Page 21 of Overnight Inheritance

“Felt like what?” she asked, her voice faint.

“The wanting.”

She stared into his eyes for a second too long. “And that’s exactly why we’re not going to complicate it even more.”

“You’re right. Good point.” He kept forgetting that, and he really needed to do something now to get them back on track. “I’m totally out of line. I was emotional today because of Alfie leaving. I don’t know what to do with myself tonight because he’s gone, and I’ve gotten carried away. I shouldn’t use all of that to complicate things between us.”

“That’s all this has been?” she challenged, her beautiful gray eyes stormy.

“Yes.”No.“Sure.”

She gave a quick shake of her head. “You’re kidding yourself.”

“Well, what’s your suggestion, then, Mae? What do we do about it?”

She simply looked at him for an eternity, her eyes unreadable. “How about this? Heath is staying at Freya’s place and Sarah is out until late. I’m going up now, and on the way through, I’m going to tell the doorman that a guy named Sebastian Newport might be dropping by, and if he does, to send him up.”

He drew in a sharp breath. “If he doesn’t drop by?”

“Then I’ll see him at the office tomorrow.”

“And if he does?”

“Then two consenting adults would have to work out what they’re going to do about the inconvenient thing that’s between them.” She turned and said, over her shoulder, “’Night, Sebastian.”

He watched her walk to the door, stop to say a few words to the doorman, then disappear into the building. And he’d never been so torn in his life.

Once she’d made it inside Sarah’s apartment, her heart pounding, Mae couldn’t make herself leave the foyer. She’d just crossed a huge line with Sebastian. Dropping her bag on the floor, she drew in a shuddering breath. They were in an impossible situation, and inviting Sebastian Newport upstairs had been a very bad idea, and yet...a little kernel of hope flickered in her chest. Hope that he’d be as reckless as she’d been.

She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is ridiculous,” she whispered.

Getting her hopes up was just setting herself up for disappointment since she had zero idea what Sebastian would do. She told herself to head for the kitchen and make a coffee, or sit on the sofa, or something. Anything. Yet she remained with her feet planted on the tiled foyer floor...hovering. Wishing. Wanting.

So much wanting.

Footsteps sounded outside and then a sharp double-knock. Mae’s heart stalled and then burst back to life, beating double time. He’d actually followed her. She reached for the door, then hesitated, her belly filling with butterflies. She should have used the few minutes before he’d arrived to brush her hair or refresh her lipstick. Maybe change into something new. Pop a breath mint. But it was too late, so she smoothed her hands over her trousers and tucked her hair behind her ears, hoping she was enough as she was. Then she took a deep breath and opened the door.

Sebastian strode in, and she took a step back because he didn’t seem to be stopping. She wasn’t fast enough, though, because he crashed into her, grasping her face with his hands as his mouth landed on hers, hot and hungry. Suddenly light-headed, she wrapped an arm around his waist to keep her balance and kissed him back. Heat licked through her body, a deep need, unlike anything she could remember feeling. Without breaking the kiss, he kicked the door closed behind him and slid his hands to her thighs, lifting her. While she wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles, he turned and walked her backward until her shoulders hit the door with a light thud. The exquisite pressure of the hard planes of his torso pushing up against her breasts made her moan, but their kiss swallowed the sound.

When they finally wrenched themselves apart—moments? Minutes? A lifetime?—later, she rested the pad of her thumb against his bottom lip and whispered, “You came.”

He stared at her for a beat, his blue gaze unreadable, their heavy breathing the only sound in the apartment.

“Here are my terms,” he said, his focus on her unwavering. “We agree that this is not the start of something. It is a onetime only deal. We shouldn’t have started this in my kitchen, but since we did, we finish it now.” He adjusted her weight by placing his forearms under her buttocks. “There will be no repeats—we just get it out of our systems and move on. And we don’t talk about it after I leave this apartment tonight. Those terms acceptable to you?”

She would have agreed to fly to the moon in that moment if it had been a condition for him to start kissing her again. “Deal.”

He lowered his head, his mouth finding hers for another brief kiss that scorched her system. “Where’s your room?” he asked, his voice unsteady.

She unlocked her ankles and slid down his body, relishing the feel of him so close. “This way.” She took his hand as she stepped away, but he didn’t follow. “Sebastian?”

“Are you sure, Mae?” His gaze was intense, but wary. “Less than ten minutes ago, down on the sidewalk, we agreed this shouldn’t happen.” He lifted their joined hands and gently kissed her knuckles. “Us getting carried away and you regretting it in the morning is not my idea of a good time, so I need to know that you’re sure.”

The air around them was heavy, as if carrying the weight of this moment. Of her choice. But there was no choice to be made. There was only the need, and the want that thrummed between them. She knew why he was checking—she’d been the one to pull away in the kitchen. That kiss had been unexpected and overwhelming, and that combination meant that she’d needed to step back to give herself a chance to think things through. To process. She was done processing now.

“That conversation was about why we shouldn’t do this. What we didn’t cover was why we should.”

He cocked a brow. “Yeah? Got many reasons on that list?”

---