her desk. Over the last two weeks, she’d received a bevy of things like it. Every day since she’d last seen Sebastian, she’d arrived at her work to find a hot cup of Starbucks coffee on her desk. A vanilla latte with no whipped cream and fat-free milk. The first had come with a handwritten note:
A peace offering. To get you through the morning.
~Sebastian
When the fifth arrived, she’d finally asked Paula. She said he stopped in every morning. How the hell he managed to beat her to work, she didn’t know, but he hadn’t stopped there, either. Every day lunch had been delivered via a messenger. Again, the first came with another handwritten note:
I know you have a tendency to skip lunch in favor of work. You’re not doing anybody any good if you don’t stop to eat.
~Sebastian
The trouble was, he was right. She did have a tendency to skip lunch. Especially now with the software release coming in two weeks. This was always the busiest time, to make sure nothing went wrong on release day.
Today’s surprise was a box of cookies. Peanut butter cookies to be exact. This one, though, hadn’t come with a note. She didn’t have to ask to know these were likely from Sebastian as well. Mrs. Humphreys, her parents’ housekeeper when she and Caden were kids, always made sure there was a fresh, warm batch when they got home from school every day. Nine times out of ten, Sebastian would come home with them. She had so many memories of the three of them, sitting in the kitchen, chomping down cookies and swallowing them with glasses of milk. Ever since, peanut butter cookies had always reminded her of home.
She released a heavy sigh, leaned back in her chair, and turned her gaze to the white textured ceiling. What she’d wanted was time. She was struggling with the aftermath of their night together. With any other man, she had no problem walking away. Sebastian was just different. They couldn’t go back from this. Neither could she forget. Truth be told, she wasn’t certain she wanted to, or even could, think of him as just a friend now. So she’d put her head down and focused on work.
And now this. Clearly he had a reason for doing it, but what? Sebastian had never showered her with quite so much before. Oh, he took her out for lunch on her birthday every year. Christmas they always exchanged gifts. But up until the day his father died, he’d always been rather…indifferent toward her. While the gifts were sweet, she still hadn’t a clue which side of him was real.
How was she supposed to react to this after the way things had ended between them? Call and thank him and pretend nothing had changed? She wasn’t sure she could pull it off anymore.
Before she could decide, her phone buzzed from its position on the corner of her desk. Sebastian’s number flashed on the screen. Apparently, she couldn’t avoid him either.
She sat forward, snatched up her phone, and punched the ACCEPT button. “Sebastian, what is all this?”
“So you got them.”
She closed her eyes. It was the first time in two weeks that they’d really spoken. Oh, he’d called, and she’d texted to thank him for the coffee and the lunches, but the sound of his voice on a machine had nothing on him live. His rich, smooth rumble slid along the phone line like a hot caress, sending a shower of sparks over the surface of her skin.
She sighed. This. This was why she’d been avoiding him. What she needed was time to find her center again, to find some kind of equilibrium where he was concerned, but how the hell could she do that when just the sound of his voice weakened her defenses?
“I got the cookies. Thank you. Peanut butter is my favorite.” She swallowed a miserable groan. Of course he knew that.
“Mrs. Humphreys’s cookies. You mentioned her that morning. You were babbling at me while you made breakfast. I remember those peanut butter cookies she used to make. You know I don’t cook, so these are from that bakery you love in Pike
A peace offering. To get you through the morning.
~Sebastian
When the fifth arrived, she’d finally asked Paula. She said he stopped in every morning. How the hell he managed to beat her to work, she didn’t know, but he hadn’t stopped there, either. Every day lunch had been delivered via a messenger. Again, the first came with another handwritten note:
I know you have a tendency to skip lunch in favor of work. You’re not doing anybody any good if you don’t stop to eat.
~Sebastian
The trouble was, he was right. She did have a tendency to skip lunch. Especially now with the software release coming in two weeks. This was always the busiest time, to make sure nothing went wrong on release day.
Today’s surprise was a box of cookies. Peanut butter cookies to be exact. This one, though, hadn’t come with a note. She didn’t have to ask to know these were likely from Sebastian as well. Mrs. Humphreys, her parents’ housekeeper when she and Caden were kids, always made sure there was a fresh, warm batch when they got home from school every day. Nine times out of ten, Sebastian would come home with them. She had so many memories of the three of them, sitting in the kitchen, chomping down cookies and swallowing them with glasses of milk. Ever since, peanut butter cookies had always reminded her of home.
She released a heavy sigh, leaned back in her chair, and turned her gaze to the white textured ceiling. What she’d wanted was time. She was struggling with the aftermath of their night together. With any other man, she had no problem walking away. Sebastian was just different. They couldn’t go back from this. Neither could she forget. Truth be told, she wasn’t certain she wanted to, or even could, think of him as just a friend now. So she’d put her head down and focused on work.
And now this. Clearly he had a reason for doing it, but what? Sebastian had never showered her with quite so much before. Oh, he took her out for lunch on her birthday every year. Christmas they always exchanged gifts. But up until the day his father died, he’d always been rather…indifferent toward her. While the gifts were sweet, she still hadn’t a clue which side of him was real.
How was she supposed to react to this after the way things had ended between them? Call and thank him and pretend nothing had changed? She wasn’t sure she could pull it off anymore.
Before she could decide, her phone buzzed from its position on the corner of her desk. Sebastian’s number flashed on the screen. Apparently, she couldn’t avoid him either.
She sat forward, snatched up her phone, and punched the ACCEPT button. “Sebastian, what is all this?”
“So you got them.”
She closed her eyes. It was the first time in two weeks that they’d really spoken. Oh, he’d called, and she’d texted to thank him for the coffee and the lunches, but the sound of his voice on a machine had nothing on him live. His rich, smooth rumble slid along the phone line like a hot caress, sending a shower of sparks over the surface of her skin.
She sighed. This. This was why she’d been avoiding him. What she needed was time to find her center again, to find some kind of equilibrium where he was concerned, but how the hell could she do that when just the sound of his voice weakened her defenses?
“I got the cookies. Thank you. Peanut butter is my favorite.” She swallowed a miserable groan. Of course he knew that.
“Mrs. Humphreys’s cookies. You mentioned her that morning. You were babbling at me while you made breakfast. I remember those peanut butter cookies she used to make. You know I don’t cook, so these are from that bakery you love in Pike
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