The Billionaire from Her Past by Leah Ashton Page B

sure—she just thought they were pretty.
    Mila found herself smoothing her T-shirt against her hips as she walked towards Seb, but she stopped herself. She didn’t have to worry about looking nice for Seb. Besides, she was wearing a variation of what she wore every day—skinny jeans and a loose T-shirt with a loud print. Today the print was of nasturtiums. She wasn’t trying to impress anyone . Certainly not Seb.
    He’d seen her as soon as she’d walked in, his smile wide and welcoming. Mila grinned back. See. This was nice .
    She’d popped over to see if he was free for lunch. She’d made too much pasta last night, so thought she’d invite him up to her place for leftovers. Surely you couldn’t get more relaxed and friend-like than that .
    Although with the way her heart accelerated as she took in his work shirt, shorts and heavy boots...which she still wasn’t used to and still really rather liked...she decided that maybe she’d bring their bowls of penne downstairs, and they could eat in the workshop—with Sheri as a chaperon, of sorts.
    Oh, God . She was being ridiculous. Because what had happened on Friday at the beach markets had been a good thing. She was at pains to remind herself of that. Was there any better way to define their friendship then to bring another women into the equation? Seb should have gone after her, and spoken to her. She’d looked nice. Very pretty, too.
    There was simply no reason why he shouldn’t have. Least of all because of the way Mila had felt when she’d spotted them, her arms full with paella and a box of cupcakes.
    She should probably have expected that seeing Seb with another woman would feel like a knife to her heart. That seemed dramatic now, but it was how she’d felt. She’d stood there for a moment, utterly still, her insides all sliced up with pain.
    Which was silly. She had no right.
    Seb had made it clear—for him, being with Mila was wrong, even though for her it had felt right. And she just couldn’t argue with that. He could wrap it up in talk of being ‘terrible at relationships’ , blah-blah-blah. But how stupid—as if Seb would never be with anyone else after Steph.
    He just didn’t want to be with her .
    Seb asked the person on the phone to hold on for a moment, before holding his phone against his chest. ‘Sorry, Mila, I’ll only be another minute. I’m having a major issue with this supplier—’
    â€˜That’s fine,’ she said with another smile. She wasn’t in a hurry.
    â€˜How are you, Mila?’ Aaron asked, behind her.
    Glad for something to do, she turned to face him. He really was quite handsome, although in a surfer, music festival kind of way.
    â€˜I’m good,’ she said. ‘Busy day?’
    They chatted for a few minutes. Aaron had recently bought a new car that he described enthusiastically. Cars weren’t really Mila’s thing, but then she’d told all and sundry when she’d first got her new kiln, so she understood the excitement of a big, shiny toy.
    From the corner of her eye Mila saw Seb turn slightly away from them. His words were still calm, but there was definitely a layer of steel in what he said.
    â€˜So I was wondering...would you like to go see it? With me?’
    â€˜Pardon me?’ Mila said, suddenly realising the conversation had moved on from cars and their stereo systems.
    Aaron’s gaze was confident and his lips quirked upwards. ‘I asked if you wanted to see Agent X —you know, that spy movie? It’s cheap night tonight.’ He paused. ‘Not that I’d mind paying for full-priced tickets for you, of course.’
    Mila laughed at his aplomb, then realised he was being serious.
    â€˜Oh,’ she said.
    â€˜Unless,’ Aaron said, ‘you’ve got something going with my boss? Only I heard him tell one of the other guys you were just friends, so I