<h4>Chapter 160: Chapter 160 Unexpected Dinner Party</h4>


    Cecilia’s pov


    His breath, hot and unsettling, ghosted across my cheek.


    A betraying flush instantly heated my skin, a traitorous blush spreading from my neck upwards.


    I squeezed my eyes shut in sheer frustration.


    Since when did a man supposedly wining and dining clients at a power lunch suddenly materialize behind me?


    And the absolute worst part? He’d been eavesdropping.


    "You - " I whirled around to face him, my voice a sharp hiss. "Eavesdropping is a serious invasion of privacy! Whatever happened to basic decency?"


    Sebastian merely lifted his chin, a casual gesture toward the water dispenser behind me.


    "Sawyer took the meeting. I was getting water," he stated, his tone infuriatingly calm. "It wasn’t intentional. You were just... particrly animated."


    My jaw went ck. I could practically feel the gears in my brain grinding to a halt.


    I sat up straighter, clutching at any shred of professionalism. "...It’spany time."


    "It’s actually lunch break," he corrected.


    Lunch breaks were for catching a breath, not for being ambushed in the breakroom.


    Before I could form a retort, his handsnded on the sides of my swivel chair, rotating me with deliberate slowness until I was forced to look directly at him.


    He leaned in, his gaze intense and utterly serious.


    "So, Secretary Moore," he began, his voice a low, intimate murmur that was entirely inappropriate for the workce. "Am I allowed to talk to my girlfriend on my lunch break?"


    Girlfriend...


    The word hung in the air, draggingst night’s conversation back with it - his talk of mutual respect.


    He would respect my choice to keep things from getting too serious, and in return, I would respect his... peculiar need to call me his girlfriend.


    I just stared at him, the silence stretching between us.


    Sebastian’s eyes narrowed, a suspicious glint in their depths. "You’re not about to renege on our deal, are you?"


    A nervousugh escaped me. "I’m not reneging. I just... God, Sebastian, can we please just pump the brakes a little?"


    This was all too much, too fast. My emotions were whishing from one extreme to another.


    "You don’t want anyone to know," he stated, his voice t. He saw right through me, as always.


    I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to. My eyes, wide and pleading, said it all.


    "I can give you time," he conceded, his tone taking on that low, authoritative edge that made my stomach flip. "But my patience isn’t infinite."


    "Two months," I blurted out, seizing the opening. "Just two months to... adjust."


    Sebastian considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Fine."


    I sighed with relief and seized the opportunity to add, "Look, during work hours, we keep this professional. Don’t pull that shit you did this morning, and for God’s sake, don’t - "


    "Don’t what?" he cut me off, his gaze dropping to my mouth, dark and intent.


    "...Don’t do this," I said, trying to sound firm, righteous even.


    That’s when I felt it - the heat of his chest under my palm.


    My fucking traitor hand hadnded right on him, fingers syed over the crisp cotton of his dress shirt.


    Sebastian nced down, a slow, infuriating smirk spreading across his face. "So, I should be as innocent as you are? Is that it?"


    I snatched my hand back like I’d been burned. "That wasn’t intentional!"


    "I wish it was," Sebastian murmured, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.


    In one fluid, brutal motion, his arm banded around my waist and he hauled me clean out of my chair.


    My gasp was swallowed whole by his mouth.


    This wasn’t a gentle kiss; it was a conquest.


    His tongue shoved past my lips, demanding and deep.


    When his other hand came down hard on my ass, gripping me through the thin fabric of my pencil skirt, a jolt of pure lightning shot straight to my core.


    The rough weave of the wool grinding against my skin was a goddamn revtion.


    "Someone... coulde in..." I managed to pant against his mouth.


    My hands, those useless traitors, were already fisting in the hair at the base of his neck.


    "Door’s locked," he grunted, and in the next second, my back hit the cold, unyielding steel of the breakroom counter.


    The cold stainless steel bit through my blouse, a stark contrast to the searing heat of his body pressing against me.


    He pressed his hips into me, and I was trapped between the two sensations.


