I sure hope she treats you well enough to deserve that kind of attention.”

Sebastian’s expression grew colder.

“So, what brings you two to town?” Sebastian asked without any mirth to his tone.

“Oh, just a visit,” my mother replied. “I missed brunch with Lily. And Allen wanted to see the new office.”

“Right, the office,” Sebastian said. “Things are going well.”

“Well, it’s got my company’s name on it,” my dad said, finally breaking his silence. “I don’t want Martin’s son running it into the ground.”

“It wouldn’t be smart to,” he said, his voice cold, “considering Miller Industries footed the bill for the office.”

“We footed the bill for the house,” my dad said gruffly. “So we’re even. You can’t exactly ruin my company if my name is on the deed.”

I looked between them. My dad still had the deed?

Of course he did. He had to have something else to control us with, after all.

My father may not have been as devious as Martin, but he knew how to make sure to protect his company.

But not his daughter.

“Sebastian has done nothing but ensure that the new corporate office is up and running efficiently,” I said, trying to diffuse the situation. “There is nothing to worry about, dad.”

“I thought you didn’t care for business,” my dad said, turning on me.

I blanched for only a moment, but my annoyance won out. “I’m married to the man that runs the business. I’ve learned a thing or two about it.”

Sebastian looked at me with wide eyes and a small smile on his face.

“Oh honey,” my mother said. “Don’t speak like that. Being cooped up with just your husband here is making you irate. You need girl’s time.”

“Actually—” Sebastian started, before my mom cut him off.

“You dad wants to see the office, and I want brunch,” she continued. “Let’s go.”

“But—” I tried to say.

“Now dear, you can’t turn down time with your mom. Besides, what’s the saying? Being away creates love?”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder?” I asked.

“Oh yes, that’s the silly little saying,” she said with a laugh.

I only had time for one more glance at Sebastian before I was pulled out the door. He looked a little panicked to be left with my father, but my mom’s grip on my arm was tight.

It was like we were shipped across the country and forgotten about, only to be manhandled once they remembered they had control over us.

My mother chose a chain with bottomless mimosas, and I was stuck driving. She talked about her affairs and her hairstylists—none of it interested me. I could only give her one-word answers and nod along to whatever she was saying.

When we got there, it was far too busy and loud. None of the customers even seemed to be from Nashville. It was nothing more than a tourist trap.

A bachelorette party group was cheering for whoever was getting married; I winced at the sound and tried to focus on the menu. Maybe I could get French toast to make this more tolerable.

“I expect you to get a salad,” my mother said, her voice cold.

“What?” I asked, shocked.

“I can see you’ve not been following your diet,” she said, eying my body. “He won’t stay if you’re fat.”

“I’m not . . . I’ve not—”

“You do not need to gain weight—not now. That man is only with you for your body, and if you give that up, then you have nothing left,” she spat out.

I’d gained only enough to put me closer to what should have been a healthy weight. My original diet was to keep me so skinny that the wind could knock me over. I’d always cheated a little, but I had toned abs and an ass to show for it. Now I was a little softer around the edges.

At her words, my brain unhelpfully recalled how Sebastian had retired to his own room the night before.

“Okay,” I said quietly.

“And don’t think I didn’t notice he slept in a different room,” she said coldly. She leaned forward, and I leaned back. “You’re lucky he’s stayed with you this long.”

“He’s contractually obligated to,” I reminded her.

“Ha! You don’t think he’s sleeping around when you look like this? The end of this is near for you. What you need to be focusing on is locking him in. If you’re done, you’ll have no money. No opportunities. Nothing. You need him.”

This was what my life at home was. I was torn down in order to believe I needed someone else. First, it was my parents. Then, it was my marriage.

And I was always left feeling not good enough.

I sat back in my seat and looked down. My mother knew she had won.

“I’ll find you a personal trainer to get you your body back,” my mother said, looking at me intently. “Once you do that, you get pregnant and then he has to stay.”

The thought made me sick. How could I ever consider doing that to him? We were only just now getting along, much less talking kids. Did he even want them? Did he like them? Bringing a child into this world knowing they might have a distant, cold father was too much for me. Plus, bringing in a child out of obligation wasn’t a good enough reason to have one.

“I see your attitude hasn’t changed,” my mother muttered. “You still don’t appreciate all that I’ve done for you.”

I slid down my seat, stomach ready to revolt. Didn’t appreciate her? How could I appreciate someone who never listened to me and forced me to be someone I hated? How could I appreciate someone who pushed me into modeling and took every cent I made?

“Oh, well,” she continued. “You’ll see how much you need me once you spend a little more time in Nashville. Things aren’t going well with Sebastian, huh?”

