Another week passed by like the previous week. There was little to no communication from Sebastian. What was more frustrating was during a team dinner on Thursday, he had completely ignored her although she had been sitting right next to him. He had talked with everyone, even Maria, but so little to her. If she remembered correctly, he had only asked her whether she would like another drink and that was it.

On the other hand, Andin had taken it like a champ and did not shed a single tear. In return, she acted as if he did not exist. Every now and then during the event, she could feel his eyes on her but she brushed it off and pretended that she was not affected by it. Instead, she conversed with Thomas, one of the marketing team leaders. Apparently, Thomas really liked hiking and he even invited her to go hiking with him this weekend. She had not said yes but she had not turned him down immediately either since that would seem rude. So she informed him that she was not free that weekend.

At last, it was Sunday morning and Andin was reading a book on her balcony, which had become her favorite spot with all the lilies and plants around. She took the sun lotion tube and opened the cap. One hand squeezed the product out to her other palm then she spread it all over her arms and legs. She had just finished putting it on her thighs when she heard a knock on the door. She got up and tossed the tube on the beach chair. She expected to see Damon, so she was quite surprised that her boss stood on the other side.

"Who is it?" she called out as she stared at him through the peephole.

He raised a brow and folded his arms across his chest.

She was irritated with him. Maybe irrationally so, but she was still annoyed and did not feel like letting him in right away.

"Miss Williams, I know you are staring at me. You might as well open the door," he said.

"What?" she asked as she opened the door. Instead of answering her, he stepped inside and forced her to move backward.

"I am busy and not—" His mouth on her stopped her flow of words as he brought his hands to the sides of her face. The door shut behind him with a soft click, and his thumbs brushed her cheeks. His lips slid over hers with the promise of passion rather than a full-out kiss.

"No hiking with Thomas," he said against her lips. "I will take you."

She had not been serious about hiking. She was not even sure whether she had no fear of heights or not. "I am scared of falling."

"I will never let that happen. Whenever you feel like it," he said as he kissed the corner of her mouth, "just give me a call and I will pick you up."

She almost smiled. "How? When you are so good at pretending I do not even exist."

He brushed his lips across hers. "I should get an award for that."

Andin put her hands on his chest and pushed him back. "You could at least say hello."

"No, I could not." He dropped his hands and leaned his back against the door. "I can not risk it."

"What does that even mean?" She moved across the room and turned off the television. "Risk what?"

"It means, Miss Williams, that when I look at you, I am afraid everyone within ten miles can see that I have sex with you."

She blinked. "Oh."

"And it means," he continued as he moved toward her, "that I am afraid everyone within ten miles can see that I am remembering the last time I saw you naked. That I got a little rough with you and I wish I was truly sorry about that, but it was so good I am not. Every time with you is good, and I am afraid that anyone within ten miles will look at me and know I am thinking about how to get you naked again."

"Really now?" She bit the side of her lip. All he had to do was show up and she'd be more than willing to get naked. "You know, Sir, you took a big risk in coming here. You knew I do not want everyone to know about us. At least, not people from work."

He reached for her hands and brushed his thumb over the backs of her knuckles. "Don't worry. I wore these coming here." He opened his suit and showed the hat and sunglasses. "Besides, no one from the office lives near here." He pulled her toward him. "So you got the lilies, huh?"

"You did that?" Her eyes widened in surprise. It had been surprising enough that he had come here.

"Can not have you suffered another day with emptiness on your balcony."

Andin could no longer hide her smile. "Thank you."

"I miss you." Sebastian put his hands on her lower back and pulled her closer to his body.

A smile stretched on her lips as she slid her hands up his biceps to his shoulders then let them cling to his neck. "Lucky for you, dear Sir, I miss you too."

"Also, I have a contract I needed to run with you." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened up his email app. Once he opened the file, he showed it to her. "Here. I need to send this back to them by Monday morning."

"So you are here for work, huh?" Andin lifted one brow, challenging him and his real motive.

* * *

"I think I may have to take some days off next week. I gotta see my mom."

She lay with her head on his bare chest, brushing her fingers across his stomach. The tips of her short nails spread fire to his belly and groin and if he had the time, he would make love to her again. "Do you miss her?"

She looked up at him, a frown settled on her forehead as she gave his question a thought. "Yeah, I guess so."

He stared at her, seemingly puzzled by her response. "You are not sure?"

"I am never sure when it comes to my mother," answered Andin with a sigh. "She is, well, my mother is a bit—" She heaved another breath, "difficult." She rubbed her foot on the inside of his calf and came dangerously close to kneeing him in the nuts.

He rolled onto her back and looked down into her face. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

She pushed a piece of dark hair from her face. "Well, like you already know, my mom is always being reckless. She borrowed money from the wrong people when she knows well she should not."

"Why did she need the money for?"

