It had been a while since he'd gotten laid. That could be the only explanation for his reaction. Yes. That had to be it. His last relationship had ended over two months ago. All he'd have to do was look through his little black book and the problem would be solved. Or would it? He certainly hoped so, because l.u.s.ting after Chast.i.ty was not a good idea.

Chapter Three.

A slow smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Chast.i.ty hadn't known what Sebastian's reaction would be to her new look, but she hadn't expected to see the unhidden look of l.u.s.t in the depth of his light green eyes. She may not have much experience with the opposite s.e.x, but it was impossible to mistake that raw hunger. In a way, it had excited her to see the appreciative look on his face, but on the other hand, it scared her.

No one had ever looked at her like that before. Of course there'd been boyfriends, but they'd been staid and boring. If the truth were told, Chast.i.ty's past relationships lacked fire. She instinctively knew it would be different with Sebastian. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd leave her satisfied and panting for more. She could easily find herself falling for him all over again, so she'd have to tread lightly.

It had taken every ounce of willpower within her not to go doe-eyed on him. Only reminding herself of the humiliating things he'd said about her strengthened her resolve to remain pa.s.sive. Dallas would be so proud of the cool-as-a-cuc.u.mber att.i.tude Chast.i.ty displayed when confronted by Sebastian.

She could hardly believe she looked like this herself. Having grown up in a single-parent home, raised by a young mother who felt the need to compete with her daughter whenever a boy was brought home, shattered her self-esteem. Chast.i.ty supposed it was the reason she'd never done much with her appearance before. She'd just given up when she realized that she could never outshine her gorgeous mother, who never seemed to let her forget it.

The fear of being found lacking carried over into adulthood. It was something she should have gotten over by now at thirty-one years old, but old scars were difficult to heal. Perhaps the Sebastian incident had been just what she needed to turn her life around. Just as her friends had promised, they'd taken her in hand. Kevin, along with his boyfriend Nick, an artist with a killer fashion sense, had raided her closet and thrown nearly all of her wardrobe in the trash.

Then they took her to South Street where they commenced putting a huge dent into her savings, picking out clothes, shoes and accessories. They found tasteful clothing that not only showed off her voluptuous figure to its advantage, but concealed her trouble spots as well.

Nick and Kevin showed her the kind of outfits that would flatter her and what wouldn't so she could shop on her own in the future. No longer could she use her size as an excuse to dress like someone's grandma. It had been an exhausting excursion.

The next day Dallas snapped Chast.i.ty's gla.s.ses in two, forcing her to wear the contacts Chast.i.ty never touched. Then they headed to a spa where she was treated to a deep tissue ma.s.sage, a pedicure, manicure and makeover. The make-up artist taught her how to apply the make-up as artfully as she had. After the spa, the two women took a trip to the hairdresser where Chast.i.ty received a fresh relaxer and trim. Her hair had been styled into soft curls. The result with the hair, make-up and clothing was more than she expected. For the first time in her life, she felt beautiful.

There was no feeling in the world like walking down the street and turning heads. It was truly an empowering experience and she loved it. Now remember, you have to be ice cold to Sebastian. Bring him to his knees, girlfriend. Dallas's words drifted through her consciousness. Chast.i.ty glanced at her silver wrist.w.a.tch, seeing that she needed to be in Sebastian's office in five minutes.

She silently congratulated herself once again on how she'd handled herself with him.

"Aren't you a cool one this morning, Miss Pig-I mean Chast.i.ty?" Pearl's harsh voice sliced through her thoughts. The Miss Piggy comments were getting tiresome. Complaints to the office manager did no good, because Pearl would claim she'd been heard incorrectly, all while smiling sweetly.

It didn't matter, because Chast.i.ty wasn't going to allow the old bat get under her skin.

When Chast.i.ty didn't respond, Pearl continued to needle. "I see you're ignoring me. Do you think you're hot stuff now that you've finally done something with yourself?"

"Not at all, Pearl. I have a lot on my mind right now, is all."

"Humph. I know what's on your mind and just because you got yourself a makeover, it doesn't mean the boss is finally going to notice you."

Last week this comment would have gotten under her skin, but Chast.i.ty simply smiled. That's exactly what she was banking on, but she wanted Sebastian to do more than just notice her. Still, she didn't respond to the annoying woman who seemed to grow more agitated with each pa.s.sing second.

"I was talking to you, missy," Pearl hissed.

On the verge of telling Pearl to shut the h.e.l.l up, she bit her lip. No, she wouldn't let this woman ruin her day. "I know you were, Pearl, but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond to that statement."

The other woman snorted. "Well, I hope you don't start acting all high and mighty just because you look halfway decent now. You still need to lose weight," she finished nastily.

Chast.i.ty's smile widened and she looked Pearl straight into her faded blue eyes. "I appreciate your concern, but I promise I won't start acting that way, especially since you have the market cornered on high and mighty around here. Now that I've tried something new, why don't you do something new as well, like minding your own business?"