“Things are fine,” I said, but my voice shook.

“Really? You’re gaining weight and he’s sleeping in another room. You need me, Lily. Otherwise, you look like this. I made the right decision to send you here and make you see what you are without me.”

I sat up. “You sent me here to teach me a lesson?” I asked.

My mother rolled her eyes. “Martin had his own reasons for sending Sebastian here, but I saw how you were acting. You thought you were smarter than me.” She laughed coldly. “You’ll see what your life is without me in it. All you have is my gentle reminders, not my real help, even though you obviously need it.”

Her real help meant driving me to hair appointments, hiring personal trainers to yell at me until I worked out, or throwing away all the food in whatever fridge I had access to.

I didn’t want her help.

But I didn’t say anything. I was shutting off, a hermit going back into their shell. I listened to my mother’s plans, feeling like I was out of my own body, like I was someone else.

I didn’t come back into myself until I was in my own home.

The house was too old for them to stay in, according to her. She warned me one more time not to screw anything up when her Uber arrived, thankfully whisking her away and giving me a momentary reprieve. I walked in by myself, feeling like a zombie, and fell on the couch numbly.

I sat there in silence for a long time, simply listening to the sounds of the house. I didn’t know if Sebastian was back yet, but I didn’t know if I could handle it if he was. I was tired, and in no mood for talking. I felt sick to my stomach.

But of course, the moment I thought of him, the front door opened and in he walked.

“Oh, Lily,” he said. “You’re here. Thank God. I told your dad I wanted to spend time with you just to get away from—” His voice trailed off. “Are you okay?”

I laid idle for a long moment, trying to make sense of his words. That only seemed to worry him more.

He walked over to me, his steps firm and sure. He knelt next to the couch. “Hey, Lily. Are you okay? Please talk to me, honey.”

“No,” I muttered.

“No, as in you don’t want to talk or no as in you’re not okay?”

“The second one,” I managed, after quite a long, awkward pause. I pressed my face in the couch cushion, and his hand came in to rub my back. It was warm and steady, so different than how my lunch had gone.

“What can I do?” His voice came softly.

I didn’t know. I had never had someone there whenever I needed them. Usually, I would mull in my pain until it passed or bang on my laptop’s keyboard until I felt better.

This was different. Someone was here for me, but I had no clue what to do.

“It’s okay, Lily,” Sebastian said. “We can just sit here quietly if that’s what you need.”

I could only nod, needing the silence.

“Do you want me to stay?”

I nodded again before I could convince myself I needed to be alone.

“Okay. Can I sit next to you?”

I moved where he had room to sit, and as I did so, he guided me to lay on his leg. I was facing away from him, face burning up, but feeling a sense of calmness at having someone close to me. Sidetracked from my hurt, I was aware of his breathing, his movement. The comfort of his leg warmed my cheek and the rest of me, until what had iced over today was starting to melt.

I felt like me again.

I let out a long breath, releasing some of the pain.

“What happened?” Sebastian asked again.

“My mother happened,” I said, my voice full of the torture I had endured at her hands.

“What did she do?”

“The usual. Making me feel like I have nothing if I’m not married, making me eat a salad at brunch because I’m gaining weight. If you can think of anything demeaning toward women, she probably said it.”

Under me, Sebastian’s leg tensed. I worried that I should have kept this to myself. He’d already had a rough day with my dad. I didn’t want to make it any worse.

I found that people only had a certain tolerance for the pain I felt.

And sure, I didn’t have it as bad as other people. My problems were insignificant to those who wondered where their next meal was coming from, or didn’t know how they would make rent that month.

But I hurt, and I was tired of hurting alone.

“I’m sorry,” he said, though it sounded like it pained him to say it. “That’s not fair of them to say.”

“It isn’t the worst it could be,” I said. My hurt only grew. “I know it isn’t.”

I was waiting for Jessie to tell me I was being too dramatic, that I chose this life, and I couldn’t complain about it now.

“Lily, no. That’s not how it works. This pain you feel is real and comparing it to others isn’t going to make it go away.”

“But . . . you sounded angry when I told you. This is when you’re supposed to tell me it isn’t that bad.”

“Honey,” he said, the nickname rolling off his tongue like he’d always said it. “I’m mad for you. Not at you.”

“Why?”

“No one should talk to anyone that way. I only care if you’re happy, not if you look perfect. Besides, it doesn’t matter what I think, because you have the right to decide that for yourself. You can have a choice, Lily, and I’ll support you no matter what it is.”

“Is that what life is supposed to be like?” I asked softly.

“Yes, and I’m sorry you didn’t get to see this until now.”

