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A Win-Win Proposition
Cat Schield
Sebastian Case relies on his assistant for everything.But since arriving in Vegas for a conference, mousy Missy has transformed. From ordinary to ravishing. From reserved to bold and sensual. And Sebastian, who’d barely noticed she was a woman, finds himself dazzled.Now she’s quitting and Sebastian will do anything to keep her. Including accepting her outrageous bet…
“Tell you what. I’ll make you a bet.”
She felt audacious and desirable beneath Sebastian’s keen appraisal. Mad impulses had been driving her all day.
Sebastian looked resigned. “What sort of a bet?”
“If the ball lands on black and I lose, I’ll keep working for you. I’ll have to, won’t I, because I’ll be five thousand dollars poorer.”
Sebastian’s eyes locked with hers. “And if the ball lands on red?”
“I want a night with you.” The proposition tasted like warm honey against her lips. She had no idea where she’d found the boldness to voice it, but now that she had, she wouldn’t take it back for a million dollars.
“I’m not going to take advantage of you like that.”
“One night,” she coaxed. “That’s all I want.”
“This is ridiculous.” Despite his words to the contrary, he didn’t pull back.
“Black you get me,” she said, hearing the ball slow. Only seconds now. Seconds that would change her life forever. “Red, I get you.”
Dear Reader,
Las Vegas is a city that captures my imagination. Like my heroine, Missy Ward, I love the energy of the casinos and the sense that anyone around me could strike it rich, or lose everything, in the next few seconds.
I’m not much of a gambler. I can’t bear to throw my money away. So, it was great fun to write a heroine whose luck begins to change the second she starts taking chances.
But if everything seems to be going right for Missy, the same cannot be said for her boss, conservative CEO Sebastian Case. He’s a man who likes being in control and isn’t sure what has gotten into his once-dependable executive assistant.
I had a blast helping Missy and Sebastian reach their happily-ever-after. I hope you enjoy their journey.
Happy reading!
Cat Schield
www.CatSchield.com
About the Author
CAT SCHIELD has been reading and writing romance since school. Although she graduated from college with a BA in business, her idea of a perfect career was writing books. And now, after winning the Romance Writers of America 2010 Golden Heart
for series contemporary romance, that dream has come true. Cat lives in Minnesota with her daughter, Emily, and their Burmese cat. When she’s not writing sexy, romantic stories for the Desire™ line, she can be found sailing with friends on the St Croix River or in more exotic locales like the Caribbean and Europe. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.catschield.com. Follow her on Twitter @catschield.
A Win-Win Proposition
Cat Schield
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Erik Westgard who put me on the path and
Chris Keach who keeps me on it
One
Multi-colored lights winked at Sebastian Case, enticing him to come try his luck. He ignored the electronic clatter of slot machines as they chimed, beeped and sang of fortunes won and lost. Gambling didn’t appeal to him. He believed in hard work and perseverance, not chance.
A couple in their sixties halted in front of him, forcing Sebastian to slow. The wife insisted the buffet was to their left. The husband assured her they’d missed the turn near the keno area. Both were wrong.
Before he could circle past, the woman spied him.
“There’s someone who can help us.” Her bright-red lips parted in a cheerful smile. “Hello …” She scrutinized his chest, where a name tag might be. “Young man. We love your hotel, but it’s very confusing. Can you direct us to the buffet?”
She’d mistaken him for a hotel employee. Not surprising. He was probably the only person in the casino wearing a business suit who didn’t work there.
“If you angle to the right, you’ll see it.” He pointed in the direction they needed to go.
“I told you.” The woman shot her husband a smug look, dead wrong but taking credit anyway. “Thank you.”
With a nod, Sebastian resumed walking toward the bank of elevators that would sweep him to his fifteenth-floor suite. Missy better be there. While he’d been on a conference call with their lawyers, going over last-minute changes to the contract for the purchase of Smythe Industries, she’d pulled a vanishing act. That had been almost six hours ago.
Concern buzzed. He’d left three messages on her voice mail and sent her four or five emails. Not a single response. Assistants didn’t come any more efficient or reliable than Missy. Should he be worried that she’d gotten into trouble?
Noisy, crowded, chaotic Las Vegas lured tourists with over-the-top promises of adventure and spit them out with blurry memories and empty pockets. Had Missy fallen prey? Her small-town upbringing in west Texas couldn’t have prepared her for such dangers. Was she somewhere in the maze of slot machines, pouring her paycheck into one? Or perhaps she’d left the hotel and been accosted on the street.
A cheer went up from the craps tables on his right. If his BlackBerry hadn’t been set to vibrate, he never would have known he’d received an email. Slowing his pace, he pulled the handheld out of his coat pocket. Missy had finally responded. The two-word subject line stopped him cold.
My resignation.
He stared at the concise note in disbelief. Missy was quitting? Impossible.
His executive assistant had been with him for four years. They were a team. If she were unhappy, he’d know it.
Sebastian dialed Missy. After four rings he was directed to her voice mail.
“Call me.”
Without waiting to see if she would, he shot her a terse text message demanding her location. Thirty seconds later, he received a response.
The bar.
Which bar?
He gnashed his teeth during an even longer pause.
Zador.
He pulled up a mental image of the casino’s layout and turned to his left. A five-minute hike brought him to the bar. Red walls, black-lacquer accents and Asian-inspired art gave Sebastian the feeling he’d been transported halfway around the world. Enormous fish tanks lined the wall and provided most of the room’s light. Twelve-inch koi drifted through the clear water as Sebastian strode into the room, scanning the occupied tables for his assistant. A redhead at the bar derailed his search.
She faced the bartender, gesturing as they conversed. With her back to him, Sebastian couldn’t hear her laugh but suspected it would be husky and intimate, a siren sound that lured men into her sensual web. She sat with her long legs hitched to one side, her modest hemline offering a view of slender calves and delicate ankles.
Even without seeing her face, he was hooked.
Her allure was so potent he’d taken half a dozen steps in her direction before he recalled why he’d come here. A quick survey of the room assured him that Missy didn’t occupy any of the small round tables. He would deal with her later.
First, he needed to meet the redhead at the bar.
“No, no. Really. He did that?”
Sebastian was close enough to recognize the redhead’s voice. Shock vibrated through him. “Missy?”
His assistant turned her head and peered up at him through a screen of long, dark lashes. If it had been another woman, he would have described the action as flirtatious. But this was Missy.
“Hello, Sebastian.” Her voice rasped along his nerves like nails dragged over bare skin. She pivoted the stool a quarter turn and gestured at the empty seat beside her. “Joe, get my boss a shot of Patrón.”
Sebastian sank onto the stool, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Where were her glasses? Her eyes, the rich hazel of a mossy grotto, watched him with open curiosity, waiting for him to say or do something.
“What’s with your email?” he demanded, struggling to pull free of the whirlpool of attraction he’d been sucked into. “You picked a hell of a time to quit.”
She nudged the shot glass toward him. “There’s never going to be a good time.”
He swallowed the tequila without tasting it. The alcohol’s burn was a mild discomfort compared to the inferno raging elsewhere in his body.
At some point in the six hours since they’d gotten off the plane, she’d freed her lush, auburn hair from its long thick braid and cut off twelve inches. The shorter style waved and cascaded over her shoulders like Chinese silk. Had it always been that vibrant and alive? His fingers itched to comb through the cinnamon ripples and wrap the long strands around his hands. He could almost feel the sensual caress against his skin.
