Lost in Time (Forever and Always #20) by E. L. Todd Page A

brother.”
    “Sean, I can stay home. I’ll be fine.”
    I didn’t like the idea of her being all by
herself. “Stay with my parents. They won’t mind.”
    “Sean,” she said firmly. “I’m perfectly
capable of taking care of myself. Honestly, I probably won’t even
leave the house.”
    I felt like an asshole for leaving her.
“You’re sure?”
    “Yes. Don’t worry about me.”
    “Impossible.”
    “Sean, just do it.”
    “Okay.”
    Silence stretched between us.
    “I’ll let you get back to work,” she
whispered.
    “Okay. I’ll see you when I get home.”
    “Alright.”
    “I love you, baby.”
    “I love you too.”
    I hung up then hit the intercom. “Send her
back in.”
    “Yes, sir,” my assistant said.
    Aris entered the room. “So?”
    “I’ll come with you.”
    “Great,” she said. “I’m glad we worked this
out.”
    “When are we leaving?”
    “Tomorrow morning.”
    “Okay,” I said. “I’ll see you then.”
    “I’ll get the tickets.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I can get my own.”
    “Okay,” she said reluctantly.
    I nodded to the door. “Have a good day.”
    Her lips pressed together in a tight smile
before she walked out.
    I grabbed the phone on my desk and called
Cortland’s extension. “Hey, come to my office.”
    “Okay. I’m about to head down to the servers.
There’s a maintenance issue.”
    “Come to my office now. It’s important.”
    “I’m on it, boss.” He hung up.
    A minute later he walked inside. “What’s
up?”
    “I need you to come to Paris with me in the
morning.”
    His eyes narrowed and his lips tightened. He
looked thoroughly confused. “Huh?”
    “I’m signing contracts and I need you to
accompany me.”
    “Why?” he blurted.
    “I just need you to be there.”
    “But…what am I going to do?”
    I sighed. “I just need you there,
alright?”
    “Sean, what’s this about? Honestly, the last
thing I want to do is be taken away from my fiancé right now.
Unless you really need me, I’d rather not go.”
    I knew I had to tell him the truth. “The vice
president of the operations company made a pass at me. She
basically asked me to have an affair with her and she wouldn’t give
me the technology unless I did as she asked.” His eyes widened.
“Obviously, I said no. Today, she came back and asked to accompany
her back to Paris where the president would sign the contracts. I
think she’s being genuine but I don’t trust her. I need you there
as a witness and for protection.”
    Cortland’s mouth opened in shocked. “So,
basically I’m a cock block?”
    “Exactly.”
    “Wow…does Scarlet know?”
    “No. I’m not going to tell her either.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
    “Because I know she wouldn’t care anyway,” I
said bitterly.
    Cortland stared at me for a moment, concern
in his eyes. “Everything alright with you guys?”
    “She told me she doesn’t care when women hit
on me. She’s so secure with my love for her and trusts me
implicitly. As a result, she doesn’t get jealous and she doesn’t
care when women want to sleep with me.” It pissed me off all over
again.
    “Am I missing something…? That’s a good
thing, right?”
    “Not really,” I spat. “How can she not care?
I know that I love her more than she loves me and I’m perfectly
fine with it, but she doesn’t care just a little?”
    “Then why do you want me to go with you?”
    I shrugged. “I just feel better about the
whole thing. Even if Scarlet doesn’t care, I wouldn’t want her to
travel abroad with some guy that had the hots for her. I’d feel
sick the whole time. If I bring you along, the slut probably won’t
try anything.”
    “Or maybe she’d want to have something with
the both of us…?” He smirked.
    “Any other time, that would be funny. But not
now.”
    He shrugged. “I know you said you aren’t
going to tell Scarlet, and it really is none of my business, but
maybe this is something she should know about.”
    “I