Are you there?
She bit down on the inside of her cheek, not really wanting to answer. She’d been avoiding returning his calls, having realized his persistence in trying to reach her meant he probably hadn’t taken the no to his marriage proposal seriously.
Not to mention, the texts from her friends who’d heard from him that she’d turned him down informed her that they thought she was crazy. He was a catch, they said. He obviously loved her, he could give her a good life … blah, blah, blah. She knew all those things, and they hadn’t changed her mind about turning him down.
She blew out a breath and wrote him back, knowing she couldn’t avoid it much longer. I’m here. Busy with family and helping out with the business. In other words, she wasn’t planning on returning just yet.
Oh. I was hoping to hear you were wrapping things up there… I miss you.
“Oh damn,” she muttered. “Why are some men so stubborn?” she asked aloud.
“Should I be offended?” Sebastian’s deep voice sounded from behind her. “Disparaging my sex?”
She laughed at that. “If the shoe fits…”
He leaned down, looking over her shoulder, his body heat permeating her skin, the warm, male scent of him arousing her senses.
She squirmed in her seat, her nipples hardening at his mere closeness. She smelled his delicious scent; she felt him hovering over her. It had been so long since she’d been sexually affected by a man this way, it was all she could do not to moan in her seat.
“Who is Jonathan?” he asked, taking her off guard.
She flipped her iPad over so he couldn’t read her personal texts. “None of your business.” His words drew her out of the haze she’d allowed herself to indulge in.
“He obviously misses you. Is he someone you were seeing back in London?” Sebastian asked, an edge in his voice as he pushed for an answer.
She curled her fingers around the device, well aware he hadn’t moved, was still leaning over her, hovering in her personal space.
The iPad dinged again.
“Come on, turn it over. See what lover boy wants.”
With a frown, and curious herself, she flipped the tablet. Come home so we can work things out.
“Pushy SOB,” Sebastian muttered.
“You don’t even know him. He’s a perfectly nice man.” She found herself defending Jonathan, even as she did her best not to wince at the pathetic way her description of him sounded. Unfortunately it was true. Jonathan was a perfectly pleasant man.
Behind her, Sebastian snickered. “I suppose the sex is perfectly nice, too.”
She couldn’t believe he’d go there. Of all the nerve! She jumped up from her seat, leaving her iPad on the table, while he walked around, meeting her face-to-face in the aisle.
“Problem?” he asked, an amused smile on his too handsome face.
She settled her hands on her hips, not willing to let him make fun of her. “Sex isn’t everything in a relationship. There are other things that are more important.”
He raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised at her pronouncement. “Like what?” He stepped closer, invading her space, his delicious scent almost a part of her.
She hesitated and he jumped on her reticence. “Tell me, Ashley, what’s more important between a couple than sex?”
Her mouth ran dry but she managed to answer. “Shared interests, kindness, understanding.”
“But not sex?” His eyebrows raised high. “You’re telling me it doesn’t matter to you if a man turns you on? If just being with him makes your panties wet?” His voice grew deeper, huskier. “If just looking at him makes your nipples turn hard, like yours are now?”
She refused to glance down and see that he was right. She already felt the dampness between her legs, the slick pulsing of her sex. Just from being near Sebastian. She swallowed hard.
“Tell me, Ashley, does lover boy have you panting like I did eight years ago?” He paused, then, “When he sticks his tongue into your mouth, do you find yourself rubbing your breasts against his chest? Your pussy into his thigh?”
He reached up and ran his thumb across her damp lower lip. “Does he make you breathe as heavily as you are now?” His face was now inches from hers, his eyes darkened with desire. “Are you really telling me this isn’t important?” His thumb pressed deeper into her lip, need filling her more with every breath.
She couldn’t answer him. Couldn’t deny his words. Not when she wanted him down to the very depths of her soul.
He leaned in slowly, giving her every opportunity to push him away or to walk away herself. Except she didn’t. She remained in place, her lips hovering near his.
