Sweet

The helicopter landed on top of the Stavrakos Residential Building where Sebastian was waiting for me. The door opened and instantly, our eyes met. His beautiful chiseled face lit up in a smile. A tantalizing smile that left me breathless.

Darn, he looked so handsome and dangerous in an all-black outfit. Long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled below his elbows and matching black pants. His smell was like a drug in my system. A manly scent combination of musky, citrusy and spicy, with the freshness from the shower.

"Hello, Sweet." He greeted me.

"Hello, Sebastian. Nice to see you again." I responded and he helped me down from the chopper, taking my hand. Instantly, I felt electrified by his touch. He never let go of my hand, until I got settled on the ground.

"You look so gorgeous," his dark blue eyes traveled on my body. Slowly. Sensuously.

My whole body flushed at his scrutiny. All of me felt heated. I could feel the sexual tension between us, vibrating strongly.

I wore a spaghetti strap red long dress with a slit on the side and a nude stiletto sandals. Yeah, it was a bit sexy, more than my usual. God knows what I was thinking when I decided to wear the dress. I bought it in one of my impulsive purchases that I regretted.

"So are you." I countered the compliment and was rewarded with a teasing wink that made my heart flutter.

We walked down a wide marbled stairs and I saw an oak brown double door, with a sign. PENTHOUSE.

"Welcome to my house," he said, as we entered his luxurious penthouse, perched on the highest floor of the building, with floor to ceiling glass windows, showing the spectacular view of the city lights, from the skyscrapers, bridges, billboards, and others.

My eyes roamed around the huge room. The interior design was modern and minimalist. The walls were painted in white. The furniture was limited to the necessities. A large black sofa and a huge mahogany center table. There was also a meeting table, a bar, a billiard table, bookshelves and more. At the far end, I could see a pool, with the water sparkling in the moonlight.

I stood there, frozen in the middle of the room. The thrill and excitement in seeing him again was so intense, my body sizzled and my knees turned so weak.

"Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you," I shook my head, "I'm good."

"So, let's have dinner then," he reached for my hand and I shyly took it.

He showed me the elegant rectangular dining table with a beautiful set up on top. Red roses in a short rectangular clear glass vase and candles at the center of the table. Each end had a set of elegant China wares, silver utensils and a crystal clear flute wine glass.

My heart pounded so fast at the intimacy of the ambience. I suddenly got nervous knowing that we would be alone having dinner together in the privacy of his penthouse.

Just the two of us.

The whole evening.

In his territory.

Realization suddenly hit me.

Oh God, what am I doing here?

My walls immediately appeared. Huge blocks falling from the sky and filling up so high around me.

I've never signed for this. This isn't the kind of dating deal that we agreed on. It's too intimate for us who are fake dating.

We could have dinner in a restaurant, where many people could see us, especially the media. A private dinner defeated the purpose of giving the media something to write about us this week.

Inside me was reasoning. Debating. Whether I should tell him that it was a bad idea for us to be in this close proximity, or I'd just go with the flow, according to his plan.

Anyways, it's just a harmless date, nothing will happen at the end of the night, right? Because I'm in control of my body and emotions. That mind-blowing kiss at the cottage... nah, it won't happen again.

"Do you like the table set up?"

I jolted, bringing my mind back to the present.

"Yeah," I nodded, studying it again, "It looks so..." I was going to say romantic, but changed it to, "special."

"I set it up."

"Oh," I blinked and studied the table setting again, "I didn't know you had the talent in setting up tables."

It surprised me at first, I never thought of him as domesticated. But then I realized, he probably learned it from entertaining women here in his penthouse.

"Hm...I never had, until recently," the corner of his lips lifted, "I also cooked our dinner."

"That's nice. Thank you." I nodded. Probably easy recipes, like grilled steak with salt and pepper. Hamburgers, sausages and French fries.

"So, you know how to cook?"

"Not, until this week. I know how to fry eggs and sausages, but other than that, I had zero knowledge in cooking. But in the last four days, I had an intensive lesson in cooking from my French chef."

"Oh, wow. I'm happy for you that you decided to take a cooking lesson."

"No," he chuckled, shaking his head, "I only did it for tonight's dinner."

My forehead creased, looking at him with confused expression.

"For tonight's dinner?" I asked, and when he nodded, I added, "seriously?"

I was shocked that he made too much effort to learn cooking for our dinner date.

He nodded, "I've never been serious in my life."

Bewildered, I asked him, "why?"

"I want to make this dinner date special. Something that you'll never forget."

"But it's not my birthday, and also not yours. Are we celebrating something? A huge business deal you closed, a new house, a merit or something..."

"Nope. We're celebrating our fifth date," his eyes gleamed, "and that you and I are getting to know each other better."

I was flattered, but then, I couldn't help but become suspicious. I was certain I wasn't the only one he entertained here in his penthouse. It was probably the place where he brought all his dates after dinner."

"Really?" I glanced up at the ceiling, then turned to him, "don't you entertain a lot of...guests here."

"You mean, female guests." His lips twisted in a half smile.

"I didn't mean that...I'm asking you in general. Male and female guests." I reasoned out defensively, "besides, I don't care if you bring a lot of women here. It's not my business."

"You sounded jealous," he squinted.

My eyes grew enormous, "are you serious? Me, jealous? Why would I?"

