Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 18

The short-haired receptionist was the first to snap back to reality, collapsing heavily into her chair. "Which network did she say she was from again?"

"Kingshire Financial News."

"A financial anchor..." the short-haired girl muttered, her gears turning. "Do you think Mr. Hawthorne is actually going to agree to an interview just because of her? I heard he's never agreed to an exclusive. The PR department has been begging him for months."

The long-haired girl pressed her hands against her cheeks. "Isn't that amazing?! They look so perfect together! I'm a woman and I'm practically swooning over her! She's just that gorgeous!"

This gossip was entirely too massive to process all at once.

...

The fifty-second floor of Everest Law Group, the penthouse suite.

The floor-to-ceiling windows offered an unobstructed, almost arrogantly luxurious view of the entire Kingshire CBD skyline.

Sebastian gestured toward the seating area. "Take a seat."

He settled into the armchair directly across from her.

Audrina placed her portfolio on the glass table. "Securing an audience with you is certainly no easy feat."

The sunlight caught the side of her face, illuminating her cascading waves and the subtle upward curl of her eyelashes. Her eyes shimmered with the golden reflection of the morning sun. She tilted her chin up slightly, her red lips undeniably inviting.

Sebastian crossed his long legs, his eyes fixed intensely on her.

When he didn't say a word, Audrina softened her voice. "I even had Zachary call you last night, yet I still almost got turned away at the door this morning. Are you always this ruthless?"

His lips twitched into a faint smirk. "I didn't receive that call until exactly 11:31 PM. It was far too late to inform reception. But tell me, Ms. Monroe, why exactly did you have Zachary make that call?"

Sebastian was clearly entirely irritated by that specific phone call.

Late at night, alone in a room with her fiancé. Exactly what methods had she employed to convince Zachary to reach out to him? And what did they do after the call ended? 11:31 PM was a painfully provocative time of night.

Sebastian listened quietly, offering only a single condition: "The interview will take place here, in an Everest conference room."

Audrina agreed without a second thought.

For the remainder of the discussion, their interaction was strictly professional. Her documents lay on the table between them. Every time she looked down at the pages, his eyes traced the elegant lines of her profile. Whenever she looked up to meet his gaze, he smoothly averted his eyes, looking the picture of total professionalism.

After this happened a few times, she finally couldn't help herself. She looked up, locking eyes with him. "What exactly are you looking at?"

Sebastian completely ignored her question, his voice dropping into a dangerously soft murmur as he asked, "Does it still hurt?"

She froze for a split second, immediately realizing what he was referring to, but before she could formulate a response, he pushed further.

His voice tightened. "When you do it with him, does it not hurt? Does it feel that good?"

He was entirely convinced they had slept together last night, that she had coaxed Zachary into bed just to get him to make that phone call.