Resisting the Billionaire Collection (28 page)

It crossed his mind to tell her just how
wrong the two of them were but that would be to concede that their
words had actually hurt him and he didn't want that. So what
if she didn't want him? He would find someone else. Maybe tonight.
Maybe more than one. He thought about just walking out of there.
After all, it wasn't like he actually needed the job. What he
earned as a trainee barista wouldn't even keep him in aftershave
for the year. The money was totally irrelevant. 

But something made him stay. 

Alison withdrew her hand from him. She knew
he was right. There was nothing funny about it at all. It was just
stupid and demeaning to another person.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled and then turned
away from him. Unfortunately, they still had another two hours to
work together before their shift ended and it proved to be the
longest time ever. From the lightness and undercurrent of
excitement in the afternoon, the evening was heavy with silence and
formality. There had to be some way to make it up to him. Alison
wracked her brains but she couldn't think of anything.

As angry as Sebastian was, still he wanted
to be next to the woman who had belittled him. Anything was better
than losing her forever. Even if they just worked in the same
place, goddamn it, at least he could see her every day and feel her
presence next to him.

Shit. What the hell is wrong with me? She's
just a girl for Christ's sake. I can have any girl in this place,
any girl in this whole damn town. Why does it have to be her?

Still he stayed. 

The café finally closed and he put his apron
away. He was just getting ready to leave. He hadn't spoken a word
to Alison in the last half hour. She put her coat on next to him in
the little backroom with the lockers. His heart was racing. He
wanted to speak but just couldn't find the right words. He didn't
want to leave for the night with this hanging over them.

He heard her soft, sweet, timorous voice,
right next to him.

Her heart was racing as she thought about
what she was about to do. It was totally out of character and out
of her comfort zone, but somehow she couldn't let the day end like
this. It was just too mean and she wasn't a mean person. Daniel was
new on the job and saying something like that about him simply
wasn't right.

"Daniel..." she was right next to him. MJ
instantly glared at her but she ignored it. He looked at her with
the same gorgeous brown eyes but this time they were cold,
unreadable. Her courage failed her, the words caught in her throat.
She had never asked a guy out before and it looked like that wasn’t
about to change now.

He looked at her, longing to hear something
that could make things go back to the way they had been that
morning. He decided not to leave it to chance.

"Do you wanna go get a beer or something?"
He said.

MJ groaned and the other girls were
speechless, stung with jealousy.

If I want her, I want
her.
He thought. She still had no idea who
he was. He would make her love him; make her want him even if he
was just a penniless barista. He would make her eat those words and
then she would scream his name while he fucked her
senseless.

His real name. 

He could see she was surprised. Whatever it
was she had wanted to say was forgotten. He didn't care about
apologies or hurt feelings. He was Sebastian Drummond and she was
his woman -- that was it. She just didn't know it yet. He would
make her prove herself to him and that would be that.

There was a silence in the changing room.
Alison hardly knew what to say. She had been about to ask herself,
but it was so unlike her. She never asked guys out because they
always came to her. She was better at turning people down than
turning them on.

"Uh, yeah. Yes. Sure. You mean right
now?"

"No time like the present." He gave the sexy
half-smile, the one that had made girls compete to be liked by him
since he was a kid in short pants.

"Hey," MJ interjected, "we were all going to
get a drink tonight anyway, right?" She looked at Olivia
sternly.

"That's right." Olivia said. "Anyone else
want to come along?"

"Sure."

"Yeah, why not?"

All the other girls soon agreed. The only
one who had another genuine commitment looked like she had been
shot in the back by her closest friend.

"I'm sorry." Daniel said with complete
confidence. "But I really just meant me and Alison."

The girls were stunned into silence again.
MJ seethed with anger. Alison's heart raced.

"Jeez," she said, "I... I'm not sure."

"Why not?" Daniel said with disarming
simplicity, his beautiful eyes gazing into hers, all the coldness
gone, replaced with heart throbbing innocence, confusion and a
directness that made Alison want to strip for him on the spot. She
could feel her face beginning to get hot as he watched,
mercilessly. 

That's right, baby.
He thought.
Get hot for
me. This is only just the beginning.

"Because she's already got a boyfriend,
stud." MJ said. "She's committed. Jesus Christ, Romeo. You've only
been on the job for three days and already you're hitting on your
colleagues? That’s a record."

Olivia sniggered but all the other girls
were silent. They had been throwing themselves at him shamelessly
for the last three days and then he goes and asks out the only one
in a steady relationship? If Alison hadn’t been so caught up in his
hypnotic gaze, she would have felt the waves of envy and hatred
lashing at her from every angle of the room.

"Committed?" He said calmly, still directing
himself to Alison as though they were the only two in the room. "Of
course, that was obvious. How could someone as beautiful as you be
single? I should have known." The girls gasped, hearts were
fluttering.

"I'm single." One of them piped up.

"Me too." Another said.

"Goddamn it." MJ said. "Don't all play so
damn hard to get." She pulled on her coat and headed to the door.
"Now I'm going to get a drink. Anyone else who wants one can come
with me."

Nobody moved, not even Olivia. Everyone was
watching Alison and Daniel.

"I guess we could all go for a drink
together." Alison said. "Would that be okay?"

MJ rolled her eyes.

"Come on already. Am I drinking alone or is
anyone coming with me?"

Sebastian smiled, if that's the way they
wanted to play it then so be it. He would let everyone concerned
know tonight just how this was going to play out. He would make it
public, permanent, irreversible. He would put himself and Alison on
the spot. She was worth it. He might never have this chance again
and he was going to give it everything.

Let's see how real this
boyfriend is.
He thought.

