Sexy Mushy all rolled into one.
The sun shone onto the large windows in the guestroom Celine was sleeping in, but the blackout curtains and controlled temperatures ensured Celine’s circadian rhythm did not register it was morning. So, she slept well past her usual wake-up time. Which was why when her phone rang at eight in the morning, she was still asleep.Tangled in the bedding, Celine struggled to find and silence the horrendous ear-piercing noise and when she did, she looked at the screen and saw it was her father. So instead of throwing the phone like she wanted to, she answered it.She put her ear to the phone, “Hello?”, Celine said. But before her father could answer there was, what sounded like, a shotgun loading and then discharging. For a second, she thought things had gone very badly with the reporters. “Dad. What’s going on? Dad.”, she yelled into the receiver.There was shuffling, and then, “Celine. Guess what we are doing?”, Dad, asked.Celine sat up and her head spun. She put a trembling hand to her fo
“I have some news.”, he said. “I know who went to the press. And I want to know how you want to handle it.”, Sebastian said.Celine grabbed a lock of black hair and began twirling. Of course, she wanted to know, even though she was 99.99 percent sure it was Chanel. Who is it?”, Celine asked.Sebastian took out his phone squinted his eyes and read. “Chanel Brittany Aston, aged twenty-seven, second daughter of William and Bethany Aston. She lives in New York City. Unemployed. Graduate from Princeton with a bachelor’s degree in communication.” Sebastian said. “Do you know her?”As soon as she heard Chanel, Celine began grinding her teeth. That little bitch. Wasn’t it enough that she ruined her marriage? “I know her.”, Celine said flatly.Sebastian’s eyebrows rose and his jaw dropped. “You do? How do you know her? What is her motivation? She looks harmless, like your typical trust fund brat.”“She is far from harmless.”, Celine said, then abruptly stood up and started pacing. “How do you k
Celine was lying on top of Sebastian’s grey bedspread on her phone, searching the news for anything about her and Phillip. In the background, she could hear the murmurs of mother and son talking, but she couldn’t make out what they said. Until they moved to the dining table below a vent that was connected to Sebastian’s bedroom and Celine found she could hear what they were saying, clearly.“I spoke with some of the shareholders, and they have agreed to put your marital status as an agenda item at the next board meeting.”, Sophia said sweetly.Sebastian said something but he was out of earshot. Celine sat up“You need to get ahead of this Sebastian, so I have some candidates for you.”, Sophia said. She heard the shuffling of some papers. “Come, take a look.”Sebastian must have come to stand next to his mother, but he sounded bored when he answered. “How does my marital status reflect on my ability to lead Gale Hospitality?”, Sebastian asked. “Is my leadership lacking?”Celine punched
One good thing about being a billionaire was when people trespassed and took pictures, there was security to handle it. Celine did not know if Sebastian paid the reporters off, threatened them, or both but not a peep of a story with their names in it ever went to publication. For a moment, Celine prepared for a world where she and Sebastian were outed, and in a way, it would have solved the problem of Sebastian’s mother and the board. But Sebastian handled everything neatly and they were able to stay incognito.That same night, Sebastian took Celine home via his helicopter saving her a three-hour drive, another perk of being a billionaire. They landed in the same field and before they disembarked, Celine handed Sebastian one of her flashlights and thought it was odd that her father was not there to greet her. After all, how often do they have a helicopter land on their property? Sebastian was taller than she was, so he saw the cars first. “Do you recognize those cars?”, Sebastian ask
Winter was Celine’s favorite time of the year. It was the season when people were kind, the landscape was covered in snow, and there was a stillness that spoke of staying warm at home with family. Winter was when the Beaumont family usually closed the equestrian center, and everyone came home from wherever they were to celebrate the holidays.This year was different; to make money they turned their property into a winter wonderland. They had free hot chocolate, horse-pulled sled rides, snow tubing, snowman contests, hayrides, ponies, and more. It did not make up for losing clients, but it helped them breathe.For once, things were looking up for Celine. She was lowkey dating Sebastian. They video-chatted every night, and he came to see her once a week for his riding lesson and a date. Her father begrudgingly accepted him and sometimes date night was family dinner night, and it almost felt like the old days when Sebastian used to volunteer in the summers. Except one very important perso
Pushing through the crowd, Celine made her way to Sebastian. She couldn’t believe he came to the Hamptons and found her. For a second, he disappeared in the throng, and she couldn’t see him. But like a parting sea, a break appeared, and her way was clear.His eyes were on her and she saw his scowl had faded into a smile. Feeling light and joyous she leaped without a thought into his arms. And of course, he caught her and swung her around. The kaleidoscope of people, music, and smells was muted and there was only Sebastian.“You’re here.”, Celine said breathlessly.Sebastian hoisted her up until their eyes were level. Then he claimed her mouth, surprising her with his passion and Celine opened to him eagerly. The kiss electrified her and was over too soon. It made her compliant and supple in his embrace, so she did not object when he carried her over to the table. Where Kim and Collette sat with wide gaping eyes and mouths.Depositing Celine in her seat, he possessively came to stand be
