"It sounded like a compliment to me," Miles said quietly.
Elle and I looked at one another before bursting out laughing. "You have a lot to learn about this place," I told him. "Anyway, after that, I think I could use another drink. Back in a sec."
I could see my plans for a dry night evaporating before my eyes, but if that meeting was a sign of things to come, I'd need all the help I could get. Little did I know things were about to get even worse.
"What can I get you?" said the guy behind the bar.
And for the second time in as many days, someone answered for me. "She'll have a Cosmo. And get me another beer."
I rolled my eyes. "Actually, I'll have a glass of Shiraz," I said, turning to frown at my new companion. Taylor had started on my floor a year earlier, and since day one, he'd been trying to lure me into bed. I might have taken it as a compliment, if he hadn't done the same thing to every woman in the office. Sadly, many of them fell for it.
Objectively, I guess he was good looking, in that blonde, bulky, frat boy kind of way, but he was such a gigantic ass that I found it impossible to see anything else. His daddy was some big hedge fund type who was friends with everybody, so Taylor spent his entire life coasting around on his enormous sense of entitlement. I think it annoyed him that I was so resistant to his 'charms', although he'd never say it.
"If you're going to order for a girl, at least pay attention to what she's drinking, genius."
He gave a little laugh. "Hey, I was just trying to be friendly. Do you always bite guys' heads off when they try to buy you drinks?"
"This is the company bar, so you're not buying me anything."
He flashed a smile that he probably thought was seductive. "Not here I'm not."
I exhaled sharply. "Not anywhere."
"Come on Sophia, at least hear me out. It's no secret you hate these things, so what say you and I get out of here? My dad owns this sweet little wine bar just a block from my apartment. We could drink whatever we want, on the house. No Cosmos there, I promise."
I had to give him points for persistence, but at that moment I really just wished he'd disappear.
I looked him straight in the eyes and grazed my teeth slowly across my bottom lip in that way that guys seem to love. "Close to your apartment, hey?"
His face lit up. "That's right."
"What about your dad? Does he live nearby too?"
He blinked several times in confusion. "My dad?"
"Yeah. I mean if we're drinking on the house, that would mean it's really him buying me drinks. It'd feel kind of rude going home with someone else after that."
His expression crumbled, and I gave myself a little internal high five.
"Well, we could go somewhere else if you like..." he said lamely.
And then someone else spoke from behind me. "I don't think she's going anywhere with you." My heart turned a cartwheel in my chest.
Even before I looked, I recognised the voice; low and strong and smooth as caramel. For a moment I was overcome by a powerful sense of deja vu, but it passed as the reality of the situation came crashing into me.
"Hello Sophia," Sebastian said, sliding in next to me. "It's lovely to see you again."
I stared at him with wide eyes, my tongue frozen in shock. He was the last person in the world I'd ever expected to see again. But there he was in front of me, smiling like he hadn't caught me huddled in his office cupboard just a day earlier.
Taylor wasn't so easily rattled. He rocked back on his heels, an incredulous smile blooming on his face. "Hey buddy, we're having a conversation here."
Sebastian's eyes flicked to him. There was no anger there. If anything, he looked vaguely amused. "No, you're harassing a girl who quite clearly wants to be left alone."
Taylor bristled. "And I suppose she'd rather be talking to you?"
"She'd rather be doing a lot of things."
It was my turn to bristle, but nobody was paying any attention to me anymore. It was like I'd disappeared. They loomed up from either side of me, staring at one another as though they could make their adversary's head explode through sheer force of will. It was almost comical really, but laughter was about as far out of reach for me as humanely possible at that moment.
"Is that right?" Taylor asked, his jaw tightening. "And just who might you be, friend?" He gave that last word a sharp accent.
"Just a man who would like a word with Sophia, if you don't mind." In spite of the phrasing, there was no question in his voice.
Taylor continued to stare. Pissing contests like this weren't exactly uncommon around the office. Give a bunch of overachieving jocks huge salaries and inflated senses of self-worth, and you're just asking for testosterone to fly. When push came to shove, Taylor usually came out on top, but this time I could tell he was losing. There was something so utterly indomitable about Sebastian. From the easy confidence of his smile to the raw intensity of his gaze and the dangerous grace of his movements, he was the epitome of a man who knew he'd get what he wanted. Taylor may have been his physical equal, but whatever primal hormonal reaction decided the outcome of those sorts of engagements was telling him to head for the hills.
After a few seconds, he looked away. "Fine," he spat, snatching up his beer. "I'll see you around, Sophia." Turning, he stalked off into the crowd.
I shook my head slowly. "What the fuck was that?" I spluttered, finally finding my voice.
"That was me saving you from an unpleasant conversation." Sebastian didn't look even slightly embarrassed.
"Saving me? I was talking to a colleague! What if I was enjoying myself?"
He gave a little laugh. "What, with that guy?"
I shook my head slowly, trying to gather my thoughts. His approach was nothing short of infuriating, but there were more important things to focus on.
"Whatever. That's beside the point. What the hell are you doing here, Sebastian?"
"I wanted to see you again," he said, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I had no idea how to respond. As confusing as it all was, part of me was happy to see him too. Just being near him again set something thrumming inside me. He looked every bit as gorgeous as he had the previous night. He'd traded his charcoal three-piece for a simple navy business suit, but it still did little to disguise the exquisite musculature beneath. His hair tumbled in long curls around his perfectly hewn face, framing a smile that hit me like a punch to the chest.
"Surely there are easier ways to go about that. Like, maybe, a phone call?" I said.