Chapter 20

His full brows shot up so high, Jane didn't think it was normal. "That was not what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" She was suddenly shy.

"To be honest, something along the lines of 'don't be stupid,' and 'you're an idiot'."

She tucked a strand of hair that had come loose from her rough bun behind her ear. "Is that how low you think of me?"

"I don't know what to think of you." The words were low and deep and most of all, sincere.

Those weren't the words she'd been expecting to fly out of her mouth. When he'd spoken about being free, for the first time in her entire life, it felt like there was someone who really understood what she was about. She hadn't had to explain herself or speak in a certain way so she didn't come off as ungrateful. She hadn't had to do anything at all. He got her.

She'd always been told she was lucky. Coming from a family that had literally anything, she'd been expected to smile and talk in a certain way. Words of complaints were seen as pride and met with disdain.

Jane understood from a young age that she had a reputation to maintain, a family image to protect and she did so with her chin raised and her head up high. Being the first daughter of Alistair Hendricks was no joke. To the public eye, together with her twin brother, she was the heiress princess of a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. Nobody could say she wasn't hard-working. She might have been where she was today because of her family's money but she had earned her place by putting in the work.

"I fear I might have given you the wrong impression." She told him.

"Which? That you are probably the scariest woman I've ever encountered or that you want me?"

She gazed into those smoldering honey brown eyes that refused to leave her dreams. It might have been true that she'd been a bit terrifying the night they'd met but it was definitely true that she wanted him. Hearing him say it out loud with that smug smirk on his face did nothing to quell her pride though.

"That I feel compelled to explain myself to you."

"Ah, come on, Jane," He cooed mockingly. "Don't be sour. It doesn't become you."

"What does?"

He inched closer to their table, his gaze piercing her skin again. Why did he keep looking at her like that, like he wanted to swallow her up?

"I can bet you're wet right now just thinking of me kissing you. Tell me, Jane, have you ever been with a man?"

Her breath hitched. He was, in fact, correct. About the wet part, of course. She clenched her thighs together and that was when she felt the dampness in her inner thighs. Jane was reeling. Words failed her.

She had been with a man. Elijah had been her first lover. Their relationship hadn't been one of ease. They'd had to keep things under a wrap because he was her employee and her father had been strongly against her being with any man. She'd only come to understand why a few weeks ago. Her father would've fired Elijah the second he learned of their relationship. Plus, she had the suspicion that he'd cared more about his job than he did her. It had just been convenient banging the CEO's daughter.

This man in front of her, who somehow seemed to have such a strong grip on her libido, was as irritating as a housefly, and it pissed her off because she wanted him more than she'd ever wanted anyone in her life. "You're disgusting."

He chuckled deeply and the sound reverberated through her body. "I bet you I could make you cum just by touching your clit. I bet you're so responsive, Jane."

His dirty remarks made her hot and she was losing her ability to think straight. To hell with it. She wanted to give in. She wanted him to touch her pulsing clit, wanted him to make her feel the way she was sure no other man could. When last had she cum? When last had she experienced that mind-shattering explosion flow through her body? All her rubbing and circling had been in vain. Her clit hated her hands.

"Sebastian," She murmured, aware that she sounded weak and puny.

He licked his lips, his eyes resting on her chest. "What, Jane?" He dragged his eyes back to hers slowly as anticipation ran through her body, prickling her skin as it went.

"Please."

The diner seemed to close in on them. There were people everywhere. Mrs. Rose and Mark were walking to and fro, serving customers. The table next to them was occupied by a young man and a woman who was probably his wife and two kids. This was no place to lose her home training.

To her immense shame, the thought of retreating to her room—or his—to finish what he started crossed her mind. Doing that would go beyond the lines she'd put in place between them. Doing that would change everything. She'd never been with a man without a plan. Granted, she'd only been with one man but with Elijah, she'd believed they would eventually end up together. She'd fancied herself in love with him, thought he'd loved her too. Being with Sebastian when she knew it would be nothing more than a rut in the sack wasn't a pleasing prospect.

"Please what, Jane?" His words were urgent now, fast and authoritative. "Please what?"

Please touch my clit? What was she supposed to say? Please make me cum in a diner full of people? Please don't mind that I touch myself at night thinking about you fucking me and I want you to do it in reality? This was ridiculous.

So she did the only thing her brain could think of:

She ran away.