Winning the Billionaire (Seattle Bachelors Book 2) (5 page)

“Oh gosh. I’m so sorry.” Numb from head to toe, she nodded and sat upright. As she straightened her skirt, she forced a laugh, hoping somehow to save face. She’d never done that before. She’d always been the geek, the smart girl, and she’d never gone for unobtainable men. Like him. “Clearly I read you wrong. Forgive me. I assumed you needed
me
when you kissed me, but you didn’t. I was just a warm body, a momentary distraction, and one you clearly regret. I’ll be out of your hair. I’ve imposed enough. Caden will be over soon.”

She returned her laptop into the bag leaning against the end table leg, where she’d left it while Sebastian went for a run, then stood and looped the bag over her right shoulder. Behind her, Sebastian went silent, but his gaze burned into her as she made her way into the kitchen. She stuffed her cell phone into her purse and pivoted, heading for her shoes at the end of the hallway.

Sebastian let out a quiet laugh behind her that was half miserable groan. “God, I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet.”

She stopped at the end of the hallway, torn by indecision. She
needed
to leave, before her heart cracked in two pieces. The desire to know, however, won out.

“Figured out what?” She folded her arms over her stomach, clutching her purse to her and using it as a lifeline.

“How I feel about you.”

Christina froze, her heart pounding. He spoke softly, with reluctance, but once again he skirted around the issue, answering her question without really answering. So far this morning, he’d kissed her, attempted to seduce her, then when she’d offered herself to him, he’d turned
her
down. Suddenly she was supposed to understand what the hell he was talking about?

His subtle comment also hinted once again that he cared for her, and the tease was one too many. Her last nerve snapped, and she pivoted to face him. Frustrated tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back and swallowed past the knot in her throat. “How am I supposed to know how you feel about me when you treat me like Caden’s annoying little sister? Like you can barely stand the sight of me? I don’t know whether I’m coming or going this morning.”

She threw her hands in the air and met his bewildered stare with a glare. Once out, the words erupted from her lips, unstoppable.

“I’m in love with you. Did you know that? I’ve
been
in love with you for so long I can’t remember when I fell. I think it was somewhere in high school, when you decked Bobby Stalwart. Do you remember that? I do. I’ll never forget. He’d cornered me against a locker, put his hands all over me, taunted me. He asked me if my intelligence meant I was good in bed, too, and you marched over and broke his nose.”

Sebastian had gotten in the football star’s face and told Bobby if he so much as looked at her the wrong way again, he’d break his throwing arm next time. It was the first time she’d realized Sebastian even gave a damn about her.

Chest heaving and her heart pounding against her rib cage, Christina turned back around, shoved her feet in her heels, and marched toward the front door. For a moment, only the sound of her heels
click-clacking
across the hardwood floor filled the space. Even Spike, who usually walked with her to say goodbye, was nowhere to be found.

Halfway down the hallway, the emotions eating her up refused to be held back, and she turned and marched back into the kitchen. Sebastian, halfway around the couch now, halted as she faced him, eyes wide and stunned.

“By the way, you don’t want to participate in the bachelor auction this year? Fan-fucking-tastic. It’ll save me from having to watch all your groupies throw themselves at you. Having to sell you like a goddamn pimp, all the while knowing the woman you go home with no doubt gets the privilege of sharing your bed, flat-out sucks.”

She didn’t bother to wait for his reply but spun and left his condo, slamming the door behind her. What a complete and utter disaster. Well, now she knew the answer to
that
question, didn’t she?

S
ebastian dragged his hands through his hair. Heart in his throat, his gut tied in sickening knots, he could only stare at the door. Christina had slammed it so hard the walls rattled. The panic seated in his chest told him to go after her. Even Spike looked ticked at him.
His
cat—his, damn it!—came wandering out from God knew where and took a seat at the end of the hallway. Ears back, tail twitching in irritation, Spike seemed to glare at him. Even Spike’s hate-filled look seemed to say,
Go get her, stupid!