She didn’t know who moved first. Couldn’t say and didn’t care. Because in a heartbeat, his mouth was on hers. Tasting. Devouring. Reminding her that when the yearning was mutual, sex was important, and in this moment, that desire blocked out every rational thought that tried to break through and remind her of why being with Sebastian this way was a very bad idea.
His tongue swept into her mouth, tangling with hers, a delicious counterpoint to the throbbing between her legs, as she kissed him back, all hesitance, all thoughts gone but one.
She wanted him.
She raised her hands, wrapping her arms around his shoulders while his palms had settled firmly on her hips, holding her in place for a kiss that was more like a feasting.
He tasted delicious, all man and Sebastian, his mouth firmly on hers, telling her he was in charge.
And in this moment, she liked it that way. She wanted him to take her out of her head, to show her the pleasure she’d claimed meant nothing, the gratification she’d wanted to deny.
Instead she lost herself to the sweep of his tongue, the bite of his teeth on her lip, the suction of his kisses as his mouth moved over her cheek and along her jaw. She moaned at the sensual assault, lost in the way he made her feel.
He nibbled down her neck, sucking on her collarbone until she was a trembling mess in his arms. Only the firm grip of his arm, which had, at some point, moved around her waist, held her jelly-like legs up at all.
Suddenly he lifted his head, meeting her gaze, his blue eyes a deeper than normal shade. “Think about that when you remember the perfectly nice guy waiting for you in London.” He set her firmly on her feet, waited until she was steady, until she could hold herself up without the dizzying assault on her senses affecting her.
Only then did he stride over to the bar and pour himself a glass of whiskey. Taking a sip, he met her gaze and held her stare, desire still pulsing between them.
God, the man was frustratingly smug and extremely potent. And what was she thinking? Just out of one relationship, letting a man she’d just barely forgiven nearly give her an orgasm midair without even touching her?
His grin drove her insane, and she tore her gaze away and walked to her seat, sitting down, all too aware of her soaked underwear, the desire he’d awakened remaining alive inside her.
She tried to focus on her tablet, pulling up a book to read, but the words swirled together on the page.
She didn’t know whether to be embarrassed at how easily she’d fallen apart in his arms, angry at him for kissing her, or annoyed with herself for allowing it. After all, he’d given her the opportunity to walk away. She hadn’t. She’d let him goad her into that kiss.
Gah!
He spilled out the remainder of his drink and walked back to his seat beside her, sitting down, picking up his laptop, and going back to work. But not before glancing her way and treating her to a wink and a sinful smile, the dimple in his cheek she’d been ignoring since her return coming out to play.
One she was afraid, if alone with him for any period of time, she wouldn’t be able to resist.
* * *
Kissing Ashley hadn’t been on Sebastian’s agenda when he’d walked onto the plane. Convincing her she could trust him again had been. But Sebastian didn’t do competition well, probably because women had always come easy to
him. To hear that Ashley had a man waiting for her burned in his gut. Jealousy was an unfamiliar emotion, but it had swept over him completely. All he’d been able to think about, to do, was give her something to compare and contrast to that asshole nice guy back in London.
Now he was possessed by the feel of her in his arms, the warm scent of her skin, and the luscious taste of her lips. But he couldn’t forget that he had a job to do. One that was important not just to him personally but to his entire family professionally. The business had been started by his great-great-grandfather, and Sebastian refused to have their biggest contract end because he couldn’t fix things here. Shifting his focus wouldn’t be easy, but he knew how to compartmentalize when he needed to.
They arrived at the luxury hotel near their company’s San Francisco office close to midnight Pacific time, and the woman behind the desk checked them in.
“Your company suite is ready for you, Mr. Knight,” she said. “How many keys would you like?”
“Two,” Sebastian said.
“Wait, what do you mean, company suite? I want my own room,” Ashley said, leaning against the counter.
