Sebastian (The Beck Brothers #2) (14 page)

  Claire would never let him get
away with not giving her a kiss and hug though. He knew she meant well, just
an overly affectionate person. Actually, it didn't feel so bad coming from her,
so he didn't mind that much.

"Hey, Claire,” he murmured softly.

"What are you doing here?" Claire
asked, giving him a quizzical look.

"Can I talk to Henry for a
minute?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, sure," she said,
motioning for him to follow her. "Is everything okay?" she asked,
glancing back at him with a concerned frown.

"Yeah, I just need some
advice," he replied with a tight smile.

Claire smiled softly. "Gotcha."

  She led Quinn down the main aisle,
which was lined with cubicles. Everyone seemed to stop working to stare as he
passed, but he ignored it. Claire stopped in front of what Quinn guessed was
Henry's office, knocking softly before peeking her head in.

"You have a visitor, love," she
said.

Quinn heard Henry's deep raspy voice,
which was so much like his own, mutter, “Okay.”

  Claire opened the door wider to
let Quinn pass her. He entered Henry's large office and glanced around. Quinn
heard the door click shut behind him. He glanced back at it before turning to
look at Henry, who hasn't looked up yet from the paper he was looking at.

  Quinn waited. After a moment,
Henry glanced up. He did a double take when he spotted Quinn, who felt the one
side of his mouth curl up. Yeah, Henry was surprised to see him here. He never
visited him at work before. Henry - looking spiffy in his navy blue suit -
stood and skirted the desk, a small smile playing across his lips.

"Quinn. What's up, brother?"
Henry greeted him, clasping his hand, and giving him a manly shoulder bump.

  Henry knew about Quinn's
squeamishness to being touched, so he always kept it to a minimum with him; however,
Henry gave Sebastian and Christian big bear hugs, since they didn't mind. Henry
pulled back and clapped Quinn on the shoulder.

"Have a seat," Henry said,
sitting down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

Quinn lowered himself into the other one.
"Thanks," he said quietly.

"What brings you here?" he
asked curiously.

"I need to talk to someone,"
Quinn sighed.

Henry's smile fell as he regarded him
more seriously. "Okay, I'm all ears."

Henry has always been a great listener,
always lending an ear when Quinn had a problem growing up. He was an awesome
big brother. Still is.

Quinn took a deep breath before starting.
"Okay, so Peter hired a new architect - a woman - from France."

"Ooh la la," Henry joked.

Quinn found himself smiling again. He shook
his head and continued. "Peter put us together on a really big project,
and stuck her in my office so we can work together easier."

"Okay, sounds reasonable."
Henry nodded.

"Yeah, and it wouldn't be a problem
if she wasn't annoying as shit. Henry, you know how much I value my quiet. This
woman is anything but quiet. She taps her pencil constantly, she hums, she pops
her gum, and god forbid someone calls her cell phone, because then she starts
jabbering in rapid French. I'm about to lose my fucking mind, man."

Henry chuckled and shook his head. "Did
you say something to her?"

"Yes, many times. She just tells me
that it's impossible for her to stay still."

Henry sighed. "Oh man. What about
Peter? Did you tell him?"

"I just left his office before
coming here. We argued. He said that there are no empty offices and he won't
put her in someone else's office because we're working on the same project. He
won't put her in a conference room either. I thought he would be a little more
understanding, but he pulled the boss card on me, and said he won't tolerate my
insubordination."

Henry winced. "Ouch."

"I know, right?" Quinn sighed,
rubbing his face with one hand.

Henry tapped his chin as he thought over
the situation.

"I mean, am I completely wrong
here?" Quinn asked.

Henry shook his head. "No, you're
not wrong. It's not exactly fair to force you to put up with someone who
irritates you as bad as this woman does; nevertheless, I can understand Peter's
side of it, too. I can see why he wants you two together, and it really
wouldn't be nice to put her in a conference room."

Quinn sighed. "I guess not."

