Unlawful Escort (Unlawful Series book 1) (19 page)

“Where I’ve been for the past five days!” she spat, wrenching her arm from his grasp.

“If my memory serves me correctly, our contract doesn’t expire for another seven weeks”, she froze; her hand on the doorknob, “or did you forget about that”.

Paige whirled to face him in shock, “and
what about
Elizabeth?” she demanded before she could think better of it.

He smiled devilishly, “jealous, are you?”

“In your dreams, playboy”, she struggled to keep her features blank.

So he wasn’t denying that there was something going on between him and Elizabeth.

“Now if you don’t mind, I have to return to the ball.”

“Not without this”, he withdrew her torn undergarment from his pocket and dangled it in the air.

She inhaled sharply, her hand
s, instinctively, flying to the part of her anatomy where the garment had been a short while ago. Capitalizing on her momentary distraction; he seized her around the waist and guided her towards the door.

“Now, let’s get you out of her before someone sees you and know exactly what we were doing”, she blushed bright red as he led her in the opposite direction of the ballroom.

He retrieved his cell phone from his jacket pocket, “meet me around the back”, he said to the person on the other end.

“
Wait, my coat…”

“I’ll have someone pick it up. In the meantime
you can wear this”, he shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over her shoulders.

He whisked her out into the stinging, cold night air, into his waiting car and as they settled inside and the car drove away from the house she felt wholly depressed.
Why hadn’t she stayed home? She thought, miserably. This is what you wanted, a cruel voice inside her head taunted, you’re beating Elizabeth at her own game; after all, you’re the one he’s taking home.

No! She defended staunchly; she hadn’t intended for the situation to turn out like this. In fact she hadn’t thought beyond
seeing him. Sebastian's cell phone rang and he spoke mildly into it in fluent French and she thought of how convenient it was that they’d left the ball from the back entrance so that no one could witness that they’d left together. The situation spurred a violent pounding in her temples and she closed her eyes; reclining into the headrest.

She was surprised when he halted his conversation to ask, “are you alright?”

Her eyes opened a fraction to see that he’d removed the mask; his brown eyes staring pensively into hers. He lifted an arm to remove her mask but she caught his hand mid-air; releasing him quickly when her palm tingled with awareness.

“I’m fine, you can go back to your conversation”, she turned away from him
and he hesitated a moment, before the brusque sound of his voice told her that he’d done as she’d suggested.

The penthouse was extremely cold when they got there a few minutes later and she had the strange feeling one got when entering a house for the first time. She hadn’t realized she’d started thinking of the penthouse as home
, before a week ago, until the walls seemed to scream at her to ‘get out’.

“I have some work to finish up in the study”, Sebastian informed her and she barely grunted a reply.

A wave of sadness washed over her as she mounted the stairs and she wished she was at her own house so she could crumble to the floor and cry her heart out. But she wouldn’t, she thought, straightening her spine and marching to the room Sebastian had given her upon her arrival. Her heart tightened painfully inside her chest as she thought of Sebastian’s room further down the hall and the wonderful nights they’d spent there together.

Closing the door
behind her; she stepped out of her shoes and crumpled to the floor against it, covering her mouth with her hand in a futile effort to stifle her wracking sobs. She couldn’t do this anymore she thought. It was as if, every time he touched her, he left with huge chunks of her heart and each time it was more painful.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

PAIGE AWOKE AT DAYBREAK; HER EYES RED AND SWOLLEN
from crying for the better part of the night. She dragged the pillow over her head hoping to stifle the overpowering urge to be in the kitchen. She needed to avoid Sebastian at all cost, which meant only sharing his company when it was extremely necessary. Her heart ached at the prospect of not seeing him but she decided it couldn’t be helped; it was more painful seeing him and knowing such a privilege would soon be denied her.

The sooner she accepted that he would never be a part of her life
, never really was in the true essence of the word, the better. She listened to his footfalls as he passed her bedroom, biting her lip, as she had the night before and her eyes misted with tears as the silence foretold his absence. She was contemplating closing the blinds and hauling the blanket over her head when there was a firm rap at the door.

“Paige, are you alright? Open the door”, he said from behind the closed door.

“I’m fine. Go away”, she crossed her fingers, waiting for the sound of his retreating footsteps.

“I’m not leaving until you open
the door or should I get my key.”

He has a key! She thought in shock. Why the hell couldn’t he leave her alone? She fumed as she lugged out of bed, partially covering her eyes with her hands as she opened the door a crack.

“Satisfied?” she kept her eyes riveted to his feet.

“No”, he nudged the door and she was forced to step back as he stepped inside.

She turned her back to him, restraining her longing to drink in the breathtaking sight of him. Thank goodness she was wearing a very ugly, oversized nightshirt, she told herself.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call the doctor”, his voice was soft with concern and her heart melted.

“That won’t be necessary, I’m just a bit tired”, she crawled into bed, secured the sheet around her and closed her eyes; hoping he’d take it as a hint to leave.

He strode to the side of the bed to tower over her and she fought to keep her features blank as he gently stroked her hair away from her forehead
. Before, quickly leaving the room and softly closing the door behind him. And that was the last time she saw him for the next five days.

If Sebastian found it odd
that she didn’t share his bed anymore, have breakfast and dinner with him or any of the many activities they usually did together; he made no comment. In fact, her ploy to avoid him was going perfectly. Except that she’d hoped that she would get little sneak peeks of him in the hallways or have her fill of the glorious sight of him as they attended different functions together.