"Well, I could certainly use a drink." He
said, still holding Alison's rapt gaze.

"Me too."

"Sure thing."

Suddenly the lockerroom filled with activity
as the girls pulled their coats on, fixed their hair, and made sure
they looked as cute as possible in their everyday clothes. Of
course, their everyday clothes had all gone up a notch in quality
and down a notch in coverage over the last three days.

Just in case.

MJ rolled her eyes even harder.

"Let's go to Reilly's." It was the least
romantic most basic Irish bar she knew within walking distance. If
you could get lovey-dovey in there, you could get lovey-dovey in a
trashcan.

The walk wasn't far and Alison couldn't help
but feel a thrill as Daniel did his best to stay next to her. She
could not believe the other women.

Haven't these girls ever
seen a man before?
She thought.

When they reached the bar, MJ was careful to
pick a booth that would allow everyone to sit together and ushered
Daniel in first in order to trap him next to her.

No way, MJ.
He thought.
You think
you're good at this game but you don't Sebastian Drummond. I always
get my woman.

Behaving like a perfect gentleman, he
insisted that MJ go before him. Grinding her teeth she accepted and
then watched as one by one her silly colleagues followed her in,
each one giving eyes to Daniel as they slinked past him.

When only Daniel, Olivia, and Alison were
left, he abruptly guided Olivia into the last spot and then
stopped.

Oh MJ, you're making this
so easy for me.
He thought.

"It's a little crowded in there, ladies. I
think Alison and I had better go sit right over there in that
smaller booth."

"No way! Come on, there's plenty of room
right here."

The girls began to squeeze up. Daniel was
unfazed. As cool as a cucumber on ice.

"No really, it’s okay. We'll be fine over
there. If something bigger turns up then we can move and all sit
together."

Not waiting for an answer, he guided Alison
to the more personal booth. MJ burned with frustration and kept her
eyes fixed on the two of them.

"We’re watching you two." She said.

"Her boyfriend's name is Brad." Another girl
said.

"Brad is a lucky man." Daniel said with a
smile, and then more intently, staring into her eyes. "A very lucky
man." His potent gaze fell to the ground, as just for a moment his
invulnerable aura of self-confidence weakened. The thought of
another man having Alison made him lose step just for a moment.
Usually boyfriends were minor obstacles, but something about Alison
made him think she would be loyal to this Brad guy. On the other
hand, if she was so happy with Brad, why did he feel so strongly
that there was something between them?

If that bastard has hurt
you...
He thought, suddenly feeling
homicidally possessive about a woman that wasn't even
his.

Yet.

"Bradley's real cute." A little black girl
said. "But not as cute as you." There was an outburst of giggles
from everyone except MJ.

"Settle down ladies, settle down." She said.
"Come on. Let's order."

"Maybe we should sit with them?" Alison said
nervously.

No way.
He thought, and scooped his arm around her
placing his large hand to the small of her back and gently but
firmly guided her to the booth.

"He's not that cute." Alison said when they
sat down. She immediately regretted it when she saw Daniel's
devilishly cute smile.

That’s it.
He thought.
She’s mine.
No doubt about it.

Criticizing her own boyfriend's looks to a
stranger? There was no question. She hadn't meant that crap about
him being a loser just because he was on minimum wage. MJ had put
the words in her mouth. She was the still the girl who had rocked
his world three days ago.

"But just to be clear," Alison corrected
herself, "there's nothing going on here."

Sure.
He thought and continued to smile, all confidence
again.
Maybe she even still believes that
now, but just give me an hour...

"I mean nothing at all. You know,
like..."

Sebastian waited.

"I mean, like, you know, romantically."

"Did you think there was?" He asked. Alison
could feel her face go warm again. Sebastian could feel his cock
begin to stiffen as he watched her begin to redden. God she was
every bit as beautiful as he could ever have imagined a woman to
be. But what did a few words mean? This wasn't a game. This was the
most important thing in his life right now and a wrong word could
screw everything up. He felt himself stiffen up again and not just
in his pants.

"It's hot in here, don't you think?" She
said fanning herself.

"Things getting hot over there?" One of the
girls called over. Sebastian smiled back but didn't respond. This
was all good. Let them see. Let everyone know.

The waitress came over and took their order.
She spent just a little too long looking at Sebastian, ignored
Alison almost completely, and more or less made it clear that she
would be happy to bring him anything he wanted.

"Anything at all, sir." She purred. "You
want it? We got it."

"Slut." One of the girls from Tête-á-Tête
said loudly through a barely disguised cough.

"Do you always have this effect on women?"
Alison asked.

"What effect?" He said with such innocence
that Alison didn't dare question it or even answer. He hadn't
really noticed the waitress. He wondered was she talking about
herself.

Is he completely unaware
of this?
She thought.

When the drinks arrived and the overly
friendly waitress was gone, Daniel became more serious.

"Look," he said, "about today -- don't even
think about it. I'm not that sensitive. I know MJ has it in for me
for some reason but trust me; it doesn't matter to me at all. I’m a
big boy."

That you surely are.

"MJ is a great supervisor and something
tells me she's an even greater friend to you."

Alison nodded her head. She was feeling
funny again, her emotions welling up the same way they had that
afternoon when she had teared up. She swallowed hard. All her
stupid co-workers were watching. She couldn't afford to crack up in
front of them. The jealous gaggle of women would make her pay
endlessly for it if she did.

"She's a good friend. Really she is. She
cares a lot about me. And just so we're clear, I am really, really
and truly sorry for what I said today. There is no excuse. And
these beers are on me." She gave him a playfully stern look, like a
schoolmistress and held up her glass to clink with his.

"If you insist." He said, joining his glass
to hers.