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“Byron?”
I hummed in response, still gathering the energy for words.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hate your futon. I’m buying you a new bed.”
“No,” I said with a weary laugh. “This is only our fourth date. It’s too early to buy me furniture.”
There was a long pause. He had no witty follow-up? No gentle cajoling?
“Baby, could you do me a favor?”
I kissed Sebastian’s shoulder, grinning at the endearment. “Sure.”
“I need to buy a new bed, but I have nowhere to put it. Can I store it at your place?”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when I almost fell over laughing. God, I was falling so damn hard for this sneaky man.
15
SEBASTIAN COURTLAND
“I’m having second thoughts,”Byron admitted in a low voice from where he sat next to me in the back seat of my town car as Carl drove us.
I slipped my hand under Byron’s and threaded our fingers together before raising it to my lips. His palm was sweaty and his fingers tense as I brushed light kisses across his knuckles, trying to soothe away some of the tension humming through him. “Everything is going to be fine,” I murmured between kisses.
We’d been dating for almost a month, but this was only our fifth date. Things had become too hectic during the week to even meet up for dinners, and we were often headed in different directions on the weekends. Sure, we could sneak takeout dinners in my office some nights, but I didn’t want to count those as dates. Byron deserved better than that.
Today, I was trying to shake things up by adding something a little different to our routine. We were headed to help with a fund raiser for an LGBTQIA+ charity that just happened to be run by my mother. We were going to help with a good cause that was important to us, plus I was finally going to introduce him to my mother.
Byron knew my father, but he knew him as Chairman of Courtland Enterprises. Not as the father of Sebastian Courtland. I hoped to make that new introduction to my fatherafterByron was no longer my assistant.
“What if she doesn’t like me?” Byron inquired.
“I don’t see how that’s possible at all.” I leaned in close and nuzzled the side of his head, my lips brushing against the shell of his ear. “You’re brilliant, funny, sweet, thoughtful, and sexy as hell.”
“And you’re biased as hell. Your mother won’t have the same opinion. I’m more worried that she’s going to think I’m some poor nobody gold digger trying to sink his claws into her sweet, innocent, rich son.”
I jerked in my seat, my head flying back as a bark of laughter burst out of me. “Sweet, innocent? You’re going to make my mom fall over laughing. Danielle Courtland knows exactly how debauched and crazy her only son is. She’s going to be more worried about how I’m likely to corrupt you. She might even try to save you from me by introducing you to other eligible men.”
“Wonderf—holy shit! Please tell me that’s not your parents’ house!” The panic was instantaneous as we zipped along the driveway to my parents’ enormous mansion. Halfway down the road, the trees that lined the lane retreated to reveal this sprawling building that had heavy Italian palazzo influences.
“Yep. I didn’t grow up here. My parents had it built while I was in college, so I never actually got to live here, which is a shame because their pool is even better than mine.”
Byron snorted. “Why do I feel like they’ve got a guest room here just for you?”
“Maybe. The rooms for their grandchild are insane. My parents are going full out, spoiling their grandkid.”
My sexy date stared at me, a small smile tugging at his lips. I didn’t know what it was about that grin, but I could feel the heat growing in my cheeks.
“What?”
“I’m trying to imagine you as an uncle. I bet you’re great at it.”
Now I wanted to turn around and take him straight to my house so we could spend the day cuddled in bed together. Why the hell did he have to be so cute?
“Taylor is only two, but completely adorable. My sister, Aggie, and her husband are trying for their second, and my parents are eager to have another baby in the family.”
Before we could continue the conversation, Carl stopped the car in front of the house and one of the many valets working the event whipped my door open. With one last reassuring smile at Byron, I slipped out of the car and into the bright, hot June sun. Byron stepped out right behind me, and I grabbed his hand.