"Is she ugly?" he asked,
completely serious.

Quinn snorted. "Far from it. Why?"

"So you can look at her all day,
just not listen to her, right?" Henry asked.

"Yeah," Quinn said slowly.

A slow devilish smile spread across
Henry's face. "I think I can help you," he said then stood and walked
around his desk.

He rooted through his drawers until he
pulled out a small box and tossed it at Quinn. Quinn caught it and looked down
at it, surprised by the bark of laughter that followed. "Foam
earplugs?" Quinn asked, looking up at Henry, who was grinning smugly
behind his desk, arms folded over his broad chest.

"They'll work like a charm. You
won’t be able to hear a damn thing with those in your ears," Henry stated.

Quinn smiled up at his brother. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Henry said
with a nod.

Quinn stood and put the earplugs in his
pocket. "I better head back."

"I'll walk you out," Henry said,
following Quinn to the door.

  Henry walked Quinn out to the
reception area. They said their goodbyes and Quinn headed back to his office
building. He stepped off the elevator into the lobby area and started toward
his office. Peter was standing in his office doorway, hands on his hips. He
watched Quinn, his face tight. Quinn was still pissed at him, so he just glared
at Peter as he walked by him. In their five years of friendship, they had never
fought about anything - guess there is a first for everything.

  Quinn heard Peter sigh heavily
after he passed. "Quinn," he called, but he just kept walking. He
couldn't talk to him right now, or he'd probably end up telling Peter to ‘go
fuck himself,’ and that would not be the best thing for Quinn's career.

  Quinn walked into his office.
Margot was sitting at her desk, humming as she typed. Quinn stifled a shutter
of irritation and sat down at his drafting table. He pulled out the box of
fluorescent orange earplugs and took two out. He sighed in relief as her
humming ceased to exist after sticking the earplugs in his ears. Henry was a
lifesaver. Quinn was going to have to do something to thank him. He smiled and
closed his eyes as his body relaxed. God, he loved silence. If that made him a freak,
so be it.

Chapter
9

"So what's going on with this
Sebastian guy?" Nicole asked, sipping her white wine.

Raelynn shrugged. "Nothing,"
she said, as she broke off a piece of bread from the basket in front of them.

  Raelynn and Nicole always made it
a point to get together and go out for dinner every other week. They took turns
picking the restaurant. They would sit, drink wine, and talk.

Nicole gave her a dry look. "Come
on, I want details."

"About what? We slept together and
that's it. There's nothing else," Raelynn said, popping another piece of
bread in her mouth.

"You slept together? Just
once?" Nicole asked.

Raelynn sighed. "Well...that night I
went home with him, we did it about three times. Then there was one other
time."

Nicole studied her for a minute. "When
was the last time you saw him?" she asked curiously.

"Three weeks ago," Raelynn
answered.

"Have you talked to him at
all?" Nicole asked evenly, taking another sip of wine. Raelynn knew she was
phishing.

"No, okay? Can we just drop
it?" Raelynn huffed.

Nicole frowned. "No, we're not gonna
drop it. I wanna know why you're being so stubborn. Has he called you?"

"Yes."

"But you won't call him back?"
Nicole asked, confused.

"No. Look, it's complicated."
Raelynn sighed.

"What is so complicated about it? He
apparently likes you if he's calling you," Nicole said.

"He just wants sex, Nicole. That's
why he's calling me. He doesn't want a relationship. He'd been through a lot
recently and is only looking for something to take his mind off of
everything," Raelynn snapped.

"If that was true, he'd go somewhere
else for sex. He wouldn't continue to call you. Men don't chase after women who
ignore them if they just want sex. They say ‘fuck her’ and go find someone else,
who they know will give it to them," Nicole stated, giving Raelynn a
pointed look.

  Raelynn stared at her friend.
Nicole has dated more men than Raelynn. She wasn't a slut. The men she dated
had to wait at least a month or two before they got in her pants. She's only
had a couple one night stands, but if a man didn't meet her standards, she
kicked them to the curb. So maybe Nicole was right, maybe Sebastian did like
her, but that didn't mean he wanted anything else from her. He said that
himself.

