Sebastian (The Beck Brothers #2) (6 page)

He swallowed back the emotion clogging
his throat. "I'm sorry about that Bill. I don't know what she's doing
here..."

"That's not what I asked you,"
Bill said sharply.

Sebastian blinked at the older man,
finding himself spilling his guts. "No, I'm not. I've spent the past year
getting myself back together, and then she shows up out of nowhere wanting to
talk. Trying to tell me that she's made a mistake? I feel like I'm back at the
beginning."

Bill nodded solemnly. "I understand.
My first wife left me after fifteen years together. Said she was just bored
with me and didn't love me anymore. I was crushed. We had three kids together,
too. But, I picked myself back up, fell in love, and got married again. I’ve
been happily married ever since. It will take time, but you will heal. You will
find love again."

Sebastian shook his head. "I can't
go through this again. I won't. I refuse to let another woman hurt me," he
rasped.

Bill nodded and wrapped an arm around
Sebastian's shoulders. "Okay," he said and led Sebastian back inside.

  Sebastian was glad that he just
let it go. He knew Bill didn't agree with him, but he
needed
for Bill not to argue with him, which
was what he was doing. He was letting Sebastian think what he wanted to think. He
was grateful for that because as of right now, he couldn't see ever falling in
love again. He didn't think he could let a woman get that close, where it could
even become a possibility. He was better off alone, where he couldn't get hurt
again.

Chapter
4

"Quinn?" Peter Anderson's voice
said from the doorway of Quinn's large high-rise office.

Quinn looked up from his drafting table.
He raised an eyebrow at Peter - his boss and good friend - and waited for him
to continue.

"She's here. Conference room two,"
Peter said, jerking his head for Quinn to follow.

  Quinn laid down his pencil and
turned off the desk light, before smoothing down his tie and following his boss
out of his office and down the hall. Quinn was an architect. He designed or
helped design many of the newer buildings in the Philadelphia and surrounding
areas. He loved what he did. It was a mostly solitary job where he could work by
himself in silence. He liked working in silence; no music, no talking, no
noises to disrupt his train of thought. Quinn wasn't much of a socializer. He
had a few close friends and that was about it. He wasn't a partier, never had
been. He was quiet and liked to keep to himself.

  His boss Peter was one of the few
close friends; they had known each other for years. Quinn started working for
Peter's company about five years ago, and they became friends right off the
bat. Peter had just understood him. Understood his quiet, stoic demeanor, and
never forced him to do anything he didn't feel comfortable doing. Quinn always
appreciated that.

  Peter was bringing a new
architect/interior designer into the company. She was from Paris, France, and
had just moved to the U.S. in hopes of broadening her skills and her career.
Peter had scooped her right up. Apparently, she was amazing at what she did.

  As they got closer to the
conference room, Quinn could see everyone who worked there already inside
either the room or walking in. Peter liked to do big introductions when someone
new started working for him, even did it to Quinn, making him turn fifty shades
of red. He was not one who liked to be center of attention.
Ever
.

  They entered the room filled with
at least twenty people. Quinn tried to stay toward the back, but Peter grabbed
his arm, and yanked him up front with him. What the hell? He didn’t want to be
up front! Peter got everyone quieted down before he started his little speech.

"Okay everyone, I have been going on
and on for weeks now about the new addition to our team. It is with great
pleasure to introduce to you, Ms. Margot Leclair!" Peter exclaimed. He
started clapping as a beautiful brunette stood up from where she had been
seated at the head of the conference table.

  The stunning woman smiled
brightly, waved and blew kisses as if she was freaking Miss America. Quinn
couldn't stop the smirk that curled one side of his mouth. She wasn't
embarrassed one bit, quite the opposite, really. She seemed excited, and basked
in the attention.

  And good lord was she beautiful.
Her long dark hair was hanging down, loosely curled. It hung down to the middle
of her back. Her eyes were a greenish hazel. She had a cute little nose and
sexy bow shaped lips. She was dressed somewhat conservatively, but that
couldn't hide her incredible figure. Quinn was seriously attracted to her,
which surprised him because he wasn't normally attracted to brunettes. He
usually gravitated toward lighter hair.

"Merci! I am so happy to be here! I
cannot wait to work with everyone!" Margot chirped happily with a thick
French accent. Quinn was instantly in love with her accent. It was sexy as
hell.

"I also have some other big
news," Peter said, "We got the Trump Hotel and Casino contract! They
specifically requested Quinn Beck as the head architect on the project."
Peter beamed, turning to look at him.

  Quinn stared at him in
astonishment. He knew on the outside that he looked calm and collected as he
shook his boss's hand, but on the inside, he was jumping for joy. He has waited
his whole career to be head architect for such a huge project. The room
exploded into cheers and clapping. Quinn gave his usual closed mouth smile, as
heat rush up his cheeks.

"Congratulations, Quinn. You've
earned it." Peter gushed, patting him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Peter," he said
gratefully.

"Alright, that's all folks. Back to
work!" Peter called to the crowd.

Everyone started filing out of the room.
Quinn turned to leave, but Peter stopped him.

"Hang on a second, Quinn," he
said.

Quinn turned around, eyebrow raised in
question. Peter led Margot toward Quinn, his hand on the small of her back.
"Margot, this is our top architect, Quinn Beck."

