“The accident severed his spinal cord. He was eighteen and doomed to be a paraplegic for the rest of his life. I saw the toll his accident took on him and on my family. It was my hope that doing the work I do, someday I could develop something that would help him. One of the projects I’ve worked on for years has been a mechanical exoskeleton that would allow Kenny to walk again.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“It does. But so far, it’s been the one thing that has eluded me. I have the technology together. I have a prototype that works in the lab. But my goal is to create something anyone can afford. Not just for rich people or ones with good insurance. That is going to take more time. That’s why I work so much. For Kenny. And all the other Kennys in the world.”
Harper had asked the question and now she knew the answer. In that moment she almost wished she hadn’t. Now she knew just how important his work was to him. It was personal. It was his first love. Unlike Quentin, who used his work as a cover for affairs, Sebastian was truly a workaholic. It made her wonder if that meant there would never be any room in his life for anything—or anyone—else.
It was then that she realized that she was fighting a losing battle with him. No matter what happened between them, she could never fully have Sebastian in her life. She would be better served by keeping her feelings to herself and moving on once they arrived home.
There was someone out there for Harper. Someone who would love her, treat her well and let her be the most important thing in his life. Unfortunately that man just wasn’t Sebastian West.
* * *
“Ladies and gentleman, welcome to New York. The current time is nine thirty in the evening.”
Sebastian perked up in his seat after the wheels hit the ground and the pilot announced the long flight was finally over. He wished he’d been able to sleep on the way back and have it go as quickly as flying over, but that wasn’t the way it worked.
Instead he’d spent most of the flight watching the television in the lounge with several other wedding guests. Harper had been...quiet...since they’d left Ireland. He wasn’t sure what was wrong. Things had to be looking up. The blackmailer was out of business, they didn’t have to pretend to be dating any longer, they were back home...life could return to normal.
Even Sebastian was relieved to know he only had a few
days left on his leave before he could get back into the office. He might not burst through the door like usual, but he had a lot of exciting sketches in his notebook and he was ready to get to work on the prototypes as soon as possible.
Perhaps Harper wasn’t interested in things returning to normal. Going home meant facing the consequences of her actions with her grandfather. Even Sebastian had to admit that he wasn’t quite ready for their fake relationship to come to an end. But she hadn’t voiced any interest in continuing. Perhaps he had read too much into their physical connection.
They were two of the last people off the plane. Most everyone had their drivers picking them up in black, luxury sedans, so the parking lot of the small airport emptied quickly. By the time they collected their bags and went out to where they’d parked, Sebastian found it was just the two of them.
“So now what?” he asked, setting down his luggage beside his car. Although he rarely drove it in the city, he had a blue BMW that he traveled back and forth to Maine in from time to time.
Harper set her bag down and sighed. “I’ve got an Uber coming to get me.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said. “I meant with us.”
She crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive posture she’d never taken with him before. “I don’t know. The week is over. Thank you very much for being my boyfriend on the trip. You were very...thorough.”
“Thorough?” He couldn’t keep the irritation from his voice. “Is that what you call it?”
“What else would you call it, Sebastian?”
There was a tone in her voice that he couldn’t pinpoint. He wasn’t sure if she was daring him to admit that it was more than just for show or not. Did she want him to profess his undying love and beg her to be his girlfriend for real? Or did she just want him to lay out his feelings so she could stomp on them? The way she’d pulled away from him today made him unsure.
“I sure as hell wouldn’t—”
“Your time is up, Miss Drake,” a woman’s voice interrupted him.
Both Harper and Sebastian turned their attention to the shadowy figure standing in the dark, empty parking lot outside the airport.
The person took a few steps closer into the beam of an overhead light and Sebastian could finally make out who was standing there.
He didn’t know her name, but he recognized the woman as Quentin’s fiancée. And more importantly, she was aiming a gun at Harper.
Without thinking, he took a step forward and put his arm out to shield Harper. “What the hell are you doing pointing a gun at people?” he asked.
“Josie?” Harper asked from over his shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Surprised?” The woman smiled but it came out more like a smirk. “I bet you didn’t suspect little old me for a second, did you? Of course not. You haven’t given me a second thought this whole trip. I wasn’t important or rich like the rest of you. I was just the disposable arm candy.”
That was true. Sebastian had hardly paid any attention to the younger woman who’d always seemed glued to Quentin’s side. To be fair, he hadn’t really known many of the people on the trip, but Josie had been a silent, ignorable presence. Harper hadn’t even known the woman and she knew everybody.