Down With Cupid Shorts Bundle (7 page)

Nicole must be tired if she couldn’t at least keep up her game face. “Not even close to what I was thinking.”

She was scared of the opposite happening. He was arrogant, bossy and insufferable when it came to everything. He was also passionate. Not to forget, he smelled like something she wanted to sink her teeth into. And she knew just how well those qualities played out in bed. The changed woman she’d been trying to keep under wraps wanted to go a few more rounds with him, to see if he held up to the fantasies she’d built up around their weekend together.

“Just thinking of how to fix this Chelsea fiasco,” she said. The doors slid open with a ding.

“You’re an incredible liar in business not so much in personal matters. That’s a good thing. Thought you should know.”

“Excuse me?”

He put his hand on the door, waited for her to leave the elevator first and then followed. He stopped abruptly, and she instinctively turned to face him. Sebastian smirked. Another one of his damn tactics.

“Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t thought about our weekend. Not once since it happened.”

She had in odd moments, inappropriate ones and for no reason whatsoever. Usually, a momentary ache to hear the deep gasp of pleasure whenever he came. A few more months and the pang would pass. It had to, right? For now, Nicole would know way more than she wanted to about her weekend lover. He walked with the same cocky swagger with clothes on. His voice had the ability to make her knees weak. He could see through her bluster.

Nicole met his gaze and almost backed out of the stupid dare. Answering would paint a target on her back, one he could pull out whenever it suited him. Three more weeks of his hazing, one he obviously didn’t need, and she wasn’t about to complicate this more.

Nicole told herself he wasn’t the man who knew her intimately, sexually. He wasn’t the man who spurred her need to slow down and enjoy the life she worked hard to attain. He was a man. Handsome as sin, arrogant as fuck, and in need of at least one woman to prove he wasn’t God’s gift to their sex.

“I had a good time but the moment I left that hotel room you didn’t cross my mind. Seeing this is the second time you’ve brought up the experience, I can assume I had a lasting effect.” She smirked at the uplift of his chin. “Now, do you want that slice of pizza, or do you want to be proven wrong about something else?”

A moment passed for an eternity. Sebastian threw his head back and laughed. “Oh,
Darling Nikki.
”

Her outraged gasp teased another chuckle from his lips. She’d told him over a naked mid-night snack, one of the rare moments of taking a break from bed, that her long ago high school boyfriend used to serenade her with the song. Years later, when Nicole really listened to the lyrics, she realized it wasn’t an endearing love song. She’d sworn him to secrecy to never speak of it again. Ever. “You promised.”

He tsked. “Apparently we’re both liars.” A wicked gleam shone in his eyes.

Clamping her mouth shut, she considered him. She hadn’t been the only one confessing intimate secrets and shames. “You know this means war, right?”

“Bring it, but first, pizza.”

*****

There was no question about it. Sebastian had bitten off more than he could chew. A long line of cheese trailed from Nicole’s mouth to the hot slice in her hand. She twirled a finger around the stray piece and sucked. Her teeth scraped lightly and with expertise over the digit, cleaning off the remnant of food. Was it wrong to be jealous of dairy? Probably, but his gaze refused to move from the seductive action. He couldn’t even pretend not to stare. The mischievous glint in her eyes told him she knew exactly how it looked.

And it all started because Nicole felt the need to lie about what happened. Why did it matter? It shouldn’t have. In their world a minute was a lifetime. Someone’s reputation could be ruined within seconds. There were more than a million seconds in two months. He should have long since gotten over her effect on him. Yet the seconds ticked by as she ate her pizza. Driving him insane. It should have been patently ridiculous but part of the problem was he knew that mouth, those sucks, licks and scraping of teeth. On his skin.

Sebastian curled his left hand into a fist to curb the urge to reach across the table, drag her to him and plant his mouth over hers to show Nicole exactly what to do with her tongue. The little minx knew the right buttons to push as she wiped her mouth and hummed, erotically.

“Thought you were hungry. You haven’t taken more than a few bites.”

He couldn’t continue to show his weakness for her. At least now he could admit to himself it was one. Sebastian still wanted her as much as he did when they first smiled at each other over shot glasses two months ago.

