Sebastian: A BWWM Surrogate Romance (Members From Money Book 42) by Katie Dowe, BWWM Club (8)

Chapter 8

“Oh, crap!” Sandra said in dismay as she stared at him.

“She told you that?” he'd straightened up to stare at her.

“I shouldn't have said anything—”
“It’s too late for that now Sandra. Mia's in love with me?”

“Please don’t say anything to her,” his sister pleaded.

He stared at her for a moment, his weariness vanishing as he tried to figure out the truth of what she'd just told him. It couldn't be true! She'd always been so coolly professional. “She never portrayed any sort of emotion where I'm concerned,” he said slowly as if talking to himself. “As a matter of fact, I remember thinking to myself that she was perfect because she was all about work.” He blinked at her. “You're mistaken.”

Sandra sighed. “She's a professional and she has the same policy you have: never get involved with someone you work with. Think about it, Sebastian! Why would Mia agree to carry your child? She's beautiful and smart and could more or less get any man she wants: Why would she tie herself down like that?”
Sebastian thought about it. His sister was right. She was a beautiful and classy woman and he'd noticed that the decrepit old men who made up the board couldn't help but stare at her. He'd come out of his office one afternoon and had noticed two guys from the financial department holding court in her office, and the way they'd looked at her. That was, before they'd known he was there. They'd scurried away as soon as they saw him and he remembered how upset he'd been.

“You don’t have anything to do?” he'd asked her coldly.

“Of course I do,” she'd answered him coolly. “Don’t you?”

He hadn't responded but had turned on his heels and walked away.

“Sebastian?” he shook his head and looked at his sister. “Please don’t say anything to her.”

“I won’t.” He smiled at her suddenly. “I don’t remember saying thanks for keeping it together the last six months. I've examined the profit margin and read all the reports. You did an excellent job.”
“It’s my company too,” she told him. “I had plenty of help from Mia and Simon. Did you know she handed me explosive materials in regards to the members of the board? She wanted me to use them in case they were insisting on me resigning.”

He smiled whimsically. “She's badass.”

“She is, and a very important part of the company. She knows you better than you know yourself, Sebastian. Better than anyone else.”
Sebastian stared at his sister, thoughtful. “Go to bed, sis. It’s late.”
Sandra got up and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. “Get some rest.”

Mia was in love with him? The words thundered through his head. How could that be and how could he not know that? He remembered instances of him bringing his then dates back to the office after lunch and passing by her open door. He also remembered that she'd been the one to deal with the backlash of the breakup by ordering some expensive trinkets for the latest woman to be dumped by him.

His interests had always waned after a few weeks and he wouldn't want to see that woman again. His longest relationship had lasted two months and he'd hoped that he would have at last found someone he wanted to settle down with but it had proven difficult to find someone. Her name was Nadine and she was an underwear model who was making waves internationally, but he'd found out after a while that her conversations were superficial and she was vain. He remembered telling Mia to buy her something and she'd told him that she was done doing his dirty work. “Do it yourself Sebastian,” she'd told him in that cool and professional voice of hers. “I'm through cleaning up after you.”
He'd stared at her as if he could have willed her to do it but it hadn't worked and no amount of threats had gotten her to change her mind. He'd threatened to fire her and she'd stood there and told him to go ahead. After that she'd stepped out of his office and then came back with a file he'd requested. He'd stared after her with grudging admiration. She was the only one who wasn't afraid of him and who never gave a crap about his mercurial mood. She was invaluable to him and he had no idea what he would do without her. He laughed softly at that. That beautiful, cool woman was in love with him? He had no idea how to feel about that.

*****

His senses prickled as he came into his office and saw her spreading things out onto his desk for him to look at. It was a ritual and he'd become used to it over the years, but now it was different. She was not only his very able assistant but she was also the woman who was carrying his child and also the woman he was planning on having an intimate relationship with. He didn't know how to handle her or be around her.

She looked up as she heard him. She was wearing a red and white striped blouse with the two top buttons left undone and black pants that gave an indication of her curves. She wasn't showing and he knew that it was due to her slenderness. But her breasts! His body tightened as he glanced at that part of her. “You have a meeting with a potential investor in ten minutes. I've prepared all the necessary details about the man and his company. Then you have a meeting after that with the R&D department.”

His grey eyes met hers as he went around to his desk. “How are you?” he asked her softly.

She frowned at him. “I'm fine Sebastian.”
“Any morning sickness? Any cravings?” he persisted.

“No morning sickness and no cravings right now,” she said impatiently. “You have meetings to attend to and I have a ton of work on my desk. We don’t have time for this.”
He stared at her and had to remind himself that his sister insisted that this woman was in love with him. There was no indication of that whatsoever.

“I have to ask. You're carrying my child,” he said almost petulantly.