He chuckled, "relax, I'm just teasing you. But to answer your question...nope, I don't entertain quests here, especially women. I swear on my life, you're the only woman I brought here and cooked dinner." He shrugged, "of course, with the exception of my family and the household staff."

So crazy. My spirit brightened, knowing that I was the only woman he brought in his penthouse and cooked dinner.

My heart instantly melted and my walls shattered to pieces on the ground. The thrill and excitement I felt earlier was back again, and a thousand more alive.

I also had this guilt feeling of judging him right away. I hated myself for thinking the worst of him. Hope soared within me, thinking that he really changed.

"Would you like to sit down?" He pulled out a chair for me at the dining table and when I was settled, he excused himself.

"Wait for a second, okay? Don't move, I'll just bring out the dishes."

"Okay, I'm not going anywhere. Take your time."

I waited and every minute, he appeared. Bringing awesome hard-to-make beautiful dishes one by one and putting them on the table.

Beef wellington, croissants, chocolate soufflé, and my favorites calamari with mayo and chicken Waldorf salad.

I could barely conceal my delight as I stared at the wonderful food.

"You really made all of these?"

His mouth curved in a smile, "I spent the whole afternoon cooking all of these."

So, that's the reason we didn't have a whole day date. His time was spent in the kitchen cooking.

"Wow, I'm so impressed."

"You have to taste it first." He sliced the Beef Wellington and put a piece on my plate.

"Thank you." I took a bite, and couldn't help but close my eyes, feeling the delicious taste and texture of the beef in my tongue.

I felt his eyes staring at me.

"Hmm...I'm speechless," I turned to him, "this is so yummy. This is one of the best beef dishes that I've ever tasted."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I swear, I'm not. You cooked it perfectly." I took another piece in my mouth, chewing the soft meat and loving it. I gave him a thumbs up and a wink, and his face turned scarlet red.

He settled on his chair and started to eat too.

My stomach was so happy, as I ate the wonderful food in front of us.

"What do you think of the Chicken Waldorf and the calamari? Do they meet your expectations?"

"Oh yes! I love the salad, oh my God... I can't get enough," I took a sip of my wine, then turned my attention to the calamari, and ate a piece. "This one is so good also...I have no words. Mm...mm...the best calamari ever."

His whole face lit up, looking so happy.

"Are you done?" I asked when he stopped eating.

"Nope. I just enjoy watching you eat. You look so beautiful, like a goddess, sitting there, and enjoying the food I served you."

"Do you always compliment women, to make them feel good?"

"Never." He shook his head vigorously, "Complimenting is not my thing. But with you, it became a habit."

My heart skittered. Heat coursed in my veins.

"Stop teasing me, you're taking my focus away from the food."

"If you say so."

"But honestly, with all this delicious food, I feel like I'm eating in a five star restaurant."

"Ah- you're the one teasing me now." He chuckled aloud.

"I'm serious. You're an awesome cook. You did it so well despite it being your first time."

"Thanks." A flush crept on his face. "I should learn how to cook pasta. You like carbonara, right?" When I nodded, he asked again, "how about Wagyu and Kobe steak?"

"Yeah. I love them," I twisted my lips, "I love food, any kind. I'm not a picky eater."

"Great! I'll surprise you next time." His face beamed.

"I can't wait."

We started talking and catching up on things that happened in the past week. He asked about Dad, if he scolded me after the incident in the cottage.

"He did, for a while. He could be close minded sometimes, so it took time to explain to him that the engagement was not real."

"I'm glad that's settled then. All we need to do is to visit Tess and tell her the truth that we're not really engaged."

"Yeah, we can do that," I agreed.

I took a bite of the chocolate soufflé, loving the soft creamy texture. I still couldn't believe that he made it. It was so delicious.

"By the way, you did so well in cleaning my reputation, especially in your recent blog. You cleared people's speculations on who I dated at the event."

"Well, I'm just doing my job, and keeping up with our agreement."

We talked about some random stuff. He told me about the Japanese deal that he was working on. It was a huge project that the board entrusted him to close. He did some research and gathered more data for his presentation, in order to impress the prospective investor.

He also asked about my book, I told him I was still finishing my draft. If only he knew that my publisher wanted to know his big secrets and salacious details of his sex life.

Later, we finished our food, and just talked and drank wine. I gathered all my courage, and decided to ask him some of the personal questions I prepared, starting with the princess drama.

"About the um...princess drama. I'm curious, why were you involved in that scandal?"

"Am I? That thing is old news, forget about it," he chuckled and diverted the topic away from it. "Do you like peri-peri? I should make you one next time."

"Sebastian, have you seen Princess Serena lately?"

He shook his head, his brows knitted. "Nope." He sipped his wine, then talked about car racing.

"Have you talked with Princess Harriet after the princess drama?" I tried to ask again.

His expression closed up. "Can we talk about ourselves? This is not an interview, Sweet, but a date."

That stopped me from asking questions for my book and focused on our date. Anyways, I still had a month to submit my draft. I'd just make sure that he'd answer all my questions on our next date.

"Would you like a tour of my penthouse? He suggested.

"Sure, I'd love to."

"Where do you want to start?" he asked.

My eyebrows rose, "well, where do you want us to start?"

He grinned wickedly, then said.

"My bedroom."