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Sebastian
There’s no way in hell I’m ever going to forget this night.
I stand in the foyer of the apartment staring at the sight in front of me. Matilda doesn’t realize I’m here. If she did, she wouldn’t be perched on the top of the dining room table with her back to me in nothing but a pair of black lace panties and a bra.
Music is blaring from a mini speaker on the kitchen counter. Her ass is swaying to the beat.
It’s obvious from my vantage point that she’s changing a light bulb in the chandelier that hangs over the table.
I’ll never again look at a light fixture the same way.
Her curvy ass is perfection.
I want to touch it, bite it. Fuck it.
My cock hardens instantly.
I need to tell her I’m here. It’s the right thing to do. The wrong thing would be to open my jeans, palm my dick and pump one out to the vision in front of me.
I close my eyes against the urge.
“Oh my God,” Matilda screams. “Sebastian, oh no.”
My eyes pop open to the sight of her turned right around, her hands desperately trying to cover her body.
Jesus. I think I could come just from looking at her.
Turn around, asshole. Turn the fuck around.
I listen to the demanding voice in my head that is telling me to do the right thing. I pivot on my heel so I’m not facing her anymore.
“I’m sorry,” I say loudly. “I just walked in.”
“I’ll turn the music down.”
She shuts it off and the sudden silence echoes through me. I can hear her ragged breathing. Or is it mine?
I’m so aroused. The need to fuck is there. I rake my hands through my hair to try and quiet the want.
I hear her footsteps as she pads across the hardwood.
“You scared me,” she whispers from behind me. “You said in your text that you’d be at work all night.”
I expected to be.
Brant called me hours ago to say that the woman I spotted at Axel Tribeca last night had finally decided to give a statement. I traded the T-shirt I was wearing for a blue dress shirt and a black suit jacket and took off. By the time I got down to the station, she was wavering again.
It took hours and endless negotiation between her lawyer and the district attorney’s office to reach an agreement that granted her immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.
My gaze skims the watch on my wrist. “It’s almost one, Matilda. I thought you’d be fast asleep by now.”
I feel her fingers brush against my shoulder. “You can turn around.”
I do.
Her soft smile is the first thing I see. Her chestnut hair is tumbled in waves around her shoulders. The faux fur blanket I wrapped around myself the first night we met is now draped around her small frame. She’s breathtaking.
“I broke my own rule.” She closes her eyes briefly. “I’m sorry for that.”
I inhale deeply. The scent of her skin is intoxicating. “You don’t need to apologize to me.”
That draws her brows together. “I guess we are even now.”
Like fuck we are. She saw my cock. I want more of her body. I want to see her beautiful tits and the pussy that I crave.
I swallow hard, suppressing the need to push for more. “You could say that.”
“Thanks again for the salad,” she effortlessly changes the subject.
I’d started to make us dinner when I got the call from Brant. I put the salad I’d prepared into the fridge and left. An hour later, I sent Matilda a text telling her to eat it for dinner since I’d be at work all night.
She sent me back a quick thank you message.
“I hope it was better than the candy bar I had for dinner in the squad room.”
Her gaze searches mine. “Do you ever get tired of it?”
I wait for a beat before I respond even though I know exactly what she’s referring to. Almost everyone in my life has asked me the same question at some point. “Tired of what?”
The blanket slips down her shoulder to reveal a thin black bra strap. “Your job. I don’t know how you do it.”
I glance at the ceiling to try and tame my raging hard-on before she notices. “Some days are harder than others.”
“Was today hard?”
I shake my head. “It was easy.”
“What made it easy?” she asks quickly in response.
“I was working an older case.” I run my hand over my jaw. “It’s the new ones that kick the shit out of me.”
“New? You mean when you’re called out to a murder and you have to solve the case by starting at square one?”
She makes it sound like a board game or a puzzle. I wish it were that easy. “The worst is the notifications. My lieutenant told me that it would get easier with time, but it’s only gotten harder.”
Her blue eyes widen. “When I first started at the vet clinic, I was the one who had to stand next to the family members when the doctors told them that their pets weren’t going to make it or had passed away.”
She clears her throat before she continues, “I’m not saying it’s the same, but I cried every time. I still break down if I’m in the room when they hear the news. There’s no way I could handle it all the time like some of the other vet assistants.”
I’m not surprised. Her heart is too soft, too open, and too compassionate to deal with death on a daily basis.
“You have a kind heart, Matilda.”
“Do you really think that’s true?” She inches one of her bare feet forward.
“Without a doubt.” My eyes glide over her beautiful face.
She parts her lips before taking a deep breath. “You have a kind heart too. You’re not the arrogant jerk I thought you’d be.”
Smiling, I cross my arms over my chest. “Is that so?”
She nods softly. “You’re a good man, Sebastian.”
I lean forward so my breath skirts over her forehead. “What makes you say that?”
She looks up and into my eyes. “You make me feel special.”
