by Layla Hagen
“I need to shower,” I inform him.
“What a coincidence. So do I. Let’s go together.”
We disentangle ourselves from the sheets. I stretch for a few seconds, while Sebastian goes straight to the bathroom adjacent to the room.
The bathroom consists of a Jacuzzi and a separate shower. They’re both large enough for us to fit in.
“We can play around in the Jacuzzi later.” Sebastian stands in the shower, and I join him. “Ava, meet shower. Shower, you’re about to see many inappropriate things.”
I giggle as warm water sprays my skin. “I can’t believe it took me so long to figure out you’re the inappropriate brother.”
“I’ll spend my days proving to you how much I deserve that title.”
“Last night was very convincing. You have no idea how sore I am.”
“Tell me.”
“Sebastian,” I whisper. “If you continue like that. . .” I swallow the rest of the sentence, distracted by the water running down his chest, his abs, and further down. Biting my lips, I add, “We’re supposed to shower.”
“I’ll help you do that.” A grin takes hold of his features. That’s when I see the dimples.
Oh, my God, this man has dimples. I might fall in love with him. How come I never noticed them before?
“There’s something different about your smile this morning.”
“Mmm. Might have something to do with waking up next to a beautiful woman.”
He pours some shower gel on his palms, lowering himself to his knees. He starts rubbing the gel on my ankles, working his way up to my knees. His hands move further up my inner thighs.
“Such a beautiful body,” he murmurs. As his hands travel to my hips and to my stomach, he leans forward. His tongue touches the sensitive skin between my legs. I part them to give him better access. This man can do amazing things with his tongue. Abruptly, he pulls back, standing up, his hands continuing to soap my breasts and shoulders, as if nothing happened. Such a tease.
“My turn,” I say, after my entire body is covered with shower gel.
“Okay.”
I pour gel on my palms and mimic his earlier routine, starting with his ankles and working my way up. There is something incredibly erotic about touching him like this. I trace every inch of skin on his legs with my fingers, enjoying the feel of his steel muscles. I take him in my mouth, watching him the entire time. He keeps his composure at first, but as I move my lips up and down, his breaths become more labored, his eyes more hooded. When he fists my hair, I know I’ve brought him exactly to the point I wanted, and pull back.
“You’re being a bad, bad girl,” he says as I stand up, soaping his chest, tracing the lines of his muscles, pressing my breasts against him.
We let the water wash away the soap.
After planting a quick kiss on my lips, he steps out of the shower. I linger inside, washing my hair. Every single part of my body aches for him. Damn, damn, damn, Ava Lindt. What are you doing? I have three months left here. The clock is ticking, and I already dread the day I’ll have to kiss him good-bye. This won’t be a purely physical relationship; it was never about that. Falling for this amazing man could be fatal, but what a delicious way to go.
After I finish with the shower, I blow dry my hair and throw on a robe. The smell of bacon greets me when I step out of the bathroom. Mystified, I hurry down to the kitchen.
I can’t believe my eyes. Sebastian stands in front of the stove, wearing nothing but shorts. Cooking.
“What are you doing?”
“Breakfast. And then I’ll happily do you again.”
“You cook?” I ask unnecessarily. I can’t shake off the surprise. Tiptoeing around him, I peer at what he’s doing. Yep, my man is cooking. There are bacon and eggs in the pan, which he moves around very proficiently, as though he’s on some cooking show, demonstrating how to do it correctly.
“Of course, I do. Everyone who was tall enough to stand over the stove had cooking duty at the ranch.”
“You’re amazing.”
“We established that already.”
I elbow him. “Cocky much?”
“Pun intended?” Sebastian smiles, those delicious dimples making an appearance again.
“Maybe.” I plant a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.
“You are naughty.”
“Can I help you with anything?”
“Is there anything you can do in the kitchen?”
“I’m an expert at heating stuff up in the microwave. I’m also very proficient at cutting and burning myself.”
“Thought so.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have a lot of talents, but you didn’t strike me as the cooking type.”
“What kind of talents?”
“Why, Ms. Lindt, are you fishing for compliments now?”
“After we established that you’re amazing in every department, and I suck at cooking? You bet I want compliments.”
He turns away from the oven, looking me straight in the eyes. “You are smart, funny, and can do amazing things with your mouth. Sit there and let me cook for you.”
This is the first time a man has cooked for me. Damn it. There are too many first times with him, and he has a way of making them all unforgettable. Because really, who could forget the sight of him in boxers, cooking?
After we eat breakfast, I help clean up, and as I sip from my glass of orange juice, enjoying the view out his window, Sebastian sneaks behind me, taking me in his arms and nibbling at my earlobe. His fingers graze through my hair, tugging at it.
“I love your hair,” he murmurs against my neck.
“Last night you loved my skin.”
“I love every part of you.”
“Mmmm. Charmer. Are you complimenting me to get in my panties?”
“You’re not wearing any. But if you were, you bet I’d try. I’m not lying. You’re perfect.”
I snicker. I’m proud of my body, but I know it’s not perfect. My love for food and disproportionate hate of sports are showing.
