Sebastian cooked them a really nice steak, and accompanied them with a glass of wine, Andin could say that it was one of the best dinners she had ever had in her life.

"This is nice," commented Andin as she took another sip of her wine.

"Having you here is nice." Sebastian leaned forward and clinked his glass to hers then took a drink. "You know, I woke up that morning alone and I have never felt so lonely in my life." He tilted his head as he placed the crystal glass carefully on the table. "Why did you leave?"

Andin took a deep breath and decided to tell him the truth. "Because we agreed that when Monday morning came, things would go back to normal."

"But what is normal, really?" he asked, lifting his brows and daring her to reply. He finished off his wine and then started to clear out the table.

She followed behind him, carrying her glass of wine then leaned against the kitchen island as she watched him standing at the kitchen sink, the spray nozzle in one hand. Her gaze stuck on the stretch and pull off his thin sweater across his wide shoulders and big arms as he reached for a plate on the counter. He whistled as he rinsed in one side of the sink and bent over to put the cleaned plates in the dishwasher. No man had ever done her dishes, let alone her boss. Sebastian towering over the sink, squirting water all over, then bending over, was about the sexiest thing she'd ever seen in her life.

He rose and looked across his shoulder. "What some people think as normal might not be normal for others."

"True." Andin took a mouthful of wine and finished off her glass. "I was saving us from the awkward moment and saving myself from the walk of shame." She walked closer to him, her shoes lightly thudding across the floor, then handed her glass to him and he started to wash it. "I would not have guessed you knew how to load a dishwasher."

"Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. I read a book by the window while my mum baked the fluffiest bread ever." A smile appeared on his face and from his baby blues, she could tell that he was on his way to reminisce the memories. "I would eat it with brie cheese or butter. Mum would only let me finish it if I do the chores."

It was quite hard to picture how normal it was for Sebastian growing up when he came from one of the richest, most powerful families in the world. "And did you?" Andin asked curiously. She had never thought of him as a kid but these last few days, she had been wondering what he had been like as a boy, surrounded by his siblings.

"Of course," he gave her a prideful look as if she had just offended him by asking that question but then he broke into a peal of laughter. "I paid the twins to do mine sometimes."

"The twins?"

"Yeah. Draven and Declan." For a moment he looked a bit forlorn and he quickly wiped that expression away. "You probably have met Declan. He is my brother who got married off to pay my grandpa's promise." When Andin was about to say something he waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry." His blue eyes looked across at hers and slid to her mouth. "He ended up marrying his first love, the love of his life so it is all good."

"How about Draven?"

His gaze slowly moved down her body, over her breasts and the curve of her waist and hips in the tight skirt, all the way to her black shoes. "He ran away. Remember what Piers told you before about him being the cause of one of our brothers running away from home? Well, he was not lying. He did drive Draven away."

"What? Where is he now?"

Sebastian shrugged. "We don't know but we will never stop looking."

"I hope you will find him and you all will be reunited again." Her heart clenched and she ignored the tingle in her pulse.

"I hope so." He raised his gaze to hers and dried his hands on a dish towel. One corner of his mouth lifted, and fine lines appeared in the corners of his eyes. "Anyway, tonight is about us."

"What about us?"

He flipped the dish towel onto her shoulder, then moved into the dining room. Her gaze took a journey of its own, moving down the back of his shirt to the back pockets of his black pants. There were just some men on the planet who filled out a pair of pants to perfection. He was one of those guys.

"Don't you think it is time we start being an adult?" he said as he returned with the bottle of wine. He put the bottle on the table and continued staring at her as if he was waiting for her to respond.

"We are being an adult by forgetting about it."

A mischievous smile played on his lips. "What about what happened this morning?"

"What?"

He tossed the towel and moved behind her. He pushed her hand aside. "You know what."

"What are you doing?"

"You are all knotted up." He pressed his thumbs into the base of her neck and pushed her inward. "You were so tense during dinner, I thought you were going to shatter."

She had thought she might shatter, too, and his hands felt good. So good, she almost moaned out loud. Totally inappropriate, though, and she would stop him in a minute. "It has been a long day." Then he pressed his thumbs into the base of her skull, rubbed in tight circles, and she put her hands on the counter to keep from melting into a puddle by his size fourteen loafers.

"I could not agree more. But what about what happened this morning? Do you really think you could forget about it?"

She dropped her head forward and her hair fell across her cheeks. "Yeah, sure. You should forget about it too"

He laughed and slid his thumbs beneath the collar of her blouse. "That is the thing though. I don't want to forget."

"There is no use of remembering it," commented Andin lightly.

"Unbutton your shirt."

Her body froze. "Are you drunk?"