I looked up at him, a feeling of sadness and grief overwhelming me for a moment. Tears pricked my eyes, and he gazed down at me with a new expression on his face, one that I didn’t recognize.

To some, it would be pity.

To me, it was empathy.

It wasn’t judgment or anger. It wasn’t harsh or cruel. It was just empathy. Someone listened to me and cared about my pain enough to let me have it—to let it be mine.

Amy had done that, in her own way, but Sebastian’s empathy meant more to me than I expected it to.

He was from my old life in LA. He should be everything I hated, and yet he was turning out to be something I always needed.

Instead of being against one another, we stood together. I knew, without a doubt, that he’d been through all this too. When everyone else was telling me what I should do, he told me he understood.

That was all I ever needed.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“For what?”

“Just being here. I need that.”

Sebastian smiled, but it was a sad one. “I’m sorry I wasn’t until now.”

I knew I could have been angry, but knowing he was going through the same pain I was made me understand that we were both in the wrong. We both held tightly to ourselves rather than meeting in the middle. “We have each other now, and that matters more.”

He gently brushed hair out of my face. “Exactly.”

My pain had receded and I could think more clearly. I remembered how he’d been with my dad all day. I sat up and turned to him.

“How did things go at the office? Was everything okay?”

“Are you okay? I don’t want to talk about me if you’re not ready for me to.”

I nodded, smiling. “Yes, I’m okay. I want to know about your day now.”

“There isn’t much to say. I took him in and showed him what I was doing. Eventually, I made the excuse that I wanted to get back and spend time with you, so he brought out his laptop and said he was going to do some work anyway. I think he really was worried I wasn’t running this division of the company well.”

“He seemed to think your dad wants to run ours into the ground,” I said. “Do you think he does?”

“I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “Your dad has loyal customers. He always has. I don’t think he could run Electronic Point without alienating a lot of the people who regularly buy from him. It’s why they want us to pretend to be in love, so they looked like they had a reason to merge.”

“They can only do that for a few more months,” I said. “Unless you think they’ll extend it.”

“What? The contract?”

I nodded, my heart racing as I thought about it.

“Maybe,” Sebastian said. “No one has approached me, but then again, they didn’t approach me last time until the last second. I don’t think we’ll know for a good while.”

Being with Sebastian for longer wouldn’t be the end of the world—at least not this version of him.

It was everything else that was the problem.

“Let’s not worry about it,” Sebastian said. “We’ve got a few months left. I want to focus on us.”

“Me too,” I said, sighing. “Especially now that we’re here.”

Sebastian reached over to grab my hand, his features soft. Gone were the frown lines I was so used to seeing.

Maybe if I had met him like this, not as his father’s son, I would have been with him on my own. This side of Sebastian was warm, caring, kind, and smart. Nothing like the person I thought I was marrying.

Then again, I wasn’t exactly like the person he married either.

“How long do you think your parents are staying?”

“Probably not very. My mom kept calling Nashville cute, which means she hates it. Once my mom starts complaining my dad usually does something. I’m hoping they leave tomorrow.”

“Me too,” he replied. “I’m worried a few of the managers will see that I was in on a weekend and ream me out. They’re always on me about working too much.”

“Are they the reason you come home at a decent time now?”

“Partially,” he said. “On one of their first days, I heard them talking about work-life balance and how important it was to them. Someone said that a married person being at work all the time usually meant their marriage was in trouble.”

“I hate to say it,” I said, “but they’re not wrong.”

“So, I started leaving earlier to be sure we didn’t look bad, but then you weren’t here.”

“Sorry,” I said, blushing. “When I need to write, it’s so much easier to get out of the house to get words down.”

“I understand now,” he said. “I think you’d like the people I work with, though. They’re different than the people I had in LA.”

In LA, it felt like everyone’s goal was to get on Sebastian’s good side and climb the corporate ladder. Anything was better than their bullshit excuses for small talk.

“I totally forgot about the holiday parties coming up,” I said, sighing. “I’m sure I’ll like meeting them, but all the events are so tiring. If I have to hashtag one more thing, I’m going to lose my mind.”

Sebastian laughed. “Yeah. I don’t blame you there. We need a break.”

“We’ll get one when this is over, I guess.” The exhaustion of not only doing this for four and a half years, but also the exhaustion of the day hit me.

I should be writing. My agent had been happy with the progress, but I knew they were wanting me to get this book done sooner than later.

However, I had been feeling out of steam. I had two rough ideas of what I wanted, but I wasn’t sure which would be the end of the series. One was a happy ending; it would please half of my fans—and on days where I was in a good mood, I thought it might make me happy too. Then there were the times when I wanted my series to end in fire and pain, leaving nothing else.