His gaze traveled downward. She’d traded her amorphous pantsuits for a figure-hugging dress that framed and flaunted the creamy curves of her breasts. Had her skin always been this pale, this flawless? Or did it just appear that way in contrast to the black of the dress?
And speaking of skin. Had he ever seen her bare this much?
The Missy he knew was modest and reserved. The woman occupying the stool beside him reveled in her sensuality.
Sebastian shook his head. “What did you say?”
“I said it’s your turn.”
His turn. His turn to what?
The valley between her breasts called to him. He imagined plunging forward and burying his face in her cleavage. To arouse her with lips and tongue. To suck one nipple after another into his mouth until she wept for joy.
The intensity of the urge shocked him. He hauled a steadying breath into his lungs. Her seductive scent infiltrated his senses and fogged his brain.
“Sebastian?”
“What?” He wrenched his gaze from her stunning cleavage and blinked to refocus his thoughts.
“Is something wrong?” Her lips curved in a way both mysterious and feminine. As if she knew exactly what he was thinking. And liked it.
What had happened to the levelheaded, professional girl he’d come to rely on these last four years? Maybe bringing her to Las Vegas hadn’t been such a good idea.
“No. I’m fine.” What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn’t seem to think straight. He peered at the empty shot glass. Had he been drugged? “What were we talking about?”
“My resignation.”
Her words slapped him out of the sensual daze. His brain cleared. Heat receded. Or perhaps retreated was a better word.
“What do you want? More money. Or are you after a better title?”
“I want to get married. Have babies.”
More shocking revelations. She’d always struck him as a career girl. His entire image of her consisted of the efficiency and dedication she exhibited within the walls of Case Consolidated Holdings’ offices. Sure, it made sense that she’d have a personal life that involved friends and lovers, but it had never occurred to him that she did.
“You don’t need to quit your job to do that.”
“Oh, but I do.”
“Are you trying to tell me I’m keeping you from getting married and having kids?”
“Yes.” Her long lashes fell over whatever she didn’t want him to read in her eyes.
“How?”
Sebastian signaled the bartender for another tequila, shaking his head when the man glanced at Missy’s drink. How much alcohol had she consumed? Her clear gaze didn’t suggest intoxication. But what else could explain her rash decision to resign?
“You keep me working late most nights,” she began. “You call me at all hours to make changes in your travel arrangements or to pull together conference calls. How many times have I worked through the weekend making last-minute changes to whatever presentation I’d spent the entire week creating for you?”
Was she trying to say he expected too much? Maybe he’d come to rely on her more and more the longer they worked together, but he liked knowing he could call on her whenever and wherever he needed her help.
“You never take a break,” she complained, finishing the last of her pink-tinged drink. “And you never give me one.”
“I promise not to interfere with your weekends anymore.”
“It’s not just my weekends. It’s making your doctor appointments and getting your car serviced. It’s dealing with the contractors remodeling your house and choosing the tile, color scheme, fixtures. It’s your house. You should be making those decisions.”
They’d had this discussion before. “I respect your taste.”
“I know, but decorating a house is something your wife should do.”
“I don’t have a wife.”
“Not yet.” She regarded him in obvious frustration. “Your mother said things are heating up between you and Kaitlyn Murray.”
“I wouldn’t say heating up.”
Although it annoyed him that she and his mother had discussed his personal life, he had no right to complain. He’d been the first to step across the line when he’d made requests of Missy outside her duties as his executive assistant. It was just easier to have her take care of his needs both professionally and personally.
“You’ve been seeing her for six months,” Missy continued. “Your mother said that’s the longest you’ve dated anyone since …”
She trailed off.
Since his divorce six years earlier.
Sebastian wasn’t opposed to remarrying. He might have done so years ago if his ex-wife hadn’t trampled his ability to trust. Chandra’s antics hadn’t just dented his domestic side. She’d turned him into a remote bastard with no interest in developing romantic entanglements.
Unfortunately for the women in his life, he’d tended to focus his attention on something he could control—making money. Growing Case Consolidated Holdings.
“Okay. I won’t ask you to do any more personal stuff.” He would eliminate one excuse after another until she ran out of reasons to leave him. “Does that about cover it?”
Her hazel eyes became polished jasper. “Nothing you can say or do is going to change my mind, Sebastian. I’m quitting. Effective as soon as this week is over.”
“You gave me a two-week notice.”
“You can have four for all I care. I have at least that much vacation banked.” She caught the bartender’s eye and pointed to her drink.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”
He clasped her hand and lowered it. Contact with her skin had caused a startling revelation. He wanted her in ways that were primitive and defied rational thought. What was wrong with him? This was Missy. They’d worked side by side for four years with no sizzle, no fireworks. No craving to spend hours lost in sensual exploration.
She was his employee and as such, he was responsible for her. Only he wasn’t thinking responsibly. He wasn’t thinking at all. He was feeling. Hot. Intense. Sexual.
“You aren’t my father,” she said, sliding her hand free. “Stop telling me what to do.”
He rubbed his thumb over his fingertips but couldn’t eradicate the way her softness lingered on his senses. “This isn’t like you.”
“It isn’t like the old me.” She chugged half the drink the bartender set in front of her before continuing. “Do you know what today is?”
“April fifth. The leadership summit starts tomorrow evening.” The annual week-long event brought together the executives of the dozen companies Case Consolidated Holdings owned. It was a chance to talk strategy for the future and facilitate a cohesive, global outlook among what were individually run companies.
“It’s my birthday.”
Sebastian winced. He’d forgotten again. Usually a card got passed around the office that he’d sign and there would be crepe paper and balloons decorating her desk to remind him to wish her a happy birthday. But he’d been preoccupied with the summit and the last-minute details for his motivational opening speech. What a poor leader he was if he couldn’t even remember the birthday of the second most important woman in his life.
“Did I get you something nice?”
She threw her arms wide and gestured down her body. “A day of pampering in the spa and a total makeover.”
“I have excellent taste,” he said, his smile rueful. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the bar.” It probably wasn’t the best comparison in the world because men occupied most of the chairs. The few women he noted were older and downright frumpy.
Her eyes narrowed. “Gee, thanks. Knowing that I’m hotter than a bunch of grandmothers is a huge boost to my confidence.”
Regret pinched him. He could do better than that. She deserved better from him. It was her birthday, after all. But the only way he could think of to show her how gorgeous she was involved taking her upstairs to his suite and peeling off her very sexy dress.
He took another kick to the groin. The residual ache made him frown. He was speeding down a dangerous path. Whatever had awakened a latent fire inside her, turning her into a seductress capable of ripping out a man’s heart, was having a detrimental effect on his self-control.
“No, really,” he assured her. “You look incredible.”
“Incredible, incredible?” she demanded, seeking clarity as she often had to do with him. “Or incredible for thirty?”
Ah, a milestone number. No wonder she’d freaked out. She was facing another decade. That was especially difficult for a woman with a ticking clock.
“Incredible.”
She pulled a face at him. “You probably think I’m overreacting to the whole turning-thirty thing.” She paused so he could inject a comment, but Sebastian held his peace. “It’s just that I always figured I’d get married at twenty-eight. Seemed perfect, you know? I’d have enough time for a career. Travel the world. Sow some wild oats. Make some mistakes.”
He couldn’t picture Missy doing any of those things. She liked going to movies. Knitted prayer shawls for her church. Rescued cats and fostered them out. If any woman seemed doomed to stay close to home and live a quiet life, it would be Missy.
