Down With Cupid Shorts Bundle (9 page)

“
John Paul
? The conservative who only lets women who are married or are wearing purity rings on his show? Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.” Sebastian turned to her with a mile-wide grin, and her heart fluttered. She ignored the pesky sensation and said, “And, I think he just got it.”

Anna made a lewd sound. “If I wasn’t already married, I’d marry that man. By the way, I heard about the challenge between you. Now I have my complete faith in you, but if he can get Jeremiah to show up for the bachelor auction, I might offer him a managing director position.
If
he stays on for another two years.”

The flutter died. “What?”

“Don’t sound put out. I’ll split it.”

Her fist balled on the desk. “Split it? Ah.” She’d been working, practically killing herself, for a piece of the PR agency. She’d forgone branching out on her own to help build this place to what it was. And Anna was going to split it? She swallowed back the bitterness climbing up her throat.

“Why else do you think I paid an arm and a leg for him to work me? I wanted to see what you guys could do together. I’m beyond impressed.”

“Thank you.” Her jaw clenched. “Anyway, I’ve got a call coming in on the office line.”

“I’ll let you go then. Tell Sebastian he’s doing a great job. I’ll call him later in the evening.”

“Sure. No problem.” The phone line clicked in ear. She closed her eyes and her back teeth ground together.

“What is it?”

She jolted, opening her eyes. Concern furrowed his brows. Genuine and without guile, but he had ambition. Why else walk away from a firm he’d been with for years? Freaking out wouldn’t do her any good. And, maybe, he wasn’t after her job. Maybe Anna had made promises about a career climb to Sebastian, like Anna had made to Nicole, and planned to change them at the last minute.

Hopefully those promises didn’t include stepping on Nicole’s head to get there. Anna had said managing director. That meant splitting the business in three ways. Instead of one step closer to actually being an equal and respected as one. One step closer to not being another publicist who worked more hours than necessary for little return that clients turned around and screwed up again anyway. She’d worked like that for years to get where she wanted and he’d get that same brass ring in two.

She smiled. “Nothing. Excuse me. I’ve got to powder my nose.”

Sebastian’s gaze narrowed, and he straightened. “Right.”

Using one of his tactics, one Nicole picked up on fairly quickly, she walked out before he could get another word in edgewise. Once in the bathroom, she took out the earbud. A small gadget compared the wide expanse of the marble counter. A minute little thing that had practically lived in her ear for the past few years. With that wee gadget, she’d took and made calls at all hours of the day and night. Nonstop. Without a real break. She glared at it and seethed.

Nicole had been busting her ass and for what? She could practically hear Anna’s nattering words.
Someone else is doing as good a job, but I’ll give him everything you’ve tried to work for. You’ve made a few mistakes. I’ll focus on that instead of the countless ways you went above and beyond the call of duty.

Pressure built behind her eyes, but Nicole would be damned if she let one tear fall. A savage noise broke from her throat. She bent over and ripped off her heel. She banged it down, squashing the ear piece like a bug.

The door closed with a click, and she scuttled back in surprise. Seeing who it was, she let out a breath. “Goddamn you. It’s the women’s restroom, Sebastian.”

“Yeah, but you looked like you were about to murder someone. Making sure you had an alibi.”

Tired now, she put a hand on the sink and leaned against it. For years she’d worked hard to gain respect and equality. She’d ignored her own life for her ambition and she couldn’t give that up, not even a piece of it. To him. It would feel like the lost of something so much greater than a piece of Limelight.

“No one’s dead,” she said.

“It’s a symbolic murder.” He motioned to the earbud. “Everyone knows that’s one step away from a real one.”

She intended to laugh at the lame joke, but part of the sob broke away and spilled out instead. Sebastian made a soft sound, and then he was there. His arms wrapped around her, warm and steady. The next sob, too, got away, and his embrace tightened.

“Don’t tell anyone I did this.” His chest muffled her words and the piece of herself she was trying to hold back, slipped away. “If you do, your death won’t be symbolic.”

“I promise.”

“You broke your last one.”

“I know. This one I’ll take to the grave.”

“You can’t show any weakness in this business.”