His brain and his common sense, however, said to let her go. He’d wanted to put distance between them, to save her from him, and he’d accomplished the task. In freakin’ spades. God, he’d almost caved. Her offer was selfless, but her heart had been in her eyes. She’d have given herself to him because he needed her, but the knowledge filled his mind with impossible questions. Namely, how the hell could he not have noticed that she loved him? He’d never dared allowed himself to dream of the possibility. Her touch had been soft, and the tenderness in her eyes was a lure he’d nearly given in to.

But he refused to use her. Christina would never be a meaningless fling to fill a need, and he wouldn’t treat her like one. Her words kept repeating in his mind, though, tormenting him.

“I’m in love with you. Did you know that?”

The look on her face. The pain and shock in her eyes. Christina put out an air of confidence. She was comfortable with who she was, but obviously still had old hurts buried in there somewhere. She was smart. She was right. Men like him usually liked the party girls. He dated girls like that on purpose. They wanted exactly what he did: a good time with no strings attached.

A relationship with Christina meant all kinds of strings. Her brother had been his best friend since first grade, for crying out loud. He’d known her before puberty, before breasts, when she’d been that annoying know-it-all on the playground. She and Cade had been there when his mother left and his parents divorced, and they’d been there during his teenage rebellion. Out of all the people in his life, Cade and Christina were the most important. He’d just gotten his relationship with Cade back on track. Three years ago, he’d gotten himself tangled with a woman who’d used them both, pitting them against each other for financial gain. Amelia’s game had nearly cost him his best friend. He wouldn’t screw up a good friendship for what amounted to great sex.

Still, the hurt on Christina’s face haunted him. He’d put that pain there, and he hated himself for it.

He looked to Spike and shook his head. “How the hell did I manage to screw that up so spectacularly?”

Spike flicked his tail in irritation and turned, sauntering across the floor in the direction of the living room. Once there, he hopped onto his favorite spot on the windowsill and sat looking out over the city. Sebastian’s mind churned, going in a million different directions. How did he fix this when he needed Christina so damn much? How did he separate himself from that phenomenal kiss? How the hell did he forget that?

The doorbell sounded, interrupting his musings, and he jerked his gaze to the door. It wouldn’t be her. On a logical level, he understood that. Why the hell would she come back? Yet his heart skipped a hopeful beat anyway.

“Cross your toes, Spike.” He jogged down the hallway and yanked open the door.

Only to have his heart sink into his toes a moment later. The person on the other side wasn’t Christina but Cade. He stood in the vestibule, wearing a full suit, hands tucked in the pockets of his navy slacks.

Sebastian blew out a breath in disappointment. “Oh, it’s you.”

Cade let out a quiet laugh. “Hi to you, too. What the hell did you do to Chris?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I met her on the street outside the building. She was hell-bent about something. Told me I should let you rot in hell.”

Sebastian closed his eyes, suddenly exhausted. His shoulders slumped with the weight pressing down on him. “I couldn’t have screwed that up more if I tried.”

“What the hell did you do to make her so mad?”

Sebastian opened one eye, peering at Cade with caution. “I kissed her.”

Then he braced himself. This could go one of two ways. He’d never confided his feelings for Christina to Cade. Not officially at least, though he knew Cade wasn’t stupid or blind. Cade was a lawyer, and a damned good one. Sebastian was too afraid of getting hit, particularly after the fiasco that was Amelia. He had to be some kind of stupid not to realize the woman who’d seduced him at the bar that night was his best friend’s fiancée. She’d had the same name, after all. He’d been elbows deep in a bottle of scotch, hell-bent on getting drunk enough to forget running into Christina and her latest lover.

How protective would Cade be of Christina, though? If you asked him, your best friend’s sister should be off-limits, period, and Sebastian didn’t have the best track record.

Across the threshold, Cade grinned, ear to freakin’ ear.

“About damn time.” He stepped over the threshold, closed the door behind him, and hitched a shoulder. “Why’s she so pissed?”

