Authors: Alexa Sinclaire
“I sneaked a peek at some of your labels to find out your size and then had a personal shopper do the rest. This way you don’t have to worry about packing overnight bags. It’s ridiculous you having to go back and forth to your
apartment
.”
Eden still hadn’t spoken. She was taken aback by this display of affection, and also slightly freaked out, if she was honest with herself.
Sebastian didn’t do anything in small measures. Was this Sebastian trying to ask her if she wanted to move in with him? Eden pushed the thought from her head—they’d barely been dating and Sebastian was direct about everything. If he wanted her to move in, he would have asked. Or probably just told her it was happening.
“You bought me socks?”
Sebastian nodded, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to fill a closet with clothes for a woman he’d only been seeing for a few weeks.
Finally, she couldn’t keep her suspicions to herself. “Is this your way of asking me to move in with you?”
“Yes.”
Eden
realized
that he hadn’t actually asked her. It was, once again, simply a statement of fact. “What if I say no?”
“Why would you say no?” Sebastian’s question caught her off guard. Surely it was obvious why she might say no.
“Well, for starters, we haven’t been seeing each other that long.”
“So you don’t want to move in because you think we haven’t known each other long enough?”
“No, I’m just pointing out the facts. It seems rushed.” Eden was feeling flustered by his obstinate refusal to see what she was talking about.
“Are you saying that you want to move in, but you think you need to wait a longer period of time before you can agree because you’re worried about some archaic social norm?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying. I think you’re deliberately ignoring my point.”
“I’m not. I’m simply pushing you to address the fact that what you’re worried about has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with appearances and people’s perception of our relationship. I don’t give a damn about that and I’m trying to help you get to where I am. It’s a simple yes or no situation. Either you want to move in or not. The time frame seems irrelevant because,
frankly,
all you’re doing is delaying the inevitable, and we both know that.”
“I…I guess. But what about my
apartment
? I mean, I have a lease and all my things. I’ve only just decorated it.”
“It’s not that complicated. Movers have been arranged for tomorrow and I’ll deal with the lease arrangement.”
He’d deal with the lease arrangement? Who did he think he was?
“God, Sebastian! You make everything seem so simple, as if it’s just a matter of practicality. You can’t just take over. You’ve hired movers without even asking me what I wanted! What if I’d said no?” Eden crossed her arms now, annoyed that he was taking charge again and simply expecting her to tag along.
“Well, I try to be
practical
. I can’t see why that would upset you. And yes, it is simple. You should be here, with me. I’d been thinking about it before the trip and then being away from you those three days confirmed it. From your text and the way you were in the car, I can only assume that you missed me, too. So what’s the problem really?” Sebastian looked at her with confusion. He was clearly trying to figure out what she was thinking.
Eden uncrossed her arms, frustrated how easily his words soothed her temper. He wanted her with him as much as she wanted to be with him. Why was she fighting him? He was right, as usual. She was simply afraid of what people would think. Feeling the anger start to ebb away, as it frequently did when Sebastian was involved, she glanced down at the drawer full of lingerie.
“Is this
practical
?” She slowly pulled out a rose-
colored
nightgown from one of the open drawers. It was short and would barely reach her thighs. “Is this supposed to keep me warm at night, Seb?” She looked at him, trailing her fingers across the material, ignoring her irritation at him for taking such a bold step with her.
“No, it is most certainly not meant to do anything practical. I’ll show you.”
He approached her now and gently started to undress her. Besides her thong, she was still wearing all her clothes from when she had left the office. Lifting her blouse off her shoulders, he unhooked her bra, placing it on the island. His fingers brushed her waist as he moved around her body and lowered the zip in her skirt, letting it fall to the floor. Sebastian held out his hand to help her step out of her heels. Eden was completely naked in front of him, but he made no attempts to touch her. Instead, he gestured for her to lift up her arms so he could slide the nightgown down over her head and arms. It fell perfectly across her skin, and the sensation of the silk against her breasts made her nipples harden. She stared at him, forcing herself not to cover up. He had still not acknowledged what she had said after they had finished on the bed.
“See how well it fits you.”
Eden nodded in capitulation.
“Stop fighting me, Eden. I’m going to take care of you whether you approve or not. You are moving in with me.”
She nodded in agreement and laid her head against his chest, glad to be in his arms, glad that they were together after the past few days of torment. The fatigue came in a wave
suddenly
—the lack of sleep the night before, her morning with Joachim that she had yet to tell Sebastian about—it was
finally
taking its toll.
“You’re tired.” Sebastian lifted her up into his arms and walked her back to the bed. Tucking her in, she pulled him toward her to join her.
“I have to make a few phone calls, sort out one or two pending items, but then I’ll be with you,” he whispered. He turned off the light as he left the room and within a few minutes, she was fast asleep.
****
Eden awoke, not surprised to find the space beside her empty. She was getting used to Sebastian’s nocturnal habits, but she needed him now, to be close to him, to erase the tension that still lingered from before his trip. She had woken up briefly when he came to bed earlier, slipping in next to her and pulling her close to him, spooning his body around hers. He had run his fingers up and down her back before sliding his hand across her stomach and pulling her even closer.
