The cold snap we had has given way to spring-like weather. When I left my place this morning I didn’t even bother to grab a jacket. What I could really use right now is an umbrella.
I slide my hand over my hair as I charge into the vestibule of my building. I took the subway home, but the one block walk from the station was enough to make me feel and look like a drowned rat. I got a good glimpse of my reflection in the windows of the building next to mine.
I curse under my breath hoping that Sebastian won’t be standing in the main living area when I walk in. I want to duck into my bedroom, take a warm shower and get into dry clothes before I face him.
“Tilly, you look like you could use a towel.” Junior, the doorman, says as he spots me from across the lobby. “I have a stock of umbrellas for residents. All you had to do was ask for one on your way out this morning.”
I should point out that Junior didn’t even bother opening the door for me when I left earlier. He was so engrossed in a phone call with someone named Sasha that he only offered up a weak wave and a nod of his chin as I passed by.
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” I look toward the elevator. “I’m going to head up. It’s been a long day.”
“Your new roommate is a cop.”
I turn and look at him. Junior is at least twice my age, with graying temples and fine lines around his eyes. His face is friendly even when it’s not sporting a smile as it is now. “I know that.”
“I didn’t know until ten minutes ago when he walked past me and I saw his badge.”
My heart drops.
“Was he on his way in or out?” I ask expectantly.
“Out.” He gestures toward the street. “He was in a rush. There must be something going down.”
An image of Sebastian going down on me pops into my head.
Shit. I don’t need to think about that while I’m staring at Junior’s face.
“Isn’t there always something happening in this city?” I quip. “I need to dry off. Enjoy your night, Junior.”
“You too, Tilly.” He taps the brim of his hat. “I hope it’s a night to remember.”
It may be his standard line, but I was truly hoping for a night to remember. Now that Sebastian has gone to work, my night will consist of a bubble bath and frozen pizza.
All it will be is forgettable.
Chapter 22
Sebastian
There’s no way in hell I’m ever going to forget this night.
I stand in the foyer of the apartment staring at the sight in front of me. Matilda doesn’t realize I’m here. If she did, she wouldn’t be perched on the top of the dining room table with her back to me in nothing but a pair of black lace panties and a bra.
Music is blaring from a mini speaker on the kitchen counter. Her ass is swaying to the beat.
It’s obvious from my vantage point that she’s changing a light bulb in the chandelier that hangs over the table.
I’ll never again look at a light fixture the same way.
Her curvy ass is perfection.
I want to touch it, bite it. Fuck it.
My cock hardens instantly.
I need to tell her I’m here. It’s the right thing to do. The wrong thing would be to open my jeans, palm my dick and pump one out to the vision in front of me.
I close my eyes against the urge.
“Oh my God,” Matilda screams. “Sebastian, oh no.”
My eyes pop open to the sight of her turned right around, her hands desperately trying to cover her body.
Jesus. I think I could come just from looking at her.
Turn around, asshole. Turn the fuck around.
I listen to the demanding voice in my head that is telling me to do the right thing. I pivot on my heel so I’m not facing her anymore.
“I’m sorry,” I say loudly. “I just walked in.”
“I’ll turn the music down.”
She shuts it off and the sudden silence echoes through me. I can hear her ragged breathing. Or is it mine?
I’m so aroused. The need to fuck is there. I rake my hands through my hair to try and quiet the want.
I hear her footsteps as she pads across the hardwood.
“You scared me,” she whispers from behind me. “You said in your text that you’d be at work all night.”
I expected to be.
Brant called me hours ago to say that the woman I spotted at Axel Tribeca last night had finally decided to give a statement. I traded the T-shirt I was wearing for a blue dress shirt and a black suit jacket and took off. By the time I got down to the station, she was wavering again.
It took hours and endless negotiation between her lawyer and the district attorney’s office to reach an agreement that granted her immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.
My gaze skims the watch on my wrist. “It’s almost one, Matilda. I thought you’d be fast asleep by now.”
I feel her fingers brush against my shoulder. “You can turn around.”
I do.
Her soft smile is the first thing I see. Her chestnut hair is tumbled in waves around her shoulders. The faux fur blanket I wrapped around myself the first night we met is now draped around her small frame. She’s breathtaking.
“I broke my own rule.” She closes her eyes briefly. “I’m sorry for that.”
I inhale deeply. The scent of her skin is intoxicating. “You don’t need to apologize to me.”
That draws her brows together. “I guess we are even now.”
Like fuck we are. She saw my cock. I want more of her body. I want to see her beautiful tits and the pussy that I crave.
I swallow hard, suppressing the need to push for more. “You could say that.”
“Thanks again for the salad,” she effortlessly changes the subject.
I’d started to make us dinner when I got the call from Brant. I put the salad I’d prepared into the fridge and left. An hour later, I sent Matilda a text telling her to eat it for dinner since I’d be at work all night.
She sent me back a quick thank you message.