It was Christmas Eve, and Celine, Collette, Dad, and Kim just finished eating a traditional dinner of baked ham sweet potato, and greens. After they tidied up the girls changed into their matching pajamas all ready for their usual Christmas evening out on the enclosed patio with their favorite holiday drink, Hot Pumpkin Pies. A drink her mom used to make.This year, Celine and Collette were teaching Kim how to make Hot Pumpkin Pies. “Do we have all of the ingredients?”, Kim asked rifling through the pile of items Celine put on the counter.“Yep.”, Collette said. She started listing things off. “We have milk, light brown sugar, and Rum Chata.”, Collette rolled her Rs when she said rum, and Celine rolled her eyes at Kim who giggled.“Are you sure you haven’t been secretly hitting that bottle?”, Kim asked teasing.“Not yet.”, Collette sang. “Whipped cream, pumpkin spices…Dad, do we have nutmeg?”Dad looked up from his crossword. “Darn it. I knew I had forgotten something. Look in the cabi
The three girls held their breath while the video call rang and rang. “It’s really late.”, Collette said.It was late. Most adults, if they were up at this hour, were frantically wrapping gifts or putting complicated toys together in time for their kids to wake them up in a few hours and open presents. Celine was just about to give up when Sebastian’s face appeared on the screen.“Hold on.”, he said. Celine could hear music and talking, and she got a nice view of the ceiling as Sebastian walked out of the room. He closed a door and sat down and had a big smile for Celine and she almost didn’t have the heart to say anything to him. How could this man be fooling around on her?“Hey, baby. You miss me already?”, Sebastian asked. His words were a little sloppy and Celine realized he had been drinking too. At least they were on a level playing field, she thought.“How is the party?”, Celine was going to give him a chance to tell her himself.Sebastian put his face close to the phone and whi
As soon as Celine saw the two gorgeous men stepping out of the elevator, she realized what Kim was up to and had to fight the urge to turn and run. She wanted no part of Kim’s revenge hookup because that was what this was. Kim was implementing the classic strategy of what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.However, Celine would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted to see Sebastian and Matteo’s faces when they saw the two drop-dead hotties that had just walked into Sebastian’s penthouse. Maybe there was some merit to Kim’s plan…No, nope, just no. A nice bath and a text message update on the paternity test were what she needed, not a demonstration of large predator mating competitions.Unfortunately, it was too late to run because they were here, and Kim was exchanging cheek kisses. “Hello. Coucou, comment tu vas ?” One of Kim’s hidden talents was that she spoke fluent French, and always had her pick of French hotties. Kim was going nuclear, poor Matteo.One of the men had
They say, “Money can’t buy you love.” but it does buy same-day results of a paternity test, especially if you have a phlebotomist waiting in the hall outside the courtroom to draw blood and a medical courier at the ready to transport your samples directly to a reputable private lab. A lab that was being paid to expedite the paternity test as soon as the biological samples were received.And that was precisely what happened minutes after Grace said, “I’ll take the deal.”Sophia yelled, “What deal.” The Judge beamed at Grace. The bailiff gallantly helped Grace down from the stand, and Jameson looked like a genie had just told him, ‘Of course, you can wish four more wishes.’It was complete chaos as they followed Grace and Sebastian out of the courtroom, and Celine couldn’t believe their plan had worked. But she saw it with her own eyes, and there was no doubt about it. Grace was submitting to a blood draw right there in the hall, behind a portable privacy screen.The next thing Celine kn
After Sebastian’s lawyers finished, Celine thought all there was left to do was watch the death throes of Grace’s case. They had a recording of Grace threatening blackmail, for god’s sake. They should be watching the closing credits on this fiasco of fake paternity, but that was not how the law worked. There were always special circumstances or loopholes to get around or to delay a decision, and all Grace needed was a delay.When Grace’s attorneys began their case to quash the court order for the paternity test, they didn’t even bother to rebut the horrible things she said on the recording. Instead, they argued that Grace had a religious or moral objection to the paternity test.Grace’s attorney painted a picture of her as a devout Orthodox Christian from a family with a long, illustrious history with the Greek Orthodox Church on her mother’s side. In Orthodox culture, there is a lot of emphasis on family reputation and privacy, especially for families with ties to the church and thei