But that was before she turned up tonight looking like sin, smelling like heaven, and tasting like …?
He leaned forward and brushed his lips across her cheek.
Tasting like perfection.
She put her hand against her skin where he’d kissed her and regarded him warily. “What was that for?”
“Happy birthday.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I hope you’re still feeling warm and fuzzy when you see what I spent on my birthday present.”
He shrugged. “You’re worth it.”
Missy’s lips opened into a perfect O. How had he never noticed how sexy her mouth was before? With a thin, arched upper lip and a plump, delectable lower one, her cupid bow mouth practically demanded he smear her perfectly applied brick-red lipstick.
Without warning, her fist shot out and hit him hard on his arm. “Damn you, Sebastian Case. You can be such a jerk.”
With that, she slipped off the stool and as soon as her shoes hit the patterned carpet, she was off. Rubbing the spot where she’d struck him, Sebastian stared after her in surprise. She had a hell of a punch for one so feminine. He launched himself off the stool as she neared the exit and tossed some bills on the bar before he raced after her.
She wasn’t used to walking in four-inch heels so he caught up with her easily. Sliding his arm around her waist to offer her support as she stumbled, he murmured, “Where to?”
“I’m off to celebrate.” She pushed his hand away from her hip.
Sebastian’s palm tingled as he strode after her. He rubbed his hands together, trying to eliminate the uncomfortable buzzing sensation, and watched the way Missy’s determined stride gave her curves a little bounce and jiggle.
His ex-wife had been model thin and forever on a diet. She’d lacked the one thing he’d always adored in a woman, generous handfuls of breasts. That might account for why he’d lost interest in sex with her. Or perhaps he’d grown tired of her neediness. Her lies about being pregnant every time he talked about leaving her.
Missy veered to the right as Sebastian was cataloging all the things that had gone wrong in his marriage. A beat later, he changed direction, stalking her down the row of gaming tables. She moved with purpose, seeming to know exactly where she was heading. He caught up to her at the roulette wheel.
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” he demanded, certain he already knew the answer.
“I know exactly what I’m doing.” She pulled out a wad of cash. “I came here to blow this and I’m not leaving until I do.”
Missy had fallen in love with Las Vegas the second she’d stepped into the hotel lobby this afternoon. The ringing slot machines reminded her of the final bell before summer vacation. Flashing lights and the prospect of a big win around every corner unleashed her long-repressed wild child. She’d barely resisted the urge to dash into the casino and plunk down twenty dollars on the first blackjack table she came to. In a heartbeat, fifteen years of sensible living went out the window.
Sebastian set his hand on her arm and used his body to block her view of the roulette table. “You don’t want to play this. It’s one of the worst games for winning. Let’s go play blackjack. The odds are better.”
His touch awakened a shiver despite the warmth of his skin. He restrained her with gentleness, but Missy knew he could call on steel if he ran out of patience.
Rich. Powerful. Used to getting his way. Intimidating when he didn’t. A man in control of every aspect of his life. He never relaxed. Rarely smiled. Demanded excellence from everybody.
If she’d known what she was getting into before she’d accepted the position as his assistant, she probably would have run screaming from his office. Instead, she’d been drawn to the mystique of Sebastian Case, the elusive, gorgeous, exasperating millionaire businessman.
She shook off his grip. “I don’t care.”
“You’ve gone completely mad. How much do you have there?” He plucked the bills from her hand and riffled through them. His lips puckered in a silent whistle.
Afraid he might hold on to the money in some misguided attempt to save her from herself, she snatched the cash back. “It’s enough to buy the wedding dress of my dreams.”
If her use for the money surprised Sebastian, he didn’t show it. “And how much is that?”
“Five thousand dollars.”
“That’s a lot of money to bring to Las Vegas.” Concern deepened his voice into a dusky rumble.
Missy dodged eye contact, refusing to let his censure keep her from throwing caution to the wind. “It sure is. Took me two years to save it. I ate tuna sandwiches three days a week. I never bought any clothes unless they were on clearance. I limited myself to one movie and one dinner out per pay period.”
“Those are significant sacrifices,” he said with a straight face, but mockery hovered in the back of his eyes.
Missy tossed her head. What did he know about making sacrifices? He’d paid eight hundred thousand dollars for a home because he liked the neighborhood, then tore down the house so that he could spend another two million building something to his exacting taste. A mansion he barely lived in because he spent so much time at the office.
“They were,” she retorted, frustrated with everything in her life at the moment and taking it out on Sebastian because it was easier to blame him than face where she’d gone wrong. “Aren’t you curious why I’ve decided to blow the money rather than buy the wedding dress of my dreams?”
“I’d love to know.” Calm and measured, he sounded like a firefighter talking a crazy lady off the ledge. “Let’s go somewhere quiet so you can tell me the whole story.”
“I don’t want to go somewhere quiet. My entire life has been quiet. I’m looking for a little excitement.”
A chance to run wild.
Sebastian’s disapproving frown would not steer her off course. She was tired of behaving like a mouse when what she wanted to do was roar like a tiger.
Daughter of a small-town pastor, she’d been a free-spirited kid, breaking rules and flaunting authority. True to herself but a disappointment to her father and mother, Missy’s carefree days had come to an end in high school when her mother suffered a stroke. Bound to a wheelchair, needing help with the simplest of tasks, she’d needed Missy to grow up fast. Missy had shouldered a lot of her mother’s daily caretaking until her death after Missy’s twenty-fifth birthday.
“Haven’t you had enough excitement for one day?” Sebastian asked. “You had a makeover. You’ve had too much to drink. Let me take you back to your hotel room. We have a big day tomorrow.”
“I haven’t even gotten started.” She turned to the roulette table and plunked down her wad of cash. “Five thousand in chips, please.”
Sebastian put a hand over the cash before the dealer could move. “Think about what you’re doing here. That’s a lot of money. Two years of saving and sacrificing.”
She tugged at his wrist but might as well have been an ant trying to move a mountain. Her efforts brought her in close to his body. His heat surrounded her, seeped into far corners of her soul where wild impulses waited to be set free. His masculine aftershave invaded her nostrils and sped along her already overstimulated nerve endings. She was teetering on the edge of something reckless.
“I know what I’m doing.” That was the furthest thing from the truth. She had no step-by-step plan. No clue if she was making good decisions. And she didn’t care. For the first time in fifteen years, she was following her instincts wherever they led. Whatever the cost.
And it felt amazing.
“Miss?”
The dealer interrupted their argument and Missy shoved an elbow into Sebastian’s ribs. With an oomph, he released her money.
“Five thousand in chips, please,” she repeated, turning her shoulder away from her boss’s frustrated frown.
His disapproval made her uncomfortable. As she had done with her father, she’d grown accustomed to doing things the way Sebastian wanted them done. How many times had she let his opinion dominate hers? Too many to count.
And old habits were hard to break.
The wheel spun before she placed her bet. Annoyed that she’d second-guessed herself, Missy drummed her fingers and waited for the ball to drop.
“Don’t throw your money away like this,” Sebastian said.
“Why not?” What good was being in Las Vegas if she couldn’t do something that she’d regret even a little? “I was supposed to spend it on my wedding dress. That’s not going to happen now.”
“You’ll find someone,” Sebastian argued. “You’ll get married.”
