She hesitated, regarding him with wide, wary eyes behind her water-dotted lens. Then she nodded. But she still didn’t accept his hand as she fell into step beside him.
God, she was so stupid. Why hadn’t she realized that setting off the sprinkler would only trigger the one near the fire? She should have known that!
“Just down here.”
Wilhelmina stopped fixating on her own stupidity and turned her attention to the man walking slightly ahead of her. Sebastian’s stylish green shirt was now rumpled and wet, clinging to his broad shoulders and muscular back. His pants were equally drenched and outlined the curve of his tight, little…She immediately lifted her gaze from his perfect rear end and instead focused on the soggy, suctioning sound of his expensive shoes as he strode down the hall.
“Here we are,” he said, glancing back at her and then gesturing to a large freight elevator. He lifted the metal gate that served as the door and waited for her to step in.
She glanced at the small enclosure, anxiety filling her. “Wh—where are we going?”
“Upstairs to my apartment.”
She stepped back. “Why?”
Did he want to get her alone to exact some wicked punishment on her? Her skin tingled at the idea, and she told herself it was fear. Absolutely fear.
But instead of laughing evilly and informing her of his dastardly plans, he smiled in a lopsided way and said, “Because that’s where I keep my towels.”
When she just stared at him, he pushed the elevator gate higher and gestured with his head. “Please get in. Even if you don’t mind wet clothes, I’d like to change mine.”
She hesitated just a moment longer, then stepped inside. Sebastian dropped the gate and pressed the black button labeled with a white number three. The elevator shuddered to life.
Although the elevator was large by, well, elevator standards, Wilhelmina felt like the enclosure was closing in on her. Sebastian, while on the other side of the space, wasn’t helping matters. His large body seemed to eat up the distance between them.
She watched him from the corner of her eyes, his presence unnerving, more unnerving than the enclosed quarters. She again noticed the way his damp clothes adhered to his muscles. The way his mussed hair curled, golden in the subdued light.
She grimaced, forcing her gaze to the metal flooring. Of course, he’s unnerving. Because of all the terrible things she’d heard about the man, she told herself. Although as her skin tingled again, she wasn’t sure if that was totally true.
After what seemed like ages, the elevator jerked to a stop and Sebastian lifted the metal grating. Wilhelmina stepped past him, giving him a wide berth, into another hallway that looked similar to the back halls of the nightclub—unpainted drywall and metal ductwork along the ceiling. The only difference was that at the end of this hall was a heavy, ornate, wooden door and beyond that Sebastian’s apartment.
Again, she considered just telling him she was fine and taking the elevator back down to the club. She knew better than to get into a situation where she was alone with him. Then Sebastian offered her another lopsided smile, and for some reason, she didn’t leave. Instead she followed him through the doorway.
She didn’t understand why she followed him. There was nothing to be gained from going to his place. No reason to see if she could find more ideas for sabotage from his personal space. After all, because of her ignorance about the workings of sprinkler systems, she wasn’t going to be employed at Carfax Abbey much longer. Her second attempt at sabotage, another failure.
Actually this attempt was an utter disaster.
Sebastian twisted the doorknob and stepped aside to allow her in. The door opened into an entryway with dark hardwood floors and burgundy walls. She paused again, her senses telling her this was dangerous. She shouldn’t be alone with this vampire. He was untrustworthy and potentially very dangerous.
Then she recalled that Sebastian lived with his brother, Rhys. She knew of him from Dr. Fowler, the scientist whose foundation had proved the truth about preternatural beings. Rhys had become a believer in Fowler’s teachings. She knew he could be trusted. In fact, maybe getting to know him and his mate would be a way to put a stop to his brother’s biting ways. They must disapprove of his behavior, too.
Sebastian led her through a small kitchen to a spacious living room. This room also had dark hardwood floors and was decorated in a deep plum color with oversized gray furniture and heavy wooden end tables. The walls were lined with shelves full of books, and a gray marble fireplace created the focal point of the room.
Wilhelmina was surprised. It was hardly the place where she would have expected the infamous Sebastian Young to spend his time. She pictured a place of seduction. Not coziness and warmth.
This had to be his brother’s influence. She concentrated, trying to sense other presences in the apartment. She couldn’t detect any.
“Doesn’t your brother live with you?” she asked.
“Rhys lives in the apartment above this. I used to live up there too, but once he married his wife, Jane, I thought I should give them their space. I had this place built about six months ago.”
He’d had the apartment built like this for himself? She gaped around. Where were the mirrored ceilings? Not that a vampire would likely have mirrors. But where was the shag carpeting? The low, colored, recessed lighting? The piped-in porn music?
Then the realization that she was alone with him hit her. A shiver ran down her spine. Cozy or not, what if he did bring her up here to do something nefarious? Surely, he was furious about the flooded backroom. Surely, he was going to chastise her in some way.
She stepped back from him, her eyes on the door. If she remained calm, she could likely make it back to the hallway and the elevator before he caught her. She glanced at him, noting his long legs and lean muscles. Maybe she could. Maybe.
But rather than approach her with a villainous glint in his intense golden eyes, he strode away from her and opened another heavy wooden door on the other side of the room.
“Here’s the bathroom, if you’d like to dry off.”
Although there didn’t seem to be anything menacing about his offer, she still regarded him uneasily.
He flipped on the light and pushed the door wide. “See, it’s a bathroom. Really.”
She nodded, feeling a little foolish, then slowly crossed the room. The bathroom was also large with a separate shower and whirlpool bathtub. But that was the only decadent luxury in the room. The décor was gray marble, both functional and stylish.
He crossed to a closet near the shower. She stood near the bathroom door, watching him. He pulled out a towel, then he strolled toward her.
Ha! Here we go. Now he was going to suggest she undress or something equally rude and offensive. She shivered, another tingle shimmying over her flesh.
He simply held the plain white towel out to her.
“Here you go. And help yourself to anything you want.”
He grabbed a towel for himself and headed toward the door.
“Wait,” she said more sharply than she intended, her voice echoing off the tile. He paused and turned back to her, arching an eyebrow.
“Aren’t—aren’t you going to fire me?” she asked, her voice now much softer, and irritatingly to herself, a little shaky.
Sebastian shook his head. “No. Accidents happen.” He offered her another smile and left the room.
Wilhelmina remained motionless, the towel held loosely in her hand. She couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t going to fire her. Her plans for him and Carfax Abbey weren’t thwarted.
She wondered why she didn’t