I was getting to the point where I needed to pick one and I wasn’t sure how to make that decision.

“Do you want to watch more Game of Thrones?” His voice brought me back to that moment. “I can order us food too. Whatever you want?”

My love language. Food and TV—maybe giving myself this break was the way to go. I could deal with my agent later.

“Can we get pizza?”

We watched a few episodes, only stopping to order dinner or grab popcorn. Sebastian ordered food for us, and I changed into comfortable clothes after the third episode.

We talked about the show and its plot lines, laughing at some of the cheesier moments and nearly crying at the sad ones.

It was one of the most relaxing nights I’d had in a while.

At nine, however, I was yawning more than I was talking, so Sebastian suggested we head to bed. A part of me wanted to go with him to his room. Not only for sex, but for companionship. We hadn’t shared a bed very much in our marriage, and the last time had been when we had moved into the house.

“Can we go to your room?” I asked.

For a second, he looked panicked. “Why?”

“To sleep,” I said. “But if you wanted to do other things . . .”

“Not tonight,” he said, his voice rushed. “Besides, you said you sleep better on your own. You need your rest.”

I opened my mouth, trying to figure out a way to take back the lie I’d made back when I thought he loved someone else.

He kissed me on my cheek and was gone before I could figure out how. I promised myself I would try to clear it up in the morning when my brain was rested.

But I had forgotten my parents were in town and my time wasn’t mine when they were around.

“Chop, chop!” My mother clapped her hands enthusiastically.

I only glared back.

She had stuck to what she said she was going to do and found me a personal trainer. The guy was strict, rough, and annoying. The two of them arrived at 7 a.m. and woke me up to get training.

I wasn’t that out of shape, but I had mostly been doing runs. I had joined a gym in Nashville, but I was more focused on writing than doing anything else.

Now I was regretting it.

“I said five more!” the trainer yelled.

I could not do five more. I had already done thirty reps of the same exercise.

“I’m at the point of failure,” I said, dropping the twenty-pound weights out of my hands, my voice breathy and tired. “I can’t do any more.”

“You can and you will. No giving up.”

“Ooh, I like this one,” my mother said, eying him greedily. He was a buff guy in basketball shorts and a white tank top. He was exactly my mother’s type. “You see how much I give to my daughter? I’m trying to show her how much she needs me, but the minute I saw her looking all chubby, I said, I knew I had to do something.”

“You did the right thing,” the trainer said, nodding appreciatively. “She was about to give up all she’s worked for.”

“She still is.” My mother turned to me with narrowed eyes. “He said five more, Lily.”

I had to suppress an eyeroll.

“I’m serious,” I huffed. “I literally cannot do any more.”

“Can’t, or won’t?”

“Can’t!” I snapped, only to hear my ringtone from my purse. I had been dragged to a park not too far from the house. My mother had personally picked it so Sebastian wouldn’t see me red-faced and working out.

“You never want your man to see you at your worst,” my mother had said.

I hadn’t eaten breakfast, and I felt terrible. I knew my body. I functioned best when I ate and then worked out. I liked to work out alone and with music.

I wasn’t getting any of that here.

My arms were noodles and my muscles were burning. I was going to be sore the next day, all because my “trainer” hadn’t given me a proper warm-up.

I was fuming, and more than grateful for my phone going off.

I didn’t even check the caller ID when I pressed accept. I could make it work with a telemarketer. My mother was glaring at me, but I’d probably get a few minutes of rest before she put a stop to it.

But it was not a telemarketer. It was Sebastian.

“Where are you?” he asked, his voice sounding worried. “You’re nowhere in the house and the car is gone.”

Shit. My mother hadn’t given me time to leave a note. I glanced over, knowing she was listening in. I could easily lie and say I went for a walk for coffee. Maybe that would have been the better option.

But I was too mad to lie this time.

“I’m at the park down the road. My mother surprised me with a trainer,” I said. My voice was still breathy and uneven from the workout.

I wasn’t sure what Sebastian would do. If anything, I expected him to tell me to have fun and hang up. All I wanted was to annoy my mother by wasting time.

“Is this a part of this whole thing to make you lose weight?” Sebastian asked, his voice clipped.

“Uh, yeah,” I replied. “But don’t worry about it. I’ll be back whenever they say I’m done.”

“Do you want to be there?”

I eyed my mother, who was tapping her foot impatiently. I hadn’t indicated who had called yet, but she was mad that I was taking my sweet time.

“Of course not,” I muttered. “But I don’t have a choice.”

