Man in Charge, Book 1 Read online

  “Okay.” I’d been thrown, but that didn’t mean I still didn’t have a handle on this. I forced myself to take a breath and pivot. I’d already been prepared for the possibility of meeting with a group to begin with. This was no big deal. “I do have a presentation. PowerPoint. Should I set that up now?” There was a TV screen on the wall, but I had a hard time imagining five other people around that small table with us. Maybe we’d move to a bigger conference room.

  He returned his attention to the booklet. “No. I don’t need to see it. Based on this, I’m sure it’s fine.” He glanced up at me and must have realized the misunderstanding from my expression. “Oh, you mean set up for the team. They won’t be joining us today. We’ll have to schedule something for that.”

  My mouth went dry. I’d had to push to get this meeting as quickly as I did. “How soon could we make that happen?”

  “I think we can squeeze you in early next week. Julie mentioned that you thought this was time sensitive. I’m guessing that has to do with that charity you’re pushing most?”

  “Yeah. Um.” Pull yourself together. “They’re actively seeking a sponsor. I’d hate for you to miss the chance to work with them when I know they’d be a perfect fit.”

  He closed the booklet and clasped his hands together in front of him. “If it were up to just me, Tess, I’d say sign us up right now. I know we’ve just met, but I have a gut instinct for these things. Just flipping through your material, I can tell you know what you’re selling. It’s already much more organized than some of the other pitches I’ve heard recently.”

  I swallowed, trying to clear the ball in the back of my throat. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  “I mean it, too. I’m sorry I don’t have any authority to make that happen.”

  His candidness gave me courage to return it. “Really? That just…that surprises me, I guess.”

  He looked at me strangely. “Oh, because of the name? Yeah, I get that a lot.”

  Wait. What?

  “I’m one of the lesser Sebastians,” he said in explanation. “Not a descendent of Irving. Ida, his sister, was my grandmother. I’m just a cousin. Much less powerful, much less formidable.”

  “Oh.” Then, when I’d fully digested what he’d said, “Ohhhh.” God, I was an idiot. I’d heard his last name and just assumed. I was even more stupid for not spending any time learning about the Sebastian family tree. This past week in preparation, I’d been so focused on researching the business itself, looking for the best ways to move into the future with the DRF, that I’d completely missed investigating its past.

  I vowed to myself to do that before the next meeting.

  And what was that last thing he’d said? “Formidable?”

  He waved a dismissive hand. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want you to worry needlessly about your presentation. You’ll only have one of the greater Sebastians in the room, and he’s not one of the ones who bites.” He reconsidered. “At least, he doesn’t bite too hard.”

  I was not soothed. I wasn’t a fan of powerful men who bit at all.

  Brett’s gaze moved suddenly to something behind me. “Ah, here he is now, in fact.” He stood up and addressed the person behind me. “Great timing. We were just talking about you.”

  The dread from before returned in a flood. I knew before I stood up, before I turned around. I could feel it on my skin, the way it felt charged, like a current running through my veins. I knew in my bones that it was him.

  Somehow I made it to my feet. Somehow my knees didn’t give out as I turned to him. Somehow I managed not to fall apart when my gaze met his ocean blues. They were even more devastating than I’d remembered.

  He smiled, a smile so smooth it was hard to believe he even recognized me. Except he did recognize me. His mouth might have been able to keep the fact hidden, but his eyes fell on my face with heated familiarity. His eyes sparked with triumph.

  And Brett was completely unaware. “Scott, this is Tess Turani. She’s with the charity liaison organization.”

  I let Blue Eyes—Scott—take my hand in his. His grip was the same as Brett’s, maybe a little firmer, but the effect he had on my body was entirely different. It was like being plugged in. Like one hundred and ten volts were running through our touch.

  “Yes,” he said, a faint grit in his tone. “When I heard you were meeting with Conscience Connect today, I decided I had to stop by and see who your contact was since I knew there was no way Kendra would reach out herself. Nice to officially meet you, Tess...Turani, was it?”

