I plan on making dietary changes. But first, I need to do research, and then tomorrow, I’ll stock up on an assortment of healthier food.
That will entail a list. And I don’t have the energy to tackle that tonight. Now I just need some quick comfort food before making my way back to bed.
I’m halfway to the kitchen, thankful that Sebastian left a lamp on in the living room, when I skid to a halt.
The man in my thoughts is lying on my uncomfortable couch, asleep.
He’s wrapped in my favorite cream cable-knit blanket, his thick lashes impossibly long and black on his cheeks and his hair messy over his brow.
What. The. Hell?
Maybe I say the words aloud because no sooner have I thought them than his eyes fly open.
I take a giant step back. Which confuses my concussed brain. I stumble.
One second, Sebastian is lying on the couch. The next, he’s vaulted over the edge of it. His arms reach out and pull me to him before I completely lose my balance.
My towel, the only thing between me and total nakedness, slips a little, but thankfully, holds.
His gaze strays to my lips, then down to my cleavage on full display, then back to my lips. We’re standing so close, every soft part of me lines up to every hard part of him.
I’m frozen in place, on sensory overload, my brain screaming at me that this isSebastian. My boss.
Except,he’s no longer my boss.
A ribbon of giddiness threads through my body at that heady thought.
CHAPTER 24
Sebastian
Maybe I should be morechill at having a woman in my arms. Even one who is half naked. Except this isn’t just any woman.
This isEmma.My Emma.
And she’sright herein the low lamp light, smelling like gardenias and feeling like every one of my erotic dreams come true.
Ever since she put in her notice, since I’ve been faced with the prospect of losing her, nothing’s been the same. I keep feeling things I’ve blocked out, especially in the last year. It’s like a floodgate has opened, with confusing awareness and pent-up desire now flowing freely, and I can’t dam them back in.
It takes all my willpower to force my gaze away from her body and back up to her face. Her eyes are wide and shocked. And those lips, fuck… those lips. I need to show her all the ways I know to worship them.
There are so many reasons I should tread carefully now. She’s been erecting barriers between us. I don’t want to give her any other reasons to build higher, stronger walls.
But it all flies out of my head when Emma, instead of backing away from me, leans impossibly closer and tilts her head up.
The look in her eyes is soft, needy. But for things beyond friendship.
“Sebastian,” she whispers. That soft sound galvanizes me.
There’s no longer a question. No amount of shoulds or shouldn’ts are important. All that matters is finding out what it feels like to kiss her.
I’m no longer strong enough to resist the inevitable.
“Please,” I ask. Beg. Pray.
She hums what I’m sure is an assent, and wild joy leaps in my chest. Her eyes close in anticipation.
I’m rock hard before our lips have even met.