“Oh. I will.” He picked up his slice of pizza, taking a big bite and considered how to pay her back. Mentioning intimate details of their weekend had started it all, but he needed to up his game now.

They had the Jeremiah challenge sitting between them. That he could win in his sleep. She liked to cajole and primp the clients to get them to do what they needed to do. The problem was most of the clients could fill a stadium of people willing to blow smoke up their ass. There were a rare few clients who had someone that could look behind the facade and see what the person really wanted, what they really craved.

The computer mogul hadn’t shown up to six appointments because the man had spent his puberty in a basement tinkering with gadgets. He had friends to talk tech with. Yet, like any awkward-as-hell-teenage boy, he never got over being shell shocked when a pretty girl not only smiled his way but asked about him, showed an interest in him. Sebastian should damn well know.

Nicole smiled at him, looking smug as hell. His cock tightened with need. He swallowed down more pizza. Eventually, he said, “Since we’re spending the next three weeks in each other’s hip pockets, tell me how you got started in this business.”

Shock widened her eyes. She hadn’t expected the question. He would have laughed, but he had a plan and wasn’t going to ruin it by celebrating just yet.

“We didn’t talk about our jobs, did we?”

“Nope.”

Moments passed by in silence, and then she shrugged. “In college, I was the newspaper geek. I’d worked my way up to editor when a huge story broke on campus: A student and a professor got caught sleeping together.”

She tore a small piece off her pizza, contemplated it and then chewed. After Nicole swallowed she started up again. “Now, Georgia was in her mid-thirties and was coming back to college to get a degree she missed out on in her youth. She didn’t have kids. Never been married. She simply wanted something different in her life. Since I had my finger on the pulse of everything, even then, I found out they were thinking about firing the professor and kicking the student out.”

Sebastian had asked to distract her, but now he was interested. “What did you do?”

“I hunted Georgia down and convinced her to give a little ol’ college student the exclusive. I promised I wouldn’t make the story a smear campaign. I wouldn’t turn what they had into something tawdry.”

“But the professor was in the wrong for sleeping with the student.”

“No question. He should have known better, but Georgia was going to get thrown under the bus for following her heart, maybe for the first time in her life. I went to the college’s radio DJ and told the story there. Made some more calls and did some footwork.” She spread her hands, another smile. “By the end of it all she got to stay, the professor got sacked, and I wanted to do it all over again. And again.”

“What a soft touch,” he said.

She let out a disgusted sigh. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Didn’t say there was anything wrong about being a softy. Just stating a fact.”

A shadow passed over her gaze. “You can’t be soft in this business.”

Chapter Four

Sebastian leaned back and took in her face. Most of the war paint had faded, and she looked more natural, approachable. The same way when they first met. A little vulnerable sitting alone at the bar, but she’d fired back a witty response the moment Sebastian asked if he’d seen her before.

Things changed quickly as the heat between them damn near fried the air. They hadn’t asked many questions. They were taking a night off from work. They were single. They wanted each other. That damn simple. For him, press junkets had filled up the moments they weren’t together. Now that he knew she was
the Nicole Harrison
of Limelight, press junkets had probably filled up her time too.

When he thought of Limelight, he thought of Anna. The woman had made a name for herself and her employees benefited from her reputation. But the past week he’d learned Nicole
was
Limelight. She’d told him she was a shark by day and that was the truth.

He hadn’t seen the workaholic during their weekend. He’d only witnessed the passion and soft core of a woman who needed to breathe and not think about what someone else needed. He respected the hell out of
the Nicole Harrison
, but he wanted this soft and vulnerable woman. He craved for Nicole.

“No, you can’t,” he said. “I like the story though.”

She rolled her shoulders. “Your turn.”

Sebastian shook his head. “My story’s sad and depressing and pathetic.”

She leaned closer. “Let me hear it. Every detail.”

His mouth no longer filled with bitterness when he thought about the reason his life had changed. Something hardened in Sebastian’s chest when he thought about how he fell into a business that was never really about the real person but how the person looked to everyone.