Margot smiled brightly and shook Quinn's
hand. "It is a pleasure, Mr. Beck," she said, her accent making
everything she said sound sensual.

"Ms. Leclair," Quinn murmured,
unable to take his eyes off her beautiful face.

"We sound silly being so formal,
non? Please call me Margot." She smiled, a small flush creeping up her
delicate cheeks.

"Quinn," he replied.

"Oui," she agreed with a single
nod.

"Quinn, I want Margot to be your
second in command. I think she could help you a lot with this project,"
Peter suggested.

Quinn glanced at Peter, who nodded
hopefully. "Sure Peter. Absolutely."

Peter seemed to let out a breath he had
been holding. "Great! Why don't you show Margot around the office, and
then possibly get started on some ideas," Peter said, then quickly turned
and left before Quinn could reply. Bastard.

Quinn looked back at Margot. She was
practically bouncing with joy. She clapped her hands together. "We will work
great together. I promise!" She gushed.

  Quinn wasn't so sure he could
handle all her bubbliness. She had way too much energy for him. He had always
liked the timid mousey girls that kept to themselves. He wasn't much for the outgoing
types, and he had low tolerance for being around people like that. And Margot,
she was very outgoing, he could tell. He had a feeling she was going to get on
his nerves, no matter how gorgeous she was.

~~~~~

"I can't believe I let you talk me
into this," Raelynn grumbled, as she walked down the sidewalk with her
sisters, Bianna and Elise, and her best friend, Nicole.

"Oh shut up! We're gonna have fun.
You need a night out." Nicole chuckled, bumping Raelynn with her hip.

  Nicole was the complete opposite
of Raelynn when it came to their looks. Nicole had dark brown hair and a bob
cut. Her eyes were such a dark brown they almost looked black, and her skin was
more of an olive tone. She was super pretty. Oh, and she was five feet eight
inches,
without
heels
on.
Lucky bitch
.

"Yeah, I'm tired of seeing you in
suits all the time," Elise said with a pointed look.

"I have to look professional for
work," Raelynn argued defensively.

"And you always work. You need a
night out," Bianna said. Both Bianna and Elise were older than her.
Raelynn was the baby in the family.

"I sometimes forget how beautiful
you are. You’re always wearing your hair in that horrible bun." This was
coming from Nicole, as she brushed Raelynn’s loose hair over her shoulder.

"I need to keep it out of my face
when I work," Raelynn huffed.

  All three women rolled their eyes.
Luckily, they reached the door of the club and the conversation dropped. They
walked in, showed their ID's, and paid the cover charge. The music was
thumping; the base so loud that Raelynn could feel it in her chest. The women
in the place were scantily clad and looked mostly like a bunch of sluts.
However, there were a lot of hot guys, from what Raelynn could see anyway.

  The four of them found a table and
sat. A waitress showed up a few minutes later to take their drink orders.
Raelynn ordered a Long Island Iced tea. She decided that she did need to relax
a bit, and she needed to get her mind off a certain someone. She has been
having a hard time getting out of her mind the heartbroken expression on his
face, from the last time she saw him. It’s been a week since that day at
Bill’s, and she still couldn’t shake it.

Raelynn was on her second drink and
feeling pretty damn good when Nicole slapped her arm.

"Look at that table of hotties over
by the dance floor. I say we go do a little dancing in front of them to get
their attention," she giggled, motioning toward a table on the other side
of the dance floor.

  Raelynn followed Nicole's line of
sight to the table she was talking about. Four guys were lounging around the
table. Two were facing the dance floor; the other two had their backs to it.
The two guys facing the dance floor looked alike, so she guessed that they were
brothers. Both were totally yummy. Raelynn stood, followed by Nicole. Bianna
and Elise just laughed and shook their heads. They were both married, so they
weren't going try to get attention from some random guys. Bianna was the sister
married to Jared, Sebastian's therapist.

  Raelynn and Nicole sauntered onto
the dance floor and got as close to the guys as possible, without looking like
they were trying too hard. The music was great and Raelynn was totally feeling
it. She was wearing a pretty, sleeveless, gold sequined sheath dress that
stopped just above mid-thigh, and had a low scoop neck. She had on four-inch
platform heels that made her at least five feet nine inches. Her long blonde
hair was down and loosely curled, hanging down to the middle of her back, with
a few pieces over the front of her shoulders. Her makeup was a bit more drastic
than what she normally did, with a blue smoky eye shadow, that made her light
blue eyes just pop, and a natural glossy lipstick. She had to admit that she
looked freaking hot tonight.

"I think we've been noticed,"
Nicole said in a singsong voice. "And holy shit! The guy with the tattoos
is bangin'!"

  Raelynn turned and locked eyes
with the one man she has been thinking about all week, and her breath caught.
Sebastian turned his chair around to watch her and Nicole. She saw his eyes
widen for a second as he recognized her, then he leisurely raked his gaze down
her body. Raelynn felt her body heat and respond to his blatant perusal. A
naughty smirk curled his lips, as he reached over and smacked the guy next to
him on the back. When the guy looked over at him, Sebastian leaned closer and
said something to him. The other guy then turned in his chair, and Raelynn saw
that it was his brother, Henry. Henry's eyebrows shot up when he saw her, and
then he smiled and gave her a wave. Raelynn flushed and waved back.