A/N: Since you guys have been so great in voting for the first couple of chapters just hours after I posted them, here's the third instalment. Let's hear some comments, shall we? Things are finally heating up and I want to know what you think.

***

It had been three weeks since I came to Cove Manor and once again, Sebastian made himself scarce.

I could hardly blame him.

If I were him, I’d also avoid the attentions of an infatuated school girl who made advances at every opportunity.

I was mortified by our last conversation but like how I dealt with most of the unfortunate circumstances in my life, I got over it and pushed myself to carry on.

There wasn’t anything else to do about it.

After he left me, I’d stayed behind and picked at my food. Finally, I walked the rest of the way down to the beach where I’d unstrapped my sandals and walked barefoot along the shore, enjoying the solitude nature offered to my inner riot.

I came here as a virgin prize to a complete stranger who wanted nothing to do with me.

I should be relieved and not dejected by the fact.

I was seventeen and my life had been less than ideal.

I never had the chance to be in love or come close to anything like it but I had the most nagging suspicion that Sebastian Vice irrevocably became part of my soul the first day I looked into his eyes.

But there was nothing to be done about it, really.

Not when I was just merely a passing distraction which I confirmed when I’d walked back up the stairs from my walk along the shore and saw him standing by the balcony of Aurora’s room that overlooked the beach, his arms wrapped around his exotic goddess, his expression fierce and passionate as their mouths melded.

I couldn’t compete with that and like anyone who couldn’t lose what little they had, I picked my battles and this wasn’t one of them.

I longed for my happily-ever-afters and wanted to sink back into their temporary happiness.

No wonder romance novels were sold everywhere—happily-ever-afters were rare in reality. It’s been missing in my life for a long time and I’ve only really just noticed.

I did find a cozy and charming little bookstore in town called Dover’s. I discovered it when I accompanied Mrs. Simmons on an errand at Seaside’s shopping center which was really only a few blocks of small local business that sold anything from food and household goods to souvenir items and specialty products.

I’ve ventured back into the bookshop on my spare time, walking the twenty-minute distance and spending an hour or two of my day there when the Mrs. Simmons and the staff shooed me off to go out and enjoy.

The owner was a nice, older lady named Francine and helping her around was her son Ty who was home for the summer. He’s nineteen, returning to Georgetown as a sophomore in the fall, and he was tall, lanky and cute with his sandy blond hair and blue eyes—everything a boy-next-door should be.

I didn’t really have money to buy books and Ty seemed to have known this without me saying anything. He always let me sit by the store’s bay window and let me read the book I’d started and left behind from my previous visit. He’d make coffee and share a cup with me and when we’re both not reading and the store was quiet in the early afternoon, we’d talk.

I’ve mostly evaded his questions about my background but he knew I was staying at Cove Manor for the summer.

Ty was smart and charming and I once caught myself looking at him while he read, and I realized that he would’ve been the ideal boyfriend. He was the exact opposite of the dark, brooding man who lurked in the shadows of my current castle.

Our coffee-and-book sharing sessions quickly progressed to walking around town when he wasn’t needed at Dover’s. He never made any obvious advances on me or anything like that but we were certainly developing some type of friendship.

One afternoon, he’d talked me into letting him buy us ice cream.

We had just stepped out of the gelato shop and stopped at the sidewalk, still laughing about the fact that the top half of his ice cream had slid off and splattered on the floor.

He reached out to brush his thumb on the corner of my mouth and the contact made us both go still.

My eyes sought his and saw the gleam in them.

“You had ice cream here,” he murmured, brushing his thumb on that same spot again before lifting his hand away.

“Ty...”

“Cassie...”

A sudden honk startled us and we both stepped away from each other.

A sleek, black luxury car—a Lincoln town car, from what I could see of the logo—pulled over next to the sidewalk, a dark, tinted window rolling down, revealing nothing but the shadows inside.

His head didn’t pop out but I knew instantly who it was. I could feel it in the way my skin warmed and the back of my neck skittered with recognition.

The driver’s door opened and Jennison stepped out, looking as sharp as ever, and headed towards me.

