The Alpha's Baby(6)

"I'm a gentleman," he said.

She nodded in agreement. "Maybe I should take a picture of you for memorabilia's sake. I hear your kind is on the brink of extinction."

"Go ahead. Take a photo." He struck a pose. "Hell, I'll even give you an autograph."

She snorted and took a huge gulp of alcohol, thinking, Boy, Sebastian can be as charming as hell when he wants to be.

"You're so generous." She grinned at him.

The man straightened up and winked. "You have no idea."

"And so humble."

"That too." He gave a rakish grin. "But I have many other redeeming qualities."

"Such as?" She counted being unbelievably handsome as one, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

To her surprise, Sebastian touched her hand, his eyes fixed on hers. "Do you want a list?"

She shook her head. "Don't trouble yourself."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all." He began to count on his fingers. "I'm smart. I have leadership skills. I'm protective—"

"Gentlemanly," she chimed in, then drained her glass of wine.

"Gentlemanly," he agreed, then poured her another glass. He waved at her drink. "Generous, too."

"Nice to see you don't have a swelled head."

"Of course not." Sebastian chuckled, then leaned back.

Grinning, she stared down into her wine.

"Tastes good, right?" He smirked at her.

"Best wine I've ever tasted."

He pushed the bottle toward her. "Have as much as you like."

And she did too.



****



Either Emmy had drunk too much or the world had been submerged underwater in the past half hour. As she swayed on the couch, Sebastian sat across from her. She stared at him and thought, He's too damn good-looking. And unfortunately, after how much wine she'd drunk, she'd lost her ability to keep her mouth shut.

"Do you know how handsome you are?" Emmy meant to pat his arm, but her hand somehow ended up on his chest instead. Oops. Had she done that?

"You're too kind." Sebastian studied her, grinning. "Though I'm afraid I should probably take you home. I think we've both had too much to drink."

Sebastian stood up and took a step, but she seized his arm before she even realized what she was doing. A tantalizingly sweet odor enveloped her nostrils, making her half forget why she'd grabbed him in the first place…Oh, wait, now she remembered. She didn't want to leave.

"Not yet." She buried her fingers into his arm. "I don't want to go."

"You have to work in the morning. You told me," he said, his voice laced with concern.

Wrinkling her nose, Emmy staggered to her feet. Unfortunately, if her balance was poor when she was sober, it was even worse when she was drunk. She was forced to cling to him like a barnacle to stone. Instead of pulling away like she expected—and even she had to admit that she was really close—he wrapped an arm around her, holding her against him. She'd been feeling swirls of desire the entire evening, but now those swirls became wild, spinning typhoons of molten heat. All she wanted to do was feel every inch of him beneath her fingertips. She gasped, shocked by her train of thought. She wasn't normally the type of woman who had trouble fighting her sexual urges. Sure, she ogled as much as the next person, but this was different because she wanted something besides an imaginary fling.

"I'm not going to let you call a cab." She clung to his shirt.

Sebastian tightened his grip on her. "No?"

"Nuh-uh." She shook her head, then felt her legs weaken.

He peered deep into her eyes, and she felt as though she was swimming in a sea of gray.

"You're so handsome," she whispered.

He chuckled. "I believe you've said that already."

"It's true, though." She found herself leaning closer.

The smile left his face, and he pulled back.

"You don't want to lean so close, sweetheart," he said softly.

Sweetheart? She liked the sound of that endearment. Then again, anybody could be called sweetheart—daughters, cousins, friends, and strange drunken women who he felt pity for.

"Why not?" She frowned at him.

"Because I'll have trouble keeping my hands off you."

She glanced pointedly at his hand on her waist. "Your hands are already on me."

Though Sebastian laughed, she could tell he was wary. "You know what I mean."

"Oh, puh-lease." She rolled her eyes. "Like you have to worry about losing control around me."

Unfortunately, she must have said the wrong thing because Sebastian's eyes narrowed. He seized her chin and directed her face toward his.

"And why wouldn't I have to worry about losing control around you?" he asked.