“I had someone.” He knew absolutely nothing about her, did he? “He dumped me.” Yesterday. The day before her birthday. Two years after she thought she’d be getting married, she was back to square one. No. Worse than that, she was two years older with fewer single men to choose from.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be. It’s your fault.”
“My fault?” Usually he gazed at her in a neutral way as if he never truly saw her. At the moment he was assessing her with something other than his normal cool. “I don’t see how.”
What was going on here? Sebastian regarded her as if she were a luscious chocolate truffle he wanted to devour. Unsettled, she stammered her first word. “H-he broke up with me because I wouldn’t quit working for you.”
“Why would he care that you worked for me?”
Because he thinks I’m in love with you.
And, of course, she wasn’t. Well, maybe she had been a little in the beginning. For the first year or so. But after Tim came along, she’d gotten over her feelings for her boss. Unrequited feelings. Feelings with no hope of ever being reciprocated.
She wasn’t in Sebastian’s league. He dated women with money and prestigious social status. She knew the type. For a time in high school, she’d dated a boy from the wealthiest family in town. She’d been as infatuated with his promises to take her out of west Texas as she’d been with the guy. But in the end, it was the sting of why he’d broken up with her and how he’d handled it that remained branded on her psyche.
“Tim hated how I went running whenever you called,” Missy continued. “Every one of our fights was over you. I should’ve quit a long time ago.”
“Why didn’t you?”
In true Sebastian fashion, he arrowed straight to the heart of her dilemma. Her boss grasped underlying problems faster than anyone she’d ever known, including her father, who had an uncanny ability to read people. People, but not his daughter.
She couldn’t answer his question. To do so would force her to admit that leaving his employ would be akin to chopping off her arm. She needed him in her life. Needed to be around him to feel alive.
How pathetic was that?
“I just did.” Only not soon enough because yesterday Tim had told her he’d met the girl of his dreams, and they were getting married. Her hands shook. “I waited for two years for him to propose.” Her throat tightened, blocking the next few words.
And he decided to marry someone else after only knowing her a month.
Tears dampened her eyes, but Missy blinked rapidly to make them go away. Facing her undesirability hurt too much. If she wasn’t good enough for Tim, an unmotivated pharmaceutical salesman, who was she good enough for?
“Place your bets,” the dealer called as people began setting chips all over the table.
Missy pushed all her chips onto red. “Five thousand dollars on red.”
“Don’t do this.” Sebastian spoke softly but it was a command.
“Why not?” She didn’t attempt to keep defiance out of her voice. He needed to realize she wasn’t his to boss around anymore. “It isn’t as if I have anything left to lose. Not really.”
“Take the money and spend it on something of value. A new car. A down payment on a house. Something that will last longer than twenty seconds.”
Solid advice, but she could never look at the thing she’d bought with the money and not see her wedding dress. The gorgeous flowing gown of satin and lace with the gathered skirt and beaded bodice. She’d cut the picture out of a bridal magazine two years ago when she and Tim had had their first conversation about the future.
“Tell you what,” she began, feeling audacious and desirable beneath Sebastian’s keen appraisal. Mad impulses had been driving her all day. Maybe turning thirty wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to her. Start a new decade with a new attitude. “I’ll make you a bet.”
Sebastian set his hands on his hips and looked resigned. “What sort of a bet?”
“Last call,” the dealer announced.
Missy heard the wheel begin to spin and the ball start its journey around and around. From reading up on roulette, she knew she had a forty-seven percent chance of winning. Those weren’t such bad odds.
“If the ball lands on black and I lose, I’ll keep working for you.” She gave a rueful smile. “I’ll have to, won’t I, because I’ll be five thousand dollars poorer.”
Sebastian’s eyes locked with hers. The winds of change had begun to blow. Storm clouds loomed. Dangerous for the unwary.
“And if the ball lands on red?”
She licked her lips and his attention shifted to her mouth, lingering as if something fascinated him. Fever consumed the last of her hesitation. Every one of her senses came to life and soaked up the sights, smells and sounds of the man towering over her.
Hunger thrummed, longing to be sated. Only one man had the passion, sensuality and persistence to do just that.
She moved her left leg forward, bringing her thigh into contact with his. The effect on him was instantaneous. His nostrils flared. His entire body went perfectly still. His fist clenched where it rested against the table.
Intrigued, she shifted a few inches more. Her skirt rode up her thigh, baring more of her leg. She wore thigh-high stockings, the sort with a backing beneath the lace band at the top that allowed them to stay up on their own. Standing before the mirror in stockings and her brand-new black silk underwear earlier tonight, she’d been flushed with confidence in her sex appeal.
How many times had she watched his steely muscles flex beneath his tailored suits and wondered what it would be like to get her hands on all that unadulterated male beauty? To experience the immense power contained in his body.
Suddenly, she knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate her birthday.
His chiseled mouth flattened as she leaned into the space that separated them. Thick lashes hid his gaze from her, but a slight hitch in his breath told her he wasn’t undisturbed by her nearness.
“I want a night with you.” The proposition tasted like warm honey against her lips. She had no idea where she’d found the boldness to voice it, but now that she had, she wouldn’t take it back for a million dollars.
“I’m not going to take advantage of you like that.”
A chuckle broke from her. Was he kidding? She was the one doing the advantage-taking here.
“One night,” she coaxed, silencing the sensible voice in her head that howled in protest. One night to rediscover what made her happy. “That’s all I want.”
“This is ridiculous.” Despite his words to the contrary, he didn’t pull back.
Did he desire her? Was she brave enough to find out?
“Black, you get me,” she said, hearing the ball slow. Only seconds now. Seconds that would change her life forever. “Red, I get you.”
She slipped her fingers beneath the lapel of his suit coat and rested on the expensive cotton covering his broad chest. He grabbed her hand with his as her fingers grazed his nipple. His harsh exhalation thrilled her.
If something as mundane as standing close to him and touching his chest made her feel this incredible, what would happen when they were naked together? Her knees wobbled as his hand slipped around her waist.
His eyes burned into her. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because it’s my birthday.” Because I’ve wanted you for four years but never dreamed that you’d want me in return. “Because it’s Vegas, baby,” she crooned.
“Very well,” he growled, arm tightening to draw her body against his. “It’s a bet.”
Two
The ball dropped into the slot.
It landed on red. Missy didn’t need to look for herself or hear the dealer announce it. She just knew deep down that it was so.
And she knew because Sebastian stiffened.
In all sorts of interesting ways.
“Red thirty,” the dealer said, confirming Missy’s win.
She felt like cheering, but one look at Sebastian’s tight expression told her he wouldn’t appreciate her victory dance.
He loosened his grip, releasing her by slow increments. His fingertips grazed across her lower back just above the swell of her butt. Had he meant the caress? His remote expression offered no answer.
“I guess this means I won.” She spoke quietly to hide the tremor in her voice.
“Five thousand dollars,” Sebastian said, scooping up her winnings and depositing it in her hands.
“And you,” she reminded him, clutching the chips to her suddenly tight chest.
Winning a man at the roulette table. If her family could see her now. The thought made her shudder. She pushed aside her concerns. This was Vegas and everyone knew that what happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas.
One night. One night she’d never forget. But only one night.
Her knees wobbled.
Sebastian scrutinized her expression. One eyebrow rose. “Let’s cash it in and get out of here.”
“Eager to start paying up?” Her weak attempt at teasing got lost in the cries of dismay around them as the ball dropped into place.