The brunette helping them shook her head. “I’m sorry but we’re all booked. There are two bedrooms in the suite, however.” She glanced between Ashley and Sebastian, obviously anxious that she couldn’t please them both.
“Excuse us a minute.” He took Ashley’s arm and pulled her aside, beneath a large fake tree in the lobby. “We’re adults, Ashley. You’ll have your own room. In the suite. Can we just get settled? We’ve been traveling all night, and I don’t know about you but I’m beat.” Tiredness had seeped into his bones, a dull throb settling in the base of his skull.
She frowned, obviously not happy.
“Come on. It can’t be a hardship for you to share a suite with me. I mean, I’ve already apologized for the past. We made peace.”
“Then you kissed me on the plane,” she hissed.
He raised an eyebrow at the accusation. “Can you really say I kissed you? I mean, was it crystal clear who made that ultimate move?”
Her gaze narrowed even more, but he shook his head, knowing he was right. “I’ll control myself,” he promised. It was the best he could do to get her to agree to the sleeping arrangements. He doubted she’d be happy on a couch in the lobby of the hotel.
“Even if I prance around in tight sweats and no bra?” she tossed back at him.
Really? She was going there? “I’m a grown man,” he assured her, through gritted teeth. “I can keep my hands to myself.” He raised both palms in the air in a promise he knew he’d hate to have to keep.
And after her response to him on the plane, he knew he shouldn’t have to. But the next move clearly wouldn’t be his, he thought, wondering if she had the guts to step up and act on her desire.
“And that’s what you should have said back when your father asked you,” she muttered, her arms folded across her chest.
It was his turn to frown at the fact that she couldn’t just let it go. “Last I heard, when you accepted an apology, you left the past where it belongs. In the past.”
Her sexy lips pushed out in a pout, but her next words belied her expression. “You’re right. So fine to the suite. I can be an adult, too,” she said on a sigh.
He chalked her argumentative behavior up to exhaustion, and with that settled, he strode back to the desk clerk and completed their registration, handing Ashley a key card.
Exhausted, they made their way to the twelfth floor and walked to the end of a long hallway, where Sebastian let them into the suite.
A few minutes later, a bellman delivered their luggage and, at Ashley’s direction, put her bag in one room and Sebastian’s luggage in another.
Sebastian tipped the man and he walked out.
“I’m tired,” she said, meeting his gaze. “I’m going to turn in. What time do you want to get going in the morning?”
“I’ll order room service. We can eat here and leave by eight thirty. We’re just a few blocks from the office. We’ll be there by nine.”
She nodded and closed herself in her room, leaving him to stew over the fact that she’d rebuilt her walls after that kiss, making them even higher than they’d been before. It pissed him off, because not only had that kiss been mutual, it’d been the hottest fucking thing he’d ever experienced. And that was saying something.
* * *
Ashley woke up, showered, and readied for the day, choosing a dress, knowing she’d be doing business at the Knight Time Technology offices. She put on makeup and stalled for time, embarrassed to go out to the suite and deal with Sebastian after her little tantrum in the lobby last night. She’d been exhausted, thrown off guard by the kiss, and upset with herself for wanting to pick up where they’d left off as soon as they’d arrived at the hotel. Sharing space would only make keeping her distance more difficult, and she’d taken the surprise circumstances out on him.
She walked out of the room and found him sitting on the terrace drinking a cup of coffee and reading something on his iPad. Breakfast, in a variety of silver-covered plates, awaited her.
She gingerly joined him, clearing her throat when he didn’t look up right away. “Good morning,” she said.
He put his cup down on the table and rose as she lowered herself into her seat, sitting when she did. “Hi.”
The scent of baked goods and waffles or pancakes permeated her senses. The sun shone overhead with a coating of light fog disturbing her view. But a glance over the terrace showed her the city of San Francisco, buildings and curved streets in the distance.
“Hungry?” he asked.
Her stomach grumbled and she grinned. “Starving.”
