with its flowery fragrance. “But, what, Chastity?”
“I just rather you didn’t.”
The blaring shrill of a cell phone ring cut through the air. It was for Jeremy. “Jeremy Owens, speaking.” He listened for a moment, then covered the mouthpiece and lowered it. “Excuse me. I’m going to have to take this.” Sliding out of the booth, he gave them an apologetic look.
Chastity looked like she wanted to toss something at Sebastian when they were alone. A chuckle erupted from his throat. “Alone at last, my pretty,” he purred.
“Why?” came her clipped demand.
“Why what?”
“Why did you invite yourself to lunch with us? How did you know Jeremy and I didn’t have something to discuss…privately?”
46
The Reinvention of Chastity
He didn’t like the way she’d emphasized that last word. Was she now switching her attention to his partner? Over his dead body would he allow that to happen. “Why are you willing to have lunch with Jeremy and not with me?”
“Because I like Jeremy.”
She couldn’t have made a more hurtful statement. Trying hard not to wince, Sebastian looked her straight in the eye, the smirk returning to his face. “Well, let’s get to know each other better, and I’m sure you’ll find something to like.”
“I’ve learned all I want to know about you in the past two years and I’m not impressed.” Chastity picked up her glass of diet soda, sliding the straw between crimson colored lips. His cock jumped to attention while he watched the slim white tube disappear a centimeter at a time into her mouth, before she took a sip. Her eyes locked with his as the steady stream of fluid flowed down her throat. Never in his life had he been jealous of an inanimate object. He wanted to be that straw in the worse way.
She was doing it on purpose. He was sure of it. When she lifted her head she ran her tantalizingly pink tongue over full lips. Pushing the drink away from her, Chastity sighed. “You know what?”
“What?” he croaked. His throat had gone dry.
“You’re an arrogant son of a bitch. The Earth doesn’t revolve around you.”
“Now wait just a—”
“No. You wait a minute. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to pull.”
“Just what game do you think I’m playing?”
With a slight twitch of her lips and a rise of her brow, she looked him up and down. “You want me.”
Sebastian’s jaw dropped. He’d originally thought Chastity had been abducted by pod people, and now he was sure of it. Pod person or not, she was absolutely right. He wanted her like crazy. “But I suppose you’re going to tell me that you don’t want me.”
“On the contrary, I want you too.”
47
Eve Vaughn
He didn’t know whether to be relieved or skeptical at that statement.
“You could have fooled the hell out of me. So, why the ice princess act?
You’ve been giving me attitude for the past two months.”
She shrugged one pink-clad shoulder. “That’s not important.”
“I think it is. And what about Jeremy? The two of you seemed pretty chummy earlier.”
“You sound jealous.” Her dimples appeared when she bared small white teeth. Chastity’s smile lit up her entire face. Sebastian found it enchanting even though she was driving him nuts. Why had he never noticed these little subtleties before now? “Maybe I am.”
“There’s no need to be. Jeremy is a nice guy, but I have a thing for tall Italian men with eyes the color of freshly grown grass.”
He smiled at her detailed description. “It sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my eyes.”
“So?” She grinned unrepentantly, before taking another sip of her soft drink. Whatever had brought on this about-face, Sebastian had no plans to delve into the reasons why. He couldn’t afford to, because his cock told him to take advantage of the moment.
“You have beautiful eyes too. Why you used to wear those horrible glasses is beyond me.”
The very same eyes he’d just
Michael Cunningham
Janet Eckford
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Cynthia Hickey
Anne Perry
A. D. Elliott
Author's Note
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