“Don’t tell me you’re self-conscious of your body.”
“I’m not. . . mostly.” In a whisper, I add, “My hips could be smaller.”
“They are fantastic. I especially like how they grind against me when we make love.” Sebastian lets go of me, and I turn around to protest, but before I even open my mouth, he holds up his hand.
“I want you to dance for me,” he says.
“You mean like a striptease?”
“You’re wearing a robe. That’d be an awfully short striptease. I meant dancing as in dancing. Like in the office.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I shoot him a look. “I’m not dancing in front of you.”
“You did it yesterday.”
“I didn’t know you were watching.”
“Come on, you don’t have to be self-conscious in front of me. Your dancing is fun.”
“I was having fun,” I admit, putting my glass of orange juice on the table. “Okay, I’ll do it, but you’ll dance with me.”
Sebastian fetches his smartphone. My hips take over as the music starts. Before I know it, Sebastian has yanked down my robe.
“Naked dancing,” I say appreciatively. “Now we’re talking.”
“I love how smooth you feel.” He touches my pubis lightly, electrifying me. Abruptly, he pulls his hand back.
When Sebastian starts dancing, I shriek, a fit of laughter overtaking me. “Oh, now I know why you like my dancing. You suck even more than I do. I can’t believe there’s something you’re not good at.”
He pulls me to him, encircling my waist, half-walking, half-dancing with me toward the couch. We must look ridiculous, but I love this. “I can do something else very well.”
“Please do.”
He lowers me onto the soft leather and climbs on top of me. “I could stay with you inside this apartment forever.” He caresses my lips, then leans in and kisses me senseless.
Ava
Forever lasts until Monday. I insist on Sebastian driving alone to work after he drops me off at my apartment.
When I arrive at the office, I have this dopey grin again. It grows wider during my presentation with Sebastian and Logan, even though we both act professionally. By the look on Logan’s face, it’s obvious he knows about us. I manage to convince both of them to go forward with my suppliers for the show, so I spend the rest of the morning on the phone, trying to convince said suppliers to take us on. Most of them put up a good fight because they’re already solidly booked. By the time I’m done, I’m exhausted enough that my enamored-puppy-grin has faded somewhat. It returns in full force during the meeting with the marketing team in the afternoon, because Sebastian attends it. I might come across a bit maniacal. I love my job, but no one in their right mind can believe that talking about suppliers and deadlines makes me that enthusiastic.
On Tuesday, the tables turn. I’m talking total overhaul here.
The nastiest cold I’ve had in a long time keeps me from getting out of the bed. My eyes water and my forehead burns. I barely manage to send Sebastian a text, announcing that I’m too sick to work, before collapsing in a coma-like sleep.
When I come to my senses again, I don’t feel much better. I’ve soaked my pillow and nightgown, and the inside of my mouth feels like gum.
I sneeze as I try to sit up, so I give up on the endeavor, lying back down. Then I hear a voice. With the greatest effort, I push myself up on my elbows, trying to peer through the open door into the main room. At first, I don’t see anything; but then I notice Sebastian as he paces back and forth, his phone plastered to his ear. Noticing me, he mutters something into the phone, and then yanks it away.
“You’re up,” Sebastian says.
“Barely.” I turn to one side and catch my reflection in the wardrobe mirror. I look as horrible as I feel. “What are you doing here, Sebastian? Go away,” I mumble, pulling my pillow over my head. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll stay here and take care of you.” He sits at the edge of the bed, holding a cup in his hands. “Here, sit up and drink this tea. You look adorable with your red, puffy nose.”
“You’re a CEO.” I pull my covers up to my chin, because I’m shivering all of a sudden. “Go do CEO stuff.”
“Woman, let me take care of you.” His tone doesn’t leave any room for discussion. A fuzzy feeling of warmth overtakes me at his words. Sebastian helps me sit up and drink. His phone rings twice, but he ignores it. After I’m done with the tea, I cuddle against his chest, starting to feel drowsy again. I know the medicine I need, but I don’t have any with me. Come on, Ava. You’ve done this before. Get your sick ass to the pharmacy before you fall asleep again. Clumsily, I attempt to get out of bed.
“What are you doing?” Sebastian asks.
“Going to the pharmacy.”
He raises his eyebrows. “You’re mad if you think I’ll let you go anywhere in this state.”
“Sebastian, the pharmacy is around the corner; I’ll make it. I need that medicine or I won’t feel better. I have a fever, so I might have the flu, not a common cold.”
He stares at me as though I’ve grown a second head. Hell, I feel like I’ve grown a second head, and both heads are swimming right now. “How about you tell me what you need, and I’ll get it for you? You know, since I’m here anyway.”
“Oh,” I say. “I hadn’t thought of that. Are you sure?”
“Yes. How did it even occur to you to get out of bed?”
“I take care of myself all the time. I get sick at least once on every project. I should carry a bag of medicine with me.”
“What do you need?”
I tell him the name of the medicine, and he’s off. Either he knows how to teleport, or I fall asleep, but it seems like only a few seconds have passed when he returns.
“Here you go.”