“I know, but you can’t live your life through this business either. I don’t know what Anna said, but don’t let it get to you. Everything is an illusion in our line of work. Everything is about what things are supposed to look like. It’s never really the truth. Not in publicity. You can’t live through an illusion. It’ll drive you nuts.”

“I should know,” she whispered, face still pressed in his chest. He stiffened, and that’s when Nicole realized what she’d said. Out loud.

“You’ve been holding out on me.” Curious interest colored his tone.

Pulling herself together, she wiped her face and tried to push away. “I’m going back to work.”

Sebastian’s fingers curled around her arms. “You don’t have to tell me what that means, but you’re calling it a day.”

“You’re not my boss. So, no, I’m not.”

She didn’t try to fight the hold because it felt nice. It felt like nothing else mattered in that moment. Sebastian’s fingers, warm and strong, holding her against him as if he could stave off the worse of what she was feeling. As though this was the kind of relationship where one listened to the other, come hell or high water.

Nicole sighed as a spurt of hope splashed against her common sense, burning a hole in it. The hope? Damn, she hoped his fast-talking would come next. She wanted to see if he cared. Even a little. The fast-talking only came out when he wanted something from her he couldn’t quite admit to himself. Though, she knew waiting for it was a road heading heart first into disaster.

“No, I’m not.” Sebastian pulled her closer, made sure their gazes were locked when he spoke the rest, “But I like to think of myself as your lover, and as your lover I can see you need a day off. If that doesn’t persuade you, I can make one phone call. So either I’m your lover or the bastard who made you take a day off. Your choice. I’m fine with either label.”

Her heart fluttered like it always did. Her lover demanded she take care of herself. Her
lover.
Aw, shit. Heart first into disaster it is then. “Since we, technically, haven’t had sex again, guess you’re going to have to be the bastard.”

He growled, soft and low, and then kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and fell into it. He wrapped both arms around her, kissed her deeply. His tongue, hot and silken, lapped up her breathy moans. He backed her up against the counter and groaned. The slacks did nothing to hide his desire.

He pulled back, breathing heavily. “I’ll take the day off with you. Say yes.”

“As my lover or a bastard?”

His forehead rested against hers. “Today I want to be the former. I’m fine with that.”

It was the give Nicole had been waiting for. Yes, she knew he was ruthless. He had boundless ambition, but she wanted to feel, at least, like they were even. She wouldn’t be the only one vulnerable. The only one who needed whatever this was between them more than him.

“Ok.” Barely mid-morning, it would be a whole day off. A first in a long time.

“Since you killed your earbud, I’ll make the call. Be ready in five minutes.” He sighed, tilted her face up. She couldn’t read the emotions passing behind his gaze, but her chest tightened, filled with an emotion she didn’t want to feel. Not for him. Anyone but him.

“Five minutes,” he said again.

He released the hold on her, turned and stalked out the bathroom. Alone, it was easier to let the laugh turn into a small sob.

Chapter Six

Sebastian stole a glance at Nicole’s face when he flicked on the lights in his home.

“Your maid service hates you,” she said.

His home was stuffed with glass and things that constantly needed dusting, so she was probably right. “All things I’ve picked up during my travels and promo-whoring for others.”

Her gaze roved over the wall dedicated to signed guitars, framed photos, key chains, watches and a lot of other things one picks up working the circuit. If he bothered to insure it, the wall would probably cost more than he paid in rent for a year.

Other than the promo-whoring corner, the rest of his apartment was built for comfort. Two baby-blue, linen-covered love seats sat on either side of a large window facing the bay. A table and a lamp picked up from a cherry auction separated the space. A long coffee table sat in the middle of the room, beneath it an area rug that covered most of the wooden floor. The massive dark-gray couch faced an even more massive flat screen TV. It was his sanctuary. His escape from the bustle of work.

He hadn’t even thought twice about bringing Nicole here and allowing her entrance to his inner sanctum. She needed something to appease the sorrow, and he had stepped up to give it to her. Dangerous actions and needs had clouded his mind. Yet seeing her take in his home, Sebastian couldn’t scrounge up the right tone of regret or fear.

“I’m surprised you keep it all,” she said. “I re-gift. A lot.”