“And women have been carrying children since the beginning of time.” She handed him the cup of coffee. “If you need me, call.”
“Mia?”
She turned back to him. “About last evening—”
“Yes?”

“I need to follow up on that.”
For a moment he saw a shift in her expression but he it was so quick he could have sworn he'd imagined it. “We will. Now, I really have to get back to my desk.” Without another word she left and closed the doors behind her.

He leaned back against his desk and sighed softly. Damn Sandra for putting the images of her being in love with him into his head. And damn Mia for crawling into his skin when he'd kissed her yesterday! She was okay with just compartmentalizing things but for the life of him he couldn't do that and it was damned strange to him. With a harsh laugh he took a sip of the coffee and almost burned his tongue off. “Shit!” he muttered as he pushed away the cup. He'd totally forgotten that she knew he took his coffee piping hot! “Get it together, Bell!” he muttered as he brought the documents closer to him.

*****

Mia made herself busy. It was the only way she could shelve the thoughts going through her mind. She had no shortage of things to do, fortunately. Working for Sebastian Bell kept you on your toes with phone calls, meetings, reports to write and so many other things to do. She was his assistant in every way, which meant that she did personal things for him as well. Sandra handled the staff at the manor but she handled the staff at the company which meant the complaints and the grievances and she handled them very well. She never allowed anything to get to Sebastian’s desk that would take away from him dealing with the heart of the company. She made sure that he wasn't crowded with trivialities by dealing with them herself.

“You slept with Gregory and now you're claiming that he harassed you sexually?” Mia stared at the girl and barely managed to keep the expression of disgust from her face. “Julia, I'm not going to allow you to ruin a good man’s reputation just because you got dumped. You were aware of the possibility of him dumping you all along. Everyone knows that Gregory doesn't keep his women for very long. Deal with it and get on with doing your work. Those charges aren't going to be filed.”

“I'm in love with him!” The girl’s lips trembled slightly and there were tears in her light green eyes. She was really a very attractive woman with her dark hair and creamy complexion and what made the situation worse was the fact that she worked in the same department as Gregory. Her mind flashed back to her own situation and she could feel sympathy for the woman. She was in love with Sebastian and what was worse was that she was carrying his child.

“And he doesn't feel that way.” She leaned forward on her desk. “I'm going to give you some advice, honey. All you have right now is your pride. You already showed him your hand and he knows that you're weak for him so that gives him power. Take it back from him. Take it back and hold your head high and go on about your duty. Ignore him and smile even when you're damned hurting inside. Don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you hurting like that. Take back the power. You can do this.”
Julia stared at her for a moment and then took a deep breath and got to her feet, passing her hands down her chic blue pants suit. “I will.”
“Another thing. Buy some more suits and start wearing a little more makeup. Walk past him without giving him a glance and go about your day being happy. He's not going to know what hit him.”

Julia looked at her in admiration and nodded. “Thank you, Mia.”

“You're welcome. Now, get back to work.”

Neither of them had noticed that the door had opened and that Sebastian was standing there. Julia gave a start and hurried away, mumbling ‘Good afternoon Mr. Bell’ before she scurried away. He stood there looking at her for a moment.

“Your meeting ended earlier than I expected,” she commented as she gathered up some files on her desk.

“Yes.” He came slowly into the office and stood there looking at her. “What was that all about?”

“Something I've already dealt with,” she told him.

“I'm aware of that Mia, but I still want to know what it was.”
She leaned back and looked at him. He wasn't in his usual full suit, but instead had on a charcoal sweater thin enough to reveal his muscled chest and powerful arms. He looked like a man who had every confidence in the world and a man who could get any woman he wanted.

With that in mind she realized that even though she was in love with him she was never going to allow that love to destroy her. What was worse was the fact that she worked for him and very soon they would share a child together. She had it worse than Julia and so much more to lose. “A small matter of employees getting involved with each other, which is a very bad idea because it can become ugly when one of them decides they're no longer interested.”
He stared at her and from the look on his face he knew that she wasn't talking about the other employees.

“We have something more than that,” he said softly.

“Which makes the stakes a lot higher.” She sat up. “Did you want something?”

“You basically told her to go on as if it was business as usual. Is that what you're doing?” His grey eyes were hypnotic as he stared at her. Suddenly every nuance of the emotions he'd stirred inside her came tumbling back and she could feel her nipples hardening as she stared back at him. It took every ounce of self-preservation for her to ignore and tamp down what she was feeling.

“I'm a professional, in case you didn't realize that, Sebastian,” she told him coolly. “When I'm at work, it's all about the work. Is that clear?”

He straightened and shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark grey dress pants. “We'll see,” he said in an aloof tone. “I want you to come home with me tonight.”
Her heart jumped at that. “Is there a request there in that very highhanded statement?”