She had never slept with someone before she started seeing Sebastian. Joachim had never spent the night in her dorm room and the experience of falling asleep with someone’s body glued to hers—not just someone’s, but Sebastian’s—it made her feel safe and worshipped in a strange way. He had made it clear that he didn’t usually have women sleep over, and although Eden hated the idea of any woman in his room, she cherished the fact that letting her sleep in his bed with him was a first. But Sebastian never slept long and she had yet to wake up and find him next to her, barring that
one night
when he had told her about his mother’s death.
She suspected she would now find him in the office and tiptoed across the
apartment
, mostly dark except for the glow of light coming from the hallway nearest the kitchen. The door opposite his office was slightly open and she could just see a weight machine and the edge of what looked like a treadmill. Eden turned and went into the office, expecting to find Sebastian, but it was empty. The lights were still on, so she knew he couldn’t be far. She tiptoed to his desk quickly, smiling as she started to formulate a little plan to arrange herself on his desk so that when he walked in, he would find her perched on the edge, legs slightly ajar. She still wasn’t wearing any underwear, and as she had predicted, the nightgown barely covered her behind. But what she saw on the desk made her change her mind.
Eden’s fingers touched the edge of the files that covered his desk, her eyes focused on the individual names written on each one—Taylor, Tine, Elin, and
Young
. The names of her attackers. She opened the file closest to her. It didn’t make any sense. Her fingers flicked through paper work, what looked like bank statements and correspondence with the Stone Corporation letterhead. Eden tried to skim over the letters, not fully understanding what they saying, but it was clearly contract negations. She grabbed the next file and found similar documents.
She looked up to see Sebastian standing in the door, wearing only shorts and sneakers, sweaty from having been working out.
“What are you doing in here, Eden?”
He was clearly not pleased to see her in his office and Eden knew she had crossed a boundary, but she didn’t care. “I’m snooping around your office. What the hell does it look like I’m doing?”
“What exactly are you looking for?” Sebastian still hadn’t moved.
“I was looking for you. But I’d like to know what the fuck all this is.” She’d never sworn before at Sebastian, but she had never been this angry at him, even when she’d met Simona. “Are you doing business with these guys?” Eden raised her voice, infuriated that he wasn’t even attempting to explain himself. “How
long
have you been in business with them?”
“It’s complicated, Eden, you need to calm down. And don’t swear. It doesn’t suit you.” Sebastian’s tone was cool and calm, making her even angrier.
“No, you’re going to tell me now, Sebastian. And I am not going to fucking calm down.” She walked toward him now, grabbing some of the files, as if he wouldn’t know which ones she was referring to. “What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?” She enunciated each word slowly as she approached him.
“Eden. Stop it, calm down. Now.” Sebastian raised his hands to take the files from her and it was more than she could take. “Let go.”
Eden shook her head at him in disbelief. He wasn’t going to answer her. A thousand thoughts ran through her head, but the predominant one was that she had to get out of here—she had been wrong to trust Sebastian. Eden pushed past him, ignoring his calls for her to stop. For once, she was not going to obey him. She swiftly walked to the bedroom, grabbing her purse as she switched on the lights to the closet, where only a few hours ago she had agreed to move in with him.
She was almost fully dressed and was pulling on her blouse by the time Sebastian got to her. He touched her back, whispering her name.
“Don’t touch me!” Eden saw him step back, clearly shocked by the force in her voice. “You think I’m such a pushover that you can do anything? That you can just leave me in the dark and expect me to put up with it? Well, I won’t!” She pulled on her heels, glancing around for her purse that she had thrown onto the floor in her haste to get dressed. “I may have been in the past, but not now. I won’t let anyone treat me like this anymore. Not you, not my parents, not Joachim. God, he was right about you. Only this morning he told me how you didn’t know what I needed and he was right! You don’t know me and I know nothing about you!”
“When did you see Joachim?” Sebastian glared at her now.
“What the hell does that matter? Do you hear what I’m saying to you, Seb? Has this been some sick revenge thing? For what my parents did to your mother? Is this you getting back at them by messing with me?” She was shouting now. She could barely control her voice.
Sebastian stepped toward her. “Did you see Joachim while I was away?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. He showed up at my
apartment
after I
cancelled
. Stop changing the subject.”
“What did he want, Eden?” Sebastian was clearly going to lose his temper, but she didn’t care. How could he possibly be thinking about his jealousy of Joachim when she was yelling at him about how he had betrayed her in the worst possible way?
She was borderline hysterical with rage at the thought that not only was Sebastian in business with the men who had attacked her and gotten away with it, but that he didn’t even seem to acknowledge that she was upset about it. Just that his stupid alpha male pride was being injured because another man was sniffing around her.
“What did he want? He wanted to marry me, that’s what!” Sebastian flinched as Eden shouted those words. “He wanted me to know that he still loved me and wanted me to be his wife. That’s what he wanted. But none of that matters to you. I’m just a piece of ass that you get to push around and dress up like some stupid doll!” She yanked open one of the drawers in the island and grabbed and handful of lingerie, throwing it at Sebastian. “I’m not a toy! I’m not your plaything! I let you…”