by Cat Schield
But she was all he was interested in.
His mother waved to him from the pool as he neared Missy’s lounge chair. Missy looked up as his shadow fell across her.
“Are you sure you should be sitting in the sun with your skin?”
“Don’t worry.” She pointed to the sunscreen label. “It’s SPF 75.”
The morning sun poured over his head and shoulders, warming the charcoal wool suit he wore and raising his temperature. He tugged his tie loose and unfastened his shirt’s top button. “Maybe you should move into the shade.”
“I’m fine.”
“With skin like yours you should be careful.” His gaze trailed down her legs, following the movement of her hand as she smoothed lotion over her creamy skin.
His fingers balled into fists as memories of the night before intruded. The taste of her kisses. The way she’d moaned his name. How her breath caught as he slid deep inside her. The fact that her hunger for him had matched his need for her.
“Sebastian?”
He wrenched his attention back to her face. “Yes?”
“I said, if you’ve come to drag me back to work, I’m not going without a fight.”
For a second, the notion of tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her back to his suite blocked every sane thought in his head. “I’m not paying you to sit by the pool.”
“Then consider this a vacation day. I have plenty to burn.”
“You picked a hell of a time to go AWOL.”
She sighed. “Everything is organized. The summit doesn’t start until the cocktail party tonight. There’s plenty of time for me to have a little fun. You should, too.”
“I’m not here to have fun,” he reminded her.
She wrinkled her nose. “Yes, I know. But you’re so prepared you could probably do the entire summit in your sleep. Why don’t you relax a little today?”
“How do you suggest I do that?”
She stopped in the act of spreading lotion on her arm and brought her gaze to bear on him. The unbridled hope in her eyes twisted his gut. Was he that much of a tyrant?
“You could start by buying me a drink.”
“It’s ten o’clock in the morning.”
She snapped the lid of the suntan lotion closed and picked up a beige sun hat, adorned with blue forget-me-nots. Once she set it on her head, the wide brim hid her expression from him.
“Make it an orange juice.”
Sebastian held his hand out to Missy and braced himself for the contact with her skin. She wiped lotion from her palms before giving Sebastian her hand. As expected, a pulse of fire sped up his arm and struck below his belt. He released her before the temptation to pull her close gave him away. Instead, he set his palm at the small of her back and nudged her toward the tiki-style bar.
From beneath her ruddy lashes, she peered his way. “I’m sorry I ran off without telling you this morning.”
“I’m sorry you felt you had to.”
“Am I hearing things or did the never-wrong Sebastian Case just apologize to his lowly assistant?” Laughter brightened the green in her eyes.
“I’m wrong on occasion and am not such an ass that I can’t admit it.” Driven by compulsions too strong to fight, he grazed his fingertips upward until he encountered bare skin. “And you are far from lowly.”
A faint tremor beneath his hand told him she found the skin-to-skin contact as disturbing as he did. This attraction between them was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
He directed her on top of the only empty stool and stood behind her. Her sun-warmed shoulder brushed his chest as he leaned forward to order her a drink, increasing his temperature even further. With a dismayed sound, she scooted away.
“You’re going to ruin your suit if you get suntan lotion on it.”
“I don’t care.”
“How can you not care?” she countered. “You spend a fortune on your clothes.”
He lifted a shoulder. He’d ruin a hundred suits if it meant being close to her. The scent of suntan lotion rising off her skin aroused the craving to strip that boring bathing suit off her body and determine if the sun had marked her gorgeous pale flesh.
She gasped as he hooked a finger beneath her bathing suit strap and tugged it out of place. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you aren’t getting too much sun.”
“When you touch me, I have trouble thinking straight,” she whispered.
Her admission awakened a rumble of pleasure. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on between us.”
Nor did he. “Nothing is going on.”
“We made love last night.”
It took a great deal of effort, but he locked away his erotic musings. “It should never have happened.”
“But it did.” She met his gaze, her eyes soft with curiosity.
She wanted to know why he’d made love to her when he’d been so determined it was the wrong thing to do. He hadn’t quite answered that question for himself. He could blame it on intense sexual chemistry, but that wouldn’t be the whole truth. Grasping the whole truth might just lead him into uncharted territory where his assistant was concerned.
A familiar figure emerged from the pool and reminded Sebastian that he had more problems at hand than his wayward assistant. “Did my mother give you any hint of what my father is really doing here?”
Reeling from what she’d glimpsed in Sebastian’s somber gray eyes, Missy scrambled to reorient her thoughts. “She said your dad went golfing this morning. I assumed they came here on vacation.”
“He took Lucas Smythe golfing. Probably intends to talk him out of selling Smythe Industries to us.”
Missy’s chest tightened. Sebastian’s relationship with his father was uneasy. During the years she worked for the eldest Case son, she’d had a front-row seat to Sebastian’s battle with his father over business strategies and the direction the company should move in the future.
When Brandon’s health problems had surfaced and he’d announced his plans to retire, Missy had assumed Sebastian and Max would at last have the chance to run things their way. Then the surprise announcement—Brandon had convinced Nathan to return to Houston and join the family business.
