Unhinged (11 page)

Payton

“Can I get another
beer?”

The gruff voice came
from behind me. At first I thought nothing of it considering we were in a
sports bar full of men. A lot of men had deep, booming voices.

“Yeah, thanks,” the man
said.

I immediately stilled,
my heart triple timing it in my chest.

That voice.

That raspy tone. It
sounded familiar.

That deep baritone… it
was…

No freaking way.

An elbow gently bumped
my shoulder from behind. I twisted in my chair to see a man sitting directly
behind me. The place was packed and we were crammed into the place like
sardines, so it wasn’t unusual for someone to bump me.

“Sorry about that.” The
brief apology caused me to turn around fully, only to come face to face with…

“Sebastian,” I whispered
at the same time he said, “Angel.”

“I’ll be damned,
Trovato. Did you conjure her up from your thoughts? You’re gonna have to teach
me how to do that shit.”

I was staring into
liquid gold eyes, hardly registering what his friend was saying. But then… it
clicked.

“
Trovato?
” My
stomach rapidly plummeted to my feet. Sebastian
Trovato
?

Oh.

My.

God.

I had to give him
credit, he looked a little embarrassed.

“You’re not a mechanic,”
I accused, rage dripping into my blood stream. I knew my face was red, but I
couldn’t help it.

The devious grin he
shot me didn’t help.

“Oh, my God!
You’re
the hot mechanic?” Chloe exclaimed, leaning over to see around me.

“Not helping, Chloe,” I
warned, my eyes still locked with Sebastian’s.

Although I was angry, I
knew the rapid beat of my heart didn’t have anything to do with that. No, what
had caused my heart rate to accelerate and my blood to fizz in my veins was my
visceral reaction to this man. Just as he had every time I saw him
—
in my dream,
the first time we met, at Conrad’s party
—
Sebastian
Trovato
had captivated me.

And damn it all to
hell, sitting this close to him wasn’t helping.

Trovato.

Damn it.

“Why didn’t you tell me
who you were?” I probed, still not quite sure who he was. Conrad’s nephew,
maybe? With the last name of Trovato, he had to be related in some way.

“I did tell you who I
was.” His voice was rough, belying the amused grin on his perfect lips.

Dang it. He had a
tongue ring.

Not that I was
fascinated by it or anything. It’s just that we were less than a foot apart and
it was hard to miss when he spoke.

“You told me you were a
mechanic,” I stated firmly, my voice softer than before. I hated that we had an
audience when I wanted to rage at him for lying to me.

“No, you
assumed
I was a mechanic.”

I did not. Okay, maybe
I did. Whatever.

“You didn’t correct
me.”

“You didn’t care.”

No, he was right. It
had never
really
mattered to me who he was. When I was in his presence,
I was more worried about trying to get my libido in check.

“So did you lie to me?
Are you really a mechanic?” I repeated softly, realizing he hadn’t answered me
moments ago.

“Mechanic.” One of the
guys sitting at Sebastian’s table smirked, laughing as he sipped his beer.

Sebastian glanced over
his shoulder at his friends before returning his gaze to mine.

“Leif, Toby, meet
Angel. Angel, meet Leif and Toby.”

“My name’s not Angel,”
I snapped. I glanced over Sebastian’s shoulder and forced a smile. “My name’s
Payton.”

“Nice to meet you,
Payton,” the two guys said at exactly the same time, the humor dancing in their
eyes was a little off-putting, mainly because I wasn’t sure what the inside
joke was. They were enjoying this.

Too bad I wasn’t.

I met Sebastian’s gaze
for a long second.

“Sorry to interrupt
your dinner.” I broke the eye contact with Sebastian and looked past him. “Nice
to meet you both.”

“Feel free to interrupt
anytime, Angel.” Sebastian’s smooth, deep voice flowed over me like silk and
damn it if my body didn’t light up like someone had doused me in gasoline and
lit a match.

I forced my traitorous
body to turn back around only to see Chloe staring at the men behind me. In
truth, I’d never seen Chloe speechless. I’m not sure if I liked it or not.

“If you’re gonna sit
there with your mouth open, at least put something in it,” I scolded Chloe,
pushing the plate of nachos in her direction.

Her eyes met mine and
the mischief I saw there made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
“No. Don’t you dare,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice calm. “Don’t you
dare interfere, Chloe. Keep in mind, I need my job.”

“What does he have to
do with your job?” Chloe leaned in conspiratorially.

“He’s obviously related
to Mr. Trovato. Which means I can’t get involved.”

“Says who?” she
inquired.

“Says me. Hurry up and
eat so we can get out of here.” I’d lost my appetite, and the beer suddenly
tasted like dirt. I just wanted to get out of there so I didn’t have to think
about the fact that the hottest guy I’d ever met was sitting directly behind
me, probably laughing about the fact that he’d pulled one over on me. Twice.

“Oh, God,” I groaned
when I remembered what I’d told Mr. Trovato upon my return to the office that
day. No wonder he had looked at me like I’d lost my mind. And again at the
party… When I’d been leaving, Mr. Trovato had caught me looking at Sebastian.
I’d seen frustration in his eyes. Did he think…?

“What?” Chloe asked,
interrupting my thoughts, her gaze roaming my face. “Spill it.”

“Last week, when I went
to his house to get his cell phone, I told Mr. Trovato that I hadn’t seen his
daughter, but I had talked to his mechanic briefly. He must think I’m a
nutcase.”

“Doubtful,” came a
voice from behind me.

I fought the urge to
turn around and look at him, hoping he didn’t notice the way my shoulders
tensed when he spoke. His voice was a strange mixture of rough velvet and
smooth silk, it pulled me in and I knew… I knew that was the last thing I
needed to be worried about.

“So, how’re you related
to Mr. Trovato?” Chloe asked, speaking loud enough for Sebastian to hear.

I wanted to strangle
her.

I felt rather than saw
when Sebastian turned in his chair. He was so close, I could feel the warmth of
his arm against my back although he wasn’t touching me. I did my best not to
move away, not wanting to let him know just how affected I was.

How freaking crazy was
this? Here I was, twenty-three years old and I was acting like a teenager with
a crush.

“Let’s just leave it at
related
.” Sebastian’s grumbling voice sent chills down my spine.

“Are you done yet?” I
asked Chloe, doing my best to ignore the man behind me.

Chloe’s lips twitched,
telling me her answer without words. She was enjoying my suffering and this was
one of those times when I wished I’d brought my own car. Instead, I had let
Chloe drive.

For the next fifteen or
so minutes, Chloe actually paid attention to her food. Well, sort of. Her eyes
kept drifting over my other shoulder and I assumed she was looking at the
mammoth of a man that was sitting at Sebastian’s table. Leif or Toby. I didn’t
know who was who.

I wasn’t hungry, so I
alternated between peeling the label off my beer and staring up at the
television. The game was almost over and I knew when it was, the place would clear
out fast.

I wanted to be gone
before that happened. I wanted to be far away from here when Sebastian decided
to take his leave.

The waitress returned
to check on us, and to my relief, Chloe requested the bill. I dug in my purse
for cash, wanting to pitch in, but Chloe put her hand on mine. “My treat. It
was totally worth it.”

I glared at my
roommate. “I hate you,” I whispered, trying to keep my expression stern.

“Of course you do.”

Payton

By the time we were
walking to Chloe’s car, I was geared up to run a marathon. I just wanted to get
out of there, fearful that if I didn’t do something fast, I would turn right
around and march back inside just to see Sebastian’s handsomely smug face one
last time.

I was infuriated with
him. He had lied to me, convinced me that he was Mr. Trovato’s mechanic.

Kind of.

The ass had told me he
was a mechanic, which I guess didn’t necessarily mean he worked for Conrad. But
still. He had even confirmed it at the party. But what really burned me was the
simple fact that his last name was Trovato, regardless of the relation to my
boss, which meant he could have easily gone inside that ginormous mansion and
retrieved Conrad’s cell phone. But noooo… I had to go back to the office and
look like an idiot when I explained that I’d had a conversation with the mechanic
because Aaliyah had already left.

And then at the party…
What had happened between us outside, the way my body responded to him,
desperate to get closer…

But he was off limits!
Off freaking limits because he was related to my boss.

Ugghh!

I wasn’t sure whether I
was more upset that he had lied to me or that he was off limits.

And that only pissed me
off more.

“Hey, princess!”
someone yelled from across the parking lot.

Don’t ask me why I
turned and looked. I was certainly not a princess, nor was I an angel.

It had been that damn
smoky voice that had me searching the shadows for Sebastian. I caught sight of
him coming toward us, while Leif and Toby (I still didn’t know who was who)
headed in the opposite direction.

“Hold up!” Sebastian
called out as I opened the passenger side door of Chloe’s car.

To my absolute horror, Sebastian
walked right up to Chloe and asked to speak to her for a minute. I was
seething, a red haze disrupting my vision as I watched Sebastian talk to my
roommate, both of them smiling and even laughing.

