“For both of us,” I murmur.
He cups my chin, looking me straight in the eyes. They’re hooded with desire, and knowing I have such a powerful effect on this man turns me on to no end. I become putty under him as he kisses me again, allowing myself to feel. And by God, this man knows how to bring out every single sensation without doing anything except kiss me. His hands remain on my waist.
We’re still lying on the couch, Sebastian on top of me, when my body succumbs to the consuming need and I push my hips into his, soaking my thong as I realize he’s hard. He bites my lips gently, intensifying the kiss, luring whimper after whimper out of me. I fall into the bliss that this kiss is, fisting his hair, drawing him even closer to me. The deeper I let myself fall, the safer I feel in his arms. The more I taste of him, the more I want. Gradually, the slick warmth between my legs turns to unbearable heat. I become insatiable.
Pulling apart, we both laugh.
“Your lips are swollen,” he says. “You look sexy.”
“Oh no.” I touch my lips. Shit. They feel swollen. “Everyone will know.”
“Relax. No one will pay as much attention to your lips as me. If they do, I’ll rip their heads off.”
“Stop being such a caveman, Sebastian.”
“I can’t.”
“I want you to know I haven’t done anything like this before. I’m not a floozy.”
He laughs softly. “Floozy?”
“I’m serious.”
“Me, too. I know you’re not that kind of woman.” He moves a strand of hair behind my ear, pushing himself off me, sitting on the edge of the couch. I follow suit. The second I’m sitting, I realize the show has begun. Reality hits me hard.
“Sebastian,” I whisper, even though it’s just the two of us here. “We can’t do this; you know that.”
“Because of your clause?” He scrutinizes me, and I detect something besides desire in his green eyes. Worry.
“Yes.”
“Only because of that?”
I blink, fearing he might be able to see through my facade, the fears that my past relationship failures instilled in me. “Let’s not complicate this, all right?”
“The thing is, Ava, this is already a complicated matter. I can’t get you out of my head since you walked into my office. I like to hear you laugh and see your eyes light up. I like watching you do mundane things like typing on your laptop, giving a presentation, or eating. What do you suggest I do?”
He renders me speechless, and all I can do is stare at him. His eyes look so sincere. Not that I am an expert on the matter. God knows, I’ve misjudged men and their intentions for thirty-one years. But Sebastian is sincere.
“I can’t risk my job,” I say eventually, because that’s the truth.
Breath huffs out of him as he shifts closer to me and locks a strand of my hair around his fingers. “Is there no way around it?”
“Let me think for a few days.” The fact that I’m even entertaining this thought is dangerous. Yes, my boss is in New York and I’m alone in San Francisco, but this doesn’t mean he can’t find out.
“Okay.” His voice is full of hope. I almost kiss him again, but catch myself in time. “I want you to have something.”
“What?”
He searches his pocket, retrieving something that makes my heart skip. My ruby necklace. Well, not my ruby. I don’t own it, but it’s the one that stole my heart during our company tour on my first day here.
“Let me put it around your neck.”
“Sebastian—”
“I want you to have it.”
I jump to my feet, cold suddenly gripping me. I replay our conversation from the walk this morning, specifically the part where he said women are only interested in his bank account.