Pearl's face turned beet red to the roots of her silver hair. "Well, I never! That's what's wrong with the world today. You young people don't know the meaning of the word respect."

"You have to give respect to in order to get it. You've been nasty to me since I started working here and frankly, I'm tired of it. I'm not going to allow you to use your age as an excuse, so now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with Mr. Rossi." Chast.i.ty stood, pad and pen in hand, and turned her back on the gaping woman.

Screw her.

As Chast.i.ty walked away, she heard Pearl mutter under her breath. She didn't care what the cantankerous woman was saying. That heffa could kiss her big black a.s.s. As she pa.s.sed the receptionist's desk she gave a little wave.

"Chast.i.ty, is that you?" Debbie's large blue eyes widened.

"Yes, what do you think?" She twirled around with a flourish.

Debbie looked at her with faintly envious eyes. "You look fabulous. I knew you could be a stunner if you put your mind to it. I've been hearing about this new look around the office all morning. Whatever you did to yourself, you have to let me in on your secret."

"It's no secret. I just got rid of the granny gear and let my hair down. Anyway, you don't need to do a thing for yourself, you look great."

"You're a sweetie-hold on." Debbie answered the ringing phone.

"I'll catch you later," Chast.i.ty whispered, looking down at her watch again. Shoot. Five minutes late. She knew Sebastian's pet peeve was tardiness. She walked to his office to find the door open and a sudden nervousness. .h.i.t her. As though sensing her presence, Sebastian's head lifted from the papers he'd been intently studying.

His eyes narrowed, shooting blue fire. "What took you so long?" he barked.

Chast.i.ty took a step back, her courage slowly slipping away. Stay strong, she told herself. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped inside the office. Why did he have to look so good?

"How about closing the door behind you?"

"Excuse me?" Had she heard him correctly? Sebastian had never asked her to close the door to his office before.

"I said close the door. Did your new look damage your hearing?"

His rudeness caught her off guard, making her gasp.

He sighed. "That was uncalled for, Chast.i.ty. I apologize. Would you please close the door?"

"Why?"

"So that we can have some privacy, I need to go over this case with you."

"As long as we've worked together, you never asked for privacy before," she pointed out.

An irritated look crossed his chiseled face as he shot out of his chair with a curse. "For the love of G.o.d, it was a simple request, woman." Storming over to the door, he closed it with a decisive click. Sebastian glared at her before sitting back down. "Now, do you think we can get started without you questioning my every request?"

Chast.i.ty couldn't hold back her smile. Day one and she was already getting under his skin. Sebastian didn't seem like he could take his eyes off her.

He raised one dark, thick brow. "What are you grinning about?"

"You're being really cranky this morning. Hard night?"

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'm not sure I like it," he muttered. "And what the heck happened to you anyway?"

"A little of this and that. I thought you said you wanted to discuss work?" Chast.i.ty smiled at him again, crossing and uncrossing her legs in a deliberate play for his attention. She didn't miss the way his eyes followed the motion. Chast.i.ty cleared her throat when he didn't speak.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." He tugged at his tie as if it were chocking him.

She raised the notepad over her mouth to hide yet another smile. "Chast.i.ty, if you're finished playing hide and seek, let's get down to business," he said gruffly.

They began to discuss one of his upcoming cases. It was for one of his pro bono clients. Chast.i.ty had worked for other law firms and none of them gave back to the community as much as Sebastian did. It was one of the reasons she'd always admired him. He genuinely seemed to care about the people he represented and took his job seriously. For a man with such an excellent work ethic, it was a shame that he was such a rat where women were concerned.

They became so deeply engrossed with their discussion that the interruption of his telephone was jarring. "Hold on a second," he said before answering. "Sebastian Rossi speaking." A large smile split his face after a brief pause. "Robin, this is a pleasant surprise. You could never be a bother, sweet pea."

Who the h.e.l.l was Robin? Chast.i.ty stood, thinking it would be best to give him some privacy. "I'll be back when you're finished."

Sebastian held up his hand to halt her. "I would love to, honey. I appreciate your asking me. Now that we live in the same city I see you even less than before. It should be the other way around."

Chast.i.ty felt uncomfortable listening to him talk to whoever this Robin person was. It was obvious he felt a genuine affection for this woman on the other end of the line, and it bothered the h.e.l.l out of her. It shouldn't have, but it did. She was supposed to be over him, exacting her plan of revenge, but here she was sitting in his office, seething with envy over this mystery woman. Chast.i.ty imagined she'd be a gorgeous blonde, or a fiery redhead with big b.o.o.bs.

"I'm sure whatever you wear will look great." He laughed that deep, throaty, wonderful laugh of his. "I look forward to it, sweet pea. I'll see you then. Love you." He waited for a brief moment before hanging up. "I'm sorry, where were we?" Sebastian seemed to be in a much better mood, but it put Chast.i.ty out of sorts. Whoever this mysterious Robin was, it sounded serious.

