“Then . . . I’d slip the other strap of your dress over your shoulder.” He swallowed. “Every time you removed your jacket today, those damn straps fell.”
“They’re flimsy,” I said, brushing the other one down. I wanted to fall against him, to feel his arms around me. “I feel very flimsy at the moment.”
“And I feel strong. Like I might break you if I’m not careful.”
I zipped the pendant of my necklace along its chain. Luciano had told me once I had pretty, slender hands, and that if I put my mind to it, I could use them to direct a man’s attention wherever I wanted. “You won’t.”
“No matter what you wear to the office,” Sebastian continued, “I imagine what it would be like to take it off. Jacket. Blouse. Skirt. Stockings. Even your jewelry, like that necklace.”
Sebastian had built a career on an adeptness with language, so it shouldn’t have surprised me his words aroused me as much as finally feeling his lips against mine. “You don’t have to imagine anymore.”
He frowned. “I want this, Georgina. You know I do. I’m trying to be good.”
I reached back and unzipped my dress just enough to loosen it. “And I’m saying you don’t have to be.”
“What happened to being shy?” he asked.
It was a valid question. I’d spent most of our acquaintance fumbling the line between bold and bashful. “I guess you bring out the George in me.”
He groaned, covering his face with one large hand. “Why would you say that? I told you, I can’t fantasize about someone named George.”
“What about someone named George who wears lingerie?”
He slatted his fingers to peek at me. Turned out I could talk the talk—but did I, as myself, without a mask or a character to play, really have the guts to seduce Sebastian? For now, I left my dress where it was.
He dropped his hand. “I like you, but I’m scared of fucking it up. I don’t want to treat you like a one-night stand.”
“How do you know you like me if we’ve only been out on one date?” I asked, because in order for us to proceed, Sebastian needed to vocalize it for himself as much as I needed to hear it.
“All day has been an adventure,” he said. “And ever since you walked into my office, I’ve been trying to be better. For you, or to beat you, I don’t know. A little of both. But in the end, you challenged me when nobody else would.”
Something he’d hated me for. And now? The way his eyes roamed over my body, then back to my face, it didn’t look as if he hated me at all. Maybe he never had. Maybe he’d meant it when he’d said there’d been no game.
“You make me laugh,” he continued. “You make me crazy with your messy desk and melting gummy bears and the fact that one of your video games requires a PlayStation you don’t seem to own.”
I crossed my arms. “That’s why the plastic wrap is still on. I have three days left to return it.”
“Meanwhile, you’re creating color-coded schedules for your dog and reviewing my team’s ideas and personal lives with a fine-tooth comb. I can’t figure you out—I never could. You make me mad in a bad and good way. Just because I didn’t ask you out until today—”
“You didn’t technically ask me out at all.”
“See?” he said. “You can’t just let me finish my sentence. You do that all the time, nitpicking over details, and yet you keep your sunglasses in a Ziploc bag.”
“The cases are too bulky,” I said defensively.
“But a plastic bag, Georgina? Really? They’re all scratched up.”
I sighed and walked to him, my shoulders straight but my straps sagging. “Believe it or not, those are the reasons this will work—unless we both decide we don’t want it to. We were enemies first, but we still want to kiss. That means something.”
“You were never my enemy,” he repeated.
I’d certainly felt like I was, but I couldn’t say he was mine, either. “I’m not some girl you picked up at a bar or club, or wherever you pick up women.”
“The theater,” he said. “Industry event . . . at the park. On the subway. Sometimes even the sidewalk—”
“Okay. I think my point is made.”
“The office.” This time, he came to me, eliminating any remaining space between us. Although I’d been doing my best to be brave, his closeness had my heart pumping and my brain fuzzy. “I’ve never picked up a colleague before.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Seriously? How is that possible?”
“Mostly because it’s forbidden.”
For the first time, I remembered Vance’s warning in our initial meeting. Fraternization was against the rules. I didn’t have much time left at Modern Man, but I did have a reputation to uphold. Whether it was the beginning or end of an assignment, Dionne had a clients-come-first business model.
And I didn’t think this was what she’d meant by that.
Sebastian slipped his arms around my waist, walking us backward toward the bedroom. “Tell me you want this, Georgina.”
I didn’t even hesitate. Maybe I should have, but this didn’t feel like being a pushover. It felt like taking control. “I want this, but—” As he leaned in to kiss me, I held him off with my palm on his chest. “I completely forgot that fraternization is, as Vance put it, strictly forbidden.”
He stopped walking. “Don’t tell me now that I’ve given in, you’re having seconds thoughts.”
“I’m not. It’s just . . .” If I’d thought earlier was a bad time to bring up Vance’s job offer, now was even worse. Even though I’d decided to turn it down, was keeping the information I had to myself enough to sour things between us? It wouldn’t matter if I was Aliana Balik, Sebastian’s celebrity crush—he’d still see me as someone who could put his job in jeopardy. I wasn’t sure that would change just because we slept together. “I just don’t like to break the rules,” I said.
“Then I’ll break them for you.” He tightened his hold on my waist and lifted me as I gasped. He headed briskly down the hall as if I might protest again. “If Vance asks, I’ll tell him it was all my idea.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, my bare feet dangling at his shins. “I’m there to ensure you’re better behaved around the office, not worse,” I said with a sigh.
“If I go home now,” he said, opening my bedroom door, “you won’t get to try bossing me around until we’re back at work in the morning.”
“You like to think I boss you around because it gives you something to complain about.”
“Trust me, since you’ve shown up, I’ve had plenty to complain about.” His eyes sparkled. His expression, part playful, part challenging, had to have mirrored my own.
“Put me down,” I said.
“Nope.”
“You said I could boss you around.”
“I said you could try.”
“What are you going to do, hold me up all night?”
Something different sparked in his eyes, darkening his gaze as my stomach dropped. “If that’s what it takes,” he said.
I hadn’t meant it sexually, but the thought of Sebastian and I getting creative on our feet made me squirm. A few steps into my room, he set me down but kept ahold of me. He had to stoop to lower his forehead to mine. He looked about to speak, but as I sighed, he made a noise akin to a growl and took my mouth for a rougher kiss than before.
I hugged his neck for support, to get closer to him, trying vainly to match his height. He pulled me up, lifting me to my toes, bringing me to my full height, kissing me until my legs were so weak, he was holding me up. His five o’clock shadow scraped in the best way. I sucked his bottom lip between my teeth, and he answered by biting mine.
Bruno whined from the doorway, and I pulled away, gasping.
“Georgina,” Sebastian warned. “If he thinks my BDE was threatening before—”
“I’ll handle it,” I said, wiggling out of Sebastian’s grasp. I squatted to Bruno’s level, scratching behind his ears. “Listen, buddy. You know you’re my number one guy, but tonight, you’re on the couch.”