It is not often that family court law protects the rights of a father, or in Sebastian’s case, the alleged father, except when it comes to paternity. No mother has the right to obstruct a paternity test. It becomes fuzzy if the paternity test is requested during pregnancy. Then the mother can say no—her body, her choice. At least, that was what Grace and Sophia believed. It turned out that Sebastian could request a court order to compel Grace to have a Non-Invasive Paternity Test if he was disputing paternity and Grace was publicly claiming he was the father, thus ruining Sebastian’s reputation and pressuring him into fatherhood.Apparently, Grace and Sophia’s ploy was so unoriginal that laws were already in place to prevent them.After Grace dropped her fake pregnancy bomb at the ice skating rink, Sebastian’s lawyers went to Family Court the next day and got a court date to ask a judge for a court order to force Grace to take a paternity test. Grace was notified of the court date i
It took Celine a great deal of self-control not to pace the length of the hotel lobby. Of all days to be late, she thought as she squirmed in an uncomfortable but aesthetically appealing, overpriced, modern accent chair and reread the same page in her digital book.Today, Sebastian was taking Grace to an OB-GYN of his choosing to get some answers. The first thing he wanted to know was if she was pregnant. If yes, he would ask Grace for the second time to take a Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity test to prove he wasn’t the father. So far, when he asked her to provide a blood sample for the test, Grace had refused, stating Sebastian’s accusations were baseless and she would not be humiliated.They fully expected Grace to refuse a second time, and if she did, they were prepared.Celine’s phone vibrated.SebastianHereCeline hurried outside, and Sebastian’s driver, Greg, waited to open the car door for her. “Good morning, Greg.” Celine said, trying to smile through her nerves. How is the n
“Excuse me, what?”, Celine asked. Her heart was hammering, actually hammering so hard that she felt a twinge in her calf and then a burst of warmth. Did she tear a stitch? But she couldn’t be bothered to look because she needed to make sure she had heard correctly because surely, she had not.Looking at Sebastian did nothing to help her stay calm. He looked so woeful. She had seen that look before. When she was in the hospital after the fire, he had come to visit her. That was the day she realized that no matter what she said or how she was willing to fight, he was going to marry Grace anyway. The day she asked if he had slept with Grace. He never did answer her, but she guessed from his dark face and how he wouldn’t look at her that he probably had. She didn’t want to relive that horrible day.“She said she was pregnant.”, Sebastian breathed out.The room went still, and she heard a ringing in her ears. The warm spot on her calf grew. She absent-mindedly touched her calf to see if it
With a chair, rolled-up towels, and choreography worthy of a Cirque De Sole act, Celine lowered herself into the bubble bath while keeping one leg dry. The doctor had been adamant that she could not get her stitches wet and had prescribed sponge baths. To hell with that. Nothing was going to stop her from getting a bath. So, what if having one leg out of the tub was awkward and uncomfortable, and she had no idea how she was getting out?She groaned in pleasure. She needed this. She could feel her aches and pains melting away, and the cold that had settled in her bones was gone. All that remained was a luxurious cocoon of heat and well-being.Except there was this niggly wiggly annoying memory of how she had acted like a whiny little jealous bitch, got stabbed in the calf by someone’s ice skate, stormed off bleeding everywhere, and then having to depend on Jameson, of all people, to help her.Shit, Celine, get it together. Where was the phoenix that rose from the ashes? Where was the w
She only fell twice when she skated the rink's perimeter to the secluded spot where Sebastian sat with Grace. By the time she got there, she was so exhausted that she could hardly summon a spark, much less the fire of indignation and anger that had fueled her impulse to give Sebastian a piece of her mind. If she hadn’t needed to skate back the way she had just come, she would have given up right then and there and gone home to have a nice bubble bath.She was here now. What was she going to do? She couldn’t cling to this wall forever. Why hadn’t she just sent him a text like a normal person? She looked over to where Sebastian and Grace were sitting. Sebastian’s back was to her, but she could see Grace, and her eyes were red and swollen. It looked like she had been crying.Sebastian was a sucker for tears. He had probably held her hand or hugged her. He never could stand to see a woman cry. She wanted to punch him in his stupid nose.Suddenly, she realized she could hear them talking.
It was official. She was an idiot. How many times was she going to fall for his fake sentiment? He really had her believing that he loved her the night he saved her from being abducted. What had he said? “We’re calling this off. It’s not worth it. We’ll run away. I’ll leave it all.” Hadn’t he begged her to believe him when he said that he would never let anyone hurt her again?But what did he do? The first time he had to choose between her or Grace, he chose Grace and left her alone to face the woman who had literally burned her life to the ground.The girl spoke, “Are you okay?” Snapping out of her reverie, Celine noticed the girl had taken her to a quiet window seat. She smiled, grateful to her unexpected savior, who flopped into one of the chairs and sighed noisily.“I’m okay.”, Celine said. She sat in the chair next to her and watched the pretty girl stare at the ice skaters with a mix of malice and envy as if they had stolen her lollipop and then kicked her puppy.Sparing Celine