  “Uh-huh.” It was the only sound I was capable of producing. I’d slept with him. And now I was going to have to work with him. And he was a Sebastian.

  “There are several of them around here,” he’d said when I brought up the name at the party.

  I wanted to hit myself.

  And he knew Kendra! The mystery man who’d given me the best sex in my life was here and he was a Sebastian and he was the man in charge, and he fucking knew Kendra.

  “Thank you, Brett,” he said, his hand still clutching mine. “I can take this from here. Could you shut the door on the way out?”

  “Oh. Sure. No problem.” Brett seemed surprised at being dismissed. But he was a lesser Sebastian, as he’d said, and there was no way he was going to refute it. Halfway out the room, he did turn back. “Tess, I’ll have Julie call the number on file to set up that meeting for next week, if that works?”

  With my eyes still locked on Scott, I cleared my throat. “Yes. Please. Thank you, Brett.”

  Then the door was shut, and it was just me and Scott.

  “Looks like I found you,” he said with a wicked smirk.

  Yep. I was totally doomed.

  Seven

  “Looks like you found me,” I said, echoing Scott. Because holy shit, the flags had been there, and I’d missed every one. He’d been at that party. His car and apartment were state-of-the-art luxury. I hadn’t bothered to check out his name. I was a first-class idiot. I hadn’t just walked into the lion’s den. I’d come in blazing.

  What the hell was I supposed to do now?

  Meanwhile, Scott’s smirk remained as he dropped my hand and circled around me, tracing my body with his blue eyes, taking every speck of me in. It was the kind of greedy, possessive, curious look that I would have found highly inappropriate under any other circumstance. Not that it wasn’t inappropriate now too—even more so considering the power dynamic—just, I was finding it hard to mind.

  I was so over my head, it was amazing I could still breathe.

  “So. You’re a Sebastian,” I said when it was obvious he was enjoying the upper hand too much to risk giving anything away without prodding.

  His smirk morphed into a smug smile. “One of many.”

  A beat passed. A beat in which I replayed the conversation at the bar once again. He’d heard me going on and on about meeting a Sebastian. He had to have realized how easily he could have won me over by simply dropping his own name. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You said no names.”

  “You had an opportunity to tell me before that. I would have thought you would jump all over telling me when I showed interest in the family.”

  He gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I was afraid you’d go home with me if I told you.”

  “Wasn’t that what you’d wanted?”

  “Wanted you to go home with me, yes. I didn’t want that to be the reason.”

  That shut me up. There was a hint of vulnerability to his words that surprised me. Made me feel embarrassed for my excitement about meeting someone just because they were famously rich. I’d often been critical about how rarely the upper class mixed themselves with the rest of us, calling them snooty and self-absorbed. I hadn’t ever considered there might be another side to the separation.

  “I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to be guarded,” I said after a beat. Then I kicked myself for it because that was what I was concerned with right now? When th
ere was so much on the line for me?

  “Don’t,” he said. “No apologies for that. That was a me thing, not a Tessa Turani thing.” His lip turned up after saying my name, like it was a sound that gave him pleasure to make. “Tessa Turani,” he repeated, going back for a second taste.

  The way his tongue wrapped around the ss made me remember his tongue on my body. Made my heart race and every neuron in my body fire.

  None of which was convenient when I was trying to establish myself as a professional.

  “It’s Tess,” I snapped, trying to gain some sort of balance.

  “I like Tessa,” he said with a finality that made me unable to argue. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and half sat, half leaned on the table, a very casual posture that did nothing to diminish his looming presence. “Kendra finally decided to pitch us, huh? Interesting.”

  My stomach turned to a rock at the mention of Kendra. It occurred to me now that there might have been more to her refusal to present to SIC. How well did Scott know Kendra?

