Rose of Thorne (18 page)

What? Where
did she get that!

I whisper to
her, “How did you get that?” She smiles deviously at me and shrugs her shoulders. For an older woman she is incredibly sneaky. Sebastian flips through the book and then looks over at me with a soft expression on his face before sliding the book in front of Mr. Yung. Yung slides his glasses back on, and begins flipping through my sketches, slowly studying each one, and nodding his head in approval. He points and pats a few of my sketches as he begins talking in his native language with his associates. When he is done, he stands and lays the book down on the table in front of him.

“Mr. Thorne, may I just say that my time is extraordinary va
luable and while everything else has not been worth my time, this,” he says as he pats my design book, “is MOST valuable. Finally, someone has listened to my design requests. Young lady, this is simply magnificent.” Mr. Yung smiles in my direction before turning to Sebastian and extending his hand to him.

“Mr. Thorne, we have a deal. H
owever, I must insist that this young lady lead the project,” Yung says as they shake hands. I am in complete shock as the room erupts into applause. Sara beams proudly and pats me on the side of the face.

Shit!!!!! I’m going to kill you Sara!

Sebastian

Great! Just fucking great!
Not only do I actually land the account of a fucking lifetime, but now I have no choice but to work with her. It’s as if every time I turn around fate is rearing its ugly face at me. Mr. Yung is adamant about her being lead designer, but she is only an intern for goodness sake. I can’t bank all my belief that she will be able to handle this on her own, but I can’t risk losing this account.

Mr. Yung bids us all farewell and even gives Skylar a huge smile before he pats her cheek.

WHAT THE HELL?

Yung has the reputation for being quiet ruthless, yet I am seeing a smiling, compassionate man?

Skylar and her magnificent charm strikes, yet again.

We only
have two weeks before we are to present this again for Yung when he returns to Austin. At that time, he will want all of the designs and beginning specs laid out for him to approve so they can move ahead with beginning the project. I know Skylar and I will have to work like crazy in order to prepare it in time.

I
don’t know how in the hell I am going to be able to deal with this situation. For fuck sake, I can barely handle her being on the same floor, much less the same room. I have no damn clue how I am going to handle having to work with her one on one.

I AM SO FUCKED!

Skylar

When he
calls me in to his office, I didn’t know what to expect. Sebastian stands confidently when I walk in, and asks me to have a seat in the large leather chair across from him. My hands are shaking so badly that I have to physically hold them together in order to steady them.

“Skylar, I know this is not the best of circumstances, but I feel it
is necessary that we discuss the importance of this account. Mr. Yung is quite adamant that you, and only you, handle this design. You have to understand that I can’t in good faith allow you to have sole control over this account. So, it seems it seems that my only solution to this dilemma is that I help you. Don’t you agree?” he asks firmly.

“Yes, yes
, I think that would be best. In fact, I would be more comfortable if you just took complete control over it. I mean, it isn’t as if he will ever know,” I explain.

“Well, that is where you are quiet wrong.
Your ideas are what sold this account in the first place, so there is no way that you cannot be closely involved. I am thinking that you should take a couple of days, lay out your concept, and then present it to me. Once we have that down, we will have our art team finish the models and graphic boards. I want you to make this your only priority. I am available at all hours to help if you should need it. I am curious to see the layout that you have in mind,” he says.

“Yes,
sir, I will get started on these right away,” I say and pick up my things and head to the door.

“Oh and
, Skylar?”

“Yes?” I answer back turning to face him.

“I am sure if it is anything like what Mr. Yung saw today that it will be superb,” he adds softly.

“Thank you
, sir,” I shyly reply and leave his office to begin working on the designs.

Ruthless! That’s what this
man is. Over the past few days, Sebastian has grilled me over every single detail of the presentation. I know he has a lot on the line with this account, but I feel this is about more than just that. We are facing a huge deadline before we have to present, and we still have a ton of work to finish.

“I think this area will flow better if it’s on the other side, don’t you?”
he asks as he leans in beside me.

Shit, why does he have to smell so damn good
?

“I already moved this twice now, the specs won’t allow for that area to work,” I argue back.
I am exhausted and it is getting late.

He slides off his suit jacket and flings it across
a nearby conference chair. While he looks over the designs in front of him, he slowly rolls the sleeves up on his ice blue shirt and grips the side of the conference table. I can’t help but see the defined muscles in his biceps as he flexes forward on the table.

“Hmm
, maybe you’re right, but we do need to figure out the best layout of the fitness room and indoor pool. The builder wants those plans first so he can get the go ahead from Yung,” Sebastian says.

“Sure, I can work on that at home tonight and have that on your desk first thing in the morning,” I offer.

I just want to get the hell out of there
.

He looks down at his watch and shakes his head.

“Actually, do you think you can work late tonight? We have a ton of stuff to get through this week, and we are going to have to pull at least a few late nights. Hopefully that won’t be a problem for you. I know you have your sister to think about.”

Late nights? SHIT!
Skylar, keep it together. You can do this!
You can be professional!

“Yes, I can stay as late as you need me to.
My sister isn’t at home tonight, so it is fine.”