And t
he fact that he hadn’t sought her out should have been a relief. Instead it was like a punch to her already wounded heart as it gave the distinct impression that their time together had been nothing but a pastime for him. As the winter grew harsher, there were fewer events to attend and as such Sebastian returned late at nights to the penthouse and left early in the mornings. And Paige found herself constantly listening, holding her breath, for his footsteps at such times but he never once knocked on her door after that first morning.

PAIGE CLIMBED OUT OF BED; ABANDONING ALL HOPES
of ever falling asleep, and left her room to get a glass of milk in the kitchen. Perhaps Sebastian wasn’t coming home tonight, she thought as she strode down the stairs. Her heart constricted as she thought of him entwined in Elizabeth’s arms at that very moment. A bright light caught her eye as she passed the living room and she paused to see Sebastian sitting amid a clutter of papers.

“What are you doing up at this hour of the night
?” he queried without looking at her.

“I was just going to get a glass of milk. Sorry if I disturbed you”, she turned to leave.

“Wait! Would you like apple juice instead?” he offered, holding up the bottle but she was preoccupied with the rectangular spectacles he was wearing.

“Sure”, jeez, even wearing
glasses, he was drop dead gorgeous.

“Come and sit”, he encouraged, transferring the papers to
the floor.

She regretted her decision
to stay, the moment she sat and that treacherous locket of hair fell over his brow; as usual, she itched to stroke it away.

“Have you decided that the glasses totally kill my appeal?” his eyes shone with amusement behind the glasses.

“Actually I think they look super sexy on you”, she could’ve kicked herself the moment the words left her lips and he roared with self-righteous laughter.

He’d removed his jacket and tie, his shirt was opened at the collar and he was barefooted
. Even the thought of his tattoo made her hot inside and she had a sudden image of her naked body riding his as her tongue traced his inky chest. She dragged her mind from such dangerous thoughts and accepted the glass he was handing to her.

He began sharing jokes about his travels
and before long she was laughing so hard; her sides itched, her discomfort all but forgotten. And suddenly, the strain of the past few days dissipated and they were just two normal people enjoying each other’s company.

“So how come I’ve never seen you wear your glasses before?" she asked, smiling, feeling much like her old self again.

“Because I only need them for reading.”

She had such a beautiful smile, Sebastian thought. And when she looked at him with that sparkle in her green eyes; he felt like he was fifty feet tall. She lightly brushed his hair from his forehead and a fizz of desire barreled through him. Yet he felt this mystifying gentleness towards her
and he was overcome with a profound peacefulness when he was with her.

She reached up and snatched the glasses from his face and perched it on her nose, peering at him over the rim, her eyes alight with mischief.

“Mr. Bradley, your performance on the last test was deplorable”, she mimicked her ninth grade teacher and they both dissolved into fits of laughter.

“Give me those”, he reached for his glasses but she shifted her face
sideways and quickly snatched them from her eyes and stretched her arm away from him.

“No!” she giggled, stretching further away as he lounged at her so that his body was partially covering hers.

Her nightshirt stretched over her bosom as they tussled until the buttons at her collar disintegrated and her bare breast bounced free. They both froze as the expression in his eyes transformed from humor to smoldering desire in a heartbeat. His mouth drifted to hers and she closed her eyes; sighing in bliss as his lips met hers and his hand skimmed over her body.

She should stop him and she would, she told herself.
As soon as his lips touched her neck, her breast, as soon as the weight of his body on her didn’t feel so delicious, as soon as the intense pleasure inside her lost its potency. And when would that be, a cold voice inside her head demanded harshly.

And she tore her mouth from his as she remembered the heartrending pain
that had followed after their heated lovemaking less than a week ago.

She shoved at his chest, “Sebastian stop”.

He cupped her cheek, “why?  We both, want this”.

His lips inched towards hers, “Sebastian, please don’t”, she begged
, because she knew if he continued his delightful manipulation of her body, she wouldn’t be able to resist.

He must have seen the desperation to escape, in his eyes because he slowly eased away from her body. Not trusting him not to change his mind, she ran for her room, as if the hounds of hell were chasing her and threw herself across her bed and cried herself to sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

PAIGE PRESSED A HAND TO HER THROBBING HEAD AS
she sipped a glass of water; willing the nagging pain to go away. Her back and feet ached and she was having niggling cramps in her abdomen. Almost a week had passed since her late night stint with Sebastian on the living room couch. And she hadn’t seen him afterwards, until earlier, when he’d picked her up at the penthouse to accompany him to an engagement party.

She spotted Elizabeth approaching her with Jessica, Abigail and Jacqueline
in tow. Sighing in distress; she glanced frantically around the room for an escape. But everyone seemed to be immersed in conversation; Sebastian was nowhere in sight and the ladies room was in the same direction the four women were coming from.

“I thought you had the good sense to return to
that little hovel you crawled from”, Elizabeth spat disdainfully and the women behind her snickered in agreement.

And Paige couldn’t believe that they were the said persons who’d begged her to follow them shopping
, less than a month ago.

“Elizabeth, I really
don’t have the time for this pettiness”, the throbbing inside her head seemed to have intensified with the women’s presence.

Elizabeth’s lips curled derisively, “
petty huh? Well what do they say, when the dog’s away, the cat will play. Abigail, hand me your phone.”