Prologue

PROLOGUE

Tuesday

Sebastian married Mikey as soon as they were old enough, had a dozen children, and were living happily ever after, Jamie told herself with a firm nod as she adjusted her hold around the insanely large pizza and bag of steak fries that she blew her entire caramel iced coffee allowance for the month on.

God, she could really go for a caramel iced coffee right now, but unfortunately for her, that wouldn’t be an option until she found a new job, which was why she was here. It was also the reason why she’d spent the entire night struggling against the urge to Google Sebastian Bradford and why she was biting her lip to stop herself from asking the really large security guard, who’d been glaring at her since she stepped in line, about him.

She’d made a deal.

She wasn’t allowed to ask about Sebastian or the feisty little tomboy who she’d been tempted to google last night and God, had she struggled against the urge to google them last night. She’d also been tempted to call her brother and ask him to do her dirty work for her, telling herself that Sebastian would never find out, but there was just something about the way that he said that he would know if she did that had Jamie rethinking that decision.

Besides, she had more important matters to focus on, like getting this job so that she could pay her rent next month than finding out if Sebastian ended up with Mikey, Jamie reminded herself even as she once again found herself glancing at that really angry security guard again and-

No, she promised that she wouldn’t do it.

She could wait until she was upstairs to find out the rest of Sebastian and Mikey’s story, Jamie told herself with a firm nod as she forced herself to look away from the large man currently narrowing his eyes on her, shifted, cleared her throat, and-

He would never find out.

Just one little question to hold her over. That’s all she needed, Jamie told herself as she stood there, sending the security guard who was still glaring at her a wistful look. She just wanted to know if Sebastian ended up with Mikey. That was it. She would just ask that one question and then, she would be able to focus on the reason that she was here.

To get an interview with the infamously elusive Sebastian Bradford and land a job that she really didn’t want so that she could pay her bills and avoid having to move back home, where she would have no choice but to share a room with her eighty-five-year-old grandmother who had an unhealthy obsession with ceramic dolls. She wanted to be a writer, and right now, this magazine was her best shot at making that happen.

Nothing else mattered.

She had one shot at getting this interview and she wasn’t about to waste it, Jamie decided as she waited for the person in front of her to finish going through security. As soon as it was her turn, Jamie slowly exhaled as she stepped in line and-

“Who are you here to see?” came the question that had Jamie looking up to find a small woman wearing a polite smile and a three-piece skirt suit waiting for an answer.

“I have an appointment with Sebastian Bradford at eleven,” Jamie said, licking her lips nervously as she adjusted her hold on the insanely heavy pizza in her arms as she did her best to balance the bag of fries on top.

Nodding, the small woman looked back down at the iPad in her hands as she followed that up with a softly murmured, “Name?”

Jamie opened her mouth to answer only to realize something important.

She never told Sebastian her last name.

When Jamie didn’t say anything, mostly because she had no idea how she was supposed to explain this, the small woman that she was really hoping would let her through glanced back up at her and repeated, “Name?” with a look that told her that this wasn’t going to end well.

Not knowing what else to say, she said, “Jamie Abbott?” wondering why that came out as a question while she struggled to figure out what she was supposed to do now.

Maybe she should call the main number and see if someone would take pity on her and put her through to his secretary. Then again, that also might be an issue since she’d been forced to cancel her cell phone last night after she came to the decision that it was a waste of money. Granted, the fact that the cell phone company already decided to shut off her service helped her come to that decision.

“Mr. Bradford is waiting for you, Miss Abbott,” came the warm response as the security guard who’d been glaring at her pushed away from the wall and gestured for her to come with him.

“This way, Miss Abbott,” he said, still glaring at her, she couldn’t help but notice.

Releasing a relieved sigh, Jamie followed the very angry-looking security guard to the bank of gold-plated elevators. Never taking his eyes off her, he reached over and pressed the call button. Clearing her throat, she once again adjusted her hold around the insanely heavy pizza and murmured, “These are lovely elevators.”

When he only continued to glare at her, Jamie mumbled, “I’ll just shut up now.”

That was followed by sighing with relief when the elevator doors slid open and following him onto the elevator, where she did her best to stare straight ahead as the elevator doors slowly closed. For a moment, Jamie was more than a little tempted to ask him if he knew anything about Sebastian, but…

She didn’t want to risk it.

So, Jamie kept her mouth shut, stared straight ahead, determined to get her interview, and tried not to think about the fact that she wasn’t going to be able to afford her much-needed coffee for the rest of the month, or any of the other problems that she felt was in her best interest to ignore at the moment. Knowing that she really didn’t have a choice, Jamie decided to just go with it and hope for the best.

A few minutes later, Sebastian’s assistant was greeting them with a warm smile and a murmured, “Mr. Bradford is waiting for you, Miss Abbott.”

“Thank you,” Jamie mumbled absently as the large security guard gestured for her to once again follow him. After a slight hesitation, Jamie slowly exhaled as she nodded, repeating all the lies that she’d been telling herself over the past few months to get through this and followed him through those double doors to find Sebastian Bradford sitting on the couch waiting for them.

As they walked into the large office, Sebastian stood up with a warm smile and made his way across the room to greet them. “Thomas,” he said, reaching over to shake the security guard’s hand as Jamie stood there, watching as the glare disappeared off the security guard’s face.

“Mr. Bradford,” Thomas said, returning Sebastian’s smile.

“How’s Samantha?” Sebastian asked, releasing Thomas’s hand so that he could reach over and relieve Jamie of the insanely heavy pizza in her arms.

“Cranky,” Thomas said, his smile turning fond as Sebastian set the food down on the coffee table with a soft chuckle as Jamie ran her gaze over the incredibly handsome man who’d ruined sleep for her last night, taking in everything from his neatly combed dark brown, almost black, hair to his freshly polished shoes before her gaze shifted to his left hand and-

Nothing.

There was no ring, tan line, or anything that would give her hope that he’d married Mikey. Then again, some men chose not to wear their wedding rings, Jamie thought, biting back a sigh as she looked up to take in the rest of the expensively decorated office when she saw it. It was brief, but she saw the questioning look that Sebastian sent Thomas and the barely noticeable shake of his head that followed.

Before she could wonder about that, Sebastian was absently murmuring, “Thank you, Thomas,” as he shifted his focus to her.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Bradford,” Thomas said, sending her a curious glance before he headed for the door.

“Now, where did we leave off?” Sebastian asked as he made his way to the mini bar on the other side of the large office.

“You were telling me what happened to Mikey?” Jamie asked, sounding hopeful and making him chuckle as he grabbed a couple of Cokes from the small fridge.

“You want to know what happened to Mikey?” Sebastian asked, throwing her a curious look as he joined her.

“Yes,” Jamie said as he handed her a Coke.

“I suppose I could do that,” Sebastian murmured, looking thoughtful as he sat down.

“So, you’ll tell me?” Jamie asked with a hopeful smile.

Chuckling, he said, “Not a chance in hell.”

“That’s what I thought,” Jamie muttered as her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Now, where were we…”