Just from that simple touch. Oh, wow.
If Sebastian had guessed how she was feeling, he didn’t indicate it. His gaze was on his family as they grabbed cups of coffee, bitched about the hour, and generally prepped for the cameras. The assistant with the boom mic moved into place the moment Amber slid into her seat, and then they were all gathered.
“All right, Nugget,” his mother said, pursing her lips as she drank from her coffee. “Tell us what you want us to hear.”
Sebastian’s hand stroked down Chelsea’s arm, and she had to fight back a shiver of delight at that simple touch. “I feel like it needs to be stated again. I know we’re not a normal family, and no one in this family does things the normal way. Including, it seems, me.” He looked over at Chelsea and gave her a warm, easy smile that made her stomach flutter. “Because I met Chelsea and knew we were meant to be. We dated fast, and we married fast. And we’re happy. She’s my wife, and I’m tired of her being harassed by people in this family. She’s here to stay.”
Mrs. Cabral sniffed. “That’s a very nice speech, Nugget, but I don’t see why you’d marry that whore instead of Lisa, who loves you.”
Lisa’s face turned beet-red.
Sebastian stood up, his chair scraping backward with a screech. “If you call my wife a whore again, Mother, we’re done here. For good.”
The room grew unspeakably tense, and Chelsea felt awkward. Lisa looked like a deer trapped in headlights, and Sebastian vibrated with anger.
“Kitten, kitten,” Sebastian’s father said in a tired voice. “Enough with the words. She looks like a good girl.”
“Hmph,” said Mrs. Cabral. “He’s a billionaire. How do I know she’s not after him for his money?”
“We signed a prenup,” Chelsea offered. “I really don’t want his money, just his company.”
“He doesn’t have any companies,” Mrs. Cabral cried shrilly. “His money is inherited—”
“Shh, shhh,” Sebastian’s father said, and his wife quieted down. “She means she enjoys being with him. Do not be so quick to judge, my love.” He smiled kindly at Chelsea. “What is it you do?”
Oh, now she felt stupid. “I make custom soaps and sell them online.” It seemed like such a small, petty career, and for the first time in her life, she wished she’d finished college so she could say something smarter, like lawyer or biologist.
But Amber perked up, leaning forward over the table. “Soaps? Really? Can I have some?”
“Sure. I can make you a few. Do you have a particular scent you like?”
“Patchouli.”
“We are not having patchouli in this house,” Mrs. Cabral said. “It smells like hippies.”
“Then jasmine,” Amber fired back, and mouthed to Chelsea, patchouli.
“Can I have some, too?” Lisa asked. “Whatever scent you have.”
“Sure.” She tugged on Sebastian’s belt, since he was still standing and looking frustrated at his family. “Sit down, Basty.”
That got his attention. He shot her a not you, too look and thumped into his seat. “All right, then,” Sebastian said after a moment. “Are we clear? Chelsea is my wife. She is not the antichrist. I did not rent her by the hour.” He shot a scathing look at his mother. “I love her. And we want to be left alone by the cameras, by the dive-bomb filming, everything.”
Chelsea stiffened in her seat and tried to remain casual as Sebastian took her hand in his again.
He loved her?
Or was that just for the cameras?
“Mama Precious will not interfere,” Sebastian’s father said in his wavering voice. “She will leave you two alone so you can enjoy your new marriage.” And he gave them both a wrinkly smile.
“But, Daddy Money.” Mrs. Cabral pouted. “Be fair.”
He patted her on her manicured hand. “I am being fair, kitten. Remember what it is like to be young and newly married. The last thing we wanted on us was cameras.”
To Chelsea’s surprise, Mrs. Cabral tittered and leaned in and kissed her ancient husband on the cheek.
Amber made a face. “Gross.”
“Besides, you have your cancer story line for this season,” Mr. Cabral said in a reasonable voice. “Save something for next year.”
Mrs. Cabral looked thoughtful and then nodded.
Well, at least that was settled. Sebastian squeezed her hand again and she should have felt relieved, shouldn’t she?
But she kept going back to his words. I love her.
This marriage had started out a sham for the cameras, or rather, to avoid the cameras. Was it just another lie?
Chapter Nineteen
Chelsea was quiet as she prepped her derby bag for that night’s bout. He worried about her, and couldn’t help but hover around as she packed her socks and her freshly aired-out knee pads and her newly cleaned uniform.
“You okay?” he asked from the doorway.
“Yep. Just trying to get my head in the game.” She didn’t look at him, fiddling with the zipper on her bag instead. “We’re playing a tough team tonight, so I need to start living and breathing derby right about now.”
“Is that why you’re heading out early?”
She slung her bag over her shoulder and nodded. Gone was the demure floral dress from this morning. In its place was a pair of jeans with ripped knees, and a T-shirt that read Keep Calm and Skate On. “Yeah, we’re having some warm-ups and team building before we get on the track.”
He nodded and hung out in the doorway a bit longer. “You’re not upset about this morning, right?”
“About your mother calling me a whore? It wasn’t the first time, and it probably won’t be the last.” She grinned at him and moved to pinch his cheek. “I’m not worried about it at all. I know you don’t think I’m a whore, so we’re all good.”
“I think you’re pretty amazing, actually.” The words came out of him easily, and when she stiffened, he wondered if he’d made a mistake in confessing it. But it was true. The more time he spent around Chelsea Hall—now Chelsea Cabral or Chelsea Hall-Cabral, he supposed—the more he wanted to be with her. Wanted to hear that cheery laugh of hers. Feel her soft skin pressed against his as she slept next to him, her cold feet on his leg.
He wanted all of Chelsea, damn it. If his family had fucked this up for him, he’d never forgive them.
She gazed up at him, head cocked. “Wanna come to the bout tonight?”
Sebastian was surprised at her offer. “You’re sure? I don’t want to intrude.”
“It’s probably going to be crowded. And people are going to be rowdy. And I’m probably going to get a few smacks to the face, so I don’t want you rushing on the track to save me because I’m a girl.” She said the words derisively.
“First of all, I would never rush onto the track to save you, because you can kick everyone’s ass out there.” At her delighted laugh, he continued. “And second of all, I’m fine with you getting a few smacks to the face as long as you elbow them back.”
“Elbows aren’t allowed,” she teased as she slid past him. “Everything else is, though.”
“Well, then, I have to go to cheer on my derby wife, don’t I?”
“Oh, my god, that’s so cute.” She turned and patted him on the chest. “But Pisa’s my derby wife. You’re just my man. You don’t get a special title.”