"Wrong investments or to accommodate her choice of lifestyle." She rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. She did not like to talk about her mother. "This and that. The usual stuff."

He turned on her side. "Is that the reason why you have been working so hard?"

She shrugged. "Aren't people supposed to work hard anyway? Would you not be happy to have hard-working employees?"

"Not if they could not have a work-life balance, no. As much as I want them to work hard, I do not wish for them to work too hard which is the word I would use to describe you. You have never taken a day off, Miss Williams. This is actually the first time you asked for a few days off which is why I am both surprised and a little worried." A frown nestled on his forehead. "How about your aunt or any other relatives? Where did they fit in all of this?"

"My aunt? Nowhere," answered Andin. "As I told you before, she did not care about us. She cut her tie off with Mom once Mom decided to keep me instead of putting me up for adoption. It was hard to be a single mother and I guess my aunt just did not want my mom to have to go through that."

"Other relatives?"

"I know no one else other than her." She looked into his face and her smile was sad when she continued, "But it is okay. We are fine. I used to move schools a lot when the debt collectors start chasing but there was this one time when my mum brought me to this park in the neighborhood. I made some friends there. We played hide and seek and for a moment, I forgot that I do not have a dad and that we can not stay more than a few weeks in one city."

He pictured a little girl playing with kids her age in a playground, looking every bit carefree. He had lost his father but he knew that his father loved him very much. He had his mother who had always been so supportive of him. He wondered if she had ever had anyone. He bet not. "Perhaps I should accompany you."

"What?"

"To meet your mother. I could accompany you. Be there as some sort of moral support."

While it was true that he had a contract that he needed to send back by Monday morning, he had just used it as an excuse to be with her. He loved the touch of her skin beneath his hands and the look of pleasure in her eyes when he was buried deep inside her. He was quickly becoming addicted to the sound of her pleasure and knowing he was the one giving it to her. Even on days when he told himself he did not have time for her, he managed to hook up with her anyway.

Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed and scrubbed his face with his hands. She was an addiction. Why else would he risk everything to be with her? Why else would ignore his pride telling him that he should cut her off? How else could he explain it to himself?

"Are you leaving so soon?" she asked as she moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her breasts pressed into his bare back and he fought the urge to turn and push her back down on the mattress.

"I have to go. Clarabelle is expecting me." He wanted to ask more questions about the little girl in the playground, to spend all night discovering more things about her, getting to know her better.

She softly kissed the side of his neck. "I will miss you."

"I will see you tomorrow night after work." He looked into her eyes a few inches from his and wondered how much she'd miss him. "I have promised Clarabelle that I will have dinner with her. It seems that she might want to get some brotherly advice. Though I found it weird that she did not go to Maxon or Declan or Reed. Those three are the brothers she usually goes to for advice."

"Maybe she wants to be closer to you." Andin sat back on her behind and wrapped her arms around her knees. She looked up at him as he stood and got dressed. "By the way, you called me working too hard but you, Sir, are working harder than anyone else.

"Maybe." He stepped into his boxer briefs and adjusted his package. "But I have a work-life balance."

Andin shook her head, a smile on her lips. "No, Sir. You need a vacation."

"Sure. After the expansion is completed, I will go on a vacation." He pulled up his trousers and looked at her, sitting in the middle of the bed, naked and perfect. "That has been my goal and I have to see it through first before I get a break." He had never really thought beyond that. He reached for his dress shirt on the end of the bed and shoved his arms inside. But as he worked the buttons, he thought about Andin in a bikini, lounging on a sandy beach beside him. The sun warming her smooth skin. Maybe she would have on a floppy hat and big sunglasses.

A frown settled between his brows. She did not even want to have dinner with him at the Mexican restaurant on the outskirt of town. She had made it really clear what she did want, and she was right. There could never be more between them than clandestine sex so why was he even thinking about it?

Andin watched his big hands close his shirt over his hard abs and defined pecs and wondered what had put the frown on his face. "I understand that," she said as she rose from the bed and grabbed her robe from the closet. "But you need a break from time to time. You got to do something that makes you feel happy and relaxed." He opened his mouth and she quickly added, "And do not tell me that work makes you happy and relaxed."

"No, I was going to say that this, being with you makes me feel happy and relaxed." He closed the last button, then tucked the tails into his trousers. He moved toward her. "You made me happy, Miss Williams." He wrapped his hand around the robe's belt and pulled her against him. "If I seem to be ignoring you while we are at work, do not get bent out of shape again." He pressed his lips to her forehead.

She tilted her head to one side, her brows lifted. "You will be thinking about me?"

He shook his head and his lips brushed across her skin. "I am going to try like hell not to think about you."

* * * * * * *

If you are going to complain about this rather short chapter, don't be because the next one will be twice longer than this. With love, your author.