Although everyone at the company knew Nathan was a half brother to Max and Sebastian, Missy suspected she was the only one outside the family who knew that Nathan was a love child produced by Brandon’s long-time mistress who died when Nathan was twelve.
Because Missy had gotten to know Sebastian’s mother fairly well, Susan had discussed those early days when her husband first insisted that Nathan move in with them. Missy wasn’t sure she could have put aside her hurt and anger at a husband’s betrayal the way Susan had. In fact, she’d treated Nathan no differently than if he’d been her own son.
Nor had her biological sons made things any easier. Susan had described a house in turmoil. Sebastian and Max were old enough to understand how deeply their father had hurt their mother and resented the appearance of a half brother that didn’t belong. Bitterness led to bad behavior. It was no surprise when Nathan took off after college. And from what Missy had gathered, he might have stayed away if Brandon’s heart problems hadn’t grown serious. Too bad having Nathan work for Case Consolidated Holdings was just the first of many times Brandon had interfered since his retirement.
“My father’s planning on attending the summit,” Sebastian continued.
“Are you going to be okay?” She put her hand on his arm, sympathy spilling into her voice.
“Fine.” His terse reply was typical of how Sebastian coped with any emotion having to do with his father. Shut it down and pretend nothing’s wrong.
She offered up an inaudible sigh to St. Monica, the patron saint her mother often prayed to for patience. “This is your summit, Sebastian. He won’t interfere.”
“He’s here, isn’t he?” His gaze shifted from her to his mother. “He’s already interfe
ring.”
“Maybe he won’t.”
“Stop being so damned positive.”
Rarely, in all the years that they’d worked together had she dared physical contact. Sebastian wasn’t the sort of person who invited anyone to enter his space.
But last night, a shift had happened. A connection, however tenuous, had formed between them. Before she considered her actions, she dropped her hand from his arm to his thigh. His focus swung toward her. A quick squeeze and she had his complete attention.
“Missy.” Her name sighed out of him, a weary, reluctant sound that spoke of weakening resistance.
Delight found its way around her guards and set up camp inside her heart. If she was smart, she’d shut it down. No good would come of flirting with Sebastian. This thing between them had nowhere to go. She should be content with their one night together. But her willpower was a fickle thing where he was concerned.
“Yes, Sebastian?”
“I can’t focus with your hand on my thigh.”
“Seems to me you’re focusing just fine.” The long muscle beneath her fingers tensed.
He trapped her hand beneath his. His touch heated her as hot as the Nevada desert in July and baked her mouth dry. The crowd gathered around the pool vanished as she lost herself in the pull of his charismatic allure.
“What I mean is I can’t focus on the problems at hand.”
“I thought I was your problem at hand.” She tried a smile.
His shoulders relaxed. “Only one of them.”
“Stop worrying so much,” she coaxed. “Enjoy the moment.”
“That’s not the way I work and you know it.”
“Maybe you should try something different and see how it goes.”
“I’d love for it to be that easy, but it’s not.” He carried her hand back to her side and patted it. “I’m not going to take advantage of the situation.”
No, he was too damned honorable to take advantage no matter how much she pleaded for him to do so. Why had she picked such an upright guy to get worked up about? Because his principles contributed to his appeal. She’d be proud to bring Sebastian home to meet her father. He would see the same admirable qualities she did and approve.
Too bad Sebastian was out of her league.
“Your mother spotted us,” she said, waving back at Susan.
Sebastian nodded. “Grab your drink. Let’s go.”
The air cooled dramatically without Sebastian’s warmth beside her. She trailed after him, her untouched orange juice clutched in her hand.
“Hello, darling.” Dressed in a black one-piece that showed off her athletic figure, Susan Case offered her cheek for Sebastian’s kiss. “Never expected to see you by the pool. Of course, you’re not really dressed for it, now, are you?”
“Not exactly.”
The easy affection between mother and son made Missy smile. Sebastian treated his mother with relentless charm. He was at his most unguarded around Susan. The first time Missy had ever seen them together had been the moment her hopeless crush on Sebastian had begun. Her brothers had been that way with their mother, reverent and affectionate. The same behavior spilled over into how they treated their wives.
She knew Sebastian would treat his wife with similar adoration if he ever married again. The thought hammered her confidence flat. No use wishing she could be the woman who captured Sebastian’s heart. He would probably choose someone like his mother. Sophisticated, elegant, gracious, and well connected. A nobody like her wouldn’t have a chance in hell of surviving in his circles.
“Sebastian, it was good of you to let Missy have some time off for a little fun. You work her too hard.”
“I didn’t give her time off,” Sebastian growled. “She took it.”
Susan’s brows rose. “Well, then good for her. You should follow her example. I’m getting tense just looking at you.”
No one but his mother could speak to Sebastian like that and get away with it. Missy bit the inside of her cheeks to contain a grin.
“Then perhaps I should return to work and leave you two to enjoy the sunshine.”
