Page 23 of Sebastian

But they shouldn’t cross that line.

She was an assignment to him.

Once they confirmed she wasn’t in danger from Quattro, Sebastian would return to his life. They would have no reason to see each other again.

Maybe that was why she felt the need to cross the line.

“What would you do if I kissed you right now?” Gabrielle whispered, barely able to hear her own words over the pounding of her heart.

Sebastian frowned as if she’d posed some profound, existential question.

Silence stretched between them for seconds, then minutes.

Content to watch his thoughts playing across his sexy face, she stayed quiet and waited.

Just when she thought he wouldn’t respond, he gave her an answer that made her swoon. “Well, I’d kiss you back.”

Gabrielle smiled. “Because you’re nice and sweet to comfort me after I’ve had the crappiest night. You are a great guy, Sebastian. I should’ve seen that a long time ago.”

“That’s not why.”

“You’re not a great guy?”

“Some days. Not always.”

“Honest to a fault. That’s a good quality, too. Tell me, what’s the reason you’d kiss me back?” Gabrielle asked, teasing him.

“Because it’s all I’ve thought about since I saw you on the plane.”

“Wow.”

“You’re so beautiful and strong and brilliant.”

“Sebastian—”

“But I can’t kiss you.” Sebastian pushed up from the ground.

He was several feet away, walking along the dunes toward the beach cottage before she realized what had happened.

Scrambling to her feet, she ran to catch up with him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop, which took a lot more effort than she’d expected.

“Why not? We’re both adults here. It’s obvious that we have a mutual attraction.”

Sebastian turned to face her. He reached over and ran a fingertip along the side of her face, trailing from her temple down her jaw to the tip of her chin. “You’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster today. You need a release. You don’t want me. And if I thought you wouldn’t regret it later, I would take advantage of you. I’d fuck you until you screamed my name, then begged me to do it again.”

Her mouth fell open as a flurry of arousal overwhelmed her. She could barely stand as moisture pooled between her thighs. Her body ached for what he offered even as her brain recognized why he was putting on the brakes.

“But I respect you too much to do that, especially since there are things about me you don’t know. Things you should know,” Sebastian said.

His words were ominous, but the drive to feel him inside her made her throw caution to the wind.

“Tell me,” Gabrielle said. “What should I know about you? Let’s get it out into the open.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Why?”

“So you can fuck me and make me scream your name with a clear conscience.”

He erupted in laughter.