  It seemed like he was waiting for me to say something. I chose the most benign thing I could think of. “She did say the Sebastians were family friends.”

  “Family friends. Yes.” He seemed to find the term amusing. “The Montgomerys and the Sebastians go way back. I suppose that’s why she sent you instead of reaching out herself?”

  Oh, God. There was history.

  A history that I couldn’t guess at if I tried. Best thing to do was keep playing the uninformed employee. “Probably so. And she’s out of town. So I’m doing all her pitches in her place.” It could be possible.

  I just had to pray that Scott and Kendra weren’t close enough that he would know she’d never let anyone do anything in her place.

  He considered that for several seconds while I held my breath and hoped he couldn’t hear the knocking of my knees and tried not to stare too intently at the perfection of his angular jawline.

  “Well, I’m glad she wants to work with us,” he said finally. “There shouldn’t be any reason our family relationship should stand in the way of making great things happen.”

  “I’m sure she feels the same,” I said, wary that this was too easy.

  He nodded once. “She’s out of town?”

  I was suspicious about his reason for asking. But even if he was planning on trying to contact her, he wouldn’t be successful. For once I thanked God for Kendra’s flair for the dramatic. “Completely off the grid. No phone, no social media. She calls me occasionally to check in, but she isn’t using her own cell when she does.”

  “Sounds enviable. Any idea when she’ll be back?”

  “A couple of weeks? Maybe a couple of months.” There was no use lying about it. I was already coming to terms that I’d probably lose my job over this. Hopefully, I could seal up a partnership with Sebastian Industrial and the DRF before I had to accept their employment offer.

  “Think we can have all this business wrapped up before that?”

  Instead of wondering why he was so eager to get things done, I focused on the possibility that the universe was, for once, on my side. “It’s completely doable if SIC makes it a priority.”

  Again, a nod of his head. “The presentation to the team is next, correct? What’s the process from there?” He picked up the booklet I’d given Brett that got left behind in his hasty departure and leafed through it.

  I blinked as I pivoted to full-on business mode. “I’ll talk in depth about the organizations that I think would be the best candidates for sponsorship. As soon as you select one, I’ll invite them to sit in on a coordination meeting. We’ve never had a charity turn down an offer, so from there, it’s pretty much a done deal. Really, the speed of the process depends on how quickly you can make a decision.”

  “And then when the deal is done, you’re no longer involved?”

  “Well.” I couldn’t tell if he was trying to get rid of me or prolong our working together. I needed it to be the former. I hated how much I wished it were the latter.

  The smart thing would be to craft an answer that would ensure he was on my side, but not knowing his motives, I had to stick with the facts. “It varies based on the contract. Conscience Connect will continue to be a liaison during the initial phase, for sure. After that, the charity will generally fill that position with someone on their own team.” Me, possibly. If they chose the DRF, and if I ended up working for them.

  “And your salary comes out of the sponsorship funds? You don’t get paid until then.”

  “Conscience Connect gets paid when the check clears.”

  “Another reason to get this moving along.”

  My muscles relaxed with relief. He was looking out for my paycheck, that was all. Too bad it was one I’d never directly receive. If it was a really good paycheck though, maybe it would be enough to convince Kendra to let me keep my job in the end. With a bonus even. Or, better yet, a raise.

  But I was getting ahead of myself. “I’d appreciate that.”

  He stood and buttoned his jacket, tucking the booklet I’d made under his arm. “I believe the team already has a meeting on the schedule for Monday. I’ll have the agenda cleared so you can present to us then.”

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  His eyes met mine, a collision that made me dizzy. He held out his hand to shake, and when I gave him mine, an electric shock went through my body, big enough to wake me up to the fact that I wasn’t just getting ahead of myself, I was also batshit crazy because how the hell did I think I could work with a man I’d slept with? A man who had this much power over me. A man who could easily turn on the charm, and I’d be giving him my panties in a blink.

  Though, except for his initial flirtation, he’d been completely professional.

