I was proofreading the press release for the last time before emailing it
to my boss, Sebastian, when Gina burst into my office.
“You’re never going to believe this, Gabby!” she exclaimed, shutting the
door behind her.
I smiled. I had been hard at work and could use a little gossip, and Gina
was just the person who would have all of the office dirt.
“What’s up?” I asked. I leaned back in my chair and propped my feet up on
my desk. Knowing Gina, this could take awhile.
“Sebastian just finalized his divorce!” she hissed in a loud whisper.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Really?” This actually was a
shocking piece of news. As vice president of marketing, I worked closely with
our boss, the president of the department. We travelled together frequently,
and he hadn’t told me he was getting a divorce. I thought Sebastian and his
wife were solid.
“Yes,” Gina continued excitedly. “He went out with some of the guys last
night and apparently got pretty toasty. He confided that Lindsay cheated on
him, with their housekeeper.”
“Wait.” I was confused. “They have a male housekeeper?”
“Nope.” Gina wriggled her eyebrows.
“Wow, I can’t believe he told them that!” I exclaimed. Sebastian’s
wife was a lesbian? How is that even possible? Sebastian is, well,
basically a Greek God. All of the girls in the office had a crush on
him. But he was off limits, a married man, and he wasn’t unavailable just
because he had a wife.
Sebastian kept to himself, another reason this news was surprising. As
much as we had travelled together to meet prospective clients over the last
year that I had been vice president, he had never talked much about, well, anything personal.
Of course I thought Sebastian was hot, just like every other woman who
worked at Wells & Sons, but it didn’t matter. Business was business. I had
pushed any thoughts of his chiseled face and, more importantly, what was
underneath the business suits he wore daily, out of my head.
“I know,” Gina was saying. “Isn’t that wild?” She had sat down in the
chair across from my desk, a sure sign she had more to say and wasn’t leaving
anytime soon.
“Hmm.” I tried to sound at least a little uninterested. After all,
Sebastian was my boss, and even though I enjoyed gossiping with Gina, I
had a certain level of professionalism to maintain.
“I haven’t even gotten to the best part, Gabs.” Gina leaned in
conspiratorially.
“The collapse of Sebastian’s marriage isn’t juicy enough?” I asked.
“Well, he also talked about you.”
I took my feet off my desk
and leaned forward. “Really?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah,” Gina said. “I told you he was kinda tipsy. According to Dave,
they started ranking all the women in the office, and you were top on his
list.”
My heart was racing and I willed my face not to turn red. I didn’t want
Gina to know how this news had affected me. I was going to Boston tomorrow with
Sebastian, for Christ’s sake! Although I was flattered that he had mentioned me
when discussing the girls of the office, I didn’t need any rumors flying
around.
Even though I shouldn’t have egged her on, I couldn’t help myself. “So
what exactly did he say?” I pressed.
Gina grinned. “He said that you had a nice rack.”
I laughed, in spite of myself.
“And he rated you most fuckable.”
This time I was sure my face had turned red. “Don’t be silly,” I
chastised Gina.
“I dunno. Dave’s got a big mouth but I don’t think he’s a liar.”
That was true. I was intrigued by this info but I couldn’t let it go to
my head. My job was the most important thing in my life. Even Sebastian St.
Charles wasn’t going to ruin that.
“Well,” I said lightly, “I’m sure Dave isn’t lying but I wouldn’t
be surprised if he was exaggerating just a bit. He’s kind of a pig.”
Gina snorted. “Yep. Can’t argue with that. I just thought you’d want to
know.” She
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