Table of Contents
Title page
Blurb
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Author Notes
Contents
Title page
Blurb
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Author Notes
The Best Man For Leah
A Sexy Romance story by
Caitlyn Lynch
Book 3 of the Elevator Encounters series
Leah thinks Sebastian Padilla is the biggest asshole she’s ever met, and if her best friend hadn’t just married his brother she wouldn’t even give him the time of day. Getting trapped in an elevator with him isn’t her idea of a fun way to spend her evening… until Sebastian drops his hardnosed businessman act and admits his true feelings!
Copyright © 2017 by Caitlyn Lynch
Ebook Edition
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Chapter One
Leah kept her smile in place as she lowered her camera for the final time. “All done!”
The beautiful bride laughed happily. “Thank you so much, Leah, you’ve made this day perfect for us!”
“Well, I’ve tried, Heather.” Leah accepted Heather’s exuberant kisses on her cheeks. “Go on, now, Salvador is waiting for you. You don’t want to miss your flight. Hawaii awaits!” She gestured to where Heather’s new husband stood a few feet away, smiling indulgently as his wife hugged her best friend. “Have a few strawberry daiquiris on the beach for me, alright?”
“At least one a day!” Heather promised, and she was off in a rush of white skirts and joyous laughter, the happiest bride Leah had ever seen. She smiled, clipping the lens cap back onto her camera. Convincing Heather that being both the wedding photographer and the maid of honor would be impossible had taken some doing, but it meant Heather’s sister had been forced to step in and actually do some of the work which would have otherwise all fallen on Leah’s shoulders. It also meant she wasn’t obliged to return to the party still going strong in the hotel’s ballroom; she could just go upstairs to her room and crash out.
She debated going via the hotel bar and getting a drink to take upstairs with her, but then thought what the hell. She’d just pay the exorbitant rate for a bottle of wine from the mini bar. She could certainly afford it; though she’d offered to do the wedding photos for free, and Heather would probably have taken her up on it, Heather’s new husband was absolutely loaded and had insisted on paying an extremely good price… in advance.
Smiling as she thought of her healthy bank account, Leah shouldered her camera bag and headed for the elevators. She punched the ‘up’ button and was waiting patiently for an elevator to arrive when a tall shadow loomed over her.
“Good evening,” a deep, male voice said.
Leah knew that voice. She closed her eyes, praying briefly for patience. Salvador’s even-better-looking but much-less-charming older brother, Sebastian Padilla, had been a thorn in her side ever since they’d met at the wedding rehearsal five days ago. He was a perfectionist, and literally nothing she and Heather had so painstakingly organized had been good enough in his eyes for his only brother’s wedding. Heather had almost called the whole thing off in hysterics more than once; only Leah getting in Sebastian’s face and shouting herself hoarse had finally silenced him. He was a Best-Man-Zilla.
She almost giggled as the irreverent thought popped into her head. Aloud, she said, “Mr Padilla,” hoping her voice wouldn’t quiver with the laughter she was trying to suppress. He probably wouldn’t take being laughed at very well. She had to admit that she’d been very disappointed when she finally met Sebastian; Salvador had talked so often about how great his older brother was, what a wonderful sense of humor Sebastian had. Leah hadn’t seen any evidence the man even knew how to laugh.
“Oh, I was hoping that we were past such formalities now, Leah,” Sebastian said silkily. “After all, we’re almost family. You and Heather are as close as sisters, and she’s now married to my brother.”
No thanks to you, Leah barely managed to bite back. She offered a polite smile anyway, thinking it was a good thing that Sebastian Padilla and she were unlikely to cross paths on a regular basis. She hardly moved in the same social circles as he did, and they wouldn’t be meeting through Salvador and Heather too often, since the newlyweds were relocating to Chicago in a few weeks when Salvador took over a branch of the gigantic Padilla business empire there.
Thankfully, the elevator finally arrived, saving her from having to answer Sebastian. She stepped inside, turned to look for the control panel, but he was already in front of it.
“What floor?”
“Six,” she answered, watched him punch the number as well as the one for the top floor. Of course. He was probably staying in the hotel’s most expensive suite. Her eyes tracked down from the back of his smooth dark head, over his broad shoulders in his perfectly tailored suit. Not just designer, she thought, but bespoke, and damn did he fill it out well. Sebastian really fit the stereotype of the gorgeous asshole millionaire. Until he turned around to face her, gave her a friendly smile, and offered her an already-open bottle of champagne.
“What’s that for?” Leah couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.
“Just thought you might like some.” Sebastian shrugged. “I didn’t purloin any glasses, I’m afraid, figured I’d find one in my room, but I thought you might like a drink.”