“You’re letting me stay?” Missy asked.
He shot his mother a severe look. “It seems I don’t have much choice.”
Susan watched the exchange with interest. When her son was out of earshot, she turned to Missy. “I thought he’d never go. Let’s order some cocktails. Then perhaps you’ll tell me what’s going on between you two.”
Sebastian had just finished up a conference call with Max and their financially troubled overseas supplier when his mother sauntered into the suite. She’d come straight from the pool and smelled of sunshine and chlorine. She loved the water and kept in shape by swimming two miles each day.
“Can you break long enough to take your mother to lunch?”
Sebastian checked behind her, half expecting to see Missy using his mother as a protective shield. “Just you?”
Sebastian cursed as speculation lit up his mother’s eyes. Sometimes her romantic nature went on overdrive. That was fine for Nathan, who was happily married. Or Max, who’d vowed loudly and often that he had no intention of ever tying the knot. But Sebastian had no issues with finding the right woman and settling down to raise a few kids. He just didn’t want his mother pushing available females at him while he searched.
“Just me.” His mother offered him an off-center grin. “I had a few things I wanted to discuss with you.”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “Such as?”
“Missy told me what happened last night.”
Annoyance tightened his gut into stone, but Sebastian decided to play dumb and see just how much she’d told his mother. “She told you she quit?”
“She told me she had too much to drink while celebrating her birthday and threw herself at you but that you were too professional to take advantage of her.” Susan’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a lot of bull, isn’t it?”
“I’m not going to discuss it.”
“Is that why she’s quitting?”
“No.”
“Sebastian, I don’t know what to say.” And yet she continued talking. “This isn’t like you.”
On that they both agreed. “I’m still not discussing this with you.”
His mother kept going as if he’d never spoken. “She has a boyfriend. Did you think for one minute how much trouble this will create between them?”
“They broke up.”
“So, she was on the rebound.” His mother tried for stern, but something sparkled in her eyes. “Oh, Sebastian. How could you take advantage of her in such a vulnerable state?”
He could clear his name by revealing that Missy had been the one to proposition him, but he refused to defend himself at the risk of her reputation.
Before he could answer, his mother changed her line of questioning. “What are you going to do about Kaitlyn?”
There was nothing to do about Kaitlyn. His mother had it in her head that he was involved with her. That couldn’t be further from the truth. They were casually involved, emphasis on casual.
Sure, marriage to Kaitlyn made sense in a lot of ways. They attended the same charity galas and came from similar backgrounds. She would fit seamlessly into his life. But most important, he needed someone that soothed his spirit, not aggravated it. And Kaitlyn possessed a tranquil quality, rare among women. She’d make an ideal wife.
That made him question why, when he pictured a woman living in his home and sharing his bed, he imagined her with red hair.
“Kaitlyn and I are friends, Mother. Nothing more.” Tired of being on the defensive, Sebastian changed topics. “Why are you and Dad here?”
His mother held his gaze for a long moment before answering. “He regrets retiring and wants to return to work.”
Annoyance kicked Sebastian in the temple. A sharp pulse began in his head. “As CEO?”
“He said no. He claims he wants to return part time so he has something to occupy him besides golf.”
>
And once he came back to the company, Brandon would undermine Sebastian at every turn until he got fed up and stepped down. Bile rose in his throat. He should have known his father would pull something like this.
“You need to talk him out of it.” His mother put her hand on his arm. Her blue eyes widened with concern. “I almost lost him a year ago. He promised me we’d travel and make up for all the years he wasn’t around.”
Brandon’s twelve-year affair with Nathan’s mother had taken a severe toll on his wife. Sebastian had often wondered what bargain his parents had made that had kept them together and had convinced his mother to raise her husband’s illegitimate son.
“As much as it benefits both of us for Dad to stay far away from Case Consolidated Holdings,” Sebastian said, “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to stop him from returning to work.”
“Talk to him. Make him understand that you’re doing a wonderful job running the company.”
His mother’s optimism made Sebastian shake his head. Her husband rarely thought about anyone’s needs besides his own unless forced to do so.
“He showed up for the leadership summit, and I’m sure he intends for it to appear as if he’s still in charge. He took Lucas Smythe golfing and probably spent the entire round badmouthing my leadership abilities. You don’t seriously believe anything I say will sway him, do you?”
Sebastian refused to battle his father this week in front of all the executives.
“Do what you can.”
With those words, his mother left to shower and change for their lunch. Sebastian was staring at the Vegas strip when Missy emerged from her room.
Her expression shifted from cheerful to uncertain when she spotted his frown. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you have a fun morning with my mother?”
“As a matter of fact I did.” Missy crossed to the table he’d been working at all morning. “Are you mad because I had fun or because it was with your mother?”
She set her cell phone down and used her finger to spin it. Today’s outfit of jeans and a snug white T-shirt had about the same effect on his libido as the sexy black dress she’d worn last night. Russet waves, still damp from her shower, rested on her shoulders, turning the cotton fabric transparent.