"Even so, he doesn't want more than
sex. He's sworn off relationships and love. And honestly, I don't have the time
for a relationship anyway," Raelynn said dismissively.

"So why can't you just sleep with
him every now and then? Was he good in bed?" Nicole asked, wagging her
eyebrows.

Raelynn smiled, she couldn't help it.
"The best," she murmured quietly.

Nicole's eyes widened. "The best
you've ever had?" she squawked, drawing the eyes of other people sitting
around them.

"Shhh!" Raelynn hissed. “Yes.
Alright?”

Nicole chuckled. "So why not keep
seeing him and see where it goes. Maybe he'll change his mind on the whole
relationship thing."

She shook her head. "No, I told you,
I don't have time for a relationship either. I'm too busy with work."

"You need to get un-busy. Work
should not be your life," Nicole said, disapprovingly.

  Raelynn knew that she worked too
much and it took over her life. She didn't see her family or friends as much as
she wanted to because work always got in the way. But what could she do? It was
her career, and she loved what she did. And really, it was all or nothing; the
Chief wanted her available, which she was. She was young and single, perfect
detective material.

  Their food came - cutting off the
conversation - much to Raelynn's relief. They ate in comfortable silence, both
enjoying their food. She was taking a sip of her wine when she saw Nicole's
eyes widen on something behind her. Before Raelynn could turn to look, someone
stepped up behind her chair and settled their very large hands on her shoulders.
She looked at Nicole for some kind of hint at whom it was, but she just sat
there with an amused glint in her eyes.

A warm breath grazed Raelynn ear, making
her shiver. "Why haven't you called me back, Raelynn?" Sebastian's voice
murmured, as his hands gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

Raelynn closed her eyes and cursed under
her breath. Of course he would be here, that was her luck. She turned her head
slightly so that she could semi-see him. "I've been busy," she answered.

Sebastian snorted and straightened back
up. "Sure you have," he said, obviously not believing her. "Hey,
it's Nicole, right?" he asked, finally letting go of her shoulders to
shake Nicole's hand.

"It is. And you're Sebastian,"
Nicole replied with a flirtatious smile.

He smiled. "I am," he said, now
standing at the side of their table. He turned his attention back to Raelynn.
"I was hoping to see you again, you know," he said evenly, but she
could see the anger flash in his eyes.

"This is not a good time for me,
Sebastian," Raelynn said quietly, poking at her food.

"Now is not a good time for what? To
talk to me? I can't seem to get a hold of you any other time, you won't answer
my calls. So, I'm going to say what I have to say, while you're here in front
of me. We were kind of in the middle of something when you walked out to go to
work
three
weeks ago.
You never said that you were never going to talk to me again. I'm a big boy
Rae, I can handle being turned down, but I wanna hear it from you - don't just
leave me hangin'. I thought we were having a good time. Was I wrong?" he
asked, crossing his arms over his chest and waited for her to reply.

Raelynn could hear the irritation, and
what sounded like hurt, in his voice. She glanced at Nicole to find her
frowning at her. She then looked up at Sebastian. "Can't we talk about
this later? I mean, I'm in the middle of dinner with my friend." Raelynn
huffed.

Sebastian smiled, but it wasn't a nice
smile. "Yeah, sure. Why don't you call me,” he scoffed, and then turned
and walked away without another word.

  Raelynn watched him walk through
the tables to the other side of the restaurant, where he sat down at a table
that was occupied by an older woman. She recognized her as his mother, Anne.
Sebastian's back was to her, and he kept it that way. Raelynn looked back at
Nicole. She was shaking her head, looking angry.

"That was really bitchy,"
Nicole said.

"What? That was really rude of him
to come over and start talking about shit like we're not in the middle of a
restaurant," Raelynn snapped.