Her comment made him think of why they were at his place. He threw his suit jacket over the couch, sat on the edge of the back and faced her. Sebastian hadn’t expected to feel this invested in whatever it was they were becoming. Something their boss had said made her usually vibrant skin go pale. An instinct to protect her had drowned out his thoughts, and he’d followed her into the bathroom. Her tears almost broke him, and that was just wrong. They were lovers, nothing more.

He wanted her in his bed, and, yet, he needed her to tell him the truth. Wanting honesty from your lover wasn’t asking for a king’s ransom, was it? Still, asking for something with an emotional depth left him a little breathless. He’d avoided love ever since he’d gone heartless and ruthless and almost ruined a man’s life because of it.

Sebastian chose words that would invite more conversation, but if she tried to avoid the landmine, he wouldn’t complain. “I love what I do and all the perks that go with it. I like the challenge, and at the end of the day it’s enough for me.”

“The paycheck doesn’t hurt either. Or getting diamond-encrusted watches.”

“Goes without saying, but I’m a salesman. Always have been. If I hadn’t needed to get a little revenge, I might have stayed a sport’s agent.”

“Yeah, falling in love didn’t change you. It was the heartbreak.”

Leave it alone. He’d done more than enough damage when he followed her, held her and called them lovers.
Leave. It. Alone.
“And, you should know?”

She shrugged out of her suit jacket and tossed it on top of his. Sliding between his legs, Nicole began to unbutton his shirt. “I was waiting to see if you’d pry.”

“How could I not?
The Nicole Harrison
, publicist to an exclusive list, publicity manager to the esteemed Limelight firm…she has a dark past. Had to ask.”

“Not dark. Cliched. I fell for a man. He made me believe in happily ever after, and then he fileted my heart.”

The way her eyes shadowed as she spoke told him it was so much more. He shrugged out of the shirt. “How?”

Her laugh was bitter, but she looked him right in the eye. “He thought he had made it clear he wasn’t the marrying type. Of course, within six months of breaking up, I heard he’d gotten engaged.” She pulled off his undershirt too. “He’s still married. Two kids, too. You know, the ones he didn’t want, ever.”

She sighed, ran her hands over his chest. “It sounds like I’m not over it, but I am.”

He dug his fingers into the back of the couch as her hands explored lower. She did away with his belt, then pants.

“Things like that leave a mark,” he said.

“They do. Now you know, and now I’m not holding anything back from you.” She caressed his cock with her knuckles through the material of his underwear.

“Not everything. You still haven’t told me the truth.”

With a sly smile she stilled. “You want me to stop?”

“I didn’t say no damn thing like that.”

“Good. Now get naked but stand right there, arms down at your side. I like you all submissive.”

“Bet you do.”

Sebastian took a great deal of satisfaction when she bit her bottom lip as he leaned against the couch, hands at his side and naked. “You look a little flushed, Nikki. You all right?”

She slowly drank in the sight of him. He didn’t think it was possible, but he hardened more. Her eyes widened, filled with desire. “Since I haven’t thought about our last time together, I forgot some choice things about you.”

Nicole placed a kiss on his cheek, his stomach, his hip. She knelt down, let her lips fluttered over the thatch of hair.

“Like?” His voice grew husky.

“The way you smell.” She scraped her nails down his thighs, back up, and then stroked him. “Your taste.” She flicked her tongue over the crown of his penis. “Better than I remembered.”

Closing a fist over the head, she sucked and licked at the underside of his cock. Up and down. Stroking him with her mouth but never taking all of his length inside. He grunted and dug his fingers into the couch. She glanced up and laughed.

“Message received.” His head reeled from the sensation of her mouth and fingers. “I shouldn’t tease you.”

“I don’t mind the teasing.” She wet her thumb, lubricated the tip in slow circles. Pre-cum rose to the slit and helped her torture him. “I do mind that all the teasing is one-sided.”

She dipped her head and continued to stroke him with her mouth and tongue.

An intense pressure began to build at the base of his spine, spread down with heat to his balls as she massaged them in one hand. One hard, long suck would undo him. She tightened her fist and with each down stroke, she swirled her thumb over the tip. A low gasp spilled out.