“Good
, I’m glad that’s settled. How about you order us dinner and we can lay out these designs again to see if we can find a solution,” he replies.

It’s now almost two in the morning and the conference room still smells of the Chinese takeout from earlier.
Wadded up sketches fill the large conference room floor and table. I am completely exhausted, but I think we have finally figured out a solution for the builder in L.A. Coincidently, it was my original design concept. Sebastian is currently on his phone with the builder, even at this late hour. I enter the initial measurements in my laptop and email them to the builder.

“She’s emailing them to you now. Yes, that will be fine.
Let me know what you think so we can send those on to Yung,” he says into his phone.

I kneel down and
begin picking up the papers off the floor. Moments later, he is on his hands and knees beside me. The heat radiates off his body and I feel my body begin responding to him. I try to ignore the fact that my heart is pounding and continue cleaning up, but we reach for the same piece of paper and I instantly freeze. His hand remains on mine and our eyes lock onto one another. Neither one of us moves; we just keep staring deeply into each other’s eyes.

He looks down at my lips and then swallows hard.
He leans closer, but I move back and he blinks back to his serious face.

“You look exhausted
, Skylar. Why don’t you head on home. I have an early meeting so don’t worry about coming in on time in the morning. We’ll get back started on the other designs later today.”

“Yes, sir
,” I say and Sebastian helps me to stand.

“I’ll call my driver for you.
I don’t want you driving home this late. He can pick up in the morning when you are ready to come in,” he says.

“Thank you, Mr. Thorne.”
I say and he frowns before responding.

“Good night,
Ms. Rose.”

In my bed that
night, I can’t control my betraying body. All I can think about is him. Even though I have never been with a man, my young body is still alive with needs and desires. Unable to help myself, I slide my hand down, slowly slip it beneath my panties, and begin rubbing my clit. The entire time, I imagine it is Sebastian’s strong fingers slowly stroking me. I moan and twist in my bed as I am overcome by an intense climax.

I don’t know how I am going to survive working this close beside him for another week.

Sebastian

I sit in the conference room alone staring at the designs in front of me.
Truthfully, the designs are perfect in every way. What she doesn’t know is that I have already sent Yung some previews that she did earlier in order to get a jump-start on the L.A. ground breaking. For the past week, I have been rough on her and that makes me feel like a complete and total piece of shit. Actually, I don’t care what it makes me because I will do whatever it takes to allow me to be close to her.

She look
s like sunshine standing there in my office in that yellow silk dress that she’s wearing.

My
perfect sunshine
.

There
is something about this evening and I just can’t let her leave. I am desperate when I suggest we pull a late night tonight. Over and over I reach around her tonight. I find any and every excuse I could to be close to her. I breathe her in and savor every sweet moment our hands are near each other.

After my fake phone call to the
builder, I join her on the floor to help her pick up the mess that we’ve made. We accidently pick up the same piece of paper. When our hands connect, our bodies surge with that phenomenal wave of energy back and forth. It is as if neither one of us really wants to let go of the other. I can still feel her touch on my hand as if it is seared onto my skin.

She
is exhausted and I feel horrible that I have done that to her. I have my driver take her home tonight, but her presence still haunts the conference room in which I am now sitting. I pull my hands through my hair and watch the city lights through the large glass windows that surround me. All I can think about is the girl across the city from me and I pray that right now she is sleeping peacefully. I know I certainly will not be tonight.

I
am surprised to see her sitting at her desk early the next morning. I had hoped she would rest some before she came in today. She still looks tired, but selfishly I am so happy to see her beautiful face again. I decide that I won’t keep her again late tonight because it will be pushing her too much.

For
most of the afternoon, we work closely together on the final layouts for the art team. I am just about to suggest that she leave early when she speaks.

“Mr. Thorne, I am worried about presenting this all on my own.
You will be involved in this, won’t you?” She asks me hopefully.

“Actually no
, Skylar, I will be present for the initial meeting, but you will be the one presenting this. That is something Mr. Yung is quite adamant about. It is your design, after all. Is that going to be a problem?” I ask her.

“Well, I’ve only presented a few projects in school, but nothing like this of course.
I wouldn’t even know where to begin, to be honest,” she answers with concern in her voice.

“I
can help you with that part, Skylar. I mean, only if you want me to, of course,” I reply hoping that she takes me up on my offer.

“Yes…
um… if you don’t mind. I don’t want to embarrass myself or the company.”

You would never be an embarrassment
, my sweet beautiful girl
.

“Certainly, how about we get started on that then,” I suggest
ed and she nods.

Around midnight she finally feels confident
enough in her speech for the presentation. Truth is that I would gladly stay here all night with her because I never grow tired of hearing that angelic voice of hers. She looks up at the clock on the wall and gasps.

“Oh my gosh
, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean for you to have to stay so late to help me,” she apologizes and frantically begins throwing things in her bag.

“It’s fine, Skylar. Really, it is fine,” I say placing my hands
on her arms. Her body calms at my touch and she slowly meets my stare. We don’t say anything for a moment. I can feel her breath catch and she slowly releases her bag from her arm and lets it spill to the floor. I step closer to her and run the pad of my thumb across her mouth.