"Nope." He squeezed her shoulders in his big hot hands. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course not."

"That is probably wise." He laughed, a soft little chuckle that slid up her skull with his thumbs. "Your collar is in the way."

"I am not taking my shirt off."

"Not off. Just maybe two buttons to loosen up your collar." He pressed his fingers into her knotted shoulder muscles, and her eyes about rolled back into her head. "I get my kinks worked all the time. I am pretty much a professional."

Two buttons. She raised her hands and unbuttoned her shirt to the white bow in the middle of her white bra.

His voice got a little deeper, and he said, "Slide your hair to one side."

With her right hand, she reached behind her and pulled her hair over her right shoulder.

He pushed the back of her collar. "One more button. I promise I will not look."

She unbuttoned one more, and somehow the top of her blouse was halfway down her shoulders.

"Better?" His hands squeezed her bare shoulders.

"Yes." Definitely not safer, though. But damn, his hands were magic, sliding over her skin and pressing into her taut muscles. The tips of his fingers slid across her collarbone, and his thumbs worked the knots where her neck met her shoulders. Her tension eased, and she relaxed. With each magic squeeze of his warm hands, her guard lowered, and her body heated.

His palms worked outward, pausing to squeeze the balls of her shoulders and slipping down her arms. His hands spanned her ribs on the outside of her blouse, and he pressed his thumbs into her spine. "Are you sure you do not want to take off your shirt?"

No, she was not sure at all. She was not sure she did not want to lean back into him, into his solid chest, and stay there a while. "Yep. I am good."

He slid his hands down her sides to her waist, then to her hips. She felt his warm breath by her ear. "I like your skirt."

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she swallowed hard. "It's old."

"It is tight," he whispered against the sensitive side of her neck. "It makes your ass look good." His palms slid to her belly and pulled her back against his chest. The curve of her bottom pressed into his groin. "It gives me bad thoughts." Through the fabric of his pants and her skirt, his erection brushed against her bottom. "Wanna hear a few?"

Yes, she did, but she knew it was a really bad idea. Her voice was weak and not at all convincing when she answered with a solid "No."

He kissed the side of her throat. "Are you sure, Miss Williams?" The wet press of his hot mouth forced a shudder to work through her relaxed body from the inside out. "Mmm," he hummed against her skin, adding delicious little shivers and sending her into a sensory overload.

She turned and put her hands on his chest to stop him. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, and the hard muscles of his chest, she could feel the beating of his heart, much faster than the slow smooth touch of his hands. "We can't do this, Sir."

One of his hands moved across her bare shoulder to the side of her face. "I have been thinking about you a lot." His lips touched hers, and her breath caught in her throat. "Thinking about you and wondering."

"What?" Her fingers curled into his shirt.

"Wondering what it is about you that made me lose my mind." His lips brushed hers, and hot little shivers tingled her spine. She could not help it. It was involuntary, just like her palms sliding up his chest, over his shoulder. His face was so close, his nose touched hers. She did not want him to lose his mind. She did not want to lose her mind, either. "Wondering what it felt like to wake up with you in my arms." He slid his palms to her behind and cupped her bottom in his hands. "Don't sneak out of my house again."

She touched her moist bottom lip. "I did not sneak."

"You snuck."

Was he really mad because she had left him two weeks ago? Andin took a deep breath and asked, "Are you upset because I did not wake you up before I left?"

"I am not upset." He glanced away. "I do not get upset." He looked back at her and let out a frustrated breath. "I don't get hurt feelings. I am not a girl."

That was such a ridiculous statement that she tried and failed not to smile. "I know you are not a girl. I think you proved it this morning."

One corner of his mouth twitched. "You sore?"

"A little."

He placed his hands on the sides of her face and looked into her eyes. "You are not some woman I picked up at a party, Andin. You are not a one-night stand. Don't sneak out on me."

If she was not a one-night stand or someone he had had sex with to get it out of his system, then what was she? "Okay."

He pressed her against him, against the long length of his erection just left of his zipper. "Stay with me tonight." He rocked against her pelvis. "Stay with me, Miss Williams"

Her breath caught at the top of her lungs, and she moaned a soft, "Yes."

She could not think straight, then he kissed her, and she could not think at all. It started with a gentle press of his lips that she felt in the backs of her knees and the soles of her feet. Her heart pounded, and she opened her mouth beneath his. His tongue touched hers, warm and wet, and he tasted like suppressed aggression. Her pounding heart sped up, flooding every part of her body with liquid fire. Her emotions remained detached from the long, slow kiss, but her body was fully engaged. Aching with need. Itching for him to soothe the desire burning inside of her.

And the rest was history.

* * * * * * * * *

A/N: anyone's curious what happens next? ;)