"He wouldn't have to do that if you
would have just called him back. The man obviously wants to keep seeing you. He
seems really nice. I don't know why you're being such a bitch to him,"
Nicole snapped back.

"Call me a bitch one more time and
I'm leaving," Raelynn growled, glaring at her best friend.

Nicole glared right back. "Whatever.
I just don't understand what your problem with him is," she said, shaking
her head some more.

  Raelynn glanced over in Sebastian's
direction. The problem was that the damn man got under her skin somehow. She
couldn't stop thinking about him. The three weeks that she hadn't returned his
phone calls were torture. She almost gave in so many times, just to hear his
voice. She didn't even care about the sex. It was
him
. She cared about
him
. She cared about how he was doing,
mentally and emotionally. She had even checked up on Bill to make sure he was
doing okay still. And honestly, she was scared shitless. She could not fall for
this guy; he just didn't have it in him to love her back, and Raelynn couldn't
handle that. She's been burned before; loved with all she was, and got nothing
in return. She couldn't do it again.

  Sebastian's back was still to her,
his shoulders stiff. His mother glanced at her though, a frown on her face. She
looked confused. She didn't look pissed in any way, but just seemed to not
understand what was going on. Raelynn didn't know how much Sebastian has told
her, so she probably was confused.

"I gotta go to the bathroom,"
Raelynn muttered, setting her fork down.

  She worked her way through the
tables toward the bathroom. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sebastian's mom
get up. Great. Raelynn walked into the empty bathroom and went into the last stall.
She did her thing then exited the stall. Anne walked in at the same time and
gave Raelynn a warm smile.

"Raelynn, it's good to see you
again," Anne said sweetly, sincerely.

Raelynn gave her a tight smile. "You,
too, Mrs. Beck," she said, washing her hands.

"I don't mean to pry, sweetie...but
I couldn't help but notice you and Sebastian arguing a few minutes ago. Is
everything okay with you two?" Anne asked, concerned.

Raelynn looked at her through the mirror.
Anne Beck was a beautiful older woman - shrewd green eyes, coifed white hair,
perfectly done makeup, and a crisp white blouse.

"You do know we're not together,
right?" she asked, trying not to sound like a complete bitch.

Anne raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Could
have fooled me."

"We haven't spoken to each other in
three weeks," Raelynn murmured, dropping her eyes to her hands.

"Ah, so that's why he's been so
irritable. He seemed to be doing so well up until about two weeks ago. I
couldn't figure out what his problem was, and he wouldn't tell me. I did notice
that he was constantly checking his phone though," she said thoughtfully.
"I'm guessing he called you but you haven't called him back?"

Raelynn shrugged, turning off the water.
"I don't know how much you know. So I really don't want to say
anything," Raelynn said softly.

"Sebastian hasn't told me much. I'm
not stupid though, I can see that you've slept together. That much is
obvious," Anne said with a smirk.

Raelynn glared at her, and then sighed.
" Fine, we did. It was only supposed to be a onetime thing. We both agreed
on that. Yet, he wants to see me. I know he doesn't want a relationship, and...I
really don't feel comfortable talking about this with you, I'm sorry."

"I understand, but let me just tell
you, the little bit of time that you were seeing him, has been the happiest
I've seen him in years. He wasn't even that happy when he was with Victoria.
Henry told me about the night at the club when you two were dancing..."
Anne smiled almost wistfully, a little chuckle escaping her. "Oh, I wish I
could have seen it. Henry said he laughed his butt off. Sebastian hasn't been
that carefree since before he met Victoria. I hate to talk badly about her
because she is dead, but she was no good for him, always wanted to change him.
She was a stuck up bitch and didn't appreciate a good man when she had
one," Anne said tightly. She waved a dismissive hand. "Sorry, I'm
rambling. I just want my son to be happy, and you make him happy, sweetheart.
He might not realize it, or want to admit it yet, but he cares a lot about
you."