“I hope it was better than the candy bar I had for dinner in the squad room.”
Her gaze searches mine. “Do you ever get tired of it?”
I wait for a beat before I respond even though I know exactly what she’s referring to. Almost everyone in my life has asked me the same question at some point. “Tired of what?”
The blanket slips down her shoulder to reveal a thin black bra strap. “Your job. I don’t know how you do it.”
I glance at the ceiling to try and tame my raging hard-on before she notices. “Some days are harder than others.”
“Was today hard?”
I shake my head. “It was easy.”
“What made it easy?” she asks quickly in response.
“I was working an older case.” I run my hand over my jaw. “It’s the new ones that kick the shit out of me.”
“New? You mean when you’re called out to a murder and you have to solve the case by starting at square one?”
She makes it sound like a board game or a puzzle. I wish it were that easy. “The worst is the notifications. My lieutenant told me that it would get easier with time, but it’s only gotten harder.”
Her blue eyes widen. “When I first started at the vet clinic, I was the one who had to stand next to the family members when the doctors told them that their pets weren’t going to make it or had passed away.”
She clears her throat before she continues, “I’m not saying it’s the same, but I cried every time. I still break down if I’m in the room when they hear the news. There’s no way I could handle it all the time like some of the other vet assistants.”
I’m not surprised. Her heart is too soft, too open, and too compassionate to deal with death on a daily basis.
“You have a kind heart, Matilda.”
“Do you really think that’s true?” She inches one of her bare feet forward.
“Without a doubt.”
My eyes glide over her beautiful face.
She parts her lips before taking a deep breath. “You have a kind heart too. You’re not the arrogant jerk I thought you’d be.”
Smiling, I cross my arms over my chest. “Is that so?”
She nods softly. “You’re a good man, Sebastian.”
I lean forward so my breath skirts over her forehead. “What makes you say that?”
She looks up and into my eyes. “You make me feel special.”
Chapter 23
Tilly
I must be delirious from a lack of sleep. I just told Sebastian he makes me feel special.
He hasn’t said a word, so I rush to clarify. “I mean I’ve never had a roommate who worried about what I was eating, or who brought me cake at work.”
His gaze slides over my face. “We’re more than just roommates.”
I inhale sharply. “We are?”
“We’re friends.” His mouth curves into a broad grin. “You consider us friends, don’t you?”
I hadn’t thought about that. We only met a short time ago, but it feels like I’ve known him for years. That has to be because Maya has mentioned Sebastian to me dozens of times since she met Julian.
“I think we’re friends,” I whisper back. “Yes, we’re friends.”
He nods. His face is so close to mine that I’d only need to edge forward a few inches to brush my lips against his.
“I have a feeling that you know a lot more about me than I know about you.” A smile ghosts his mouth.
“I doubt that. Maya loves to talk. I’m sure she filled you in on every detail there is to know about me.”
His eyes drop to the skin on my chest that is exposed. The top of my bra is visible, but I don’t move to adjust the blanket. “She didn’t. I know the bare essentials. You’re twenty-five, a vet assistant, you like chocolate cake and dancing on dining room tables in the middle of the night.”
“I wasn’t dancing.” The rapid beating of my heartbeat echoes in my ears. “I was changing a light bulb that had burned-out.”
His gaze slides from my face to the chandelier before he locks eyes with me. “Let me rephrase. I know you like dancing on dining room tables while you’re changing light bulbs.”
He saw me in the lingerie I bought when I was in San Francisco. I’d put it on after my shower because it was new. I left it on because I loved the way it made my body look. I had no idea that Sebastian would see me in it too.
“I’m not complaining,” he goes on. “You’re a great dancer.”
I laugh. “I like listening to music when I’m home alone. That was one of my favorite songs.”
“Mine too.” He rubs the pad of his thumb over his bottom lip. “I try to keep my dancing reserved to solid ground though.”
I stare at the movement of his thumb. “What fun is that?”
“Maybe we’ll try it together sometime and you’ll see.” His hand drops to his side and I keep my gaze pinned to his lips.
They must be incredible to kiss. They’re full and look so soft.
A loud clap of thunder startles us both. I take a step back and his eyes dart to the windows in the living room.
“It sounds like the rain is back,” I say softly.
He checks his watch. “It’s late. Do you work tomorrow?”
I nod. “Nine o’clock sharp.”
Whatever moment we had was stolen by the approaching storm. I see it in his eyes before he speaks. “We should probably call it a night. I’ve got an early morning too.”
I tug the blanket closer to my body. “Good night, Sebastian.”
He only nods in response before he looks back at the window and the raindrops now beating against it.
***
“Why were you changing a light bulb in your lingerie?” Kate forks a piece of chicken from her leftover stir-fry.
When she texted me this morning to invite me to meet her for lunch at her store, she told me that she’d ordered too much take-out last night and the only thing I needed to bring with me was my appetite.
