Roxanne's Redemption (5 page)

“Look
,
you have to fix this because I'm not going out on a date with you.”

“Sebastian, what did you do?”
Nick asked.

“Ashley cornered me in the elevator again and asked me on a date
.
I refused
by
sa
ying
I already had a date with
her
.”
He pointed at Roxanne.

Nick threw back his head and laughed
.
Roxanne cleared her throat
to get their attention.
“This is not funny. You have to fix this and I mean now. I don't want to be in the middle
of a personal problem
between you and
a
nother
woman
.” She
shook her head wildly
and stood up. She
began pacing as she tried to calm her racing heart
.

She could feel their eyes following
her but she didn't look at them.
“Look Miss…
?
”

“Roxanne.”

“
I'm desperate
,
Roxanne.
Please
help me,” he pleaded.

De
ep down
,
Roxanne knew
it
was a bad idea,
but he did
seem like he really needed help.
Besides
,
she ha
d
never turned
down
anyone
who
needed
her
help
before
,
and she wouldn’t start now
.

She sighed
.
“I’ll help you under one condition.”
His eyebrows rose
in question
.
“I’ll only
pretend
that
we’re dating in the presence of that woman,
” Roxanne told him,
“
but when she’s not
around
,
it
’
s back to boss and employee.”

“Al
l
right,
then
I’m taking you out
tonight
.”
She frowned.
“Think of it as practic
e
.
”
Then he smiled
,
and
she caved.

God! What had she gotten herself into by helping this man? “Okay
.
I’ll leave my
number
so
you can call and tell me where we’re eating when you decide
on the restaurant
.”
H
e nodded
and
she wrote her phone number on a piece of paper
,
handed it to him
,
then
left.

*
*
*
*

Sebastian sigh
ed
in
relief
.
At first
his
body had become
still
as he wai
ted for her answer
.
H
e thought she was going to refuse
,
but
when she didn't he’d relaxed his stiff posture with a bit of effort.

“I feel sorry for you
,
my friend,” Nick s
tated
with a
chuckle
.

“Why?”

“Because
you want nothing to do with the woman that does everything except tell you straight out that she wants you. But
the one
you want
looks ready to take off if
you
show how attracted you are to her.
”
Sebastian
scowl
ed
at the door
as
Nick
left
.

Nick was right
,
though
.
T
he one woman he wanted more than anything was the one that wanted to run away from him
.
And
the one he wanted to leave him
alone
was the one
who wanted him
. Maybe he should take Ashley up on her offer then dump her
afterward
.
He cringed.
H
e couldn’t
do it, plus
h
is mother
had
taught him better than
to disrespect a woman like
that
.

Besides he didn't want Ashley. He wanted Roxanne and he was going to make their pretend dating real
.

* * * *

When it was time to take her lunch
break
,
Roxanne debated
whether
she should go to the café or to a
nearby
restaurant.
If
she went to the café there was a possibility of running into that woman
—
Ashley
,
she
reminded herself
—
and she didn't feel like having a confrontation
.
But
if she chose a restaurant
,
she might run into
Sebastian,
too
,
and she wasn’t ready for
that
.

A
fter
leaving
his office earlier
,
all she could think about was what it would feel like
to have
his lips on hers
.
Their
date wasn’t even real
and
that
thought
made
her
almost hyperventilate
, while her heart raced
.

She sighed then decided
to go
to the café.
Eventually,
Ashley would confront her
,
and she
would
rather
get it over with
;
besides
,
between Ashley and
Sebastian,
it
would be better if she r
an
into
Ashley
. Once
Roxanne
got to the café
,
she
waste
d
no time ordering her lunch. As soon as
she
finished her meal
,
she cleaned up her table and head
ed
to the elevator
.
T
he door was about to close when Ashley
entered
and look
ed
at
Roxanne
as if
she
wasn’t suppose
d
to breath
e
the same air as her
.

Here is the confrontation I’ve been dreading,
Roxanne
thought.

“You know yo
u're not Sebastian’s type
,
right
?”
Ashley
commented
with a sneer
.

Roxanne was about to answer but decided against it. “
Why
don't you leave him
alone?
He wants me
,
not you
,
”
Ashley said
,
when Roxanne didn't reply.

If you only knew,
Roxanne
thought
,
still
keeping quiet
.

“Can you even please a man like Sebastian in bed?”
Ashley
asked.

Roxanne
ignored the question
.
This
had nothing to do with sex.
She
was just helping
Sebastian
,
nothing more. Wasn’t she?
S
he
shook her head
as she
stepp
ed
out
of
the
elevator
;
Ashley
was
already
miles away from her thoughts
.

Immediately after returning to
her office
,
Roxanne sat
down
wonder
ing
for the
t
enth time what
had
she
go
t
ten
herself into
by agreeing
to help Sebastian.
From the bits and pieces she
’d
picked from their conversation—if you could call it that—she
got the feeling
Ashley was obsessed with
Sebastian.
If
not him, then it had to be
his wealth.

Sure
,
Sebastian was gorgeous
,
so she could see w
hy Ashley was obsessed with him
.
T
hat
was
why
Roxanne
had to keep reminding herself their date wasn’t real. No matter how much she wanted it to be.
And she wanted it bad.

Chapter F
ive

Sebastian looked up from
his work
when he heard his office door open
.
He wondered idly if it was Roxanne, coming to tell him she couldn’t help anymore. He prayed it wasn’t so.
He
sighed in relief
when he
saw
Nick.

“I heard Ashley cornered Roxanne this afternoon in the elevator.”

Sebastian
tensed as his heart began pounding
. What did Ashley say to her? Did she consider changing her mind after
their conversation
?
What was he going to do if she did? He shook off his paranoia and tried to
relax
. This was ridiculous. The last time
something like this happened
was
when
he was fourteen and
Michael went missing
.
He hadn’t panicked a day since
;
until today
that is
.

“Is she al
l
right?”
he
asked
knowing Nick would be able to hear
the
panic
in his voice
, but not caring at the moment
.

“Yes, she came out of the elevator in one piece
. And before you ask
,
I know because Allison told me.”

“Allison
.
A
s in the redhead on the fourth floo
r
?
A
re
you two dating?” Sebasti
an ask
ed
as he cocked his head to the side and waited
.
For
as long as he’d known
Nick,
the man had never had a steady relationship
,
only fuck buddies
—
his words.

Nick sighed before answering
,
“Use
d
to.”

Sebastian frowned.
“What do you mean?”

“I was
planning
to break it off
today
, because ever since her friend got married she began dropping little hints about her marrying and settling down
.”

Sebastian barely contained his wince. “
One day you're gonna find a woman you want to spend your life with and she’s going to give you hell
.”

“
Sure, sure
,” Nick
mumbled before leaving.