Sweet

I went down to the side of the stairs where Sebastian was waiting.

"Congratulations. You're amazing," he took my trembling hand, holding it gently. I stopped breathing when he closed our distance and kissed my temple.

Oh God. How I miss his wonderful manly scent. This week has been terrible, waiting for our next date. The moment I saw him, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and hugged him so tight.

But, I had to keep my composure and act unaffected by his presence.

"Thanks," I said. "Same to you for winning an award."

He looked so devastatingly gorgeous in his black tuxedo, and when he smiled, darn it, it made all my insides swirled deliciously.

Still clasping my hand, he drew me closer and locked my arm with his.

"You look so ravishing. I'm sure you know that," he whispered, his face so close against mine. I knew I was blushing so hard. But before I could answer, he led me to the crowd of people, who congratulated me, "if you don't mind, my parents want to meet you. But if you'd rather not, it's okay. They would understand."

"Of course I want to meet them," the truth was, my heart pounded so fast at the thought of meeting them. I messed up with their son, and that means I hurt them too.

"Thanks," he gave me that tantalizing smile again that turned my knees into jelly. I let him lead me to the VIP area, where the group of extremely wealthy businessmen and entrepreneurs gathered.

Some people congratulated me when we entered the area, until we reached the far end, where his parents' table was.

Sebastian's mother, Elena Pallis Stavrakos, looked so elegant in a gold shimmering dress. She was sipping a bubbly drink while her husband, Adonis Stavrakos, whispered something in her ear. While their daughter, Luna, was busy scrolling her phone.

I was more anxious to meet Sebastian's mother. Elena was an example of a very strong, confident woman and is not afraid to voice out her opinion. Some tabloids labeled her as a tigress in the financial world because of her unpredictable temper and less tolerance for people who drag her down.

My heart hammered so fast as we stood in front of his family.

Elena turned, and instantly, her dark cold eyes met mine.

"Sweet, I want you to meet my family."

"Congratulations, Miss Treble for your award. Well-deserved success," Adonis Stavrakos stood up and shook my hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Stavrakos. Same to you for your company's success as the best innovative for many years."

"This is my sister, Luna," Sebastian extended his hand briefly to the beautiful dark-haired young woman in an all-black long sleeve outfit. I could not determine if her clothing style was gothic, conservative or Victorian.

"Hi, Luna. Nice meeting you."

"The pleasure is mine. I read some of your blogs," her face flushed a little, "specifically topics about crime and mystery books."

"Oh, really? Thanks."

"She can't wait to go to university next week," Sebastian announced proudly.

"So does my brother." I remembered her encounter with Colton in the elevator. I wondered if she already figured out that the guy she punched was my brother.

"Is that so?" she crossed her arms together, "tell him not to act like some kind of Sicilian gangster, if he wants to create a good impression with the girls."

I smiled a little. Ah, she knows.

"Sure, I'll tell him that."

Sebastian and I moved closer to his mom - the cause of my anxiety.

"Finally, we met. I heard so much about you, Miss Treble," Elena's expression was placid as she looked at me with observant eyes.

Her statement made me swallow so hard.

"It's an honor to meet you, Mrs. Stavrakos. I read your book, the memoirs, and I'm quite impressed. Like you, I'm also an advocate of women empowerment."

"It's good to know we have something in common aside from Sebastian."

That stopped my track. She made it pretty obvious that she did not approve of me dating her son.

Thank goodness, I was saved when some older men approached their table. Sebastian left my side and joined the men talking briefly about the wine business. Elena stood beside me, holding her wineglass loosely with her fingers.

"I must say that this is the first time Sebastian introduced us to a woman. Congratulations, you managed to tame him."

"I take that as a compliment, Mrs. Stavrakos," I smiled politely, "your son is actually a nice guy."

"Too bad, you judged him and threw him off the gutter OnLive TV," she snapped before Sebastian came back and stood beside me.

Darn it. I know she would do the same and more if she was in my place.

"Ready to go?" Sebastian asked, cutting the meeting.