Sebastian caught her by the elbow and pulled her away from the roulette table. Was he afraid she was going to gamble away her winnings, or was he in a hurry to start their time together? The significance of the debt she was about to collect prompted an unexpected bout of vertigo.
Sebastian steadied her. “What’s wrong?”
She, Missy Ward, unassuming girl from Crusade, west Texas, was about to sleep with the gorgeous and oh-so-elusive Sebastian Case.
If the girls in the office could see her now.
“My heels are a little higher than I’m used to and your legs are longer than mine.” Missy tipped her head back so she could stare into his gray eyes. “However, I’m delighted you’re so eager to get me alone.”
His mouth tightened, but his gaze remained as impenetrable as reinforced steel. “That’s not why I want to get out of here.”
Four-inch heels couldn’t begin to eliminate his height advantage, but she doubted even if they stood eye to eye that his presence would be any less intimidating. A born leader, he took charge in every circumstance. The perfect head of a family owned-and-run business where his brothers were strong-willed and opinionated.
Missy admired how he kept tension from erupting between his brothers Max and Nathan.
Cool. Calm. Collected. Always one hundred percent in control no matter what the situation.
The exact opposite of how she felt at the moment.
“Really?” She slipped on a half smile. “Because I was hoping you were planning on giving me my money’s worth.”
“Let’s cash you out.” Sebastian collected her winnings from her cupped hands and jerked his head toward the cashier. “Then we’ll go upstairs and discuss this crazy wager of yours.”
Not fair, damn it. She’d won him fair and square.
“We wouldn’t be discussing it if you won,” she grumbled as he turned away. She trailed after him. His powerful stride covered ground faster than she could in her heels. By the time she arrived at the cashier, she was out of breath. “You won’t talk me out of it. In fact, the only topic up for discussion is what time you get to put your clothes back on tomorrow morning.”
The woman behind the bars stopped counting out bills. She stared from Sebastian to Missy and back again before starting over.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Why? No one cares.” No one except him. “Unless, of course, you’re ashamed of being seen with me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
The look he leveled on her would have reduced every vice president at Case Consolidated Holdings to quivering idiots. Missy had seen it before. She straightened her spine and braced herself against his annoyance.
As the cashier placed ten thousand dollars in front of them, Missy counted along. By the time the woman had lined up the bills on the counter, Missy’s lightheadedness had returned. She’d won five thousand dollars. And a big hunky millionaire. She wasn’t sure which one shocked her more.
Stuffing the bills into her purse, she tugged at Sebastian’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”
She was glad to have him at her side as they found the elevators that would take them to the suite of rooms they shared. Besides having gotten lost twice today already, the wad of cash in her purse made her feel as if she had a target painted on her back. Knowing security was a scream away reassured her somewhat, but Sebastian’s tall form guarding her body made her feel completely safe.
As the elevator rose to the fifteenth floor, Missy wasn’t sure if it was Sebastian’s ongoing disapproval that caused the panicky flutters in her stomach or the thought that within the next ten minutes she was going to be naked in his arms.
“You look nervous,” he remarked smoothly as he slid the keycard out of his pocket.
“Nervous?” She released a wild cackle, loosening the death grip on her beaded clutch. Letting him believe she wasn’t one hundred percent ready to make love would give him ammunition to shoot holes in her decision to collect on the bet. She cleared her throat. “Do I have a reason to be?”
A long-suffering sigh spilled from Sebastian. “You are obviously not the sort of girl who sleeps with a man once and walks away. Why don’t I escort you back to your room and we can call it a night?”
“Because if you’d won, you’d collect, and that’s what I’m going to do.” She plucked the keycard from his hand and unlocked the door.
Sebastian’s suite was three times the size of her one-bedroom condo back home and way better decorated. Latte-colored walls, carpet and furniture, espresso drapes and accents gave the room a sophisticated feel. Bold, modern paintings added slashes of color during the day. At night the Vegas strip glittered through the large west-facing windows. The suite boasted three separate conversation areas and a conference room that seated ten.
While Sebastian strode around the room turning on lights as he went, she crossed to the wet bar. “I had them put a bottle of champagne in your fridge.”
“Did you plan for us to drink it together?”
She jumped as he appeared beside her without warning. The carpet had muffled his steps. Eyes hard, he awaited her answer.
“It’s my thirtieth birthday.” Two champagne flutes sat beside the ice bucket on the bar. “I wanted to celebrate. I thought that maybe you’d have a drink with me. I don’t know anyone else in Las Vegas.”
“Did you order the champagne before or after you decided to resign?”
“Before.” She’d been feeling blue this morning. Tim’s reason for dumping her had opened a deep wound in her psyche. Stepping on to the plane, she’d felt like an ugly frumpy mess. Sebastian had treated her like a dictation machine the whole flight. She was invisible. Unremarkable. So when they’d arrived at the hotel, she’d bought a new dress, gotten her hair cut and styled, and realized she wasn’t dull after all. “Can you open this?”
He took the champagne bottle and set it aside. “If you need liquid courage to go through with this, maybe we should forget the whole wager.”
“No.” She cursed her breathless tone. “It’s my birthday. I want to celebrate.”
She reached past him for the bottle, determined to open it herself. Shock waves buffeted her as he threaded his fingers through her hair.
His heat pounded against her like a rogue wave, catching her off balance. She grabbed at his forearms and hard muscle flexed beneath her touch.
He lowered his lips to the very corner of her mouth. Skin tingling at the grazing contact, she shifted her head, but his lips were already gone. She sighed in dismay as he drifted kisses along her cheek.
“You smell like sweetness and sin,” he murmured, dragging his thumb across her lower lip. “How do you manage it?”
Relieved to know he wasn’t completely immune to her, she said. “New perfume. It’s called Sweetness and Sin.”
“Remind me to buy you a case for Christmas.”
His hands cupped her head, holding her poised between close-enough-to-kiss and his-lips-weren’t-going-anywhere-near-hers. Despite the anticipation humming through her body like a high-voltage power line, anxiety was beginning to seep in.
Why was he stalling?
Had she imagined the interest in his eyes? What if he didn’t find her attractive after all?
Maybe if she gave him a little reminder why they were here, he’d remember his manners and make love to her.
“Sebastian,” she began, her tone a low warning.
“Yes, Missy?”
In one long caress, he eased his hands down her spine to her hips and back up again. Her muscles melted against his hard body. As nice as it was being this close to him, proximity to so much raw male power was causing a dramatic spike in her sexual frustration.
“We had a deal.”
“Deals are made to be broken.”
“I won you fair and square,” she said, determination punctuating each word. “So, quit stalling and pay up.”
Frustrating woman.
Yet amusement dominated annoyance at his assistant’s command. How had he never noticed her bossy streak before? “Where would you like me to start?”
“I’d like a kiss.”
His attention zeroed in on her gorgeous mouth. At the moment, it was pursed like a disapproving librarian’s. Far from kissable.
“Then what?”
His question launched her eyebrows toward her hairline. When her lips popped open to utter whatever brazen retort brimmed in her eyes, he lowered his head and took control of her mouth.
Warm. Sweet. Pliant. Her lips came alive beneath his. She opened to him and surrendered. He’d never dreamed it would be like this with her. No hesitation. No games. Just pure joy. Delicious perfection.
Right now, he wanted Missy like no other woman he’d ever known. His need gave her power and that infuriated him. But he couldn’t stop the onslaught of longing to take everything she offered him.
