3 three » give me a little taste

03

Taste.

In which the tastebuds are evoked.

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THE ATTENTION HADN'T SUBSIDED AT ALL. If anything, Sebastian's second appearance for the pact made it worst. He went from never being seen with a love interest to being seen with me and leaving my apartment, twice.

In the space of two days.

I had been thrust into the world of fame since my name was making headlines, often accompanied by 'Sebastian Harrington's first love'. Me being the attention hating person I was couldn't even handle going to the store to buy some groceries. Ada had managed to make it through the back entrance of the apartment complex to get work, but I was stuck at home with a severely dampened mood.

The restaurant that I had been wishing to work at hadn't got back at me, and I was beginning to think the vacancy had been filled by another applicant. I had already been jobless for a week, and I was reluctant to dip into my savings for the rent once my last paycheck ran out.

So, to alleviate my bad mood, I grabbed a tub of Ben & Jerry's and began watching a trending Netflix original.

That was my plan. Five minutes into the episode, four swift knocks reverberated through my apartment, and I couldn't help but pull my eyebrows together. The people outside weren't brave enough to actually knock on the door after Ada's not so nice blowup the night before, which left Sebastian.

To my surprise, it wasn't Sebastian. His main bodyguard stood in front of me who exuded an air of coolness as he spoke with a deep, smooth voice. "Mr Harrington would like to know if you'd accompany him today?"

Taking a peek behind his shoulder, I felt terribly embarrassed with my Adventure Time pyjamas, even more so next to his dark, crisp suit.

"Um," I ducked just enough for his body to shield mine from the reporters' view. "Accompany him where?"

"It's a surprise," he responded cryptically.

I blinked twice before nodding. "I'll go get ready."

Just as I was about to close the door, his hand clamped down on it gently and silently. "Would you mind if I came in?" he asked, taking a glance to the press that were stationed outside of my house, their cameras pointed in my direction.

Opening my door wider and allowing him in, I shut it behind him, heading to my room. "Just give me 30 minutes!"

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Albeit knowing that he was a billionaire, his penthouse surprised me since it practically exuded wealth. I walked behind his bodyguard as he led me to the elevator.

I was literally a bundle of nerves since I had to keep rubbing my hands on my skirt. And when we arrived at the door of his penthouse, I had to stop myself from drooling over Sebastian.

The two times I had seen him, he was in formal attire. A suit that fitted to the contours of his body, and made him look incredibly handsome, but seeing him in casual attire was entirely different. It wasn't anything extravagant. Just a black, cashmere sweater with jeans, but he still managed to look amazing.

"Hi." He gave me a blissfully handsome smile, slight dimples digging into his cheeks. He checked his Armani watch and gently eased me from behind his bodyguard with a light grip on my hand.

Turning around to glance at the bodyguard, I watched as he shut the door, leaving Sebastian and me to our own devices. "Hey." I gave him a light smile.

"Welcome to my humble abode." He tilted his body with his arms outstretched.

Roving my eyes across the matte colours that decorated his penthouse, I knew his abode was anything but humble, and he gave me a slight chuckle as he caught on to what I was thinking.

"I invited you here because, for starters, I was wondering if we could have lunch together." A sheepish smile climbed across his features. "I would love to cook, but I'm not exactly Gordon Ramsay."

I laughed and slipped my jacket off when he offered to take it. His eyes silently scanned my outfit, which consisted of a pastel pink halter top and a white skirt that just about grazed my mid-thigh.

"I was so going to say a pick-up line, but you'd give up on me." He chortled to himself, retrieving his phone from his pocket. "So do you want to go to lunch?"

He said that as we walked into his kitchen, and I was surprised to see he was stocked up on food quite well. I raised an eyebrow. "You can't cook yet you have such amazing food in your kitchen."

Sebastian chuckled and leaned against the tabletop, almost making me drool at the sight of him once he rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. "I do have a personal chef, Mira." His brown eyes twinkled and his pink lips curled upwards into an almost seductive grin.

Just hearing that made me painfully aware that I was jobless.

"I hear being a personal chef is much better than actually working in a restaurant because I mean, who actually has the money to hire a personal chef?"

He raised his hand, an evident warmth flooding his cheeks.

Oh my god.

I had an inkling that I would soon become infatuated with him, and the mere idea of that was slightly frightening. Clearing my throat, I rendered him with a small smile.

"I may have to become a personal chef then."

"You could become mine in a heartbeat." He lazily smiled, and I interpreted what he said in a whole other way.