“Ms. Collins,” the man said with a slight, courteous nod, barely glancing at Ty. “We’d be more than happy to give you a ride back to Cove Manor. The hour is growing late. We’d like to see to your safety.”

“I can walk her home,” Ty spoke up candidly, seeming unaffected by Jennison’s starchy attitude. “She’ll be safe.”

Jennison finally cast a sideways glance at Ty, his expression completely unreadable.

“I appreciate the offer but it’s only four-thirty, Jennison,” I said patiently, raising my wrist to gesture with my watch. “The sun isn’t going anywhere till about ten so I think I’m fine.”

“I understand, Ms. Collins, although I must insist—”

“Get in the car, Cassandra.”

My eyes narrowed at the low, deliberate command in his voice and next to me, I could feel Ty stiffen.

“No, thank you,” I directed my answer towards the open window, my tone clipped but polite. “I’ll walk.”

I started to turn away when the passenger door of the car suddenly swung open and Sebastian’s long, sinewy frame climbed out with the grace of a barely-restrained predator.

He reached us in two long steps and arrogantly planted himself between me and Ty.

He was taller than both of us and we instinctively took a step back and tilted our heads up at him.

He would almost look too solemn in his impeccable dark gray suit if not for his hair that was tousled in light unruly waves as if a hand had raked through it a few times.

It looked like it could use a few more strokes to reach that perfect, sexy, sleep-mussed look.

My fingers itched but I remembered the present and scowled openly at him.

If he felt the daggers in my look, he didn’t show.

“Mr. Vice, this is Ty Sanders, a good friend,” I grumbled testily. “Ty, this is Sebastian Vice, my generous sponsor for this summer vacation.”

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed slightly at me but I only thrust my chin up in defiance.

“Cassandra, dinner’s at five today and I insist you don’t miss it,” Sebastian said in a silky drawl, angling a look at Ty as if he were a pest.

Ty simply glared back.

I opened my mouth to snap that we’ve never dined together unless we counted that morning we had breakfast at the kitchen but Sebastian turned back to me and the full force of his vibrantly angry green eyes stopped me mute.

A war was being waged here and if I weren’t careful, Ty could be dragged right in the middle of it.

The heat of Sebastian’s stare told me he wasn’t above hurting a few innocent bystanders.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ty,” I finally said, turning to him with a reassuring smile. “I do remember Bart telling me he was going to outdo himself tonight with dinner. He’d be disappointed if I miss it.”

“You sure?” he asked quietly, his blue eyes focusing on me with a slight frown. He could tell I was throwing in the towel with this one but he wasn’t going to push me around himself like Sebastian was.

“Yes. Thanks for the ice cream.”

Before I knew what I was doing, I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek lightly before turning to march towards the car, intentionally ignoring Jennison who scrambled to open the door for me and Sebastian who stood behind me as I got in.

I didn’t utter a word inside the car.

I didn’t glance at Sebastian who slid next to me. I could feel his scorching gaze on me but I resisted.

“That boy only wants one thing from you.”

I couldn’t help the ironic smile curve on my lips although I still managed to keep myself from glancing at him.

“And it’s up to me to decide whether I’ll give it to him or not,” I answered conversationally. “I didn’t realize that I was required to report my social activities to you.”

“You’re here as a guest. I don’t want to be remiss as your host and let you off with some gangly college boy who will take advantage of you and never look back.”

I burst into a humorless, sardonic laugh because truly, this was hilarious.

“I’m not your guest—I’m here supposedly as your sex slave, remember?” I said between dry chuckles. “Since you’re not interested, I’ve resorted to working as your servant for the summer. I’m sorry if I spent too much time not working. I promise to be at your service twenty-four-seven. Considering Timothy’s debt to you, it’d be many years before I can fully pay you back.”

His mouth thinned to a grim line. “It was never a question of my interest, Cassandra. You, on the other hand, were more clear about what was off limits.”

I opened my mouth to argue but our earlier conversations replayed in my head and I realized he was right. He never directly told me he was disinterested. I also told him I wasn’t spreading my legs.