  I extricated my hand from his and looked at him sideways. “We aren’t going to be a problem, are we?”

  “Why would we be?” He stuffed his hands in his suit pockets, completely casual. As though nothing had happened between us.

  “Because of the other night,” I deadpanned.

  “What about it?”

  Oh, right. He was the guy who made a girl say it. I knew this game. The fact he was making me play it didn’t bode well for this arrangement.

  All the more reason why this had to be addressed now.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “We had sex, Scott.”

  “Oral sex.”

  “Right.” Mind-bending oral sex. And why would he point that out if... “What?”

  “Wait.” His grin was slow, like he was savoring the thought behind it. “You didn’t think that we….?”

  Oh my God.

  We hadn’t…?

  But I thought...

  My cheeks felt so hot that I was sure they were red, despite the fact that they didn’t show color easily. How had I gotten this so humiliatingly wrong?

  And Scott was enjoying every second of it, according to the smirk on his face.

  No. I’d had valid reasons for thinking what I’d thought. “I woke up naked. In your bed. After what had happened in the car. I made the obvious assumption.”

  His smile vanished. “Oh, hold up. That is offensive, Tessa, on so many levels. I think I proved myself a gentleman. Presuming I couldn’t undress you and put you to bed and behave myself is insulting.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but he went on before I could. “More insulting is that you think you could forget fucking me. You wouldn’t. No matter how inebriated you were. You wouldn’t have been able to leave the bed that morning. Certainly not without nourishment, and even then you would be hobbling.”

  “You are really full of yourself.”

  He ignored me. “Most insulting is that you think I’d fuck a woman that drunk. I am not completely morally depraved.”

  I was not going to apologize for my assumptions. “Why isn’t that a natural conclusion? Any woman would assume that if they’d woken up in your bed. Especially when they couldn’t remember getting there. And after you’d alread
y…you know.” I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of saying it again.

  He was more than ready to fill in the blank for me. “Devoured your pussy? Yes. I did do that. You were saying, yes, yes, yes but it occurred to me while that was going on that you might not be capable of consent.”

  “I came three times.”

  He winked. “Like I said, I’m unforgettable.”

  “That wasn’t what I…” Why was it so hard to focus when he was standing near me? And when had he moved so close? I took a step backward. “My point is that it took you long enough to consider consent.”

  “Yes.” He feigned a sigh. “It should have occurred to me earlier, I admit. I’d like to say I lost restraint because I was drinking as well—which is true—but also I went down on you because I really wanted to, and I have a hard time resisting what I want. Especially when it’s right in front of me.” And now, somehow, he was up close again. “Do you want to file a complaint of assault?”

  “What? No. That’s ludicrous. I was begging you.” He smelled so good, I wasn’t far from begging him now too.

  My chin was lifted, my nostrils flared from taking in his manly scent, when I caught myself. This was not a good idea. He was not a good idea.

  I took two steps back this time, hoping that would diffuse the energy between us. Praying that I could make myself say something smart and proper and put an end to all the naughty thoughts suddenly swimming in my head.

  “I was drunk,” I said. “I don’t fault you for anything that happened. I’m sorry I’d assumed it was more. If I had been more with it, I’m sure it would have been. Consensually so. It was a fun time. But I’m not that woman on the regular.”

  His jaw ticked. His eyes sparked. “Do you want to be?”

  “Uh...what?”

  “We’re not drunk now.”

  “Oh. Oh.” I should have been saying no, no. Not just to his suggestion, but to working with him all together. I was not a strong enough woman to resist a man as ridiculously bad for me as Scott Sebastian was.

  I spun away from him and took a deep breath. When I wasn’t facing him, I felt more resilient. “There can’t be anything between us, Scott. It’s unprofessional and inappropriate.” I turned back toward him. “And because we’re not drunk now, I’m not so reticent to consider filing a complaint if you make a suggestion like that again.”