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“Excuse me?” Her brow furrowed.
“Although, I kinda thought he was celibate,” Tesha continued. “I haven’t seen him with a woman in the three years I’ve been here.”
“Wanda down in accounting saw him leaving the building with a woman just yesterday,” Bonnie said.
“Someone who works here?” Tesha’s eyes widened.
Genevieve was annoyed, but the ladies didn’t seem to notice and continued to gossip about the Schultz brothers. At first, she was worried they might be talking about her leaving with Sebastian for lunch, but that was two days ago, not yesterday. She hated the idea that she could be gossiped about, though. She’d have to steer clear of these two.
After eating her lunch quicker than usual so she could get out of there, she headed back to her office to organize the list of people she needed to contact for the regatta.
Something about the lunch conversation stuck with her all afternoon, though. Sebastian was nothing like they described. That’s what had surprised her so much in their meeting. She was completely prepared to meet the unapproachable man she’d been warned about. But he wasn’t that guy at all.
She’d never been one for gossip, and listening to those ladies bad mouth the president of the company didn’t sit right with her. But as the new girl, she didn’t want to stir up trouble, which is why she’d kept her mouth shut.
And right now, staring at her to-do list, she had more important things to worry about.
THIRTEEN
After a day of babysitting Augustus while he slept, Sebastian was antsy to get back to the office. Work always excited him, but now he had another reason to look forward to it. A reason with long lashes surrounding pretty brown eyes. Eyes that belonged to a woman who looked at him like she’d known him for years rather than days.
He loved his brother and would do anything for him, and he wanted to help him find some direction in his life, but it had to be on Gus’s terms. He had to decide to make the change. It couldn’t be forced, as much as Sebastian wished it could.
As he finished putting away the blankets and pillow he’d used to sleep on Gus’s sofa last night, he wondered what had set Gus off at the bar. What was it Milton Hanley had said about Skylar?
Milton was a creep. Someone Skylar had dated shortly after graduating from college, who was after more than just her money. A despicable man, who wasn’t very good at taking no for an answer. There was a collective feeling of “good riddance” when Skylar gave him the boot.
As proud as he was that Gus had stood up for their little sister, he was still disappointed in him for choosing the route of the belligerent drunk.
The tabloids had run a picture of Gus all up in Milton’s face and another of him on the sidewalk outside the bar after stumbling and falling to his knees. Darn paparazzi.
As bad as it would look for the family, a little twinge of worry came over him that Genevieve might see it and notice the caption read “Augustus Schultz,” not Sebastian.
He quickly pushed that thought aside. If she saw the pictures, so be it. It was ridiculous to think he could keep such a thing from her in the social media age anyway. And he needed to focus on helping his brother at the moment and not worry about his nonexistent love life.
The bigger question in all this was why Gus had gone to the bar in the middle of the day in the first place.
Gus chose that moment to grumble from the place on the floor where he’d passed out. He twisted and sat up, groaning and gripping his head. “Why did you let me drink?” he asked.
“If I’d been there, could I really have stopped you?”
“Probably not.” Gus sat up and whimpered.
“Here.” Sebastian had a glass of water and ibuprofen at the ready.
Gus swallowed down the pills. “How much trouble am I in?”
“Well, you didn’t actually beat Milton up, but you were pretty drunk and disorderly.”
“Is this on my record now?”
“If I said yes, would it make a difference? Would it change your future choices?” Sebastian wished it was that simple.
Gus stared into the glass of water he was still holding.
“Oliver took care of it.” Sebastian saw Gus visibly relax, his shoulders releasing some of the stress and anxiety over the situation. “You’re a grown man, Gus, and I’m not going to tell you what to do. Besides, it’s all been said before.”
Gus nodded, knowingly. “I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment.