Until I Met You (8 page)

I heard the patio door sliding and Seth’s voice appearing.  “That’s great, thank you, Jonathan.  I’ll get the funds transferred to you by first thing tomorrow morning.”  He looked toward me and nodded his head.  “I will, don’t worry, Jonathan.  I’ll have her back in one piece by three o’clock.”

What?  He hung up and I stared at him, waiting for his explanation.

“I asked Jonathan if I could take you to lunch to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?  And when do you need to seek permission from Jonathan about taking me to lunch?  Aren’t you asking the wrong person?”

“You’re a tough cookie to crack, my angel.”

“I am
not
your angel!” I screamed.  I think I may have stamped my foot a little. 
I’m losing it, I’m losing it.  Calm down Angelina, he’s only a man.  A man-whoring sex God.  Oh boy!
 

“And another thing,” I said, trying to calm myself.  “You’re not cracking my cookie!”

An eruption of laughter left Seth’s lips again as I tried to cling onto any remnants of dignity I had left after my little child strop.  He looked at me and smiled.  A great big, heart-warming, show-stopping smile.  I couldn’t help it, my lips curved up.

“There it is!  Blimey, it’s beautiful.”

I almost went weak at the knees.  “What?” I asked trying to be as casual as possible.

“Your smile.”

“Oh shut up,” I blurted, turning my heels to head for the lift.  I couldn’t help the silly grin plastered on my face.  “By the way,” I said getting into the lift.  “Not that I’m entertaining the idea of lunch, but why are you celebrating?”

“I’m going to buy all three.  I asked Jonathan to cancel your appointments.  There’s no need for them to come now that they’re all mine.  Besides, I’ll get to have you all to myself during that time.”

Heat and throbbing, heat and throbbing.  Is it more heat, then throbbing?  I couldn’t tell, one seemed to mesh with the other.  All I knew was, I ached, and it wasn’t because I drank too much rum last night either.  This was a different ache, in a completely different part of my body.

Trying to gather myself together, I punched in floor number five.

“There’s no need to view it—unless of course, it’s empty and you want me all to yourself?” he asked, smiling.

This man never failed to amaze me.  “You can’t just buy three apartments without looking at them all.  What if there’s something wrong, or you don’t like it?”

Seth frowned a little.  “Is there something wrong with it?”

“No,” I answered.

“Then I trust you,” he grinned.  “They’re pretty much all the same right?”

I nodded, but insisted on at least him taking a peek.  He might not like the view, or something—anything.  You don’t just spend two point two million just like that without seeing what you’ve bought first.

He seemed to go along with it; I think to amuse me more than anything.  We got there, he peeked, spent all of about ten seconds looking around, and that was it, he was off.

“Now, can we get to lunch?  We’ve wasted enough time already.”

“What, a few seconds?” I huffed.

“A few seconds less that I could be spending sipping a bottle of beer and staring into those magnificent eyes of yours.  They look—I don’t know—somehow familiar.”

I frowned and shifted again.  What could I say to that?  I’m supposed to hate him.  Right?

Seth’s driver took us to the restaurant around the corner from where I worked and lived.  The one that’s supposed to be over-priced, but oh so over-the-top, melt in the mouth good.  I’d been dreaming of going there ever since I heard of the place.  For three weeks I’ve been passing this restaurant on the way to the shops, and for three weeks I’ve been dreaming of one day entering it, rather than passing.  Now I was here, with sexy arsehole.

As we entered, Seth was greeted by name by the Maitre d’, who escorted us to a discreet table in the corner.  Of course he’s well known here, silly me.  He probably brings all his bunnies here, and now the Maitre d’ thinks I’m one of them.

“What can I get you, Mr Jacobs?”

“I’ll have a beer please, Terence, and Angel here will have a…?”

“Orange juice please,” I answered quickly.

“Had enough booze last night?” he asked, amused.

I shook my head, trying not to smile.  “No, I have clients later; it never looks good when I turn up stinking of drink.”

That lip of his curved up as he drank me in.  “Who says you’re not smelling of it now?”

I felt really conscious then, so pulled my blouse up and sniffed.  This just caused Seth into a fit of hysteria.

“
Tosser
,” I said under my breath.

“I heard that.”

“Oh yes, of course.  Mr X-ray hearing.”

Seth leant his elbows on the table and shuffled slightly.  “You really don’t like me do you?  I think if you ever took the time to get to know me, I think you would like what you see and hear.”

Thank goodness he couldn’t read my mind.  “You’re so modest, do you know that?”

“I try my best,” he said smiling.

That smile.  I was beginning to hate it despite the fact he looked too damn cute and sexy.  The only thing I could do was just remind myself of who he really is.  “I really am not in a hurry to become one of your bunnies, nor will I ever be.  When hell freezes over, remember?”

“Bunnies?” he asked with a confused smile.

“Yes, bunnies, as in playboy.”  He stared at me a little, still with an amused grin on his face.  “What?” I asked trying to glance over the menu.

“This is going to be fun,” he answered.

I placed my menu on the table—after nearly having a heart attack at the prices—and tried my best to look annoyed.  “Listen here, matey, I’m not a challenge, or a deal-breaker, or a project that you want to turn from miserable and tired, to sexy and enticing.  I’m not interested, so stop trying to chase me.  It ain’t happening.”

All he did was stare at me for a few seconds with a cheeky grin.  “Don’t forget unloved and beautiful.”

“What?” I asked confused.

“You forgot to mention unloved and beautiful.”

In an effort to ignore him, I picked my menu back up.  It was hard though as the prices were hurting my eyes.

“Steak,” Seth quipped.

His sudden outburst had my head snapping up to meet him.  “Pardon?”

“The steak here is the best in London.  If you like steak, then I would recommend it here.”

I had heard that, too.  I placed my menu down, glad that I didn’t have to look at the prices anymore.  I didn’t even want to know how much the steak was.  “Okay,” I said.  “You’ve sold it to me.”

“I thought that was the other way around today, Miss Bradshaw?”  He smiled and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“You should smile more often.  It makes your eyes stand out even more than normal.  Where did you get those peepers from anyway?”

“I should imagine from my parents,” I said, trying to feign interest.  He was about to say something when a waiter brought us our drinks.  We said our thanks, ordered the steak, and away the waiter went.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Jonathan?”

I very nearly spat my drink out.  “What do you mean?”

“Is he fucking you, because I have to know what I’m up against?”

If only he knew!  “You’re very crass, do you know that?” I could feel the anger rise again.

“You think I’m crass?” he asked

“Don’t you think you’re crass?” I counter-asked.

“No, do you really think I’m crass?” he hit back.

“I’m not playing this game with you, Mister,” I seethed.  He looked at me again and turned that sexy grin on.  My God, he’s an asshole.  A fucking sexy son-of-a-bitch asshole!

“Are you going to answer me, or do I have to guess?”

Feeling like I was in need of a challenge, I decided to play along. “I want you to guess.”

“Okay,” he said, placing his elbows on the table again.  “I think he wants you.  I think there may have been a time when you two could have, and you never did.  Now Jonathan regrets that and wants to make you his.”

How did he...? “Hold on, have you been talking to Jonathan about me?”

His eyes lit up.  “Ah, so I’m right?”

I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms defensively.  “I never said you were.”

“No, but you implied it,” he replied with an impish grin.  “So, you and Jonathan nearly had sex and now he’s brought you here to complete his mission.”

Now he was really started to piss me off.  “Now listen here, Mr I’m God’s Gift to Women, who do you think you are making accusations like that about Jonathan and I?  You think I can’t do my job properly?  That he couldn’t have possibly asked me to come here because I’m good at what I do?” 

He soon interrupted my rant by putting his hands up. “Hey, hold your horses there, Angel.  One, I never said you weren’t good at your job.  Jonathan gave you what must be his biggest client.  He wouldn’t trust you with me if he thought you couldn’t do your job.” 

I tried speaking, but he put his hand up again to shut me up.  “Two, I think Jonathan does want you and maybe he thought that by asking you here and being near to you, would bring you both closer together. Three, I for some unknown fucking reason don’t like it, and four; you think I’m God’s gift to women?”  That last sentence had the show-stopping smile surface.

“I never said that,” I spat.

“Oh yes you did.”  He practically purred the words.

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, the ache for him intensified. “I said you think your God’s gift to women.”

He shook his head and waved his finger.  “Ah, ah, that’s not how I heard it.  You said, and I quote, “Now listen here, Mr I’m God’s Gift to Women.”

I couldn’t believe this guy.  “What is this, do you have some sort of photographic memory or something?”

“So you admit that’s how you said it?”

I growled.  It couldn’t be helped.  He just frustrated me something chronic.  He seemed to enjoy getting a rise out of me and I—all the time—bit when he did it.

Luckily our meals came before I could really lay into him.  I took the opportunity to calm myself down a little, and not let him see that he affected me.

I bit into the steak and oh my God, it was melt in the mouth.  I even moaned out loud.

“Keep doing that, I’ll get the bill and haul your arse out of here and keep you locked up in my dungeon.”

“You have a dungeon?” I asked, confused at myself.  There was so many things wrong with what he just said, and that was all I asked.

“No,” he said with a chuckle.  “But I’ll have one built for you.”  He winked at me with an impish grin.

I knew he was only joking, but an unwelcome heat resurfaced.  I had to try and cool it down.  If he had a photographic memory, what other super powers did he possess?

He saw my reaction and stared at me with a worried expression on his face.  “Are you okay?”

See, there it was.  He knows he makes me hot.  I can’t believe I’m even admitting this to myself!  “I’m fine,” I said trying not to look too uncomfortable.

“I just can’t believe there was no comeback to what I said.”

The laughter came tumbling out naturally.  “Ah, so you admit you’re a glutton for punishment?”

“Only when it comes to you, Angel.”

I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment.  “How many times do I have to say that my name is—”

“I know, Angelina.  Hello stroppy, I thought I’d lost you there.”

I smiled.  I knew again what he was trying to do and I wasn’t going to let it work in his favour.  Instead I took another bite of my steak and decided to do a Sally on him.

“Oh God, this is so good.  I think it’s the best I’ve ever had,” I said moaning. 

Seth’s eyes went wide and I knew it was working.  I took another bite, closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I said, “Hmm, so good.”  As I stared at him, I tried to put on my best “Take me to bed” eyes as I could. 

I picked up a carrot next and seductively placed it in my mouth.  I pushed it in and pulled it out, making a slight sucking noise as I went.  By the look on his face, it was working.

“Angel, as I told you, carry on like that I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“Oh really,” I said challenging him as I sucked harder.

To my surprise he got up, waltzed his way to where I was sitting, sat down real close, and came in inches away from my face.  My breathing immediately hitched.  He looked deeply into my eyes with those baby blues of his.  I couldn’t help my heart racing the way that it was.

He leaned in that little bit more, but I couldn’t let him kiss me.  He was a playboy and I didn’t want to become one of his bunnies.  “I’m not a bunny,” I said, breathing heavily.

He leaned back, confusion written all over his face.  “What?”

“I’m not one of your playboy bunnies, nor will I ever be,” I snapped. 

He started laughing and my eyes couldn’t help travel over his heaving chest, but then they travelled lower to something else that was heaving.