Tucking a wisp of hair behind my ear, I turned away from him, setting my sights on an array of vibrantly coloured vegetables. "Would you shut down the restaurant if I agreed?"

"Well, only if you wanted us to be alone together."

I thought about the media attention I would get if I was seen going out with Sebastian for the third time, and then I thought about all the reporters stationed outside my apartment.

"How about we just cook?" I turned back to him, a smile gracing my features. "I'm a professional chef, and you're a professional flirter. I could supply the food, and you can keep me company."

He released a deep, genuine laugh and nodded his head. "I'd love to."

Ten minutes later, Sebastian was chopping up onions feebly and blinking profusely to push the tears back. I stopped seasoning the chicken and choked back a laugh.

It was my initial thought to stand behind him and guide his hands correctly, but that obviously wasn't going to work given that even at my tall height of 5'9, he was still taller at 6'2.

So, standing beside him, I placed my hands on his, giving him side glances. "You'll stop crying if you cut along the lines."

He pouted and blinked harshly. "I'm not crying, you're crying."

My thumb swiped gently under his eye, and I held my hand up to display the teardrop that was on the pad of my thumb. "Right."

He bit into his lip as he finished cutting the onions and proceeded to wash his hands. He then began to watch me around the kitchen, practically salivating once he caught a whiff of the chicken I was cooking.

"So, what's on the menu today?"

He gave me a cheeky grin, and I discarded the pick-up line that came across my mind.

"Chicken fettuccine alfredo." Before I could even turn the chicken over, he groaned in pleasure and laid a hand on his stomach.

"That sounds so good." He caught my gaze and slyly winked. "You do know that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right? Are you trying to win me over?"

"Well, it's only fair since you've won me over with your pickup lines."

He was silent for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't won you over because I know for sure that if I did, you'd probably be on my lap as I kissed you senseless."

I gulped audibly, a shiver travelling down my spine as I focused on finishing up the chicken and keeping an eye on the pasta.

He was so not adorable. He was much more than that.

Weakly smiling at him, I pushed the inappropriate thoughts back and tried to ignore his close proximity when he tried to taste the pasta sauce.

"You can't taste it yet!" I exclaimed, watching a playful smile make its way into his face.

"Why not?" he pouted slightly again, and I found myself being really attracted to him when he looked like that. "You're making my favourite meal, and I'm not sure that I can wait until it's done."

I shook my head, silently wondering how we were this comfortable with each other already.

He has cuddled you to sleep. My mind told me. I mean, I obviously trusted him to some extent if I allowed myself to fall asleep in front of him whilst his arms were wrapped around me.

"Come on, Mira. Give me a little taste."

I scooped a little of the sauce onto a spoon and fed it through his mouth. He kept eye contact as he did, and only broke it when I felt it getting too intense.

Would it be okay to kiss him since I already have?

I squashed the question flat as soon as I thought it, going back to stirring the pasta gently. "How does it taste?"

Sebastian licked his bottom lip. "Absolutely amazing."

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Sebastian leaned back on the blanket, his lips touching his glass as he sipped on his champagne. He didn't have any problem getting slightly inebriated around me, and I could tell it gave him confidence.

I, however, took controlled sips on my drink, finishing my plate as I sat on the floor across from him.

"Can I ask you a question?"

His dark gaze met mine and he placed his glass down as he gave me all of his attention. "Shoot."

"I know all the media attention I'm getting is because we made out at a club, so I guess my question is: how come you've never had a public relationship?"

Sebastian sighed. "I've only ever had two girlfriends, and both relationships were initiated by them. I guess what happened with us is I made the first move for the first time ever and did it at a very popular club."

Nodding, I let a silence drift upon us and I laid back on the pillow he had placed on the floor. I had been at his place for practically the whole day, and we had done nothing but get to know each other.

I learned that his favourite colour was red and that he had one sister and a brother. I think the most interesting thing I learned about him was that he had become a billionaire at the age of 23. He had graduated from Cambridge at the highest of his class and decided to invest in upcoming companies before he started a highly successful company that specialised in software.

At the age of 28, he was on Forbes' list for one of the richest men in the world.

Intelligence was very sexy, and the fact that Sebastian was so independent made me even more attracted to him.

He pulled me to his chest, encasing me in his warm embrace. "It's getting pretty late," he mumbled with a slight slur. "Do you want to cuddle here?"

I laughed quietly, slinging my arm over his waist. "We're already cuddling, Sebastian."

"True," his chest vibrated with a soft chuckle. "Sweet dreams, pumpkin."