I want her. I can’t hold back anymore.
It is just too damn hard.

I breathe her in and
I feel her warmth radiating into me. She smiles at me and I take her hands into mine, but I never unlock my eyes with hers. Pulling her even closer to me, I gently cup her beautiful face. She blinks those killer eyes at me and I gently lean to kiss the side of her delicious mouth. Gently, I drag my mouth across her lower lip. She is trembling and I can feel her breathing change and my own heart pounds.

She lifts her arms and places them around my neck. I pull my sunshine into me and crash my lips onto hers.
I push her back against the wood of the conference table and kiss her with everything in me. I don’t hold back as our tongues feverishly move together. She grabs my hair and I feel a growl erupt inside of me.

I move my lips down to her neck and gently nip at her skin.
She moans and arches her back against the table. I move my kisses down to the opening of her dress and lick a trail back up to her ear.

“I want you so much, baby,” I whisper in
to her ear.

“Then take me,” she begs.

I lift her up and she wraps those fucking gorgeous legs firmly around my waist. I am hard as fucking hell and I can feel her warm opening through my pants. I sit her up on the conference table and she leans back. I lift the skirt of her yellow dress and slowly slide my hand in between her thigh as she opens her legs. I nearly come on the spot when I feel how wet she is for me. Through the cream lace underwear, I gently stroke the outside of her folds. She moans and I fight to keep myself under control.

“Sebastian,” she breathlessly whispers my name.

Oh, dear God, how I love this woman! FUCK! I want inside her so bad!

I am
thankful no one is here except the two of us right now, but to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t give a damn if anyone saw us. I push myself harder against her and grind my hardness against her opening.

“
Oh, Sebastian I’ve missed you,” she whispers. I will never grow tired of hearing her say my name. It is truly like silk coming from her lips.

Our lips find each other again and
I’m completely lost in her. I don’t want Skylar to be my right now; I want her to be my always. No matter how much I want her, I can’t take her like this, not for her first time. I slow down and feather kisses across her perfect sweet face. I place my hands on her cheeks and she looks at me with dreamy, confused eyes.

“Baby, I want you so much, but not here…
not like this. I don’t want you losing your virginity like this. You’d hate me tomorrow.”

Her face drops and I im
mediately regret my words. I’d embarrassed her and right now, I hate myself. She slides down my body and pushes away from me. The hurt in her eyes is almost more than I can stand. She grabs her bag, stumbles across the room, and looks back at me with horror-filled eyes.

“Skylar! Don’t leave! Wait!
I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. Please, let me explain! Don’t go!” I shout, but the elevator is already closing.

By the time I make it to
the lobby, she is already getting into a cab. I reach for the car handle just as she shuts her door. I can see the hurt in her gorgeous turquoise eyes as she stares back at me through the cab window.

How
could I have done this to her again?

Hurt. That’s all I ever seem to ca
use her. Witnessing the tears in her eyes, I know I have to stop this. No matter my selfish desires I will not do this to her again. I feel the heaviness of my hand as it slips off the back of the moving cab. I am really letting her go this time… and it hurts like fucking hell.

Skylar

With tears in my eyes, I watch as his handsome face fades in the distance. There is no way I can live like this anymore. It just hurts too much. How does he even know that I am still a virgin? Is it that freaking obvious? I am sure my virginity is some joke to him, but to me it is something I had hoped to give to someone I love one day. I thought that someone would be him, but now I know it has never been about love for him. I pay the cab driver to take me to Kylie’s apartment downtown because I don’t want to risk seeing him again tonight.

Since Sophie
is staying over at a friend’s house, I decide to take Kylie up on her offer to spend the night. Kylie tries to get me to talk about it, but I don’t want to talk anymore. I can’t take the chance of talking myself out of doing what I know I have to do first thing in the morning. Since Kylie has a class early in the morning, she heads to bed but I am still so upset that I can’t sleep. I walk over to her computer and begin typing the hardest letter of my life.

I
stare down at the envelope in my hand. I have thought long and hard about this decision, and what it will cost me, but I no longer have a choice. I am resigning from the internship program effectively immediately. I leave Kylie a note thanking her for letting me spend the night and hail a cab to head back to Thorne Enterprises. The sun is just now rising and I am glad no one is at the office when I arrive.

I make my way
into his office and place the letter on the center of his desk. Suddenly, I notice the Christmas present sitting on the floor behind his desk.

The asshole never even bothered to open it!

Just when I
think he can’t cause me any more pain, I see this. I guess my gift isn’t good enough for the all mighty Mr. Sebastian Thorne. Picking the gift up off the floor, I sit it on his desk and put the letter in front of it. Maybe this seems childish, but I want him to know just how much this hurts me. Closing his office door, I head to my desk and begin placing my personal things in my bag. I leave all of my Yung presentation on my desk and quickly exit the building. I know that I won’t be graduating in a couple of months, but at least I am saying goodbye to Thorne Enterprises and its all mighty CEO. This is the first step in my future, even as uncertain as it is right now.