Chastity giggled, dimples popping out. Before Sebastian realized what was going on, his lunch mates fell into a deep conversation, completely excluding him. His fury grew with each passing second. By the time the waitress took their orders, he was ready to strangle them both. He knew what Jeremy was up to, but what was up with Chastity’s cold shoulder act? No woman had ever treated him like this before and it was driving him bananas. He hated being ignored, especially when it was by someone he wanted so damn much.

It was time to step the game up a notch. “Chastity,” he said her name softly, but loud enough for her to hear. She turned her head, a frown marring her pretty face.

“What?”

“Did I tell you how lovely you look today?”

The expression on her face told him that his comment came as a surprise. “Thank you,” she murmured, her eyes sliding away from his.

“You’ve looked lovely every day this week. Pink is definitely your color. You should wear it more often. I like the way it looks against your skin.” Chastity squirmed in her seat. Sebastian smiled. “What’s the matter, Chastity?”

She kept her lids lowered, not replying.

Jeremy answered for her. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re embarrassing her.”

Sebastian smirked. “Is that true? Am I embarrassing you? I thought all pretty women enjoyed receiving compliments.”

Dark eyes lifted, shooting daggers in his direction. “The compliments I don’t mind but…” Her voice trailed off before she tightened her lush lips.

Sebastian placed his hands on the table, leaning forward. The smell of her perfume wafted to his nostrils, tickling his senses with its flowery fragrance. “But, what, Chastity?”

“I just rather you didn’t.”

The blaring shrill of a cell phone ring cut through the air. It was for Jeremy. “Jeremy Owens, speaking.” He listened for a moment, then covered the mouthpiece and lowered it. “Excuse me. I’m going to have to take this.” Sliding out of the booth, he gave them an apologetic look.

Chastity looked like she wanted to toss something at Sebastian when they were alone. A chuckle erupted from his throat. “Alone at last, my pretty,” he purred.

“Why?” came her clipped demand.

“Why what?”

“Why did you invite yourself to lunch with us? How did you know Jeremy and I didn’t have something to discuss…privately?”

He didn’t like the way she’d emphasized that last word. Was she now switching her attention to his partner? Over his dead body would he allow that to happen. “Why are you willing to have lunch with Jeremy and not with me?”

“Because I like Jeremy.”

She couldn’t have made a more hurtful statement. Trying hard not to wince, Sebastian looked her straight in the eye, the smirk returning to his face. “Well, let’s get to know each other better, and I’m sure you’ll find something to like.”

“I’ve learned all I want to know about you in the past two years and I’m not impressed.” Chastity picked up her glass of diet soda, sliding the straw between crimson colored lips. His cock jumped to attention while he watched the slim white tube disappear a centimeter at a time into her mouth, before she took a sip. Her eyes locked with his as the steady stream of fluid flowed down her throat. Never in his life had he been jealous of an inanimate object. He wanted to be that straw in the worse way.

She was doing it on purpose. He was sure of it. When she lifted her head she ran her tantalizingly pink tongue over full lips. Pushing the drink away from her, Chastity sighed. “You know what?”

“What?” he croaked. His throat had gone dry.

“You’re an arrogant son of a bitch. The Earth doesn’t revolve around you.”

“Now wait just a—”

“No. You wait a minute. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to pull.”

“Just what game do you think I’m playing?”

With a slight twitch of her lips and a rise of her brow, she looked him up and down. “You want me.”

Sebastian’s jaw dropped. He’d originally thought Chastity had been abducted by pod people, and now he was sure of it. Pod person or not, she was absolutely right. He wanted her like crazy. “But I suppose you’re going to tell me that you don’t want me.”

“On the contrary, I want you too.”

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or skeptical at that statement. “You could have fooled the hell out of me. So, why the ice princess act? You’ve been giving me attitude for the past two months.”

She shrugged one pink-clad shoulder. “That’s not important.”

“I think it is. And what about Jeremy? The two of you seemed pretty chummy earlier.”

“You sound jealous.” Her dimples appeared when she bared small white teeth. Chastity’s smile lit up her entire face. Sebastian found it enchanting even though she was driving him nuts. Why had he never noticed these little subtleties before now? “Maybe I am.”

“There’s no need to be. Jeremy is a nice guy, but I have a thing for tall Italian men with eyes the color of freshly grown grass.”

He smiled at her detailed description. “It sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my eyes.”

“So?” She grinned unrepentantly, before taking another sip of her soft drink. Whatever had brought on this about-face, Sebastian had no plans to delve into the reasons why. He couldn’t afford to, because his cock told him to take advantage of the moment.

“You have beautiful eyes too. Why you used to wear those horrible glasses is beyond me.”

The very same eyes he’d just complimented narrowed slightly, and he knew he’d said the wrong thing, but the smile returned to her face. “Yes, they were horrible weren’t they?” she agreed.

“Chastity, I’m not going to beat around the bush—”

“Then don’t.”

“Fair enough. I want to take you out.”

Her face remained impassive. “Sounds boring.”

“I beg your pardon?” Why the hell was he working so hard for this woman who displayed Sybil-like tendencies?

“There’s no pardon to beg. Look, I’m going to make this easy for you. The only reason you want to take me out is to get into my pants. You’ll wine and dine me, tell me the things you think I want to hear, and say how enchanting I look or how beautiful my skin is. Or something equally as corny, but when it all comes right down to it, you’re hoping to get me into the sack.”

“Well I—”

She held up her hand. “No explanation needed. Like I said, I’m going to make this easy for you. You want to screw me, and I’m going to let you. I don’t need dinner or flowers. Just you.”

Was this a wet dream? Was Chastity really sitting here in front of him saying that all she wanted was to screw? He was on the verge of answering when Jeremy chose that moment to reappear.

“Sorry about that, guys. I had a call from the office.”

Son of a bitch!