Roxanne's Redemption (4 page)

Staying this la
te at work was
partially
Ashley’s
fault
since
he was trying his best
to stay out of her way, but
staying out of her way
was
useless and he didn't know what else to do
t
o
make
he
r
finally understand
that
he d
id
n't want to date her. He sighed
as he drove home.
P
ull
ing
into his driveway
,
he
shut the
ignition
off and went inside
the house
. Sebastian closed the front door and cursed under his breath when the phone
started
ringing.

“Hello,” he answered
,
praying
it wasn’t Ashley.

“Sebastian.”

Michael.
Sebastian
didn’t
get to
see
his youngest brother as much as he use
d
to since he moved to Texas
and
got married
four years ago.
Sebastian
, Joshua
and
Adrian didn't approve
of
Michael’s
wife
,
but they’d stayed out of
his
business when
he’
d told them
he was old enough to make his own
decisions. They
knew
Amy
didn't love him and was using him, but
Michael
loved her too much
to
see
the real her
. Even though they didn't see him often
,
he
still
called
and they
visit
ed
him on the holidays
.

“Did you hear what I said
,
Sebastian?”

Shit! He’d been so caught up in his
own
thoughts that he’d forg
o
t
ten
he was still on the phone. “No
,
sorry
,
what did you say?”

There was a pause
,
and then in a rush
Michael
said, “I'm moving back to California.”

To say that
Sebastian
was surprise
d
was an understatement
,
and honestly
,
he didn't know what to say
,
so he
did the only thing he could.
“Anything I can help with
?”

“Yes
.
I bought a house
a month
ago
through a realtor
and my things are getting there in
another month or so
. The realtor will bring the keys to you
,
so
I wanted to know if you could collect them for me.”

“Sure
.
W
hen will you arrive?”

There was a pause again
before
Michael
answere
d,
“As soon as my divorce is
final
.”

Sebastian almost asked what
had
happened, but he knew Michael would tell him when he was ready
,
so instead he asked, “What about a job?”

“I already have a position
waiting for me at the hospital.”

“
Do
Adrian and Joshua
know
about this?” Sebastian asked.

“No, but you can tell them
.
I’ve got
to go
.
S
ee you when I get there,
”
he said before
hang
ing
up.

Sebastian replaced the phone and went upstairs, stripped out of his clothes and went into the bathroom to shower. After his shower he
got dressed
then
went to the kitchen and made dinner.
After
h
e
ate
,
he washed the dishes
then
called Joshua.

“Hello.”

“
Michael is moving back here.”

“How do you know that?”

“He just called
to
t
e
l
l
me.”

“What about his wife?”

“
He’s
coming when his divorce is final
.”

“Damn, I wonder why he’s divorcing
her
,
” Joshua
said
.

“He never said
,
and I never asked. Anyway
,
I’ll talk to you and Adrian on Friday
.
I need some sleep
,
but
I
wanted
you
to know
.”

“Goodnight
,
Sebastian.”

“
Night,
Joshua,” he replied
before hanging up
.

*
*
*
*

Before
going
to work
the next day
,
Roxanne
stopped by
a café
on the way
and
ordered
a cup of coffee
.
Thirty
minutes later
,
she pulled into Ferguson Graphics
,
picked
up
her handbag
along with the coffee
,
and then
got out of her car
,
locked up and walked
toward
the building.

Roxanne cursed under her breath
when
she saw the elevator door closing
like
yesterday morning.

“Hold that door
,
please,” she shouted and sigh
ed
in
relief when the doors
began open
ing again
.
S
he s
tepped inside and almost stepped
out when she saw Mr. GQ standing in the corner with a
model-
thin blonde next to him, but the doors closed before she could exit
.

Like
on
Monday
,
Mr. GQ was looking
delectable
in
a black suit,
today teamed with a
silver dress shirt and a silver and black striped tie.
Roxanne
was about to check if she was drooling, but she
didn't want to embarrass herself
.

“Good morning to you
,
too,” Mr. GQ said
,
grinning
.

“Good morning
.
T
hank
you for holding the elevator again
.”

The blonde snorted
, and
turning
to Mr. GQ
she
said, “So
,
Sebastian?”

“So what?” he replied
,
looking
as if
he was
getting
ready to run
even though the elevator doors were still closed.

“Want to
have
dinner with me tonight?”

Roxanne looked away
,
turn
ing
her laugh into
a
cough when Mr. GQ flinched.

“
I can’t
.
”

“Why not?”
asked
the blonde
as her eyes narrowed into slits
.

“I have a date
.
”

Chapter
Four

“With whom?” the blonde ask
ed
as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest and glared at him
.

I’d have to be deaf not to hear the claim she made on him in that one question,
Roxanne thought
then
reprimand
ed
herself
for
eavesdropping
.

Roxanne was trying
very hard
not
to
notice their conversation
that she
ha
dn't realize
d
Mr. GQ was beside her until he p
ut his hand around her shoulder
s
.
She
stiffened
.

“With her,
”
he replied.
H
e
r knees grew
so
weak, that she’d
thought she was going to faint.

“You
do?” Roxanne and the
woman
asked simultaneously
.

“Yes
,
” Mr. GQ
replied
.

He was smiling, but his eyes were pleading with her to agree if the
other woman asked
, so
Roxanne
relaxed a little.
The
other woman didn't
say anything
,
but her
lips were pressed into a tight line as she looked at Roxanne
.
When
the
elevator stopped
,
the
woman walked
out
.
Roxanne was about to
follow
when Mr. GQ gentl
y squeezed her shoulder
s
,
sh
a
k
ing
his head when she looked at him.

When the elevator doors opened again
,
she realized she was on tenth floor
.
H
er eyes widen
ed.
Mr. GQ ushered her into an office
and she stood
where he had left her,
frozen to the spot
a foot inside the room
.
She
was about to ask what he
was
thinking to
involve her in his personal life
when she spotted another
drool
-
worthy
male sitting on a black couch.

This one looked about the same height as Mr. GQ
.
H
e had cropped brown hair with blond highlights
,
and his
blue eyes were
twinkling as he looked
at Mr. GQ.
Roxanne
gritted her teeth and
glared at Mr. GQ
.

“Why did you do that?”
she asked
with a frown
.

He held out his hand
toward
her.
“Sebastian
Ferguson.
T
he
guy
on the couch is Nick Nelson. I'm not sorry
about what I did,
b
ut
I'm sorry about
the reason I did it.”

Roxanne gritted her teeth and balled her hands into tight fists at her side
s
as she
debated whether to strangle him or hit him with something
t
hen
his name
sank
in
. Her eyes widen
ed
when she realized she was debating whether to strangle
or hit
the owner of Ferguson Graphics
. She placed
he
r coffee
on his desk and dropped into
a
chair
,
then
looked
away
as
her heartbeat sped up and her palms
began to
sweat.