Sebastian turned, leading Cade into the kitchen. “She showed up at a bad time, and I blew it in a major way. What else?”

As they came to a stop beside the center island, Cade laid a hand on his back. “She told me about your father. I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

Sebastian let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah. Find a loophole for my father’s last dying demand.”

At Cade’s questioning stare, he related the details of his father’s will. By the time he finished, Cade was in stitches.

“Married? You?” Cade shook his head, his voice still shaking with laughter. “One last dig from beyond the grave. Oh, that’s a tough one, man.”

“Very helpful, bro.” Sebastian shot him a glare and moved to the coffeepot on the opposite counter. He grabbed a mug from the overhead cabinet, filled it from the cold coffeepot, and stuck the mug in the microwave, setting it for a minute. He faced Cade again, leaned back against the counter’s edge, and folded his arms. “I refuse to go along with it, but how the hell am I going to get past it? Damned if I’m going to just give his wife my company.”

“There are probably ways around it, but it might not be easy. I can look into if you want.” Cade leaned back against the opposite counter and slipped his hands in his pockets. He arched a brow. “You know, you might consider complying. I’m betting I know a certain brunette who’d marry you simply because you asked, and she wouldn’t take a cent of your money. And you can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.”

The microwave beeped, and Sebastian turned. He shook his head as he opened the door and pulled out his mug.

“First of all, I don’t think Tina would give me the time of day right now. I think she’d rather run me over with her BMW, and I’m not sure I’d blame her.” He resumed his place against the kitchen counter and sipped his coffee, grateful for the dose of caffeine. “Second of all, I’m not getting married. I’m not marriage material, and besides, I’m positive I’d only make her miserable. She deserves better than someone like me.”

Cade shook his head. “I don’t agree. I think she’s exactly the woman you need and there’s nobody I’d trust more with her than you. What the hell did you two fight about, anyway?”

Sebastian lowered his mug, staring for a long moment at Cade. Did he dare tell Cade the truth? Finally, he sighed and grinned, pointing his index finger. “First you have to promise not to hit me.”

Cade, however, didn’t laugh. Rather, his expression sobered, shoulders rounding to match the dejection and regret washing across his features. “I shouldn’t have hit you in the first place. I’m really glad you forgave me for that.”

Oh, they’d had it out over Amelia, all right. Sebastian had discovered she wasn’t who she’d said when Cade had let himself into her apartment with the key she’d given him. Cade had immediately assumed the worst, and Sebastian had gotten a black eye for his trouble. She’d snowed both of them.

Sebastian offered a smile. “Ditto. It’s over and done with. I’m glad to have my best friend back. I missed you, man.”

Cade rolled his eyes, but one corner of his mouth hitched. “Save the mush for Chris. So? Spill it. What did you do?”

Sebastian peered at Cade over the rim of his coffee mug as he took a sip. Somehow, he had to soften the blow of this one. “Let’s just say things got a little hot and heavy, and I turned her down.”

Cade stared for a moment, his expression blank. He blinked. “Wait. You turned
her
down?”

Sebastian moved around the breakfast bar, meandering toward the front windows, lost in memories of this morning. Spike, clearly still pissed at him for making Christina leave, flicked his tail and hopped off the sill, heading for the back bedroom. “I wasn’t in a good place when she arrived. I was exhausted, I’d been up all night, and I’d just come back from a visit with my father’s lawyer. You know how she is. Barging in and deciding she’s going to mother you to death.”

Behind him, Cade groaned in commiseration. “I love my sister, but that drives me up the freakin’ wall. She stops by every morning on her way to work to make sure I’m giving Hannah what she needs. Like I haven’t a damn clue what my own wife needs.”

“Exactly. This morning she pushed the wrong button, and I cracked. I told her things I shouldn’t have told her, and I touched places I shouldn’t have touched.”

Cade let out a half laugh, half groan. “Please, for the love of my sanity, do
not
go into detail. There are things I really don’t need to know about my sister.”