Oh, God. How did everything get so twisted in three weeks?

I sighed, finally turning to him and meeting his gaze squarely. “So what do you want, Sebastian? Do you wish to renegotiate our original agreement? Should I earn my food and lodging at Cove Manor on my back?”

Thank God the panel that divided the front and back seats was closed.

My cheeks were burning with embarrassment and my voice had a detectable tremble to it—the last thing I needed was an audience even if it was just Jennison.

“Stop it, Cassandra,” Sebastian warned in quiet fury, his fists clenching and unclenching on his sides. “Don’t push me to do something we’ll both regret later.”

“Then stop being so damned contradictory!” I shot back. “I’m supposed to be invisible yet when you find it convenient, you just waltz right in and have your way.”

His nostrils flared as if he was having a terrible time holding his temper in check but he released a long, sharp breath and spoke calmly. “I will do my best to never cross paths with you again but if I see you doing anything that will jeopardize your safety, I will step in and do what needs to be done. I will not be responsible for your downfall, Cassandra.”

Oh, but you already are and you just don’t know it yet.

Afraid that we would literally combust into flames if we continued to fight, I bit my bottom lip in a strained effort to end all conversation.

He seemed to agree, ironically enough, complying with his own silence.

The moment the car came to a full stop by the front entrance, I scrambled out and started running up the steps.

“Cassandra.”

I came to an abrupt halt and glanced at him over my shoulder.

He inclined his head slowly. “I know I had promised to stay far away but I meant what I said about dinner. You’re to join me.”

I snorted in a most unladylike manner. “Pardon me but I think I’ll skip it. Gourmet cooking never pairs well with acerbic conversation and unappetizing dinner company. I’d hate to stay up the night with a bad tummy.”

I relished the flash of anger that crossed Sebastian’s face before I tossed my head back and continued on my way.

As I walked along the quiet hallway, I smiled and started humming a tune, fully aware that despite his detestable manners and domineering attitude, Sebastian Vice had been jealous of a gangly college boy and I couldn’t be more pleased about it.

***

I couldn’t sleep after all.

I joined Mrs. Simmons for dinner at the staff quarters and went to bed early.

I was tired but all that I saw when I closed my eyes were Sebastian’s glittering green ones.

He was a stoic man, that was for certain.

But his eyes, when he chose to lower his guard down, said more than he would ever vocalize.

And yes, in the many recurring dreams I’ve been having since I met the man, those green eyes expressed more than just an inflamed temper. They had sparkled with adoration, flared with wild lust and softened with tenderness—all for me.

But that’s why they were dreams—ones I shouldn’t be having but I felt free of the rules in my imagination.

I wanted him. I was fascinated by this fortress of a man who kept a lot out and let very little in. The instinct to peel off layers of his grand armor gnawed at me and despite the distance I’d demanded, I was jumpy at every sound and glimpse around me that I might suspect could be him.

But he’d made himself invisible in the house since I left him by the foyer this afternoon.

I did push him to stay away after all.

With a sigh, I slipped off my bed and groped for my eyeglasses on the night stand.

I usually have clear enough eyesight but I was short-sighted and had trouble in the dark. They were really dorky glasses with thick, rectangular tortoise-shell frames. They were my father’s, vintage and a surprisingly expensive brand, and when I needed prescriptions at twelve, I decided to use them—one of the few mementos I have from a man I have no memory of.

I slipped an old, light-knit cardigan long enough to cover past my pale blue cotton night dress and put my flip flops on.

It was about ten thirty but the sun had just started to slowly fade, streaks of dusk painting the sky a romantic blend of pink and oranges.

I headed down the stairs to the beach, stopping a few feet from the shore and fishing out my cellphone—an old present from my aunt and uncle that was now held up together by duct tape. I took a few pictures of the sunset to send to Deanna and Kathy to reassure them that I was having a good summer despite having suddenly disappeared to visit a family friend.

“That thing is about to fall apart.”

I didn’t have to turn around to know he was standing behind me.

“That’s what the duct tape is for.” Despite the casual answer, I felt self-conscious and tucked my phone between my hands. “Everything on it still works.”