Her tongue danced with his. Already he knew how she liked to be kissed and what to do with his lips and teeth that made her writhe against him in wild abandon. Desire swept over him, an enormous, overwhelming rush unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He swallowed her curves in his hands, pulling her tighter against his body.
Seconds before he lost himself, Sebastian tore his mouth from hers and twirled her around. Chest heaving, he trapped her in his arms.
“Why’d you stop?” she demanded.
Because taking advantage of this situation would come back to haunt him later. She wove her hips from side to side in a way that drove him half out of his mind. He groaned.
“What are you doing to me?” Fanning the fingers of one hand on her pelvis, he pulled her snug against his erection.
“If you don’t know, maybe I’m not doing it right.”
He set his mouth against her neck and sucked gently, marking her. “You’re doing just fine.”
“Do you need me to tell you what to do next?”
Damn her for making him smile. “No, I think I’ve got that covered.”
He gathered her dress in his hands, bunching the material in slow increments. The hem crept up her thighs as she gulped in air. When her legs were exposed to the top of the stockings, Sebastian stopped what he was doing and grazed his fingertips along the very edge of the nylon a hairbreadth from her bare skin.
What was his ordinary assistant doing in clothing this provocative? “Sexy, sexy woman. You’re driving me mad.”
Missy murmured something unintelligible.
He didn’t ask her to repeat it. Instead, he let his hands wander upward. Contact between his caressing fingertips and her bare skin threatened the semblance of control he’d recaptured.
“Sebastian.”
Frustration filled every syllable of his name as it slipped from her lips. He sympathized. He ached for her in ways he’d never imagined. He drifted a light caress upward over the triangle of silk that covered her mound. Scarce inches below, her heat called.
“Are you sure about this, sweetheart?” He traced her panty’s edge. His heart thundered against his ribs. “Because if I go any further, I won’t be able to stop.”
Truer words had never been spoken.
“Touch me,” she begged, a catch in her voice.
Sebastian slid his fingers lower, aiming for the soft, wet center of her. Despite the throbbing in his groin, he stopped short of his goal. His muscles shook with effort while he forced himself to consider the consequences of what he was about to do. This was Missy. They’d worked together as professionals for four years. What if there was no going back from this? Where did that leave him? Leave them?
“Sebastian, please.”
She squirmed in his grasp. His control wavered. He tried to hold on while rational thought melted as fast as an ice cube in hell.
Her palms came to rest against his thighs. The bite of her fingers against his legs sparked stars in his vision. Her frank sensuality excited him. So did her wanton gyrations.
“Sebastian.” She seized his hand and pressed it against her hot flesh.
With a jubilant roar his carnal side broke free. Surrendering to instinct, Sebastian slipped his fingers between her thighs, applying the perfect amount of pressure to make her cry out. Satisfaction detonated inside him. He intended to make her come. He needed to take back the power she’d stolen with her sexy transformation.
She ascended fast. Faster than he’d anticipated. Great breaths turned her lungs into bellows as she neared the top. Her orgasm hit her so hard she almost took him with her. He’d never experienced anything as incredible as the feel of her as she abandoned all control to him and came apart in his arms.
To his dismay, Sebastian’s knees lost strength. He knelt and supported Missy as she sagged, easing her to the floor. Once she was flat on her back, he followed her to the carpet, pressing her breasts beneath his chest. Linking their fingers, he set their joined hands beside her head and surveyed her flushed cheeks and unfocused gaze.
Mission accomplished. She looked as shell-shocked as a well-satisfied woman should.
Time to stop before either one of them did something they couldn’t take back. He’d agreed to a night with her. No reason that night had to involve either of them naked and rolling around on Egyptian cotton sheets.
They could spend the time working.
That’s what he should do. It’s what logic told him to do. She might be disappointed, but she wouldn’t be surprised. He always based actions on reason, not emotion.
Sebastian dipped his head and stroked his lips against hers. His heart rocked in his chest. What was he doing? This was madness.
He released her hands and framed her face with his fingers. She caressed his shoulders and gathered handfuls of his hair, tugging him closer. He obliged her with a second sweeping pass. This time, finding her lips parted, he lingered, tangling their breath, coasting his tongue along the inside of her lower lip.
She tasted delicious. Tart and sweet like lemons and cherries. Savoring her low hum of encouragement, Sebastian explored her teeth, noting a slight roughness on one in front. Her tongue flicked against his, and the insistent ache in his groin grew. He ignored it. This wasn’t going any further.
Missy had other ideas.
He sank deeper into the kiss, losing himself in the heady wonder of it.
His world narrowed to her soft mouth and the passionate undulation of her body. Intoxicating noises erupted from her throat, their crescendo warning him she was on a fast track to another orgasm.
He might as well help.
Breaking off the kiss, he slid down her body. Her skirt had ridden up and exposed two inches of skin above her black stockings. He shoved the hem even higher, giving him a glimpse of black underwear. Silk. Tiny. And if that wasn’t enough to enthrall him, the musky scent of her arousal invaded his nostrils. There was no turning back.
Sebastian placed a kiss on her skin just above the black material. She gasped. Intrigued, he drew his tongue from hipbone to hipbone and her body began to tremble. His mouth played over the fabric of her thong, teasing her with lips and teeth, down between her thighs to where moisture soaked the silk.
He smiled as he hooked his fingers around her panties and tugged them downward. As she was slowly exposed to his gaze, he was forced to take a series of deep, steadying breaths.
She was a true redhead, he noted absently as he peeled the underwear over her thigh highs and heels and cast them aside. Then, settling back between her thighs, he leaned forward and with the tip of his tongue licked the seam where her inner leg and body came together. Her hips bucked.
Her wild, unrestrained movements made him want to forget the preliminaries and take her. But he held his own needs in check. He was the one setting the tone here. The one in charge.
By the end of the night she would learn what happened when she provoked him.
It was a mistake she would never make again.
He set his mouth against her. His first taste made him groan. Blood surged into his groin, drained from every other part of his body. He sucked hard and her hips jerked and twitched in helpless yearning. Using his tongue to tease and his teeth to tantalize, he brought her to the edge of orgasm twice, backing off each time until a low, keening sound emitted from her throat.
Then she did something unexpected.
Her hands had been busy in his hair, against his shoulders. Now, as he eased the pressure of his mouth and let her body quiet, she tugged her dress off her shoulders, exposing her black bra.
She snagged his hand and brought it to her neckline. Understanding what she wanted, he skimmed his fingertips against the rough lace before hooking them beneath the fabric. Her skin might look like cool porcelain, but heat raged below the surface of her breast, scorching his knuckles.
“Sebastian.” The plea broke from her throat.
With ruthless urgency, he yanked the fabric downward, freeing her breasts. Large and round with erect rosy nipples. Every bit as perfect as he’d imagined they would be. He filled his hands with them, a savage groan rumbling in his throat as he settled his mouth against her once more.
Her every cry drove his desire higher. He threw finesse out the window and stormed her with everything he had. She shuddered against his mouth, her body taking her places he doubted she even knew existed.
She released a half-strangled shout. Sebastian pushed her still more and watched her climax unfold. Watched her unravel. It was a thing of beauty.
And he needed to be a part of it.