“Lily!” my mother yelled. “Just who is so important that you’re chatting while I’m paying for this man to be here? Are you that ungrateful?”

“Is that her?” Sebastian asked. “Is that how she talks to you?”

“She’s coming over here,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be home soon.”

“That is enough, Lily!” she yelled, snatching the phone from my hand and hanging it up. I could practically feel Sebastian’s anger from down the road where our house was. “I didn’t bring you here to chat with your friends instead of getting your body back!”

“It wasn’t a friend. That was Sebastian.”

“Oh, please,” my mother said, rolling her eyes. “You know he doesn’t give a rat’s ass where you are—not with you looking like this.”

I gritted my teeth and she raised her eyebrows, daring me to say anything.

I sighed and got back to my workout, my muscles screaming in protest.

I was only a few squats in before my focus was broken. A black car pulled into the parking lot. A black car that looked exactly like Sebastian’s.

“Lily!” my mother said, crossing her arms. “What are you doing now?”

“She’s distracted, once again,” the trainer said, rolling his eyes. “I can’t work under these conditions.”

Sebastian got out of his car, slamming the door shut. He was furious, his face so intense that it made me drop my weights and stand up straight. I had never seen him like this. There was a tiny cavewoman part of my brain that thought it was hot, but I squashed it as soon as I had it.

“What is she doing here?” Sebastian asked my mother. “We had plans.”

“Sebastian?” my mother said, all pretenses of being controlling gone. That was the thing about her: when she wanted to stay on someone’s good side, she became whoever would make her look the best to them.

And she quite liked my rich husband.

“I’m here to get my wife. You can’t just take her away whenever you feel like she needs to work out.”

“Oh, honey. I was just doing you a favor—”

“We’ve discussed her diet at length and it’s not healthy for her, nor is overworking her body. And no matter what, it’s her choice was she does with her body.”

I almost cried. I also almost laughed at the shocked expression on my mother’s face.

“I was just trying to keep her in decent shape for you. I mean, I know you would enjoy her looking her best.”

“It’s not about looks. It’s about how she feels. I’d like to be able to take my wife out to dinner without her worrying about every bite of food she takes. My opinion on her body doesn’t matter as long as she’s comfortable in it. Do you understand?”

“I . . . yes,” my mother said, not meeting his eyes. “Of course. Whatever makes you happy.”

Sebastian shook his head, realizing she would never understand what he was saying. It was never about my happiness. It was all about his.

“Our plans come first. Not anyone else’s,” he said.

Sebastian grabbed me by the arm, leading me to his car with a firm grip. I went willingly, one because I was exhausted, and two, because I wanted to go with him.

I felt both relieved and guilty. I wished I had fought this battle for myself, but it was so nice to have help. Seeing someone win against my mother gave me the slightest bit of hope I could do it myself one day.

“Thank you,” I said as we got in the car.

“What is wrong with her?” Sebastian yelled. “To talk to you like that because you’re actually living and not constantly on a diet?”

It wasn’t at me, but it shocked me anyway. I’d never seen him like this. He wasn’t an emotional man—at least not with me. But hearing that he was on my side, that it only mattered what I felt and not about what my mother thought, was enough to turn the tides.

My skin was hot, and it wasn’t just from the workout. Seeing Sebastian like this had flipped a switch within me, and whatever distance we had put between us was closing in my mind.

In a rare moment of power, I grabbed him and kissed him.

If my mother was looking, she would have seen it. But it wasn’t about that. I wanted him close to me. I loved this side of him, the expressive, caring man I’d never got to meet, and it was all I could do to prevent myself from jumping on him right then and there.

For a long moment, Sebastian was still. I was beginning to wonder if I had crossed a line, when he finally began to kiss back. His lips moved against mine with all the power I never knew he had, but I held my ground, wanting to be his equal for once.

When we pulled apart, both of our lips were red and slightly puffy. I was sweaty from my forced workout, but my body still hummed with appreciation for the kiss we shared.

“We should . . . we should get back,” Sebastian said quietly, looking conflicted. “We can finish Game of Thrones.”

It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it also wasn’t a bad idea. Besides, I desperately needed a shower.

“Sounds good,” I replied. “But maybe breakfast first.”

Photo from RealBarbaraRoberts Instagram: Lily lifting weights at the park. Barbara is admiring her daughter, but we can’t see Lily’s face.

RealBarbaraRoberts: Got to spend some time with my lovely daughter this weekend! She’s always working so hard!

SebandLily4ever: So cute! You have a great family.

Concernedreviewer: why can’t we see her face? Something is so off about this photo.

MartinMiller: Glad to see you got some time with her. We’ve missed her on social media…