He holds me in his arms after I take the medicine, and it feels so warm and impossibly good that I don’t ever want to let go. I fall asleep again.
I wake up to whispers—this time they belong to two different people. One voice belongs to Sebastian, the other one to a woman. There is the sound of a door closing and the whispering stops.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“My mother. She dropped off some chicken soup. Homemade.”
“Oh, that is very kind of her.”
“Pippa also stopped by. She brought you some sweets. Self-bought.”
I snicker. “Can I have some soup?”
“Yeah, not a good idea.”
“Why not?” I ask, genuinely puzzled.
“My mother is a woman of many talents, but a very unpredictable cook. Her pastries are delicious, her soups horrible.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” I counter. “I want to try it.”
Sebastian smiles. “At your own risk.” He opens the lid of the Tupperware container, putting the spoon inside. As I eye the soup, my throat constricts, rejecting the mere idea of food. I need liquids in my system, though. Soup is perfect. I shove a spoonful in my mouth and it takes all I have not to spew it back out. With the greatest effort, I swallow it.
“My God, this is horrible.”
“Told you so. We never had the heart to tell her. But you’ll like the sweets Pippa brought.” He puts them in front of me, and I dig in, suddenly full of appetite.
“Now we’re talking,” I say. “Sebastian, I feel a little better. You can go back to the office, you know.”
“I’ve canceled all my meetings for today.”
I look at him, stunned. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“No, I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. Now, stop being such a mule and accept that I’m going to stay with you today and tomorrow if you don’t feel any better.”
“Okay.”
“You’re accepting it?” he asks suspiciously.
“Do I have a choice?”
He grins. “Not really.”
“But I have to warn you, I won’t be much fun.”
“You’re always fun.”
“I mean that kind of fun.”
“Ava Lindt, I’m not here for sex.”
Now it’s my turn to be suspicious. “That’s a sentence I haven’t heard from any man.”
“I’m not just any man.”
“No,” I sigh, “you’re not. You’re perfect.” I begin to sneeze. After I calm down, Sebastian presses his hand on my forehead.
“Your fever isn’t going down,” he says worriedly.
“Well, that medicine should kick in at some point.”
“It might not be strong enough. I also bought some Tylenol.”
“Ugh, I don’t want more pills.”
Sebastian laughs softly. “Are you five years old?”
“Yes, I am.”
I frown the entire time he pulls out the package of Tylenol, releasing a pill into his palm.
“Now, don’t be a bad girl, Ava.”
I open my mouth obediently and swallow it. Then I pull my sheet up to my nose, shivering. “Oh, wow,” I say. “Wow.”
“Okay, you’re starting to worry me. This is Tylenol, not some fine whiskey. Why are you so wowed by it?”
“It hasn’t kicked in yet, and my fever is stronger than whiskey. My head is swimming worse than before. Hey, the good part of being sick is that I see two of you. Twice that sexiness. Too much for my eyes to take in.”
Sebastian frowns. “You should sleep.”
“Okay. Can you lie next to me?”
When he obliges me, I cuddle against him, burying my head in his skin.
“Can you thank your family for being so nice to me?”
“I will.”
“I never had someone take care of me like that.” Damn this fever. It loosens my tongue.
“How about your mother?”
“She wasn’t around much. She worked three jobs, and taking care of
me while sick would’ve meant one meal less, so she had no choice. I miss her. I wanted to take care of her, like you do with your family, but she died before I got the chance. You’re very lucky, you know. To have all of them.”
“I know,” he says. “They are great.”
“So are you. No guy I’ve dated treated me like you do.”
“That’s because they were all idiots. You deserve to be taken care of and spoiled every day.”
“Shhh, stop,” I mumble. “You’re going to make me fall in love with you.”
I’m not sure if I imagine the next words, but I think I hear, “That wouldn’t be so bad.”
I fall into a deep sleep within minutes.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ava
The worst of my cold goes away after two days, but I work from home, afraid I’ll make everyone at work sick. I only go to the office on Friday. I’ve barely settled onto my chair when Sebastian bursts into my office.
“What are you doing here?”
I swear this man wears a suit like no one else. Trouble is, now I know what hides beneath his designer clothing. I know exactly how defined his muscles are, because I caressed every single one of them, and I can’t wait to do it again.
“Working.”
“I thought we’d agreed you wouldn’t come in this week.”
“No.” I barely contain my smile. “You said that. I never agreed.”
Sebastian eyes me, stepping past the table and stopping in front of my chair. Leaning in over me, he tilts my chin up. And there goes my breath. “There was definitely a yes there somewhere.”
“I was referring to something else.” I lick my lips, reminiscing about the naughty things we’d done. In the tangle of limbs and kisses, he said I shouldn’t come to the office the whole week. Then he asked me if I liked what he was doing to me. He was dragging his thumb across the slick spot between my legs, so of course the answer was a resounding yes. Maybe too resounding.
“Really? And what was that?” He’s so close to me now that his intoxicating scent fills me, making me squirm.
“You know what.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
Before he can muddle my thoughts any further, I push him away. “Stop teasing me. We’re at the office.”