With Love From Las Vegas. Cat Schield
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digging into his muscles. “I’m not driving you crazy. You’re driving yourself crazy.” Raising on tiptoe, she breathed in his ear. “Let yourself go, Sebastian.”
Yesterday at the pool she’d made it clear she wanted him. He sure as hell wanted her. Telling himself he was keeping his distance to restore their relationship to a professional level had kept him from acting on his desire for her. But she’d hinted last night that she was close to accepting a job offer.
Once she was gone out of his life, how long before he would no longer be tortured by the longing to skim her curves and spend hours drifting kisses over her skin?
“I can’t.” He pulled her hands away and pinned them to the wall. “People are waiting for us.”
“Typical.”
“What does that mean?”
“You always do the right thing. The thing everyone expects.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It gets old pretty quick. I offered you a free pass for one night of uninhibited sex—sex without expectations of anything more—and it’s as if the whole thing made your world a bad place to be. You need to loosen up and learn to have fun or you’re going to miss out on all the wonderful things life has to offer.” She drew a deep breath and kept going. “Everybody at Case Consolidated Holdings lives in terror of not being completely perfect. Have you ever wondered why we’ve had so much staff turnover in the last year? It’s because working for you makes people crack up.”
Had she just called him a tyrant? “You’ve survived for four years. It can’t be that bad.”
“Survived?” She stared down her nose at him, a monumental feat, considering he towered over her by at least eight inches. “Do you think surviving a job is something I should be grateful for?”
Perhaps not. “What do you suggest I do?”
“Well, for starters, you could lighten up. Have some fun. Stop trying to manage every single thing around you.”
“I don’t manage everything.”
“You’ve scheduled the summit down to the minute.”
“We have a lot to get through.”
“Not at night, you don’t.”
“Part of what makes this summit work is that all the executives spend time together.”
Missy rolled her eyes. “Right, but they’re together all day.”
Sebastian had worked with Missy long enough to know when she had a point to make. “What do you have in mind?”
“Cancel the group dinners and let everyone go their own way.”
“It’s too late for tonight’s dinner.”
“True.” She nodded, her eyes shining. “But it would be a simple thing to cancel the rest of them. I know you’d make the wives very happy if you gave them more time alone with their husbands. With the amount of traveling you have got everyone doing, your executives don’t get to see much of their wives or their families.” Her gaze lifted no higher than his chin. “And about the tours …”
Raw impatience burned in his gut. “What about the tours?”
“No one wanted to go to the Hoover Dam.”
“You didn’t go?” Sebastian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This summit was coming apart. Not one thing had gone according to plan since he and Missy had stepped off the plane. “Dare I ask what you did instead?”
“We hit a couple casinos then I suggested they might like to try skydiving.”
“Skydiving?”
“Oh, don’t worry. It was indoor skydiving,” she said in a breezy tone. “I wasn’t out to get anyone killed. They found it fun rather than terrifying.”
“Fun,” Sebastian muttered. “Your idea?”
She looked surprised that he’d even asked. “Of course.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Did you rearrange tomorrow’s summit schedule without telling me?”
“Now that you mention it—” She broke off when he growled. Her laughter filled the suite and took the sting out of everything he’d just heard. “I’m kidding. I wouldn’t dream of messing with your precious summit.”
“Because, I’m assuming, you’ve already promised my agreement on the change of plans,” he said. “Fine, I’ll go along with it.”
“That was too easy.” For the first time she sounded concerned. “What did I miss?”
“The fact that from now until the end of the summit, you have seen to it that my nights are free.”
“And?”
“So are yours.”
“She almost started to cry today while we were shopping.” Alicia Darby’s voice lifted over the laughter bouncing off the glass walls separating their private dining room from the rest of the Eiffel Tower Restaurant.
“How can you call what you do shopping?” Missy protested.
“So, we found a nice quiet bar.” Susan’s eyes were dancing with mirth.
“We’re calling her the one-drink wonder,” Alicia said. “She’s a lightweight.”
Maggie Hambly jumped in. “No stamina.”
“You have no idea how hard it is to keep these ladies happy,” Missy protested, fluttering her hand in the direction of the wives.
“Oh, we know.” Owen Darby looked to the other husbands. They were all nodding.
Missy sat back with a defeated sigh as the waiter cleared her plate. Dinner had been a boisterous affair, driven by the wives’ enthusiasm over the day’s activities. She’d joined in when prompted, but for the most part she’d eaten in silence, her nerves on high alert.
Driven by a compulsion too strong to resist, her gaze sped down the table toward her boss. The sparks in his eyes reminded her of muzzle fire. He’d watched her all night, his intense scrutiny disturbing her equilibrium as effectively as if his hands were gliding along her skin.
Missy dropped her gaze to the elegant dessert the waiter placed before her. The dish was beautiful, but her stomach could no more handle the rich chocolate soufflé than the delicious sea bass in champagne brown butter broth she’d ordered.
Had he meant what she hoped when he’d pointed out that she’d freed up his nights and hers also? He’d gone all mysterious when she’d asked him to explain. She wasn’t sure where they stood anymore.
Did he mean to spend the nights with her? In what capacity? As boss and employee? As lovers?
Anticipation shivered through her.
For two days she’d been longing to be in his arms again. Teasing Sebastian had been like playing with fire, but she wasn’t worried about getting burned. Her boss had made it clear that while he might find her attractive, he intended to keep their relationship professional. Had that changed?
She had no idea how long she’d been lost in thought when the couples around her began to get up from the table. A warm hand grazed her shoulder. From the way her nerve endings perked up, she knew Sebastian stood behind her.
The room was clearing fast. Everyone was excited about the Cirque du Soleil show they were attending. Before she knew it, only she, Sebastian and his parents remained.
“Dad, you and Mom use our tickets for the show tonight.”
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