I sat down in a chair next to her desk ten minutes ago and I’m already filled to the brim with ginger beef and vegetables.
“I put on the lingerie after I had a shower.” I sigh. “I had a robe on most of the night, but then I went to bed. I couldn’t sleep so I got up to listen to some music and I noticed a burned-out light bulb, so I decided to change it.”
“Lucky Sebastian.” She wiggles her brows. “I can’t believe he saw you in nothing but a bra and panties.”
It was the first thing I told her when we started eating. It was enough to cause her to almost choke on a piece of broccoli.
“It was karma for me seeing him without any clothes the night we met,” I say matter-of-factly.
That draws a laugh from her. “That’s not karma. That’s fate.”
I shrug. “Whatever it was it felt like magic to me. I swear something was happening between us.”
“So you’re ready to admit that I was right?” She puts her fork down. “You can see that the man wants you, can’t you?”
If she had asked me that early this morning when I was standing toe-to-toe with Sebastian in our apartment, my answer would be a resounding yes. Since I woke up I’ve started questioning whether I was reading too much into what was going on between us when he got home from work.
“He was flirting,” I admit. “That much I know for sure.”
“Call it what you want.” She reaches for a paper napkin. “I call it a prelude to a fuck. You two are going to sleep together soon. Mark my words, Tilly.”
I pick up my chopsticks. “That’s a huge conclusion to jump to. We are so far from that right now. It’s not even close, Kate.”
“It’s the distance from your bedroom to his. That’s all it is.”
With that, she dives back into eating her lunch and I do the same, the entire time wondering if Sebastian is thinking about me as much today as I am about him.
Chapter 24
Sebastian
“You stood me up again, Sebastian.” Darrell Carver pats me on the back as we exit the courtroom. “It’s the third time in two months. I’m beginning to wonder if you’re just not that into me.”
I huff out a laugh as I look back over my shoulder at him. “You can blame work for the missed beers.”
I slow as we near the elevators in the corridor. “I’m done here, right? I can head back to the squad room?”
“I won’t be calling you back to the stand.” He glances over at the attorney representing the defendant in the attempted murder case he’s currently prosecuting.
I was on Darrell’s witness list. It’s part of the job. I stopped by his office for a brief visit before court was in session to go over my testimony.
I recalled the facts of the night of the attack and the investigation as I remembered them when I took the stand. The defendant’s attorney tried her best to poke holes in my statements. She failed.
“How’s work treating you?” he asks as we wait side-by-side for the elevator.
“The same as always.” I shrug.
He turns on his heel, so he’s facing me. “Listen, Sebastian. I’ve got this buddy. He’s a friend-of-a-friend of the Dean of Admissions at NYU Law School.”
I raise my hand in the air. “Stop right there, Darrell. We’ve gone over this.”
“Hear me out.” He looks at the two men standing next to us before he lowers his voice. “I can put in a good word for you if you apply again. I’m not saying I’d have any pull as to whether you’re accepted or not, but it wouldn’t hurt for me to reach out to sing your praises.”
My jaw tightens. “There’s no need.”
“You owe it to yourself to at least consider it. We both know you’d make a hell of a prosecutor.”
The elevator dings its arrival just in time. I turn to the doors waiting for them to open. “I had my chance. That’s a part of my past.”
“Fair enough.” He raises his hands in the air. “I sh
ould warn you that I’m going to push you on this the next time we meet for beers.”
I take a step back as two women exit the elevator once it opens. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
He smiles. “I’m just looking out for a friend.”
I don’t tell him I appreciate it, although I do. I’m a cop. There has always been a Wolf on the force. That duty fell on my shoulders. I can’t walk away from it now.
***
I press my palms against my eyes, desperately trying to will away the image of Matilda dancing on the table last night in her lingerie. It’s been a constant in my mind all day, even during court this morning.
“A migraine?” Liam asks from across the table in the diner he asked me to meet him at for lunch.
I drop my hands. “No. I’m fine.”
“You’re far from fine.” He looks over the menu. “You’ve got something on your mind. Spill it, Sebastian.”
I’m not about to tell my youngest brother what happened last night. He’ll ask me how I feel about it and I have no fucking clue.
“Have you heard from Nicholas recently?” I resort to a question about one of the few things we have in common, our brother, Nicholas.
Nicholas is older than Liam but younger than me.
He’s also one of the world’s premier novelists. His series of detective mysteries has sent his star into the stratosphere.
He’s currently on a book tour in Europe with his wife, Sophia, and his daughter, Winter Rose.
“Yesterday,” he admits. “They’re having a blast. He asked about you.”
Of course, he did. Nicholas has always had a sixth sense when it comes to me. He can look at me and tell when something is off. I’ve been avoiding his calls recently only because the last conversation we had before he boarded the flight to Paris was a rough one.
Nicholas is convinced that I’m sacrificing too much for the job.
Since he married Sophia and became a dad, he’s been on a crusade to enlist Liam and me in the happily-married-family-man club.
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