“Foxes.” Helen bolted the door to the chicken coop, stepped back out of the enclosure, then locked that too. “Vixens can get very vocal when it’s mating season.”
Hmm… Seb studied a plump, moonlit bud jutting from the bushes. “Are they … mating now?”
“No, that usually happens in January. Cubs should’ve left the den by now. That’s probably them we can hear, playing about.”
They made their way back to the house, pausing by the door to take one last look at the night.
Seb breathed in the heavily scented air. “It’s pretty out here.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Her lips glistened in the half-light. The urge to reach for her was strong but Seb couldn’t do it. Too messy. Too wild. Too much at stake when it all blew up in his face.
“Thanks again for tonight, Sebastian. It was really kind of you to pay for the drinks and drive me home.”
“You’re welcome. I enjoyed it.”
In the kitchen, Helen slipped off her boots and stood before him barefoot. “You go ahead and use the bathroom first, I’ve got a few things to do.”
“Cool.” Seb dug his hands in his pockets, the only safe place for them right now. “Well, goodnight, then, Helen.”
“Goodnight, Sebastian.”
Chapter 22
Beautifulandhot.
Too buzzed to sleep after such a pleasant evening, Helen waited until Sebastian stopped moving about in his room upstairs before heading back to the kitchen. If she didn’t focus her mind on something other than men and love and Sebastian, she’d be lying awake for hours.
Settling in front of her laptop at the kitchen table—where she’d worked all day before heading to the city to meet Liz—Helen logged on to Alexa’s site. Licks and Laces was beginning to turn a profit, and Alexa had followed through on her promise of more work over the summer. Today, she’d sent two media drives containing footage and photos of all her new products. Helen opened up the package. She’d processed the first hard drive’s worth already so pulled out the second, plugged it into her laptop, and prepared for the usual abundance of bare flesh.
A scantily dressed Kyra—one of Alexa’s regulars—greeted her in a variety of daft baby-doll poses. Helen uploaded the images and set each one up with a purchase link and transaction code. Half an hour later, she backed up the files and emailed Alexa to tell her she’d do the rest over the weekend, in plenty of time before her Tuesday deadline. It was then that Helen remembered the soft envelope Alexa had sent with the drives. She ripped it open and out fell a colorful selection of barely-there panties, each not more than a whisp of string and lace.
How would Sebastian react if he saw me wearing these?
Whoa!Sebastian? How had he come into this?
In the middle of cursing her stupid crush on the man, an email pinged from Alexa, who was a night owl just like Helen.
Amazing work as always, thank you, you’re a star! Ax. PS. Hope they fit.
Helen blushed as she fingered the crotchless part of a particularly saucy pair.
They’re faulty. Full of holes. Hx
Honey, the holes are meant to be there, especially the one under—
“Hey.”
Helen yelped, sending lace panties up in the air.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Sebastian stood in the doorway, looking anything but sorry in the low light. “Why so jumpy?”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “I’m not jumpy. I’m just …” She followed his eyeline to the bright red thong draped over her laptop screen. She snatched it off—revealing Kyra full-frame in all her glory.Oh, crap.Helen fumbled with the mouse, clicking down tabs, unable to shut the bloody laptop with the backup still running. “This really isn’t what it looks like.”
“You’re not looking at porn?”
“No, go away. I’m working. This is Licks and Laces, the site I manage.”
“Interesting.” Sebastian picked up a black thong off the floor and dangled it off his index finger like a pendulum, ticking away the time before the ground swallowed her up. His eyes shifted mischievously to the screen. “I thought only teenage boys stayed up late looking at naked women.”
