Her face falls. She replies, "It's tough not being able to love anyone, isn't it?"

Without hesitation, I say, "What if I regret saying that?"

She freezes, holding her breath.

I ramble, "What if maybe there was a woman I think I could fall in love with?" My pulse pounds between my ears.

She opens her mouth and then shuts it.

The roller coaster in my gut reappears. At record speed, I fall down the first hill and assert, "I lost my chance with you, didn't I?"

The silence is excruciating. I decide I've lost her, and there's no recovering from it, when she asks, "Is that what you want, Sebastian? A chance with me?"

"Yes. I want a real chance. No lies. No deceit. Just you and me," I claim.

"What about your family?" she asks.

My chest tightens. I shake my head. "I don't know what to do about that. If I tell them before Christmas—"

"Alexander will become CEO," she finishes.

I move over and put my hands over my face. "I'm done. My father will never forgive me."

A moment passes, and Georgia slides on top of me. She locks eyes with me and quietly says, "Or we can wait to fess up to them until after you're named CEO."

"But I don't want to pretend with you anymore," I admit.

She smiles. "Okay, then don't."

"I'm… Now I'm confused," I admit.

She tilts her head. "You've worked too hard, Sebastian. No one deserves to run Cartwright Enterprises more than you. And Alexander told me he doesn't want to take over, so what's the point of your father making that decision?"

"To teach me a lesson that I deserve," I offer.

She scoffs. "Maybe you do, but that's pretty harsh."

I caress her back, which is another thing that's been driving me crazy all night. No woman's back has ever turned me on so much. I ask, "What are you saying?"

"I'm suggesting... Well, I'm suggesting we finish out what we started, let you take over as CEO, then we can figure out what to do about this situation."

I don't speak for a while.

"Do you not want to be CEO?" she asks.

"Of course I do."

"Good. You're meant to be it," she claims.

"Thanks for your confidence," I tease.

"You're welcome. But I only say it because it's true. And I don't want to screw that up for you, Sebastian."

"You wouldn't be. It would be my fault," I assert.

She bites her lip.

"What?" I ask.

"Maybe so, but you couldn't have done this without my assistance," she declares.

I tighten my arms around her. "You are a pretty good assistant."

A tiny laugh escapes her.

"I love hearing you laugh," I confess.

"I love hearing you laugh," she states.

I admit, "I do it more when you're around."

Her face lights up. "Then maybe you should keep me around."