While still holding my hand, Sebastian led me through the narrow hallway I had just walked through half-hour ago.
"Your manager says you only visit Magnus on the weekends," I grumbled while trying to pull my hand out of his firm grip.
"Mr. Moran, I didn't come to see you." I emphasized 'you' so he wouldn't get the wrong idea.
"I know, that's why I came to see you," he replied smoothly before putting my coat and bag on his black sofa in the lounge.
I let out an irritated snort.
He came because his manager told him I was at Magnus. That sleazy burgundy suited rat.
Sebastian finally let go of my hand after making sure I wouldn't escape. He asked me to sit on the sofa before walking over to the phone on the wall.
"I'm not sleeping with you tonight," I announced curtly.
Sebastian — who was about to pick up the receiver — stopped then turned around, his eyes filled with laughter.
"I know. Rest assured, Daisy, I won't eat you tonight."
This was the first time I saw him in his relaxed form. His clothes were all crumply and messy from our dance, and his dark hair was a little dishevelled.
"But I will eat dinner, and you will accompany me," he added before pulling back the receiver and calling the kitchen to order food and wine.
I bit my lip to hold back my embarrassment. My gaze fixed on his wide back. That muscular and hard back... I knew it so well because my hands roamed all over him that night.
Ah, here we go again, Ludy and her lewd thoughts.
My hand swiped over my head to drive out the memory of that night that flashed through my head.
"You thirsty pervert," I muttered to myself in low voice.
Suddenly Sebastian, who was still on the phone, turned his head to me. He raised his eyebrow with a questioning look
I stared back innocently.
One corner of his lips twitched upward and he returned to the phone.
"I ordered steak and pasta, I hope you like them?" he asked after he finished calling and then sat beside me.
I nodded slightly. "I like anything."
"So what did you come for today?"
Oh, unlike the other night, I had prepared an answer to this question.
"I just want to try out the card you gave me." I pulled the corners of my mouth down. "Why didn't you tell me you gave me your card? Your bouncer thinks I stole it."
"Really? I'll reprimand him later," he replied in a low voice while his two amber eyes stared intently at me.
I just realized Sebastian always gave me his full attention every time we talked. And it felt... quite nice to be the centre of attention of this man.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked before I could stop myself.
The corners of her lips twitched back in a smile. "Like what?"
"I don't know. But your gaze makes me feel like... like I'm being observed in a zoo," I answered lamely.
I wanted to tell him that his intense gaze made me felt flustered. But I didn't want to feed his already abundant ego. This man clearly didn't need my help in that department.
"Because you're weird," he replied honestly. "This is the first time I've been attracted to... your kind."
My kind?
I frowned at his answer. "You're weirder than me."
He chuckled again. "I'm aware. "
"And while we're on the topic, please, for the love of God, stop sending me Daisy bouquet to my office!"
"You don't like flowers?" he asked nonchalantly.
"All of my coworkers might start to think I will get proposed or something if you keep sending those flowers." I shuddered at that thought. "And you're wasting money."
And I felt guilty every time I threw those perfect bouquet into the trash.
He tilted his head slightly, a lock of his hair fell on his forehead. My hand twitched on my side, itching to touch it.
"Then I will only send Daisy flowers when I think of you."
What's with this man and his obsession with Daisies? I thought incredulously.
I wanted to forbid it too but the sound of knocking on the door distracted us.
His nightclub staff brought us several plates of our meals and a bottle of chilled white wine.
Now I started to feel thirsty from all of those dancing.
Oh, hurry up, I thought as I stared at plates of enticing fettuccine carbonara drowned in creamy white sauce and garnished with orangy dots of fish eggs.
It smelled heavenly. I was starving.
After the staff left, Sebastian put another plate of a large steak that gave off a delicate aroma of butter and spices.
I swallowed my saliva while Sebastian sliced the steak into bite pieces.
He took a plate of one of the Fettucine carbonara then put a few pieces of those mouthwatering steak on the side, before placing it in front of me and took his own portion.
I waited for him to finish pouring two cold glasses of wine before finally taking my fork and starting to wolf down my meal.
The al dente pasta mixed with its creamy sauce melt in my tongue and the faint savory taste of fish eggs exploded every time I chew.
I put one piece of steak in my mouth and started to chew.
This was really bad... everything tasted so good that it made me wanna cry. I even moaned a little.
The taste of seared steak coated in garlic butter sauce melded beautifully in my mouth. It's savoury and fragrant, rich with juicy beef flavor.
For five full minutes, all my attention was focused on my food until I finally realized we hadn't spoken at all.
When I turned to him, Sebastian was also eating from his plate but his strange gaze fixated on me.
"What?" I asked, both surprised and annoyed by his penetrating gaze.
"I'm a bit hungry," I continued defensively.
"I never think I can get this hard when watching someone eating their meal."
I almost choked on my meat.
He handed me a glass of white wine casually before continuing his meal.
"Did you come straight from work?" I asked to divert this awkward situation.
"Yes. But I have to..." He glanced at his titanium watch. "...be back to my office in about thirty minutes."
"Then why did you come to Magnus?"
"To eat dinner?" he replied with an innocent expression.
Ha. Surely he wouldn't commute from his office to Magnus just to eat his dinner, but I wasn't in the mood to press him further since I currently only have thirty minutes left to ask him about Kovach.
But before that, there was something that has been bothering me all this time.
"Were you the one who's been meddling in my investigation on Kovach?"
Sebastian swallowed his meal and gave me a quick nod.
I took a sip of my wine. "How did you do it?"
"I bought The Daily Wire."
I gawked at him with my lips slightly gaping while a few drops of wine trickling down from the corner of my mouth.
Sebastian put down his fork and rubbed the corners of my lips with his thumb, his two amber eyes staring intently at my lips.
He pulled his thumb and sucked it slowly, before taking his fork again and continuing his dinner.
"Next question?" he asked very casually.
This crazy man...
Did he buy The Daily Wire newspaper just to stop Bill Kovach investigation? What about the other newspapers? Did he stop them too?
I swallowed my wine, feeling a bit nervous so suddenly. "Why did you sponsor Kovach? Everyone knows he has lots of scandals."
"I have my circumstances. It just so happened that Kovach was the right man to fulfil my plans."
"Then why did you hand Kovach over to me?"
Sebastian put down his fork after his meal was finished. He smiled faintly before answering me. "My circumstances... just happened to have changed."
He wanted to sleep with me.
His ambiguous yet flattering answer pissed me off a little. "I don't mean to judge, but if you want to seduce women you shouldn't use threats."
"I'm sure you realize it yourself, you are not exactly a woman who could be seduced with flowers and dates, Daisy," he replied diplomatically.
Him and his smart mouth.
"Why... why me?"
I needed to know his reason.
We had only met once before he offered to hand me Kovach that night at the charity event.
"Daisy, I'm a businessman. Let's just say I'm investing in you. You should take this opportunity to ask about Bill, not about me." He continued to deflect my probing questions.
"I just want to know what kind of man I will be sleeping with on Saturday," I replied boldly.
Sebastian smiled again, but his expression looked like someone who's currently enjoying a puppy barking at him.
"I have to get back to my office soon," he said suddenly while glancing at his watch. "Do you want me to take you home?"