Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
My eyes burned with tears. “I realized something. Sometimes when we don’t believe in people’s devotion to us, it’s because we don’t believe in ourselves. It can be hard for me to believe in myself. But I have to start recognizing that what my past boyfriends did to me was about them and not about me. You’ve given me so much of my confidence back. I believe in you and maybe I believe in me now too.”
“Good,” he growled the word against my lips. “I am so glad Olly decided to be a prick and come after your podcast. We would never have met. This tiny campus, and I could have missed out meeting the love of my life.”
I pulled him closer, sighing happily. “But thankfully, Olly was a prick.”
Sebastian chuckled and then pulled back. “Did you know Harry and Sierra have been sleeping together for months?”
“I had my suspicions.” I tugged on my boyfriend’s shirt, pulling him toward the bedroom. “We’ll discuss our friends’ sex lives later. I want to make love to the man who is apparently going to be my husband.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes but followed me in. “Those bastards told you.”
I laughed, kicking off my slippers. “Every single word.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
SEBASTIAN
Several Months Later
For perhaps a week after we’d graduated, I’d witnessed a weight lift from Lily’s shoulders. She was relaxed in a way I hadn’t ever seen and seemed determined to enjoy the break from studying before her postgrad started in September.
Now, however, the tension was back. If you didn’t know her like I did, you might never notice it. But it rode her shoulders and tightened her lush mouth ever so slightly.
There was reason for it, though, as we were attending the first day of the Royal Ascot. For five days, Queen Anne officially opened the race meet, and Opening Day was one of the biggest deals in the royal calendar. Many royals attended, and it was the one event my mother and father put in an appearance. I think mostly because my mother loved horses, and my father loved the food.
Lily and I stood with my family in the royal enclosure, a coveted and exclusive area of the racecourse atrium. The Royal Box sat dead center of it. Queen Anne and her eldest son, Prince Alexander, were currently seated in it, laughing together. My cousin Alexander had a rapier wit and was the only one who seemed to be able to make his mother laugh like that in public.
We were surrounded by aristocrats, world leaders, a sheikh or two, and celebrities. Lily spotted the reigning princess of pop and one of the most famous people on the planet drinking champagne with her famous actor boyfriend. I saw the surprise flash across my girlfriend’s face as her head whipped to mine.
My lips trembled with amusement as I watched her carefully blank her expression once she realized how obvious she’d been. I slipped my hand discreetly into hers and squeezed. “Are you all right, my love?”
“Aye,” she replied. “Just don’t leave me.”
“Never. Have I told you how beautiful you look?”
She gave me a grateful smile and squeezed my hand in return. There was a dress code and Juno had helped Lily pick an outfit. A little blue straw beret with a veil was pinned into a hairstyle that had taken Lily ages to do this morning. My girlfriend looked like a 1950s movie star in an ankle-length retro dress with a conservative neckline and short sleeves. The skirt poufed out because of the petticoat underneath it, and the tight bodice accentuated her tiny waist and curvy chest. It was supposed to be demure, yet I still wanted to rip it off her in a not-demure-like manner.
Her eyes flashed at whatever she saw on my face. “Stop looking at me like that,” she demanded through gritted teeth. I barely heard her over the noise of the loudspeaker and din of the crowd, but I understood her well enough.
I gave her a cocky smirk and sipped at the champagne from the flute I held in my free hand. I was already planning how to seduce her out of the dress tonight. I might even ask her to keep the hat on. And the shoes. Her shoes were distractingly sexy.
“We’re here, we’re here!” Juno’s loud voice had us both turning to find her and Leona coming down the busy steps of the atrium toward us. Thankfully for my sister, Granny didn’t give two hoots about sexuality. She was fine with Juno publicly being in a same-sex relationship. She just didn’t want her talking about it on a bloody podcast.
Okay, maybe I was still holding a grudge.
Lily hugged Juno and Leona, some of her tension easing at their appearance. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Terrified, are you?” Juno asked. “Yes, it is all rather intimidating until you remind yourself every single one of these people have to evacuate their bowels every day. They get diarrhea too. Isn’t that reassuring?”