Sebastian chuckled. “We got to talking and one thing led to another. Better?”

“Thank you. And?”

“And she made me an offer no man in his right mind would turn down, but I had to. Because I’m me, and she deserves better. She told me off and stormed out. Apparently, I’m hiding my feelings from her better than I thought. She says I treat her like an annoying kid sister, like I can’t stand her.”

Cade let out a quiet laugh. “She’s right. You’re an irritable son of a bitch when she’s around.”

Because he usually had the hard-on of the century. One glance at her in one of those damn pencil skirts and his cock sprang to attention. When she actually touched him, brushed against him or did something insane like hug him—which she did a lot, because Christina, God love her, was a hugger—it was all he could do to keep from pushing his erection into the softness of her body. Because she was so fucking incredibly baby soft. His biggest fantasy was getting the luxury of rubbing his aching cock against her bare, warm skin.

It was pathetic, and being hard all the damn time made him irritable as hell. He always hoped if he grouched at her, she’d get pissed and leave. Treating someone he cared about that way was horrible, but if he didn’t, he always feared he’d crack. Exactly the way he had this morning. He wanted more for her than someone like him.

Sebastian darted a glance behind him. “How
is
Hannah, by the way?”

Cade, now seated on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, smiled, the kind so filled with joy and contentment envy kicked Sebastian hard in the chest. “Hannah’s great. She sends her condolences. Morning sickness has been rough. Six months into this pregnancy, and she’s still throwing up. Is there anything I can do? Do you need someone to make funeral arrangements?”

Sebastian sipped his coffee. “No, but thanks. Everything’s done. Father had everything put into his will years ago. One phone call to his lawyer this morning had all the pieces set into motion within hours.” He raised his brows. “Come to the funeral?”

“You know it.” Cade flashed a warm smile.

The knot in his gut eased a bit. Cade’s support meant a lot. He wouldn’t get through the next few days on his own.

“I appreciate it.” If ever he’d had a brother, Cade would have been it.

Cade glanced at his watch, rose from his seat, and crossed the space between them, tucking his hands in his pockets. “Listen, I have to get back. I’m sorry to leave so soon, but I’ve got a meeting with a client in a half hour who couldn’t reschedule. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight? I should be home by six. Hannah makes an awesome meat loaf.”

Sebastian couldn’t help the chuckle that left him. “She’s definitely domesticated you. Meat loaf? Seriously?”

“Being domesticated has its perks. You should try it sometime.” Cade bumped his shoulder, then sobered a breath later. “Text me with the details about the funeral?”

“Will do. And thanks.”

Cade clapped him on the back. “Anytime. Call me if you need anything.”

He walked Cade out, then shut the door behind him, and sagged back against it. Cade had a point. He wanted, ached and needed, to straighten out the mess he’d made with Christina. Some part of him yearned for what he’d never have with her, but her happiness mattered, too.

If he got involved with Christina, he’d only end up hurting her the way he had Jean. Jean was on the top of his long list of regrets. He’d met her at the company Christmas party at the resort in L.A. Technically, she worked for him as the branch manager. He’d gone down there because he hated holidays. His father always took his latest wife on some exotic vacation. He and Jean had ended up in bed together two days before Christmas and spent the entire weekend together.

She was the first and last woman he’d really tried with. For years, he’d been determined not to become his father and had gone into a relationship with Jean determined to make it work. Two years in, she’d confessed her love for him. He’d cared about her. A lot. But he didn’t love
her
.

When he couldn’t say the words back, she’d walked away. He’d hated hurting her, but he wouldn’t be that guy who lied just to keep her around.

No, someway, somehow, he’d get around his father’s stipulations, but not by getting married.

He turned his head. Across the way, sitting in a corner of the living room, his guitar stood in its stand. He’d picked up playing in junior high. Turned out, he was pretty good at it. He’d played in a band for a while in high school and college, but they broke up after graduation. Life had moved on.