What the hell? Why
would he pick
her
?

I stomped my foot,
unable to control myself.

Sure, Chloe was pretty.
If you liked teeny tiny, green eyed, leggy brunettes. Yes, if that was your
preference, she was pretty.

But I wasn’t a slouch,
thank you very much.

The thought had me
glancing down at my outfit.

Well…

I kind of was a slouch
right then.

After wearing heels for
most of the day, I’d stripped right out of the skirt and, yes, another
coffee-stained shirt and changed into jeans and a long sleeved, black T-shirt.
It was clean. Wrinkled a little, maybe, but still clean.

I touched my hair.

It was still pulled
back in a ponytail, which meant I probably looked like I was in high school.
The sports bar we’d just left was perhaps the only establishment that didn’t
card me and that was only because I’d been coming in every week for the last
few months.

But still…

“You’re a doll,”
Sebastian told Chloe and I was ready to scream.

But then, my voice was
stuck in my throat when Sebastian made his way around the car and strolled
right up to me, his eyes serious. Where had all of his amusement gone?

“Let me take you home,”
he said softly.

“What?” I exclaimed.
“No way. I don’t even know you.”

He merely cocked an
eyebrow
—
the pierced one
—
and I got the feeling that he was used to women just giving it up to him for
his crooked smile.

Not me.

No way.

“You know me well
enough,” he whispered.

I glanced over at Chloe
and that jealousy I was feeling a moment before returned. If I didn’t let him
drive me home, would he offer to drive Chloe home? Would she accept?

Son of a…

“Come on, Payton. What d’ya
say? We’ll stop and get ice cream.”

“Ice cream?” Was he
serious? Ice cream. Did people really do that?

“You got something
against ice cream?” Sebastian asked.

“No. I do
not
have anything against ice cream.” I turned toward him, studying his face for
probably longer than was appropriate. But it was the only thing I could do when
I was practically sandwiched between him and the car door at my back. “What I
have a problem with is leaving with you. I don’t
know
you.”

I knew he understood
what I was telling him. He had lied to me. Whether it was by omission or not,
he had let me believe something that wasn’t entirely accurate.

Sebastian stared at me.
He looked like he was waging a war inside his head. Did he want to tell me
something?

No. He probably just
wanted to blow me off, figuring I wasn’t going to be a sure thing.

I was
not
going
to be a sure thing.

Little did he know but
I hadn’t had sex in like two years, and before that, it had only been with one
person. With my college boyfriend, Paul. Even then, I’m not sure that could be
considered sex. Paul seemed just as inadequate as I had been for the six months
that we dated.

I certainly didn’t
consider myself experienced in that department.

At this point, I’m not
even sure that I knew how it was supposed to work. Sex, that is.

“I promise.” His hand came
up, the backs of his fingers brushed my arm. “I just wanna talk.”

Talk.

I didn’t mind talking.
Maybe then he could explain just who the heck he was.

I considered it for a
moment before looking back at Chloe one last time. She nodded and grinned.

“Fine,” I said
decisively. “We can talk.”

His smile widened and I
was momentarily fascinated by his lip ring.

“But only if you tell
me who you are and why you lied to me.”

Sebastian laughed, the
sound even sexier than when he spoke. He nodded his head to Chloe. “I’ll have
her home in an hour. Promise.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting
for her,” Chloe answered, looking somber for a moment.

Sebastian surprised the
crap out of me when he took my hand and linked his fingers with mine. I nearly
stumbled over my own feet as I stared down at our joined hands.

I hadn’t held anyone’s
hand in… well, probably not since high school. If even then.

But the feel of
Sebastian’s work-roughened fingers against mine wasn’t the only surprise of the
night. I nearly swallowed my tongue when he stopped at the black-as-night
sports car that I’d seen in the parking lot earlier.

“Is that a…?” For the
life of me, I couldn’t even think of the name of the car.

“A Camaro. Yeah.”
Sebastian chuckled as he opened the passenger side door and waited for me to
climb in.

Right. A Camaro.

Oh, crap. New car
smell.

After he climbed in and
started the engine, I peered over at him and asked, “Is this yours?”

“Maybe.” That slow
smirk tilted his lips and I wanted to reach over and touch his mouth.

With mine.

Shaking off the
thought, I turned and looked out the windshield. “You mentioned ice cream,” I
said blandly, hoping he couldn’t see the lust that was likely causing smoke to
seep out of my ears.

“Yes, ma’am.” With
that, Sebastian put the car in gear.

At that point, I held
on for dear life.