Fumbling his belt free with one hand while his other continued the movement that would extend her orgasm, he succeeded in getting his pants and boxers down far enough to free his erection. Harder than he ever remembered being in his entire life, he slid up her body and placed his tip at her entrance. Braced above her, he paused for a fraction of a second to ask himself what he was doing. Before the answer came, her hips lifted off the carpet, taking him in an inch. The silken caress smothered the voice of reason. He thrust forward. She was both tight and slick. The last pulses of her orgasm sucked him in.
The wonder that settled over her features matched the sensation expanding in his chest.
“Missy?” His fingertips grazed her cheek.
Her eyes flashed open, unfocused and dazed.
“Don’t stop now,” she whispered, depositing a clumsy kiss on his chin. “It was just getting good.”
She wrapped arms and legs around his body, binding him to her as he began to move. A low growl of satisfaction rumbled out of him at the incredible slide of their bodies. They fit together as if she’d been fashioned for him alone. The sensation was beyond anything he’d ever felt before.
Pressure built in his groin no matter how he tried to hold it off. He wanted to savor the moment as long as possible. But her movements beneath him were impossible to resist and he drove furiously to his own finish. As with her, the orgasm hit him hard and without warning. Stars exploded behind his eyes as he emptied himself into her.
And collapsed, breathing hard, too spent to consider the consequences of what he’d just done.
Three
So that’s what all the fuss was about.
Too exhausted to hold on any longer, Missy let her arms fall away from Sebastian’s shoulders. He lay with his face buried in her neck. His chest pumped against hers as if he’d finished a mile-long sprint. She marveled at the feel of him buried inside her.
He filled her unlike any man she’d ever known. Of course, there’d only been two. Tim and her high school boyfriend, so she didn’t have much to compare him to, but deep down where it counted, she knew that only one in ten million men could have done the things to her that he just had.
“Well, that was something,” she said into the silence, her heart clenching in a manner that had nothing to do with her winded state. Repercussions swarmed her mind. She shoved the irksome thoughts away. She didn’t want this moment to be tainted by regrets. What she did want was much less clear.
Sebastian had always been able to jumble her emotions. He could make her hungry for his approval and curse his pig-headedness in the space of one conversation. She craved his full attention but feared the effect it had on her hormones.
So, what did she want? An honest answer eluded her. Since she was fifteen, she’d let her family’s expectations subjugate her heart’s desires. Liberating her wants was as uncomfortable as standing from a crouch held for hours. Just as muscles and joints protested being used again after a long period of inactivity, so did her spirit.
Fear drove a spike of doubt into her chest. She closed her eyes until the pain eased. In her mind, she summoned every fantasy about Sebastian that she’d stockpiled during her four years of working for him. Was it reckless to want to explore a couple dozen?
Absolutely.
But if she couldn’t check her inhibitions at the door in Vegas, where could she?
Her fingers itched to wander over Sebastian’s back, shoulders, face, but he’d shuttered emotion and passion behind his granite features, and her earlier boldness was in short supply.
Glancing down his body, she stared, dumbfounded, at the erotic picture that greeted her. Her splayed legs cradled her oh-so-formal boss. The sight of him so intimately arrayed between her thighs, still mostly dressed, flooded her with satisfaction and possessiveness. He was hers. At least for tonight.
It thrilled her to have driven the impassive Sebastian Case to make love to her on the floor. He hadn’t even gotten his pants all the way down. Or his coat off. She bet his tie was still perfectly knotted. The image of them with clothes askew in such a compromising position struck her funny bone. If her friends in the office could see them now. Few would believe that the decisive, controlled Sebastian Case could have gotten swept away by the moment. And not one would believe he would have done it with her.
He lifted his head, eyebrows hammering together as he stared at her mouth and the grin she couldn’t control. “Did you plan this?”
“No.”
Her wager had been desperate and mad. She’d never dreamed she’d win. Or that he’d actually honor the bet.
If she’d had any inkling, she would have stood at that roulette table, tongue-tied and as trapped by her family’s expectations as ever. Even now, if she opened the door to her rational side even a crack, she’d start to hyperventilate at the stark reality of her and Sebastian together like this.
She waited for him to move, but nothing happened. Was he intending on staying like this all night? Not that she was complaining. Just thinking about it caused an immediate spike in her hormones. Tiny ripples of delight, aftershocks of that last incredible orgasm, tugged in her loins.
Chaos muddled her emotions. She cleared her throat. “So, what do we do now?”
For a long moment he stared down at her in that unfathomable way of his. Then, he seemed to arrive at some sort of decision. Tension seeped out of him. “What would you like to do?”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“You appear stumped.” He eyed her. “Would you like me to offer some suggestions? I am at your disposal for the night.”
Irony rode his tone. Missy chomped on her lower lip. Was that true? Did he intend to let her have her way with him? As if she could. He could snap her like a twig. Not that he would.
“You’re frowning.” He dusted his lips between her brows. “What’s on your mind?”
His kiss relaxed her and increased her tension at the same time. Soothed her soul and awakened her desires.
“I don’t have much experience with men like you,” she admitted. “I’m not sure of my options.”
“I see.”
Was he laughing at her? Missy surveyed his expression. Neutral. No amusement crinkled the skin around his eyes or curved his lips.
She began again. “I mean, we’ve already done a couple things …” She ran out of words about the same time she ran out of bravado.
“So we have.”
“What would you suggest?”
Grabbing her by the hips, he rolled until she sat on him. “We have lots of things we could do next.”
Where a second earlier she’d been exhausted, being on top inspired a rush of exhilaration. “Such as?”
His eyes burned with scarcely banked desire as he watched her. “There’s quite a list.”
“Starting with?”
“I could tell you.” A second later he’d rolled her beneath him once again.
Breathless and lightheaded, she clutched at his shoulders while he dusted her chin, her eyes, her nose with his lips. The light kisses frustrated and aroused.
“Or?” She groaned as he framed her face with his hands and continued to ply her skin with gentle sweeps of his soft lips.
“Or.” He drew the word out, nipping her neck, making her shudder. “I could show you.”
His offer liberated her breath. It whooshed out of her. “Perfect. I love demonstrations.”
Sebastian rested his forearm against the shower wall and his forehead on his arm. The effort it took to stand upright spoke to the rousing night of lovemaking he and Missy had shared. Cold water poured over his shoulders and back, deflating his morning erection. Waking with an ache below the belt wasn’t unusual. The curvaceous Missy slumbering beside him was a different story.
The bedside clock had warned him it was eight in the morning. After the night he’d had, he was a little surprised he’d regained consciousness before noon.
To his intense dismay, he’d spooned Missy at some point during the wee hours after they’d surrendered to exhaustion. Arm wrapped around her ridiculously tiny waist, face buried in her neck, he’d aligned them head to toe.
He’d never spooned a woman in his life.
Hell, aside from his ex-wife, he hadn’t spent the night with more than a handful of women, and none since his divorce. He’d didn’t like being touched while he slept.
Yet there he’d been, cuddled up against Missy as if he was afraid she’d steal away in the night. With a heavy, thick erection that poked at her backside. He’d kissed the side of her neck, his fingers gliding along her petal-soft skin. She’d stirred. Murmured. Stretched.
He’d jerked his hands away. The night was over. His debt paid. Awakening her with slow, sweet loving would imply that he intended to keep the affair going.
He’d been shocked by how hard it was to leave the bed. What was the matter with him? Sure, the sex had been incredible. Her enthusiastic, uninhibited responses to his lovemaking had blown his mind and unraveled his control. She’d denied him nothing. And he’d given her a night she’d never forget.