She reached over and poured herself a glass of orange juice, taking a fortifying sip before speaking what she’d rehearsed in the shower. “I’m sorry about last night,” she said. “I was just taken off guard by the one-suite arrangement, and I got snippy. I know you already apologized and I won’t bring the past up again.”
“I appreciate that.” He met her gaze, warm blue eyes staring back at her. “Pancakes and bacon?” He was obviously as eager as she to put last night behind them, for which she was grateful.
He lifted the silver tray cover, revealing her guess had been correct. She wasn’t about to deny her rumbling belly despite her mother’s words always lingering in her head. Ashley’s normal breakfast of Greek yogurt, strawberries, and granola didn’t hold a candle to the feast in front of her.
“God, yes. I haven’t had a decadent breakfast like this in forever.” She allowed him to pile her plate full of food and pass over the maple syrup. “You’re going to make me fat,” she muttered.
“Nothing wrong with indulging,” he said, his knowing gaze on hers. “You’ll still capture the eye of any man who looks.”
She flushed at the compliment, secretly pleased by his words. But on the other side of them was the fact that he obviously remembered her mother’s not-so-subtle chiding whenever she would go for the more fattening foods their housekeeper and cook served. He’d always been there, sneaking her Hershey bars, encouraging her to enjoy her life.
She cut a piece of pancake now drowned in syrup and put it into her mouth, groaning at the delicious taste. His eyes darkened at the clearly sensual sound coming out of her mouth, causing her to squirm in her seat. He might have promised to keep his hands to himself, but that didn’t mean she wanted him to, she admitted to herself, the kiss still at the forefront of her mind.
But they were here for business, and it was best she focus on that. “I know your company is all high tech now, but I once heard Ethan talking about your great-great-grandfather having started the business.”
Sebastian, still drinking his coffee, nodded. “Rumor has it, and I have no idea if it’s true or not, that our great-great-grandfather was a master locksmith.” His sexy lips curved upward in a smile as he went on. “They say he was responsible for breaking Billy the Kid out of jail. Personally, I always t
hought it was an old wives’ tale. But it makes for good business conversation when we’re trying to close a deal.”
She laughed. “It certainly does.”
“It also explains why, despite our cyber focus now, we still have a key on our logo. Makes it more relatable to people, too.”
She nodded, familiar with their navy Knight Technology logo.
“The company history makes it all the more ironic that we have a multimillion-dollar smart campus deal at stake and we can’t get the damned locks to close.” Sebastian, furrows in his forehead, frowned. “Great-Great-Grandpa is probably rolling in his grave,” he said, sounding frustrated and upset.
“You and your brothers are so dedicated to the business.” She knew Ethan lived and breathed it, even when Mandy had been alive.
“Well, Ethan and I are dedicated. So is Parker, but he fell into it because he had no choice. I feel bad he never accomplished his Olympic skiing dreams. Damned accident.”
She remembered that time vividly. Ethan had canceled a trip to visit her right after Parker’s injury. “It happened while I was abroad, but Ethan told me what was going on.”
Sebastian studied her, his expression serious. “Was it bad? Boarding school?”
She sucked in a surprised breath at the question, giving it serious thought. “It was lonely at first.” She parsed her words carefully, so as not to make him feel worse than he already did for being the reason she had been sent away. “But eventually I made friends.” She pushed the orange juice aside and moved on to pouring herself coffee. It was time for caffeine.
His phone rang then and he glanced down. “The office,” he said, his attention now distracted, for which she was grateful.
She didn’t know if there would come a time when she’d want to confide in Sebastian about her years away, but now wasn’t the time. The past had defined the woman she’d become, and she wasn’t ready to delve into that this morning.
Sebastian ended the call and met her gaze. “That was Kyle Elliott, one of the executives at our San Fran office. He wanted to let me know he’d sent a memo, gathering the top people for my meeting this morning.”
Take Me Again Page 5
