Chapter 161

Cecilia I blinked, swallowed, and tried to remember how to form sentences. Okay. Deep breath. I was already at this surprise dinner-slash-ambush. There was no backing out now. Straightening my spine, I turned to him with the most polite, professional tone I could muster. "Okay, well… you make yourself comfortable, Alpha. I'll just give Harper a hand in the kitchen." It was formal. Safe. The kind of thing you'd say to your boss at a mandatory team-building barbecue. But Sebastian—damn him—just smiled that slow, knowing smile that always spelled trouble. "Cece,"he said softly, "we're off the clock." Time stopped. Seriously, I think the universe itself held its breath. There was a beat of silence so thick you could cut it with a dull butter knife. Then— THUD. A potato slipped from Harper's shocked grip and rolled dramatically across the floor like a prop in a bad sitcom. Sawyer, still red-eyed from onion duty, stared with such wide-eyed horror that a fresh tear leaked out on pure emotion