“I didn’t mean to intrude. I didn’t realize you were here.”

I finally glanced over my shoulder and saw him standing about foot away in white linen pants and a gray shirt.

I smiled softly. “This is your beach. I’m the one intruding. I’m heading back anyway.”

“Stay,” he said, keeping his distance. “That is if you don’t mind spending some time in my unappetizing company where there’s potential for acerbic conversation.”

I couldn’t help a grin. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be crude.”

He smirked. “I wouldn’t call it crude. Your insults sound fancy for a seventeen-year-old.”

My grin broadened. “I could be quite mouthy.”

Instantly, his gaze lowered to my mouth and I felt my humor drain away.

Boy, this really was dangerous.

It was one thing to entertain a mad crush on a guy way beyond my league. It was an entirely different matter if he was reciprocating.

“You’re wearing glasses.” A hint of amusement twinkled in his eyes. “I didn’t know.”

I pushed said glasses up my nose and shrugged. “I’m nearsighted. And I can’t read stuff well when it’s dark.”

He smirked. “It’s cute.”

I grinned again. “It’s not, silly. In fact, boys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses.”

His mouth twitched further into a smile. “I’m not a boy.”

I exhaled sharply and nodded. “No, you’re not.”

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, taking a step forward until he was standing next to me.

“Not really.” I pulled my cardigan tighter around me, aware that I wasn’t wearing very much underneath and that my ratty night clothes looked worse next to his. “You?”

He shrugged. “I don’t sleep much. Or very well.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

“Just don’t.” He pushed his toes in the sand and rocked on his heels lightly. “I don’t need much of it. Never have.”

Then he cocked his head towards me and grinned. “Why sleep when you can make money?”

I snorted even though a smile slipped through. “You think someone as rich as you can afford as much as sleep as he wants. If I could have several wishes, I want one of them to be a day spent entirely in bed. I’d be buried amongst white pillows and covers and I could be sleeping or drinking coffee or reading a book or just gazing out the window.”

His eyes flickered. “There’s nothing stopping you from making that happen now. No one has required you to report to duties here. You can do that day after day if you want.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Nah. What good is a wish if it’s so easily done? Besides, life is too short to spend it all in bed.”

He laughed softly, his green eyes lighting up and his face relaxing.

The sight and sound of it caused my insides to do a somersault.

Sebastian was a sinfully handsome man.

Sebastian laughing made him extremely devastating.

“You won’t say that if you knew all the other things you could do in bed,” he replied huskily, his green eyes still dancing with amusement.

I bit my lip. “I have some idea.”

His humor fell away, his gaze now intent on the lip I was worrying.

“In another time, I’d say it’s a waste not to learn all that you can but in your case, leave it at just having some idea,” he said, his tone sounding a bit agitated now.

I scrunched up my nose at him curiously. “Why? I can’t be innocent forever.”

“You can be unless you want some man’s filthy hands all over you,” he bit out, looking a little angry now.

My brows arched in surprise. “Well, I wasn’t going to sleep with the first guy to stumble along.”

“Don’t sleep with any man at all.”

I blinked slowly. “Um, I don’t want to die a virgin.”

That stopped him.

“Well.” He seemed to be straining for breath. “Don’t sleep with someone who doesn’t deserve you.”

I grinned. “That’s a pretty difficult standard to quantify and measure. What if I just want to sleep with someone who drives me wild with desire? Just pure physical attraction. Wild, crazy, explosive sex.”

He shook his head grimly. “Don’t waste your virtue on something that will become meaningless in about ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” I asked, bursting out laughing. “You’re that quick?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “I wasn’t talking about me.”

“Right,” I acquiesced, trying to suppress an impish smile. “We were talking about all the other guys who obviously don’t deserve me seeing that I can’t sleep with any of them.”

Sebastian gazed into my eyes with searing intensity before he sighed loudly as if weary. “This conversation is starting to sound ridiculous. I best leave you alone.”

“Oh, come on! Why do you always walk away when the fun part begins?” I taunted, emboldened by his own struggle that was fast rising to the surface.