  Raelynn fought back the tears that
stung her eyes. Damn mothers. Why did they always have to do that? Now she felt
like shit. She felt like shit for being the cause of Sebastian's sadness. They
did get along really well, and had a good time together. Was she making a
mistake?

"Oh, Raelynn...I didn't mean to
upset you, dear," Anne said, placing her warm soft hand on Raelynn's arm.

Raelynn shook her head. "I'm fine. I
need to go back to my friend," she said, leaving the bathroom without
saying goodbye to Mrs. Beck.

~~~~~

  Sebastian was in a shit mood for
the rest of the night after his little encounter with Raelynn. He couldn't even
believe that he had acted the way he did, like a lover scorned. They weren't in
any type of relationship. She hadn't returned his phone calls for three weeks,
yet he hadn't gotten the hint. Well, more like he hadn't
wanted
to get the hint. Then he saw her at the
restaurant, and a flood of emotions swept over him. His stomach twisted, and
his heart fluttered at the sight of her, not thinking twice about approaching
her. He wanted her to know that he was pissed by how she was acting. He could
take being turned down, but he didn't like being blown off. She had been a
bitch about it, which pissed him off even more. Yet, he still hoped she called.
What a fucking loser!

  He tried to forget about her over
the past three weeks, even tried picking up another woman. He went to the
chick's house, got naked, and was in the middle of getting a blowjob when he
just couldn't take it anymore. All he could think about was Raelynn and how
this girl was doing nothing the way Raelynn did. To say the girl was pissed was
an understatement. She was furious when Sebastian stopped her and started
pulling on his clothes; rather have her pissed than crying, though.

  Sebastian had no idea what he was
going to do now. What was he going to do if Raelynn didn't call? He couldn't go
without sex forever. He just needed more time to forget about her. That was all,
he didn't need her. She was nothing but an amazing fuck. At least that's what
he kept trying to tell himself. What. A. Fucking. Loser.

  Sebastian was lounging on his
couch when there was a knock on his door. Not thinking anything of it, he got
up and answered it. He was shocked as shit to see Raelynn standing there
looking sullen. Good. When he saw her standing in the hallway, outside of his apartment,
it just brought his anger back.

"What are you doing here?" he
snapped.

  Raelynn gave him a bored look then
pushed past him. She walked into his apartment and dropped her purse onto the
kitchen counter. Sebastian swung around to stare at her in shock and outrage.

"I didn't extend a welcome to
you," he growled, slamming the door shut.

  Sebastian stormed toward to her,
tons of emotions surging through him. She looked incredible in a pair of light
gray yoga pants and a loose fitting t-shirt, which hung off one toned shoulder.
Her hair was down, the front pulled away from her face by a large clip. Sebastian's
anger shifted into lust, and as soon as he was in front of her, he was ravaging
her mouth.

  The kiss was wild and frantic. He
couldn't get close enough, couldn't touch enough of her. His hands were all
over her - yanking at her clothes and tangling in her hair. His mouth devoured
hers. She seemed to be just as starved as he was because she was matching him
kiss for kiss. Her hands were in his hair, under his shirt, and cupping him
through his sweatpants.

  He only had her down to her bra
and panties when she dropped to her knees in front of him, taking his pants
with her, pooling around his ankles. Before he could kick them away, she had
him in her mouth. He jerked so hard that he almost choked her. He couldn't
control the guttural shout that came out of him.
Jesus Christ!
He missed her so badly, and not just the
sex. He missed
her
-
her scent, her touch, the softness of her skin, her voice. God, how he missed
her voice, though she hasn't said a word yet.

  Sebastian looked down to watch her
and found her eyes rolled up watching him, as she sucked him off. His lips
parted and his breath came faster. This woman was going to be the death of him.
He reached down and cupped her face. She moaned around him, making Sebastian
shutter. His balls pulled up tight and he was close, but he didn't want to come
yet. He wanted this to last. He pulled her up to her feet; her mouth came off
him with a
pop
.