He smiled grimly at that. “There might be.” He walked around to her desk and sat on the edge of it. He was too near and she was feeling the heat tumbling inside her. He used a hand to tilt her chin up as he studied her face. Her coral colored lips parted unconsciously as her breath escaped. His grey eyes narrowed as he stared at the parted lips“Tonight,” he said thickly. “I'm not waiting any longer.” His head bent to hers and she braced for the kiss but just then her intercom sounded, causing her to remember where they were and that someone could walk in at any time. She pushed him away and took a shuddering breath. “I have work to do.”

He eased off the desk and stared at her for a moment before moving away. He turned at the door. “We leave together later, Mia,” he told her, his tone authoritative.

She didn't answer him and he went out and closed the door behind him. Mia clasped her hands together and willed herself to calm down before pressing the intercom.

*****

The sexual tension between them was like an open flame ready to ignite anything in its path. Mia was better able to ignore it because she'd been doing it for years but Sebastian was hard put not to haul her into his arms each time they were alone in his office. It got to the point that he started snapping at others around him and ended up arguing with her about whether or not he should take his afternoon appointment out of the office.

“Do whatever you want to do Sebastian,” she ended up telling him coolly. “You're behaving like a bear and I don’t have time for that now.”

“Where are you going?” he asked as she turned to leave.

“Was there anything else?”

He stared at her. “How can you be so goddamned cool?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

He got up from around his desk and she had to force herself to stay where she was. He walked over and deliberately went to close the doors before turning to face her. “You're telling me right now that you don’t feel it?” His voice was soft as he walked over to stand in front of her.

“This is a place of business—”
“Goddam it!” He reached out to grip her arms, his grey eyes blazing as he stared at her. “I'm hard as a rock and I'm finding it very difficult to concentrate on anything else but the fact that I want to sink my dick deep inside you.”
Mia stared at him and forced herself to stop the tremors that invaded her body. She would not give in to the lust and passion that was pulling at her. She had to stay calm. “And we'll do something about that later. For now you have a company to run and I have things to do.” She stepped out of his hold and prayed that he would leave it at that. But she knew him enough to know that he wouldn't.

He raked his fingers through his hair. “We could take care of my needs right now,” he told her softly, his meaning clear as he looked at her. “No one except you ever dares come into this office without knocking first. I could have you on that sofa or on top of the desk, your choice, but we could take care of it now.” His voice was hypnotic as he stared at her.

“Your walls are soundproof but I don’t need a lot of imagination to know that the women you brought back here experienced your sofa and your desk as well. I'm not those women, Sebastian.” She looked at him with distaste. “I might be carrying your child and I've agreed to a physical relationship but I'm not going to be grouped into one of the women you used and discarded as you had a liked. I'm better than that. Surely even you can keep your libido in check for a few more hours?”

She could see the anger surfacing but he took a deep breath and tamped it down. “You're right,” he said cynically. “You're not those women. You're different because you're carrying my child. You deserve some amount of respect.”
“Exactly.” She stepped back from him and went to leave the office.

“Mia?” She turned to face him. “I'm not waiting longer than tonight.”

“Have you ever waited on anything in your life?” she asked him coolly. “I've mastered the art of waiting, Sebastian.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

She smiled at that. “Nothing. You have ten minutes to get to your meeting.” With that she left and closed the doors behind her.

*****

Sebastian stood where he was and after a few minutes he raked his fingers through his thick dark hair. He had a feeling he knew exactly what she was talking about. He gave a self-deprecating laugh as he walked over to his desk.

Jesus! He swore beneath his breath. He was uncomfortably hard and that had never happened to him before. He leaned forward onto his desk and tunneled his fingers through his hair as he willed himself to get a hold of his desire. Maybe it was the fact that he'd been in a coma for six months and that he'd been without a woman a week before that. But he knew it was more than that. He'd always had a high sex drive and that was one of the reasons he'd changed partners so often. He had a volatile personality and he was very passionate.

He'd held back when he had sex with women before because the answering passion hadn't been there before. He'd become frustrated as he searched for it. But when he'd touched Mia he'd felt the dark forbidden emotion uncurling inside him like a molten ball. He'd been restless with desire throughout the day and that had never happened to him before. He jumped as his intercom sounded. “You have a conference call coming through. I can take the call if it's going to eat into your meeting time.” Her smooth voice had his hackles rising.
“I'll take the damned call!” he snapped at her.

“I'll put it through as soon as I know you've calmed down sufficiently to carry on a reasonable conversation.” She didn't even sound the least bit nettled, he thought bitterly.

“Who signs your checks at the end of the month, Mia?” he asked her, his voice dangerously soft.

“Why you, of course,” she told him calmly. “Now, are you calm enough for me to put the call through?”

He didn't respond for a moment and she waited. “Put the call through,” he told her tightly.

She did without answering and Sebastian had to fight to sound calm as he took the call.