He met her gaze and ate another piece of pizza. She didn’t push or look impatient. He liked that about her. Wiping his mouth, he said, “I fell in love.”

Her brows rose. “Like I love my phone?”

“More. Deeper. And stupid in love.”

Her gaze swept over his face. “I’m guessing she broke your heart.”

“Of course she did. Every man has at least one woman who takes his heart and shish kebabs it.”

Wariness thinned her mouth into a line. “And, you’re going to tell me? No strings attached?”

“Did your story come with conditions I’m not aware of?” He shot back.

“No,” she said, offended.

“Then why would mine?”

“Because you’re cagey. A fast talker.” She ticked off her fingers, counting off his offenses. “There’s a strategy behind this whole get to know each other conversation. I can’t figure out what it is, but I’m going with it for now.”

She was sharp. He grinned. “Have I lied to you yet?”

“I don’t know.” She crossed her arms. “Have you?”

“I don’t have to.”

“And if you did need to?”

He pointed to the phone that hadn’t left her sight. “Out of all of the contacts you have, how many are real friends?”

“My grandmother told me if you have more than five friends then you’re just lying to yourself.”

“Name one then.”

She lifted her chin. “You were telling me how some woman shish kebabbed your heart.”

“And I’m the cagey one?” He finished off the last slice of pizza. Wiped his mouth again but this time stood. “We’ll walk and talk. It’s going to be a long story.”

She tapped the screen on her phone. “We can’t. We have to—”

“Take a break from work for a few hours or you’ll be useless once we start calling more people on Chelsea’s behalf. She’s laid low like we told her to. The initial spin is out. We’ve got time. Also, I hate talking work after I eat.”

“Could be because you eat like a horse.”

“So do you, and that’s a compliment. Hate to eat with a woman who picks at her plate when I know damn well she wants to lick the damn thing.” She stood too. All supple and tempting curves. Damn. “And I like my woman with curves anyway. Gives me something to hold on to.” He didn’t give her time to hit him back with something. “Which way is the park?”

“At night?”

“It’s unseasonably warm tonight. They’ve got a handle on the seedier side of life and it’s well lit. Since I’m still not planning to maul you, you’ll be safe.”

Sebastian used the same tactic as before and began to walk out of the pizza place before she decided to go with him or not. Leaving first left little room for her to debate the reasons not to. If she waited too long, she’d have to run to catch up. She needed to get in a gripe or two and if he wasn’t there to hear it…

By the time he got to the door, Nicole was at his side. He bit back the smile.

“You do that on purpose,” she said, annoyance clear in her tone.

“Do I? Huh.”

“If I had my purse, I’d hit you with it.”

“Work place violence is not what I expected when I burned some bridges to come work with you.”

“Nuh-huh. We’re talking about the heartbreak first, and then you can extoll why you came to work with me. I’m flattered by the way, if I hadn’t said it before.”

“Bet you are.”

They stepped out into the night. San Francisco, lit up, had lost most of its bustle, but he could smell the ocean with each light breeze. That alone would beckon to the city goers. Offices surrounded them and since not everyone respected the nine to five rule, even this late, if you looked up, you could see people moving around through the windows.

This city had become his home, and he loved it. Sebastian took it in and then glanced at the woman beside him. It shouldn’t have felt like a punch to the gut when he looked at her. Outside of going home to sleep, they’d spent every moment together. She should have long since lost her appeal for him. Except she hadn’t.

They paused at the stoplight, and he placed a hand on the middle of her back when she stepped off the curb. Her back arched and she tried to hide the sigh.

“Do you want me to tell you the whole story or get to the heart-ripping-out part?”

“A little bit of both,” she said.

“Back in college, since this is where both of our stories start, I was a debate geek. As a side job I cold called people and sold them stuff.”

“Oh, my God.” She shook her head and made a sound of disgust. “It all makes sense now.”

When they reached the other side, he placed his hand on her back again. Another sigh, softer this time. Sebastian fought a smile and stepped into shoes he wore long ago. He deepened his voice and smoothed it out. “Hello, may I speak to Nicole Harrison? I’m calling on behalf of Life Insurance Company. We want to offer you—”