"Sure," I nodded, and I said goodbye to his family.

"What did Mom say?" He asked when he walked me back to my seat, "I'm sure she said something to you. You're suddenly silent."

Should I tell him that his mother made sure I knew she did not approve of us dating? That would cause a conflict between Elena and Sebastian. I would not want that to happen.

I decided not to bother to tell him. What's the point when I'd be out of his hair in two months.

"Girls' stuff. It won't interest you," I smiled lightly.

"It never occurred to me we'd be attending the same event. I asked you, but you mentioned you have another engagement."

"Right, but I couldn't come with you. Marie was supposed to be with me, but she backed out at the last minute. That's the reason I'm with my brother, who is too happy to come here for the food."

"Looks like he was enjoying his lobster earlier," he agreed.

We both laughed, and I saw Jace walking towards us, smiling.

"Congrats again, Sweet. That was a nice acceptance speech."

"Thank you, Jace," I smiled back at him.

"I believe the event will wrapped up pretty soon. I'll see you and Colton later to celebrate. We can grab some coffee and donuts, just like the old days."

"Um...," I looked at Sebastian, his face was filled with rage.

"Seriously? You asked her out in front of me?" Sebastian blurted angrily.

"Why not? Sweet's not your girlfriend. She's free to hang out with anyone," Jace reasoned out.

"Just so you know, we're exclusively dating."

"It's the same thing, man. You're not in a relationship. Don't be too controlling of her. I never was when we were together."

"I don't need your advice," Sebastian's eyes narrowed, as he stepped closer to Jace, "what you need to know is your place. Stay away from Sweet, what you had with her is over."

"Okay, that's enough," I butted in, standing between them, "I'm sorry, Jace. I can't go with you later. I'm tired."

"How about tomorrow morning?"

"I don't know... I'll be busy helping Colton move in his dorm."

Jace looked disappointed, but forced a smile, "okay, no worries. We can hang out some other time," he looked briefly at Sebastian then left us.

"Shall we?" Sebastian seemed pleased that I rejected Jace's invitation. He offered his arm again as we headed back to my table.

Colton was cold and unwelcoming when I introduced him to Sebastian, but still shook the latter's hand. He had to after I gave him a warning look. He knew I wouldn't give him an allowance if he'd behave badly.

Sebastian obviously noticed. He bade goodbye by giving me a kiss on my temple.

The tingling feeling of his lips on my skin was overwhelming. It was like electricity that traveled all over my body, making my nerves jump with joy.

"How could you allow that bastard to kiss you?" Colton muttered angrily the moment Sebastian left. "Do you have amnesia? He pulled Andrews out from buying our potatoes just a month ago. You're even into this dating deal to save our business."

"I'm not forgetting anything. I'm just trying to keep a positive outlook on everything."

"Positive outlook, huh? You said you couldn't stand the guy, and now, it seems like you're enjoying every minute of his company."

I sighed, feeling guilty because he hit the truth.

"Hope you'll understand my situation. It's difficult, when plenty of eyes are on me now that I'm dating one of the most eligible billionaires in the world. Sometimes, I don't know how to act anymore. I can't even determine if I'm pretending or not. Even my feelings are confusing me."

He tapped my back, comforting me.

"I'm sorry, Sweet. I don't want to give you a hard time. I'm just worried that you'll end up getting hurt."

I shook my head and gave him the assurance, "don't worry, I won't."

The event was about to end and I was sitting there, feeling more confused. It scares me that I was feeling too strongly for Sebastian, when I shouldn't be.

I thought of my conversation with Colton, and he was right, I could get hurt.

Everyone stood up ready to go, but I was still weighing my feelings.

"Come on, Sweet. Let's go?" Colton said.

"Wait," I stood up and ran to the crowd and found the person I was looking for.

He turned to me, looking so cute, with his boyish grin. We met halfway, and stood in front of each other.

"Hi," I smiled at Jace, then asked, "is your invitation for coffee tomorrow still open?"