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"She's not yet convinced?" Will made a considering sound. "Now that I hear she's not just slavering at your feet like all your other women always have, I really want to meet her."
Sebastian laughed. "You going to help me or not?"
"You want ultrafeminine, flowery, or classic?"
Will was trying to gauge the type of woman Charlie was. "All of the above." She was the perfect combination of tomboy meets feminine. There was Francine to consider too.
"We just received the first shipment, so I'll courier the pieces to you tomorrow. And if the china convinces her to fall for you, you owe me big time."
"Thanks," Sebastian said to the dead air, but the silence was golden. Charlie wouldn't have to drive back to her place to pick up the china she'd forgotten, and she and her mother would have a one-of-a-kind tea set.
There were so many things he could do to make Charlie's life easier. All he had to do was convince her to take them.
Tea cups. His money. And him.
*
Charlie hadn't been sure whether Sebastian would show up at her workshop this morning after the way she'd refused his offer of dinner last night. But here he was, looking sexier than any man had a right to be in his dark slacks and crisp white button-down shirt. A billionaire's uniform, she found herself thinking, and one he wore exceptionally well, despite having been born into extreme poverty and despair.
All night and into the early hours of the morning, the incident with her mother had wedged itself somewhere between her throat and her heart. Incident wasn't the right word. Nothing had actually happened. She'd accepted his offer to try to help with her mother's medical condition while turning him down on Magnolia Gardens, then lain awake berating herself for not having done enough to take care of Mom in the first place. Lack of funds was a sorry excuse.
But neither of them mentioned her mother's illness as he entered her workshop bearing warm blueberry bagels that tasted as if they might have been fresh out of the oven.
"I can't wait to watch you work." He sounded like he was talking about a strip tease instead of metal cutting. Boy, could he switch on the sizzle, heating her up like plasma, turning her into molten metal.
She took a bite of the bagel, then began to pull her hair up into a knot. The next thing she knew, he was helping her put on her smock and work apron, his fingers lingering on her skin. Her breath went, her skin tingled, and even though she really did have a ton of work to get started on, she couldn't resist twining her arms around his neck and going up on her toes to steal a kiss.
A sigh of pleasure fell from her lips as they touched his, gentle spinning to desperate in less than the span of a breath as he tangled one hand in her hair and used the other on the curve of her hip to bring them close. So close that she could feel his heart beating against hers as he deepened the kiss. Taking. Giving. Delighting.
When she finally drew back, his eyes were dark with desire and she was breathless from the feel of his hard muscles pressing into her, his strong arms holding her tight. It wasn't even ten in the morning, yet the atmosphere was positively sultry. Honestly, she was glad that Sebastian made her forget every thought that had kept her awake last night, at least for a little while. There was only the sweet anticipation of his kiss, his touch, even the way he looked at her with those dark eyes of his, as though he could taste her.
"Boy, am I glad I dropped by this morning."
She knew he didn't have time to spend with her in the workshop, just as he hadn't had any spare time to visit her mother. Not when he held the reins of a billion-dollar company, one that depended on his inspiration and charisma first and foremost. Which only made the time he did spend with her sweeter.
"I am too," she said, before forcing herself to step out of his arms and reach for two sets of safety goggles.
"Put these on and stand over there." She pointed to the far end of the workshop.
"You want me to sit in a corner and shut up?" Clearly, people rarely told billionaires where they could and couldn't go.
"At least I'm letting you stay today," she said with a laugh. "But only as long as you don't mess with my concentration." Because Lord knew, he was too darned sexy, even in goggles. How was that possible? Simply because he was Sebastian. He lived and breathed sexy.
Be still, my beating heart.
When he didn't head for the corner, she said, "I'm sure you never just sit back and let someone else do the work, do you?"
"Actually, a big part of my job is observing people." He raised one eyebrow and curved his mouth in a half smile as he finally began to back away. "But watching you is pure pleasure."
She gave him a look, even as everything sizzled inside her. "Go. Sit. I need to concentrate."
She'd clamped a car door to a table she'd made out of sawhorses. She was still in the design phase, thinking about angles and curves and materials, but she wanted to demonstrate the process for Sebastian, so she was jumping ahead. He was so eager to see how everything worked.
Or maybe, she thought with a smile she couldn't quite contain, it was just that he was eager to torment her with the promise in his eyes. Well, if and when the time came, she was going to enjoy tormenting him just as much...
She let the machine and the noise and the sparks drown him ou
t. Work. Create. Cut. And yet, all the while, she felt him watching her. Her pulse pattered faster, a sweet, hot feeling--to be his focus, sense his attraction, and know that he wanted her. The potential for something huge between them tantalized her. There was still the business-versus-pleasure thing, but after sharing their pasts with each other and taking him to meet--and charm the socks off--her mom, she knew they weren't strictly business anymore.