There was nothing she hated more than a cheater and if Sebastian was currently in a serious relationship, then this would put a wrench in her plans.

"Girlfriend?" She could have punched herself for asking that question. "Sorry. It's none of my business."

Her curiosity seemed to amuse him, his eyes twinkling. "It was my kid sister, why?"

A wave of relief so great swept through her, that she literally slumped in her chair before righting herself. "Just making conversation." Hurriedly she glanced at her notes. "Uh, we were talking about contributory liability and how much of it was the client's fault."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"What? Oh, I'm fine."

"You were frowning."

Chast.i.ty shrugged. "I was just thinking."

"About what? Your little lunch date?" The derisive note in his voice made her sit up taller and pay attention.

"No, actually I wasn't, not that it's any of your business."

"Ah, so it's okay for you to quiz me, but I'm not allowed the same privilege?"

Her face grew warm. He had a point, but she wasn't about to let him turn this thing back on her. "I shouldn't have asked."

"You said you were just making conversation. So let's talk."

"But you didn't call me in here to make conversation. You called me to your office to work, not talk."

A smile touched his s.e.xy lips. "Yes, so I did. I'm sorry, but I have to ask. Why the sudden transformation? I hardly recognize you."

"I don't see what my appearance has to do with anything," she said, not wanting to veer down this road.

"At the risk of starting an argument, I think it does. Along with this new look has come a new att.i.tude and I'm not sure I like it very much."

Because I'm not fawning all over you, she wanted to ask. "The look or the att.i.tude?"

"The att.i.tude I can definitely do without. The look..." His gaze slowly slid over her curves as if he had x-ray vision. "I like very much."

Chast.i.ty squirmed in her seat. Had someone turned up the heat in the building? He wasn't supposed to have this affect on her still. d.a.m.n the man. "Good for you, but really, as long as I'm getting my work done, what does my att.i.tude matter?"

"Oh, I think it matters a great deal. What happened to the sweet woman who always had a smile on her face? By the way, I haven't seen those adorable dimples of yours in over a week."

Adorable dimples? It surprised her that he'd noticed anything about her before this makeover. She wasn't about to let him charm her back to the doormat she used to be. "I didn't realize smiling was a requirement around here."

"No, it's not, but it's nice to see."

Chast.i.ty gave him her biggest smile. "Better?"

"Something tells me you didn't mean it."

"You wanted me to smile. You didn't say that I had to be sincere."

Sebastian threw his head back and laughed. "Perhaps you're the one who should have the law degree. You'd kill them in court. Okay, you win. It occurs to me that as long as you've been working here, I don't know much about you."

A couple weeks ago, Chast.i.ty would have loved it if he'd taken an interest in her life, but now his motives were too obvious. "I live alone with my cats Monty and Fluffy. I do believe I've told you about them before. Monty is the sp.a.w.n of Satan and Fluffy is scared of her own shadow. I spend day and night tending to their needs. They're all that matters in my life," she said, deadpan.

Sebastian's lips twisted. "Stop being so d.a.m.n facetious. I just asked a simple question."

She shrugged. "Who's being facetious? Isn't it general knowledge that the only thing going on in my life is my cats? You seem to think so, at least." She squeezed her eyes shut. d.a.m.n. She'd said too much. Chast.i.ty didn't want to reveal her hand so soon.

His brows furrowed together. "What are you talking about? Where would you get that idea?"

She should have known he'd pick up on that little slip. He wasn't one of the city's top lawyers for nothing. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can't just make a comment like that and then expect me to let it go."

"Well, you'll just have to," she shot back.

Sebastian stood and walked from behind his desk. Had she pushed him too far? Would he fire her on the spot? He stalked over to where she sat. Chast.i.ty gulped, her body once again reacting to his nearness. Her p.u.s.s.y tingled, and panties grew damp. She'd never been more aware of him than she was now, with him standing before her so tall and blatantly male. "Care to say that to my face?" he asked, leaning over her chair.

"Mr. Rossi, you're being ridiculous."

"Don't give me that Mr. Rossi c.r.a.p. You know we don't run a very formal office and you've always managed to call me Sebastian before." He knelt next to her and gasped her chin between strong fingers. It was the first time he'd ever touched her-deliberately. His pale green eyes flickered with an emotion she'd only seen in her dreams. Desire.

Her heart pounded erratically, so hard she was sure he could hear it. "Chast.i.ty, something has been bothering you lately and whatever it is, I wish you'd tell me."

"It's nothing. Absolutely nothing." More than anything she wanted to close her eyes and lean into him, finally feel the touch of his lips on hers, but this was too soon. Too fast. Chast.i.ty pulled away from his grasp, her eyes fixing on his wall clock. "Umm, I have to go. It's past twelve and my lunch date is waiting for me."

Sebastian stood abruptly, his eyes going stormy. "Who are you having lunch with? I wasn't aware that you had a boyfriend."

"Why should you know? You're my boss," she answered, trying to play it cool, even though her body screamed for the feel of his arms wrapped around her.