She was tempted, but shook her head. “Didn’t peg you as the type to swipe a bottle of champagne from the party and head to your room to drink alone. Or are you expecting company?”
“You offering to provide it?” Sebastian arched a black brow, smirking at her. His eyes raked her up and down, examining again the form-fitting designer knockoff dress she’d splurged a good chunk of her meagre savings on. No doubt it looked cheap to his gaze, accustomed as he would be to more refined offerings.
Leah was just opening her mouth to snap a denial at him when the elevator suddenly shuddered to a halt, the lights flickering and going out briefly before a small emergency light began to glow.
Chapter Two
“What the hell was that?” Leah found herself clutching at the polished brass handrail, jolted back against the wall by the sudden stop.
“Elevator breakdown, I think.” Sebastian pushed a couple of buttons on the control panel, attempted to force the doors, and swore under his breath. “Do you have your phone with you?”
“No, this is a wedding! I left it in my room. What about you, I thought you were surgically attached to that thing?” He’d certainly spent most of the last few days with his eyes glued to the screen.
“Well, in honor of my brother’s wedding, I decided to leave mine in my room too. Which leaves us in a bit of a bind, doesn’t it?”
Leah rolled her eyes, leaned past h
im, and jabbed the emergency button. “Pretty sure this’ll be helpful.”
A bored voice sounded tinnily from the little speaker on the panel, asking them their location and their problem. Sebastian gave the requested information.
“It’s almost midnight, it may take a while for a repair person to get to you,” they were told. “I’ll send out an alert and then advise their ETA.”
They waited in silence while they were put on hold, and then the operator came back on the line and told them the repair person should be with them in about an hour and a half. “Will you be all right until then?”
“I don’t suppose we’ve got a lot of choice,” Leah muttered under her breath. Of all the people to get stuck in an elevator with! Sighing as Sebastian thanked the operator, she decided she might as well get comfortable. Toeing out of her high heeled pumps, she slid down the wall to sit on the elevator floor, careless of what damage she might do to her dress. Her feet hurt too much for her to care.
“What are you doing?” Sebastian stared down at her. The operator had hung up, and it was very quiet in the elevator.
“Getting comfortable. I’ve been standing up in these shoes all day and my feet have had quite enough, thank you.” Leaning her head back against the antique timber paneling that lined the lower part of the elevator, she closed her eyes.
He was silent for a moment. She felt the elevator move very slightly as he sat down on the floor too, and then her eyes flew open as his hands curled around her ankles and he lifted her feet into his lap.
“What are you doing?” she squeaked as strong fingers began to firmly massage her insoles.
“It’s not just today you’ve been on your feet the whole time. I’m not sure I’ve seen you sit down since we met, and you’re always wearing heels. It can’t be good for your feet.”
“I’m only five-foot-two,” Leah grumped. She debated snatching her feet away, but he really knew what he was doing with his hands. His thumbs dug firmly into the pads of her feet and she barely suppressed a groan. “I gotta wear heels or nobody takes me seriously.”
“I take you seriously.”
He had taken her seriously, Leah thought, leaning her head back and closing her eyes again. They’d clashed but he’d never once been dismissive of her. There had always been reasoning behind every dispute; not always reasoning she agreed with, but there had never been any element of ‘because I say so’ or ‘because I know better than you’. He might be a bossy asshole but he’d always listened to what she had to say. And when she’d finally lost her temper, got in his face and told him to stop interfering because Heather was on the verge of calling the whole thing off, he’d at least had the common decency to shut up and butt out.
Sebastian let go of her right foot in favor of concentrating solely on her left, massaging her ankle firmly before working down and over her heel and instep again.
“Oh God, you’re good at that.” Leah had to speak or she’d make an embarrassing noise. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I think you earned a foot massage or two. Thank you.”
“For what?” She opened her eyes again, peering at him suspiciously.
“For going above and beyond to make Heather’s – and by extension my brother’s – wedding day everything they could possibly have wanted. You did an incredible job.”
She was so shocked that she gaped at him. Sebastian cocked a wry brow at her. “What?”
“You didn’t seem to think so a couple of days ago when you were trying to call in an army of PAs and wedding planners to take over!”
“Leah…” He stared at her, a frown marring his handsome features. “Is that what you thought I was doing? I thought you were taking on too much, exhausting yourself. I saw you gulping down Advil dry before the rehearsal, figured the stress was getting to you. I just wanted to help.”
Speechless with surprise, she stared at him. Sebastian sighed, resuming his massage of her feet. “I realized I was going about things all wrong when you blew up at me. Figured I’d best just shut my mouth because I was adding to your burden. I was wrong to doubt you; you had it all under control.”
“I… I don’t quite know what to say,” Leah confessed after a moment of breathless silence. “I… really thought you were just a bossy asshole who wanted everything your own way.”