    I could feel him - the thick, hard ridge of his cock straining against his cks.


    It should have terrified me. It just made me wetter.


    His hand slid up my thigh, pushing my skirt up around my hips.


    The calloused pad of his thumb brushed against the damp silk of my panties, and I threw my head back, a choked gasp escaping me.


    My nails dug into the shoulders of his suit, probably shredding the fabric.


    "You were saying? About being professional?" he scoffed, his breath hot against my ear. "Your body’s telling a much better story than your mouth is."


    His fingers hooked into thece edge of my underwear.


    The cool breakroom air hit my exposed skin, and it was like a bucket of ice water.


    Reality crashed back in.


    "Enough!" I snapped, the word trembling with the aftershocks of what I’d almost let happen.


    I shoved against his chest, scrambling off the counter and nearly falling on my ass.


    My skirt was a twisted mess around my waist.


    I yanked it down, my hands shaking.


    My eyes dropped, against my will, to the prominent bulge tenting his expensive trousers.


    A fresh wave of heat pooled low in my belly, a sick, thrilling ache.


    His eyes burned with an unsatisfied hunger."You always this much of a tease? Get a man hard and then just walk away?"


    "This isn’t teasing, you asshole! This is you beingpletely out of line!" I fumbled for the lock, my fingers slick and clumsy.


    I flung the door open and shot him a final, scathing look, only to catch him adjusting himself, his hand palming the obvious strain in his pants.


    The sight sent a fresh flush burning up my neck.


    I stumbled back to my office, shutting the door with a shaky thud.


    My eyes instantlynded on the emergency contraception on my desk next to my empty water cup.


    A stark, humiliating reminder.


    I pped my palm to my forehead, the sound unnaturally loud.


    Lust really does make you stupid.


    ---


    Before the end of the day, Harper invited me over for dinner.


    I epted immediately.


    When it was time to leave, I had just stepped out of my office and reached the elevator when footsteps sounded behind me.


    "Cecilia, do you have ns tonight?" Beta Sawyer asked.


    I knew the Alpha had put him up to this.My eyes drifted briefly toward Sebastian’s face.


    "Yes, I’m having dinner at Harper’s ce," I answered honestly, then added, "I won’t being home tonight."


    Sebastian’s expression remained as still as the deep ocean.


    The elevator arrived. The three of us stepped in.


    The atmosphere in the elevator grew so thick with tension it was hard to breathe


    Just before the doors opened, Sebastian couldn’t help asking, "With so many people at her house, wouldn’t staying overnight be awkward?"


    "She lives alone," I replied.


    "Didn’t you know her brother is staying at her apartment during summer break?" Sebastian countered.


    I genuinely hadn’t known that.


    After a moment’s thought, I said, "Oh, Harper didn’t mention that. I guess I’lle home tonight then."


    Sebastian exited the elevator.His footsteps were noticeably heavy.


    We followed a step behind.


    Sawyer gave me a look of sympathy.


    I had to look away, the guilt twisting in my gut.*Yeah, I know the feeling.*


    We went our separate ways after leaving thepany.


    The drive to Harper’s was supposed to take thirty minutes.


    Halfway there, she called, asking me to pick up snacks, turning the trip into a full-hour journey.


    The moment I stepped inside, Levan appeared. "Cecilia!"


    "Levan!" I grinned, handing over a grocery bag. "So the rumors are true. Summer gig hunting?"


    He took the bags with an easy smile, and we fell into step, chatting andughing as we moved down the hall. But the moment we entered the living room, I froze.


    Sebastian was lounging on the sofa, remote in hand, as if he owned the ce.


    "You - " The word stuck in my throat.


    "Harper invited me for dinner," he said smoothly, his tone all innocent charm.


    *Like hell she did.*


    A mix of irritation and amusement bubbled inside me.


    Just then, the kitchen door swung open, revealing Beta Sawyer - eyes streaming from onion duty - and a thoroughly miserable-looking Tang, both sporting aprons.


    Harper followed them out and shrugged. "Tonight’s dinner has been upgraded to a party."