Page 44 of Some Sort of Happy (Happy Crazy Love 1)
After about fifteen minutes, he came out to the patio dressed in khaki pants and a
fitted navy blue button-down with the sleeves cuffed up. “This OK?”
“Of course. You look great.”
“I didn’t have time to shave.” He rubbed his chin. “Sorry.”
“Stop it. I like the scruff. And we are very casual, I promise. I texted my mom that I was bringing a friend to dinner, and she was delighted. But we better hurry so I have time to change.”
We pulled up between the big house and my guest house right at six thirty. Sebastian waited in the living room while I stealthily scooped a clean pair of panties from a drawer and flipped through casual dresses I had hanging on a rack beneath some corner shelves.
“That your closet? Very clever,” he said.
“Gotta make use of every inch of space in a place this small. OK, I’ll be right out.” I grabbed a flowy little dress with cami straps and a deep V neckline and ducked into the bathroom. Tossing my shorts, panties, socks and t-shirt in the hamper, I threw my hair up in a clip and quickly showered, then slipped on the new panties and the dress. Crap, was it too sexy? The neckline was low and I didn’t wear a bra with this dress, but the dress wasn’t tight or short, and the pretty floral pattern gave it a touch of innocence. I put on some deodorant, fluffed out my hair, and added a dab of perfume behind each ear. A quick swipe of pink lip gloss was the only makeup I had time for.
“OK, dressed,” I said, sliding open the repurposed barn door that now served as bathroom door. “Now shoes and we’ll go.”
Sebastian was standing by the window, hands in his pockets. He turned to me, his eyes traveling down my body. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he cleared his throat. “You got the bin pulls attached. I like them.”
“Me too.” I hurried over to the corner shelves, beneath which I had shoeboxes stacked, and dug out my light brown wedge sandals. “Actually, I’m happy with the whole place. Wish my mother wasn’t kicking me out of it next week. It’s rented for the summer,” I went on when I saw the question on his face. I shoved my feet into the sandals and tugged the straps over my heels.
He nodded in understanding. “So you need to find an apartment?”
“Yes.” I grabbed my phone off the table and led the way out, pulling the door shut behind him. “But before that happens, I’ll need to find that better paying job. Working for Natalie is fun, but it won’t pay my rent.”
Sebastian fell silent as we headed across the drive toward my parents’ house, and he walked sort of slowly and stiffly, like a prisoner headed for the guillotine.
“Hey.” I grabbed his hand. “No worries, OK?”
He looked down at our hands, his mouth set in a grim line.
“Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
“You know what I used to do when I’d get nervous before auditions?”
“What?”
“I’d imagine the very worst thing that could happen. Like forgetting my lines or falling on my face. Wetting my pants. Those things still wouldn’t kill me.”
He stopped walking right before we got to the front porch. “Except when I imagine the worst thing that could happen tonight, Skylar, I’m not wetting my pants. I’m stabbing someone.”
I turned to him. “Who are you stabbing?”
“I don’t know. Whoever’s closest.” His worried expression told me he was serious, and I was tempted to hug him, tell him he didn’t have to come to dinner if he didn’t want to, assure him I understood. But somehow I thought that wasn’t what he needed.
“Well, remind me not to sit next to you, then.” I headed up the steps. “Come on. Let’s do this.”
• • •
My family welcomed Sebastian warmly, Natalie giving me a smug smile behind his back as he shook our father’s hand.
“I take it things are going well,” she whispered on our way to sit down at the big antique table in the dining room, which was already laden with platters and serving bowls full of food.
I shrugged. “They’re OK.”
“I want details!”