Sebastian threw his head back and roared with laughter. Leah found herself giggling as well, relaxing for the first time in days, the laughter letting out the tension that had built up over the hectic weeks leading up to the wedding.
“I’m sorry,” she managed to apologize between her giggles.
“No, no.” Sebastian finally managed to quiet his own chuckles, shaking his head at her. “You’re not wrong. I am a bossy asshole who’s used to getting his own way, but you… I could see immediately that you were both competent and confident in your own ability. I honestly thought you were overloaded.”
Impulsively, Leah leaned forward, putting her hand on his arm. “Thank you. I’m sorry I was too insecure to see that you were offering help. I just wanted everything to be perfect for Heather, and she… well, she’s been my only family since I was seventeen and her folks took me in when I couldn’t take living with my dad and stepmom any more.”
“I understand.” Sebastian took one hand off her foot, laid it over her fingers on his arm, and squeezed gently. “Sal is my baby brother, and the only family I have left, too. That’s why I’m so grateful you worked so incredibly hard to make today perfect. I’ve never seen him so happy.”
She smiled warmly at him, and he smiled back before taking his fingers off her arm, picking up the champagne bottle he’d set down on the floor of the elevator and offering it again.
“Drink?”
“Why the hell not.” This time, Leah accepted. The heavy bottle was awkward to drink from, but it was nearly full so she didn’t have to tip it up too far to take a sip. “I’ve never drunk champagne straight from the bottle before. How decadent.” She handed it to Sebastian, who took a longer sip himself and grinned at her.
“Decadent can be fun.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“What, don’t you ever let your hair down, Leah?” He looked at the smooth French roll she’d tamed her long red-brown hair into. “I bet you’d look stunning with it down.”
Her name on his lips should not be making her stomach tighten into a quivering little ball. And that low, husky note in his voice should be illegal. Leah found her breath coming short.
“Is it hot in here?”
Oh my God, did I really just say that out loud?
Sebastian’s smile was slow and knowing as he held her gaze. “I’m feeling quite warm,” he agreed, and to her horrified fascination he leaned forward to slip his arms out of his jacket sleeves, discarding it to one side. His tie followed, and then he unfastened the top button of his shirt. The second. The third…
“Oh, don’t stop there,” Leah said impulsively as Sebastian’s hands slowed.
He looked startled at her suggestive remark, his eyes and his grin both widening. “How much of that champagne have you had?”
“One sip! I stayed sober all night because I was taking photographs!” she said indignantly. “Speaking of which, stop hogging that bottle.”
Sebastian handed it back, but he didn’t return to unbuttoning his shirt, which was definitely a pity, Leah thought as she took another gulp of the champagne. It was really good champagne, as it should be at over a hundred bucks a bottle! Letting Sebastian select the champagne and other wines that had been served at the dinner was one of the few concessions she’d made, but then a multi-millionaire business owner should have much better taste in wine than a photographer who lived in a minuscule walk-up in Greenwich Village. Besides, he was paying for it. He’d paid for everything, refusing to let Salvador and Heather spend a cent.
Sebastian returned to massaging her feet, slow and sensual, really taking his time with the task. Leah failed to suppress the moan that welled up
in the back of her throat as he rubbed the pads of his thumbs in slow, firm circles over the balls of her big toes. Embarrassed, she took another gulp of champagne, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t say anything.
“I’ve been dreaming about you making those kind of noises, but I admit I imagined in it a slightly different scenario.”
Leah choked and almost snorted champagne out of her nose. The coughing fit which followed was decidedly unsexy, but when she finally managed to stop, mopping at her streaming eyes, to her enormous surprise Sebastian wasn’t laughing his ass off at her complete dorkiness. He was smiling slightly, carrying on with his sensuous rubbing of her feet.
“I really must be losing my touch. Normally women I’m attracted to know all about it pretty quickly.”
“You are attracted to me? Why?” She had to be utterly unlike the women he normally encountered; high-powered, wealthy, put-together.
“I told you: you’re confident and competent. Put those two qualities together in a beautiful woman and there’s no way I can resist.”
“I’m not beautiful.” Leah said it firmly, shaking her head. She knew what she saw in the mirror every day. A snub nose, an over-wide mouth and skin so thickly freckled she’d need to apply makeup with a trowel to cover them all; most of the time she didn’t bother. Eyes the color of a murky pond and a figure that was far too rounded to be fashionable.
“You’re gorgeous.” Sebastian said it with certainty, as though there was absolutely no doubt that he was correct.
“But you must get tall, skinny model types throwing themselves at you all the time!” She was no paparazzi, but as a photographer she’d done a bit of freelancing at society events, not to mention a few high-end weddings. She knew the world he moved in, and the type of women who frequented those events.
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