A night he’d never forget.
Sebastian shoved his head beneath the cold water to banish his steamy thoughts. Not being the sort of man who did things then lived to regret them later, he didn’t like the sensation churning in his gut. He shouldn’t have let himself agree to Missy’s wager. If he hadn’t been so damned certain he would win, he might have considered what would happen if he didn’t.
What the hell had happened to his sanity? She was his assistant for heaven’s sake.
Not anymore.
Losing the bet last night meant he would need to split his attention between the all-important leadership summit and convincing Missy to stay.
Everyone had a price. He just needed to figure out hers.
He slammed his fist against the tile. The sting restored his calm. He switched from cold to hot and soaped down.
The bed was empty when he left the bathroom to dress. His gaze slid over the rumpled covers. Images of last night’s lovemaking flashed through his head. His body’s predictable reaction infuriated him.
Convincing Missy they could go back to being boss and employee would be impossible if he let lust rule every time he thought about her.
Sebastian yanked a pair of boxers from the drawer and hauled them over his erection. Sliding into a shirt, he fastened the buttons and glared at his reflection, willing his body to behave as if he, and not it, was in control. At least Missy had made herself scarce. One glimpse of her sexy curves beneath the sheet and he’d have tossed his towel into the corner and his better judgment to the wind.
He found his watch on the nightstand and fastened it around his wrist before donning his suit coat. Sebastian closed his eyes briefly. Had he really been in such a hurry with Missy that he hadn’t taken the time to do more than shove his pants to his knees? Obviously he needed to devote more time to his sex life.
Since divorcing Chandra, he’d grown way too suspicious of the women he dated. He treated every one as if they intended to get pregnant in an attempt to compel him to marry them. He and Kaitlyn had been seeing each other for several months and hadn’t yet become intimate. So what had prompted him to throw caution to the wind with Missy?
Sebastian left the disturbing question unanswered and strode into the living room to retrieve his cell phone. The sight of Missy, wearing nothing more than a happy smile and the shirt she’d stripped off him last night, stopped him cold.
His shirt bared her long slender legs and tormented his imagination. With her moss-green eyes obscured by her glasses once again and her hair pulled into a ponytail, she looked like a cross between a pinup and the girl next door. What had happened to the conservative, somewhat frumpy assistant he knew and relied on?
“I ordered breakfast,” she said, retrieving their clothes and shoes from the floor. “It should be here any second.”
To keep from ogling her, he stared at the mixture of garments draped over her arm. “Have you seen my BlackBerry?”
“It was in your pocket.” As she held it out to him, her neckline gaped.
She’d left the top two buttons undone, offering him a tantalizing glimpse of the voluptuous curve of her breast. His fingers twitched, muscles yearning to swallow that perfect roundness in his palm.
One night. That’s all she’d demanded and all he’d intended to let her have. He needed to get them back on professional footing.
“Thanks.” He watched her carry his suit into the bedroom, unable to tear his gaze away. When she disappeared from view, he shook his head to rearrange his thoughts.
He keyed up his emails to see what sort of trouble the morning had brought with it. Dueling emails from Nathan and Max told him it was business as usual with Case Consolidated Holdings.
A troublemaker from the moment he could crawl, middle-brother Max raced cars on the weekend and partied too much during the week. But as reckless as he could be in his personal life, he was conservative in business.
That made for some interesting battles with youngest brother, Nathan, who had made his money taking risks in the stock market and venture capital. The charm Nathan used to get what he wanted was in short supply whenever Max was around.
Max was in Germany trying to save one of their key suppliers from declaring bankruptcy while Nathan looked for a replacement supplier closer to home in Ohio. Max didn’t believe Nathan’s claim that the new company could produce their one-of-a-kind part at a seventeen percent reduction in cost and still maintain the quality.
“I have reports to go over from Nathan about this new supplier he found. I could use your help right after breakfast.”
“I was planning on doing a little sightseeing this morning.” Her voice emerged from the bedroom, tinged with impatience. “I’ve never been to Las Vegas before.”
“There’s not much to see. Just a bunch of casinos.”
“That may be the case.” She reappeared as a knock sounded on the suite’s front door. “But I intend to win money in every single one.”
The words on his handheld screen stopped making sense as she strolled past him. His gaze locked on her bare legs.
With an effort, he refocused on his emails. She would not distract him all week. Playtime was over.
A familiar voice greeted Missy at the door. Sebastian’s head shot up. Framed in the doorway was not a room service waiter, but a tall man in his late sixties dressed casually in a golf shirt and khakis.
For about a millisecond Sebastian’s father looked startled to be greeted by a half-naked woman, then a broad grin bloomed. The man standing just behind him, however, dressed like Sebastian in an expensive gray suit, appeared positively shocked.
The very air in the room stilled as if everyone had stopped breathing.
Missy was the first to move. “Hello, Brandon. Good to see you.” She held out her hand to the former CEO and looked startled when Brandon not only took her hand, but also leaned forward to kiss her cheek. While Sebastian watched, she wrapped herself in professionalism as if she wore a business suit instead of a man’s shirt. She then extended her hand to the second man. “I’m Missy Ward, Sebastian’s assistant.”
“Lucas Smythe.”
Lucas might be seventy and happily married, but that didn’t stop his gaze from roving downward over Missy’s gaping neckline and bare legs.
“We’ve spoken on the phone.” Missy’s only sign of discomfort was the hot color in her cheeks as she stepped back from the door. “Won’t you gentlemen come in?”
“Hello, Sebastian,” Brandon called, noticing his son for the first time. “Look who I found in the lobby.”
“Dad, what an unexpected surprise.” And unwelcome. “Good to see you, Lucas.”
Even more than getting caught with a half-naked Missy in his suite, the appearance of his father knocked Sebastian off balance. What the hell was he doing here? And with Lucas Smythe? Brandon had been against the purchase of Smythe Industries from the start. Not that he had a say in the way Case Consolidated Holdings was run since his retirement nine months ago. Still, this hadn’t stopped him from popping into the office to say hello and lingering to voice his opinion of how his sons were running things.
Sebastian advanced past his assistant to shake hands with Lucas, making sure his body blocked Missy, giving her a chance to fade backward.
“Glad you could join us this week.”
“Glad to be here,” Lucas replied, his attention edging past Sebastian. “I’ll admit I’ve been a bit curious how you run things. Want to make sure my company’s going to be in good hands before I sign her over to you.”
Strong in his opinions about professionalism in the workplace, Sebastian now looked like a hypocrite. The fact that Missy had quit before they’d had sex didn’t make the situation any easier to stomach. Debaucher of female employees was not the image Sebastian wanted to portray.
“Have you eaten?” Sebastian asked as a waiter arrived, pushing a cart loaded with covered dishes into the room. “Looks like there’s plenty of food.”
“I’ve already eaten,” said Lucas, his gaze following Missy as she disappeared into a room Sebastian hadn’t noticed yesterday.
They were sharing the suite?
Giving the appearance of being oblivious to the undercurrents in the room, Brandon followed the waiter. “I’ll take a cup of coffee.”
“Of course.” Frustration engulfed Sebastian.
Uncharacteristically, he wanted to offer an explanation for Missy’s presence in his suite and her attire, but his father’s smirk and Lucas’s frown told Sebastian they’d already formed opinions.
With ruthless determination, he banned Missy from his mind, slamming the door on his personal life so he could concentrate on the business at hand.
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